Sometime Around Midnight – English Lyrics

• By: The Airborne Toxic Event

Lyrics & Translation

Dive into the emotional intensity of 'Sometime Around Midnight.' Through this song, you can learn how to express complex feelings of longing and nostalgia in English, while experiencing a masterclass in storytelling and dynamic musical build-up.

[English]

And it starts sometime around midnight

Or at least that's when you lose yourself for a minute or two

As you stand under the bar lights

And the band plays some song

About forgetting yourself for a while

And the piano's this melancholy soundcheck to her smile

And that white dress she's wearing

You haven't seen her for a while

But you know that she's watching

She's laughing, she's turning

She's holding her tonic like a crux

The room's suddenly spinning

She walks up and asks how you are

So you can smell her perfume

You can see her lying naked in your arms

And so there's a change in your emotions

And all of these memories come rushing

Like feral waves to your mind

Of the curl of your bodies

Like two perfect circles entwined

And you feel hopeless, and homeless

And lost in the haze of the wine

Then she leaves with someone you don't know

But she makes sure you saw her

She looks right at you and bolts

As she walks out the door

Your blood boiling, your stomach in ropes

Oh, and your friends say, "What is it?

You look like you've seen a ghost"

Then you walk under the streetlights

And you're too drunk to notice

That everyone is staring at you

You just don't care what you look like

The world is falling 'round you

You just have to see her

You just have to see her

You just have to see her

You just have to see her

You just have to see her

You know that she'll break you in two

Key Vocabulary

Vocabulary	Meanings
midnight /ˈmɪdnaɪt/ A2	noun - twelve o'clock at night
melancholy /ˈmelənkɒli/ C2	adjective - a feeling of pensive sadness
crux /krʌks/ C2	noun - the decisive or most important point at issue
perfume /ˈpɜːfjuːm/ B1	noun - a pleasant-smelling liquid used on the body
naked /ˈneɪkɪd/ B1	adjective - without clothes on
emotions /ɪˈməʊʃənz/ A2	noun - strong feelings
feral /ˈferəl/ C2	adjective - in a wild state
entwined /ɪnˈtwaɪnd/ C1	verb - twisted together
hopeless /ˈhəʊpləs/ B1	adjective - feeling or causing despair
homeless /ˈhəʊmləs/ A2	adjective - without a home
haze /heɪz/ B2	noun - a state of mental confusion
bolts /bəʊlts/ B2	verb - to move or run away suddenly
ghost /ɡəʊst/ A2	noun - an apparition of a dead person
staring /ˈsteərɪŋ/ A2	verb - looking fixedly at something
break /breɪk/ A1	verb - to destroy or cause to fail

Key Grammar Structures

• Or at least that's when you lose yourself for a minute or two

  ➔ Relative clause with 'when'

  ➔ The relative pronoun "when" is used here to refer back to the specific point in time previously mentioned.

• You haven't seen her for a while

  ➔ Present Perfect Tense

  ➔ The present perfect "haven't seen" indicates an action that started in the past and continues up to the present.

• You can see her lying naked in your arms

  ➔ Verb + Object + Participle (Gerund)

  ➔ The structure "see her lying" is used to describe an action in progress that is being witnessed.

• Then she leaves with someone you don't know

  ➔ Defining Relative Clause

  ➔ The clause "you don't know" modifies the noun "someone" to specify exactly who is being referred to.

• You look like you've seen a ghost

  ➔ Verb + 'like' + Clause

  ➔ The structure "look like" + clause is used to compare a situation or appearance to a hypothetical or actual state.

• And you're too drunk to notice

  ➔ Too + Adjective + Infinitive

  ➔ This construction implies that being 'drunk' is excessive, preventing the subject from 'noticing'.

• The world is falling 'round you

  ➔ Present Continuous Tense

  ➔ The present continuous "is falling" describes an ongoing, dramatic change in the environment surrounding the narrator.

• You know that she'll break you in two

  ➔ Future Simple (Prediction)

  ➔ The use of "will" here acts as a strong prediction or inevitability about a future consequence.