A Song About Love – English Lyrics

• By: Jake Bugg
• Album: Shangri La

Lyrics & Translation

Learning English through Jake Bugg's “A Song About Love” offers a chance to explore nuanced emotional language and introspective lyrics. The song's questioning and heartfelt tone provides a unique context for understanding the subtleties of expressing love and disappointment, making it a special piece for language learners who appreciate authentic storytelling in music.

[English]

You tell me all the things you do

Tell me that it's up to you

Crying in the peaceful night

Telling all the things you hide

But right there in the future

Maybe you're the rainbow

There's no song without love

With your eyes shut, you cry in your bed

Is that what you wanted? Songs about love?

Is that what you hoped you would find?

Well, it's burning inside

But a song about love's not enough

So what do you want for?

What are you needing?

Songs about memories

That hide and then shatter your mind

Like a constant reminder

I just want to find where you are

I just want to find where you are

I hold you and your eyes fall down

You barely even make a sound

Crying in the peaceful night

Showing all the things you hide

But out there in the future

Maybe you're the rainbow

There's no song without love

With your eyes shut, you cry in your bed

Is that what you wanted? Songs about love?

Is that what you hoped you would find?

Well, it's burning inside

But a song about love's not enough

So what do you want for?

What are you needing?

Songs about memories

That hide and then shatter your mind

Like a constant reminder

I just want to find where you are

I just want to find where you are

I just want to find where you are

...

Key Vocabulary

Vocabulary	Meanings
love /lʌv/ A2	noun - a strong feeling of affection verb - to feel love for someone or something
song /sɒŋ/ A1	noun - a musical composition with lyrics
night /naɪt/ A1	noun - the period of darkness between sunset and sunrise
eyes /aɪz/ A2	noun - organs of sight
future /ˈfjuːtʃər/ B1	noun - the time yet to come
rainbow /ˈreɪn.boʊ/ B2	noun - an arc of colors visible in the sky after rain
song /sɒŋ/ A1	noun - a musical composition with lyrics
hope /hoʊp/ B1	noun - a feeling of expecting a positive outcome verb - to wish or desire strongly
nightmare /ˈnaɪt.meər/ C1	noun - a frightening or unpleasant dream
broken /ˈbroʊkən/ B2	adjective - damaged or not functioning properly
reminder /rɪˈmaɪn.dər/ C1	noun - something that causes you to remember something
mind /maɪnd/ B2	noun - the part of a person that thinks, reasons, and remembers

Key Grammar Structures

• You tell me all the things you do

  ➔ Present Simple Tense

  ➔ Use of the "present simple" tense to describe habitual actions or general truths. Here, it describes the action of telling, which is repeated.

• Maybe you're the rainbow

  ➔ Contraction (you are -> you're)

  ➔ Use of the contraction "you're" for "you are". This is common in informal speech and song lyrics.

• Is that what you wanted? Songs about love?

  ➔ Question Formation (Interrogative sentence)

  ➔ Inversion of the auxiliary verb ("is") and subject ("that") to form a question. The rising intonation at the end also signals a question.

• But a song about love's not enough

  ➔ Possessive 's

  ➔ Using the "'s" to indicate possession or relationship (song about love -> love's not enough).

• So what do you want for?

  ➔ Preposition at the end of the sentence

  ➔ While sometimes considered informal, ending a sentence with a preposition ("for") is common in spoken English and acceptable in many contexts.

• That hide and then shatter your mind

  ➔ Relative Clause (implied)

  ➔ The word "that" introduces a relative clause describing "memories". The "that" is omitted but understood.

• I just want to find where you are

  ➔ Indirect Question

  ➔ "Where you are" is an indirect question acting as the object of the verb "find". The word order is subject-verb, not verb-subject as in a direct question.

• You barely even make a sound

  ➔ Adverb of Degree (barely)

  ➔ The adverb "barely" modifies the verb "make", indicating a minimal degree of action. It means 'almost not'.