Beautiful Birds – English Lyrics

• By: Passenger, Birdy
• Album: Songs For The Drunk And Broken Hearted

Lyrics & Translation

Discover the poignant beauty of "Beautiful Birds" by Passenger and Birdy, a song that tells a universal story of love and loss through its rich, metaphorical lyrics. Learning the language of this song offers a unique opportunity to explore poetic storytelling and the nuances of expressing complex emotions. The collaboration between these two artists creates a truly special and moving listening experience that will resonate with anyone who has ever loved deeply.

[English]

You remember when we were two beautiful birds, we would light up the sky, when we'd fly,

You were orange and red, like the sun when it sets, I was green as an apple's eye.

You said you loved all the songs that I'd sing, like nothing you'd ever heard,

And I said I loved you with all of my heart when we were two beautiful birds.

...

Remember when we were two beautiful birds, we would say when the morning would come,

You are silver and blue like the moon when it's new, I was gold as the summer sun.

But one day you asked for a different song,

One that I just couldn't sing,

I got the melody sharp, and the words all wrong,

Those were the last days of spring.

To build a nest we pecked feathers from our chests,

Like a book tearing out every page,

We weren't to know that these feathers would grow,

Into a beautiful cage.

...

Key Vocabulary

Vocabulary	Meanings
bright /braɪt/ B2	adjective - giving off a lot of light
beautiful /ˈbjuː.tɪ.fəl/ B1	adjective - pleasing to the senses or mind aesthetically
birds /bɜːrdz/ A2	noun - feathered vertebrate animals able to fly
light /laɪt/ A2	noun - electromagnetic radiation visible to the human eye verb - to make something start burning or shining
fly /flaɪ/ A1	verb - to move through the air using wings
red /rɛd/ A1	adjective - of a color resembling blood
green /ɡriːn/ A2	adjective - of a color between blue and yellow in the spectrum
sun /sʌn/ A2	noun - the star at the center of our solar system
songs /sɒŋz/ A2	noun - musical compositions with lyrics
heart /hɑːrt/ B1	noun - the organ that pumps blood through the body
spring /sprɪŋ/ B1	noun - the season after winter and before summer
nest /nɛst/ A2	noun - a structure built by birds to lay eggs and raise young
feathers /ˈfɛðərz/ B2	noun - the light, flat structures covering a bird
cage /keɪdʒ/ B2	noun - a structure made of wire or bars to confine animals

Key Grammar Structures

• You remember when we were two beautiful birds, we would light up the sky, when we'd fly.

  ➔ Past simple and conditional forms.

  ➔ The phrase "we were" indicates a past state, while "we would light up" shows a habitual action in the past.

• You said you loved all the songs that I'd sing, like nothing you'd ever heard.

  ➔ Reported speech and conditional clauses.

  ➔ The phrase "you said you loved" is an example of reported speech, while "like nothing you'd ever heard" is a conditional clause.

• But one day you asked for a different song, one that I just couldn't sing.

  ➔ Past simple and relative clauses.

  ➔ The phrase "you asked for" is in the past simple, while "one that I just couldn't sing" is a relative clause describing the song.

• To build a nest we pecked feathers from our chests, like a book tearing out every page.

  ➔ Infinitive phrases and similes.

  ➔ The phrase "to build a nest" is an infinitive phrase indicating purpose, while "like a book tearing out every page" is a simile comparing actions.