hoax – English Lyrics

• By: Taylor Swift
• Album: folklore

Lyrics & Translation

[English]

My only one

My smoking gun

My eclipsed sun

This has broken me down

My twisted knife

My sleepless night

My winless fight

This has frozen my ground

Stood on the cliffside screaming, "Give me a reason"

Your faithless love's the only hoax I believe in

Don't want no other shade of blue but you

No other sadness in the world would do

My best laid plan

Your sleight of hand

My barren land

I am ash from your fire

Stood on the cliffside screaming, "Give me a reason"

Your faithless love's the only hoax I believe in

Don't want no other shade of blue but you

No other sadness in the world would do

You know I left a part of me back in New York

You knew the hero died, so what's the movie for?

You knew it still hurts underneath my scars from when they pulled me apart

You knew the password, so I let you in the door

You knew you won, so what's the point of keeping score?

You knew it still hurts underneath my scars from when they pulled me apart

But what you did was just as dark

(Ah, ah, ah)

Darling, this was just as hard

As when they pulled me apart

My only one

My kingdom come undone

My broken drum

You have beaten my heart

Don't want no other shade of blue but you

No other sadness in the world would do

...

Key Vocabulary

Vocabulary	Meanings
eclipsed /ɪˈklɪpst/ B2	adjective - blocked from view
twisted /ˈtwɪstɪd/ B1	adjective - bent or warped out of shape
faithless /ˈfeɪθlɪs/ B2	adjective - not loyal or trustworthy
hoax /hoʊks/ B2	noun - an act intended to deceive
shade /ʃeɪd/ A2	noun - a slight difference in color
plan /plæn/ A2	noun - a detailed proposal for doing or achieving something
sleight /slaɪt/ B2	noun - skillful use of one's hands when performing conjuring tricks
barren /ˈbærən/ B2	adjective - too poor to produce much or any vegetation
ash /æʃ/ A2	noun - the powdery residue left after burning
scar /skɑːr/ B1	noun - a mark left on the skin after a wound has healed
kingdom /ˈkɪŋdəm/ B1	noun - a territory ruled by a king or queen
undone /ʌnˈdʌn/ B2	adjective - ruined or destroyed
beaten /ˈbiːtən/ A2	verb - to strike repeatedly
hero /ˈhɪroʊ/ A2	noun - a person admired for courage or noble qualities
score /skɔːr/ A2	noun - the number of points, goals, runs, etc. achieved in a game or competition
dark /dɑːrk/ A2	adjective - without light

Key Grammar Structures

• My only one

  ➔ possessive noun phrase

  ➔ The word "only" modifies the noun "one" and the whole phrase shows possession with "My".

• My smoking gun

  ➔ gerund used as adjective (noun‑modifier)

  ➔ The "-ing" form "smoking" functions like an adjective describing the noun "gun".

• This has broken me down

  ➔ present perfect (affirmative) with object pronoun

  ➔ "has broken" is the present perfect form indicating a past action with present relevance; "me" is the object pronoun.

• Stood on the cliffside screaming, "Give me a reason"

  ➔ past simple with present participle clause (reduced adverbial)

  ➔ "Stood" is past simple; "screaming" is a present participle forming a reduced adverbial clause that describes how the speaker stood.

• Your faithless love's the only hoax I believe in

  ➔ possessive "'s" + relative clause with preposition "in"

  ➔ "love's" is a contraction of "love is"; the relative clause "I believe in" follows the noun "hoax" and ends with the preposition "in".

• Don't want no other shade of blue but you

  ➔ negative polarity with double negative (informal)

  ➔ "Don't want no" uses two negatives ("don't" and "no") to emphasize the lack of desire; standard English would use "don't want any".

• You knew the hero died, so what's the movie for?

  ➔ indirect question embedded in a compound sentence

  ➔ "what's the movie for?" is an indirect question that follows the conjunction "so" and functions as the second clause of the sentence.

• You knew it still hurts underneath my scars from when they pulled me apart

  ➔ noun clause with temporal "when" clause as post‑modifier

  ➔ "when they pulled me apart" is a temporal clause that modifies "scars", giving the time of the event.

• But what you did was just as dark

  ➔ nominal clause as subject ("what you did") + copular "was"

  ➔ "what you did" functions as the subject of the sentence; the verb "was" links it to the complement "just as dark".

• My kingdom come undone

  ➔ infinitive construction "come undone" as a predicative complement

  ➔ "come undone" is an infinitive phrase meaning "to fall apart"; it functions as the complement of "kingdom".