Killing Yourself To Live – English Lyrics

• By: BLACK SABBATH

Lyrics & Translation

‘Killing Yourself To Live’ is an excellent study in English for intermediate learners, offering a look into 1970s counter-culture idioms and metaphors regarding health and lifestyle. It is a special track because it bridges the gap between the band's dark origins and their shift toward progressive, introspective songwriting.

[English]

How people look and people stare

Well I don't think that I even care

You rot your life away and what do they give?

You're only killing yourself to live

Killing Yourself To Live!

Killing Yourself To Live!

Just take a look around you, what do you see?

Pain, suffering, and misery

It's not the way the world was planned

It's a pity you don't understand

Killing Yourself To Live!

Killing Yourself To Live!

I'm telling you!

Believe in me!

Nobody else will tell you

Open your eyes!

And see the lies!

Oh yeah!

Smoke it!

Get high!

You think that I'm crazy and baby I know that it's true

Before that you know it I think that you'll go crazy too

I don't know if I'm up or down

Well the black and whites are blue and brown

The colors in my life are all different somehow

Little boy blue's a big girl now

So you think it's me who's strange

But you've never had to make the change

Never give your trust away

You'll end up in paying till your dying day

...

Key Vocabulary

Vocabulary	Meanings
stare /steər/ B1	verb - to look at someone or something for a long time
rot /rɒt/ C1	verb - to decay or waste away
suffering /ˈsʌfərɪŋ/ B2	noun - the state of undergoing pain or hardship
misery /ˈmɪzəri/ B2	noun - a state of great unhappiness or discomfort
pity /ˈpɪti/ B1	noun - the feeling of sorrow for the misfortunes of others
understand /ˌʌndərˈstænd/ A1	verb - to perceive the intended meaning of words or situations
believe /bɪˈliːv/ A2	verb - to accept that something is true
crazy /ˈkreɪzi/ A2	adjective - mentally deranged; foolish
strange /streɪndʒ/ A2	adjective - unusual or surprising in a way that is unsettling
trust /trʌst/ B1	noun - firm belief in the reliability or truth of someone
dying /ˈdaɪɪŋ/ A2	adjective - at the point of death

Key Grammar Structures

• You're only killing yourself to live

  ➔ Present Continuous for current habits/actions

  ➔ Using "are killing" to emphasize an ongoing, self-destructive process.

• It's not the way the world was planned

  ➔ Passive Voice (Past Simple)

  ➔ The structure "was planned" focuses on the result rather than the agent.

• I don't know if I'm up or down

  ➔ Indirect Question / Noun Clause

  ➔ The clause "if I'm up or down" functions as the object of the verb "know".

• You think that I'm crazy

  ➔ Complex Sentence with 'that' clause

  ➔ The "that" conjunction links the main clause to the subordinate clause.

• Before that you know it I think that you'll go crazy too

  ➔ Future Simple in subordinate clause

  ➔ Using "will" to predict a future state in the clause "you'll go crazy".

• But you've never had to make the change

  ➔ Present Perfect

  ➔ "Have never had" refers to the experience (or lack thereof) up to the present moment.

• Never give your trust away

  ➔ Imperative (Negative - Adverbial focus)

  ➔ The imperative mood is used here with "Never" to give a strong warning.

• You'll end up in paying till your dying day

  ➔ Phrasal Verb + Gerund

  ➔ "End up" is followed by the gerund "paying" to describe a final result.