Learn English with Music | Learn Advanced Vocabulary (With Free PDF!)

Welcome back to JForrest English.

I'm Jennifer, and today you're  going to learn English with music.

We're going to review four different songs  for very popular songs, and you're going  

to learn a lot of advanced vocabulary, advanced  grammar and even pronunciation from these songs.

Let's get started.

First, let's review the song  Someone Like You by Adele.

I heard that you're settled down.

Settled down.

This is a common phrasal verb.

To settle down means that you accept  responsibility and you live a calmer life.

This is.

Generally a natural thing  that happens when people.

Are in their.

Early 20s, mid 20s.

Use settle down in a different context that's  perhaps more common for your daily use,  

especially as a student in the classroom. Some people take longer to settle down.

Some people take until they're  303540 or even later to settle down.

Now, Generally when you settle down,  you get married, you buy a house,  

you have kids, you find a stable job.

All of these are the except  responsibility and live a calmer life.

Settle down now.

Because notice this word here,  calm calmer when you settle down.

It is also used to tell everyone to calm down.

So if you're.

In a classroom and you're a teacher and.

All these students are just talking  to each other, making a lot of noise.

You would say settle down, settle down.

So you're telling everyone to calm, calm down.

So it's also used in that context  when a teacher or a parent or even a.

Boss might say everyone.

Settle.

Down, and in this case it's the  same as the phrasal verb calm down,  

which simply means to become  calmer, to become calmer.

Notice for pronunciation, there's no L in this  word is not call with an L no is calm ALM.

And notice the vowel even it's an ah ALM.

Calm, calm, calm down.

Calm down.

I heard that you're settled down.

So Adele heard that the person that she used to be  

in a romantic relationship  with has now settled down.

So he's probably married someone else.

That you found a girl.

Oh, yes.

And you're married now.

So as we discussed, this is an aspect of settling  down, which is finding a stable relationship.

I heard that your dreams came true.

Guess she gave you things I didn't give to you.

So Adele is saying, Well, you chose.

This other woman to settle down with,  so likely because she gave you things,  

maybe love, attention, respect,  whatever those things were that I.

Didn't give you now notice.

It's guess guess.

This.

Is when you say, I guess because  of course Adele doesn't know 100%  

for certain that that's the reason that her.

Exboyfriend chose to settle down with  another woman instead of her, right?

So she's using, I guess, to say  there's some doubt, doubt, uncertainty.

Not 100% certain.

The subject is missing here.

This is commonly done in spoken English.

Instead of saying, I guess you can just say guess.

Guess she gave you things.

I guess she's late because she missed.

Her bus.

Okay.

So you might be discussing why a coworker is late.

Oh, I guess she's late because she missed her bus.

You can also get rid of this part, I guess.

I guess she missed her bus.

So the question could be why  do you think Sarah is late?

I guess she missed her bus.

You're.

Not 100% certain, so there's  some doubt or uncertainty there.

I guess she missed her bus.

Old friend, why are you so shy?

Ain't like you to hold back or hide.

From the light.

Let's talk about this word.

I know students.

Ask a lot of questions about the word.

Ain't, ain't you need to know that ain't is slang.

It is slang in spoken English.

I don't use ain't in my speech because  I don't really speak with a lot of slang  

and I don't recommend that you use  it to be honest, but the word ain't.

Even though it's slang, and I recommend  avoiding it in spoken or written English,  

it is extremely common in music.

Extremely common.

Even with musicians who wouldn't use slang in  their regular speech, they still use it in music.

Why?

It's simply because ain't.

Is A1.

Syllable word and it's easier to say.

And in music, the timing is very important.

It's the rhythm.

It's the beat.

Of the song.

So it's just a lot.

Easier to say the word.

Ain't now in this.

Ain't means, is not it?

Isn't or is not, which means  isn't as a contraction.

It's just very. So notice isn't isn't 2 syllables.

Ain't ain't one syllable.

Rhythmically, it's easier to say ain't, and  it changes the sound of the song and that's.

Common in music.

It isn't like you to hold back.

Ain't like you to hold back again.

I don't recommend using it in spoken English,  but you will hear it all the time in music.

What does it mean to hold back?

This is when you stop yourself from showing an  

emotion or you stop yourself  from sharing your opinion.

For example, I held back my  anger in the meeting today.

Generally, we want to share positive emotions,  but you might hold back your delight.

If we're talking about an emotion,  

you would identify the emotion I held back  my anger, my frustration, my jealousy.

Generally, it's negative emotions.

If you got promoted and your  coworker also wanted the promotion,  

but your coworker didn't get  the promotion, you got it.

You might hold back your excitement,  

your happiness because you don't want  to make the other person feel bad.

So it is common to hold.

Back a positive?

Emotion.

But it is more generally  used with negative emotions.

Now in this case, if you just use it in a  general context, you should have held back.

It means you shouldn't have shared your opinion.

You shouldn't have shared  your opinion, your opinion.

Now notice, you should have held back.

Seeing this positively means you  shouldn't have shared your opinion,  

because if you didn't hold back, it  means you did share your opinion.

So we're in a meeting and I  say, you know what everyone?

I think this.

Project is a terrible idea.

Why?

Are we even doing this?

Just now.

I didn't hold back.

I shared my opinion.

Now my coworker might say.

Why did you say that, Jennifer?

You?

Should have held back.

You shouldn't have shared your opinion,  so Adele is saying that it's not like.

Her.

Exboyfriend to either not share his  emotions or not share his opinion.

So maybe they're talking, but he isn't really  discussing his new life with his new wife,  

his new house, his new kids, things like that.

Let's continue on.

I hate to turn up.

Out of the blue, Okay.

Right here we have a phrasal verb.

To turn up and we have an idiom.

Out of the blue.

Out of the blue.

Means unexpected, Unexpected.

Now, she says, uninvited, But it's almost  implied with the expression out of the blue.

Because if you turn up which I  should tell you what this means.

I hate to turn up.

This just means arrive.

At a place.

Now, most likely Adele turned  up at her ex boyfriend's house.

Knock knock.

Oh my God, it's my ex-girlfriend.

Out of the blue.

I wasn't expecting.

To see my exgirlfriend at my house,  which I own with my new wife, right?

So she arrived at a place.

We don't know what the place is,  but most likely it's his house.

It could also be his work.

It could be his favorite restaurant.

And she knows he goes to that  restaurant every Friday night.

And Adele turned up out of the blue.

She arrived at that.

That restaurant, because she knew he  would be there and it was unexpected.

He did not know she was going to come uninvited.

But I couldn't stay away.

I couldn't fight it.

So if you stay away, it means you leave him alone.

You don't turn up and you don't turn up.

Out of the.

Blue, which means unexpected.

So of course she didn't say hey, I'm coming over.

If she texted him and said I'm coming over, that  isn't out of the blue because it's expected now.

We use out of the blue a lot, you might say.

My boss gave me a promotion out of the blue.

Which is a.

Really good thing, right?

My boss gave me a promotion out of the  blue, which means I wasn't expecting it.

I didn't know that he was  giving promotions to anyone.

He didn't mention that.

Out of the blue.

Out of the blue.

Notice.

The pronunciation of this because we really  combine these two words to sound like.

Outta, outta.

Out of the blue.

Out of the blue.

My boss gave me a promotion.

Out of the blue.

Out of the blue.

All right, let's continue on.

I had hoped you'd see my face  and that you'd be reminded.

OK, so Adele turns up.

She arrives at his house, and she had hoped that.

Her boyfriend, her exboyfriend would  see her and be like, I miss you.

I miss you.

I'm so.

Happy you're here.

Because you'd be reminded.

So when you're reminded of something  or someone, you have memories of them.

So maybe her exboyfriend, he sees her and then all  

of a sudden these positive  memories come back to him.

That for me, it isn't.

Over so by.

Saying it isn't over, Adele is saying she's still.

Has.

Feelings for this man?

She's still in love with him because we  use this a lot in a romantic context.

It's over.

It's over if I say.

To you, this to you.

What am I doing?

It's over.

I'm ending our relationship.

So this is used to end a romantic relationship.

It's over.

It's over.

But Adele is saying for me, it isn't over.

I still love you.

I still have feelings for you.

Never mind, I'll find Someone Like You.

So now the song, although she's confessing,  

admitting she still loves this man, now she's  changing to saying I'll find Someone Like You.

So I'll find another man who  has the same characteristics,  

personality, maybe even appearance that you have.

I wish nothing but the best for you.

Don't forget me, I beg.

So when you beg, you're  saying please, please, please.

So this is a verb.

To beg, you might say.

I begged my boss to let me leave.

Early today, but he said.

No.

Children beg their parents all the time.

Oh please, please, can you buy me this?

Can you take me here?

Can you do this for me?

Children commonly beg.

Adults.

It's not, I guess, as common  to beg, but still possible.

I begged my boss to let me leave.

Notice you beg someone.

To do something.

That's the sentence structure.

So you might say my kids have been  begging me to take them to Disney World.

This is something that I personally begged my dad  

to do over and over again as a  child and he never did take me.

To Disney World.

So it did not work.

It was not successful for me.

But who knows, maybe it's successful for you.

And then so how do you beg you?

Just simply ask over and over again?

Or you try to provide different reasons why.

I'll remember you said sometimes it lasts  in love, but sometimes it hurts instead.

So that's a very poetic thing to say.

If it lasts, obviously it means  you're you stay together as a couple.

If it hurts, it's probably  because the relationship is over.

And he said it's over.

It's.

Over.

And then she repeats it.

Sometimes it lasts, but  sometimes it hurts instead.

You know how the time flies.

I think a lot of students know this expression  

because they have it in their  own native language as well.

But when time flies, this is an idiom to  simply say that time moves very quickly.

Time flies.

So if you're working on a project and  then all of a sudden you look at your  

watch and it's five hours later, you  can say, wow, time flies, time flies.

Only yesterday was the time of our lives.

We were born and raised in a summer haze.

I don't know what a summer haze is, to be  honest, bound by the surprise of our glory days.

I hate to turn up Okay, We already reviewed this.

I hate to turn up Out of the Blue.

Okay, we reviewed this and  then this is the chorus.

So we reviewed this as well.

Here's a different part of the song.

Nothing compares.

No worries or cares.

Regrets and mistakes, They are memories made.

Let's take a look at regrets.

A regret is something that  you wish you didn't do or say.

So something you wish you didn't do or say.

The important thing.

About regret is that it is a gerund verb I regret.

Breaking up with him so oh sorry, I regret.

The gerund comes the verb that follows regret.

So we have regret, and then the next verb  that follows it is the gerund I regret,  

and then our verb ING, which is our gerund verb.

I regret breaking up with him.

I regret quitting my job.

I regret not quitting my job.

So this is something you wish you didn't.

Do or say?

In this case, regret is used as a noun  in the song because you can have regrets.

Which are things you wish you hadn't done or said?

I have a lot of regrets, or hopefully I don't.

Have a lot of regrets.

Because you did and said exactly  what you wanted to do and say,  

who would have known how  bittersweet this would taste?

When you describe something as bittersweet,  it means that it's both negative and positive.

The negative you can think of as  sadness and the positive happiness.

Here's an example sentence.

You can say getting a promotion was bittersweet.

Now, of course, the happiness of a promotion  is the fact that it pays more money.

You have a nicer job title.

Maybe you have some extra perks,  

More responsibility, more  interesting work, more fulfillment.

Those are the positives.

The.

Happy.

Part of a promotion.

What could be the negative,  the sad part of the promotion?

Maybe you're no longer working  with the people you used to work  

with because the promotion requires you  to go to another part of the company.

Maybe you're working way longer  hours and you're not spending as  

much time with your family, and  that's the negative part of it.

So getting a promotion was bittersweet.

This is a great.

Expression to use as a gerund statement.

A gerund statement is a sentence.

That.

Starts with ING, so we start with our gerund verb,  

and you can use this to make more  of a statement, a general statement.

So you can try this and notice the  expression is to be bittersweet to.

Be bittersweet.

And here of course I have my.

Verb to be conjugated in the past.

Simple.

I could say.

Getting a promotion is bittersweet if I want to  say that the emotions are still taking place now.

But maybe my promotion was last year, so I'm more  talking about at that time of that transition.

It was bittersweet.

So maybe finishing university?

Was bittersweet.

Of course it was positive because  you don't have to study anymore,  

but it's negative because of whatever reason.

So lots of things.

So you can try an example in the comments  and try it with a gerund statement.

And don't forget to conjugate your  verb to be OK and this is the same.

Are big.

This is the.

I'm just seeing if anything is different,  

but it looks like it is the exact same  thing and then she just repeats it.

Amazing.

Job with that song.

Feel free to take a break, listen to  the song, see all the vocabulary you  

just learned, and when you're ready,  let's continue on with our next song,  

which is Antihero by Taylor Swift you're going  to learn a lot of advanced vocabulary from.

This song let's get.

Started Let's start by reviewing the  name of the song, which is antihero.

Antihero.

An antihero is someone who does not  have traditional heroic qualities.

So notice here heroic.

This is an adjective to describe the qualities.

You can also describe a person as heroic.

So you could say firefighters.

People who fight fires, firefighters are very  heroic, so we're using it as an adjective.

So antihero is someone who does not have these  traditional heroic qualities like courage, but.

Even though they don't have those  qualities, they're still admired.

Now you probably hear about antiheroes  more in movies, plays, books.

In this case, song lyrics, thinking of movies,  

the first movie that came to  my mind is the movie Deadpool.

If you haven't seen the movie Deadpool,  I highly recommend it because it's  

hilarious and this character is  a classic example of an antihero.

So now let's continue on  with the rest of the lyrics.

Now remember, this is a song, so it's not  going to sound the same just reading it.

But I am not going to sing this for you.

But I have selected some of the most common.

Expressions and idioms that I think you might  

not know and will be useful for  you to have in your vocabulary.

So we're just going to focus on these  specific expressions that I've highlighted,  

and after I explain everything, I've  included the link to where you can.

Listen to.

Song but with the lyrics as well,  so you can follow along with the  

lyrics so you can click this link  after you've watched the lesson.

OK so this line is when my  depression works the graveyard shift.

So here what I have highlighted  to work the graveyard shift.

The graveyard shift.

This is actually a time period, and it's a  time period at work that begins late at night,  

so usually around midnight,  and ends early in the morning.

So you might work from 12:00 midnight  to 6:00 AM and there are many people  

who would have to work the graveyard  shift, such as doctors, nurses, police.

And firefighters, my earlier example,  and of course many others as well.

What about you?

Have you ever worked the graveyard shift?

Share in the comments below  as an example sentence.

You could say I'm exhausted from working the  graveyard shift all week, so that's what it means.

Now she's saying my depression, so  she's saying her depression starts.

Affecting her around midnight and  it lasts all night into the morning.

So that's a very negative thing because  obviously you're not going to sleep very  

well if your depression works  the grave night shift, right?

So let's.

Go to our next sentence, she says.

All of the people I've.

Ghosted stand there in the room.

Now I just want to point out, as we're  going through this song, just remember this.

Is a song.

Taylor Swift wrote it, and the song  is kind of like a dream she had.

The lyrics don't really make a lot of sense.

In terms of telling a story, it's like if you try  

to tell someone about your dream and it  probably wouldn't make a lot of sense.

So just keep that in mind as  we're reviewing the lyrics.

All of the people I've ghosted have you  heard this expression to ghost someone?

I've been ghosted I.

Ghosted him.

I ghosted her.

This is a new expression.

That has only been used probably  for the last five to 10 years.

When you go someone, you suddenly  disappear from that person's life,  

but you don't tell the person that  you're ending the relationship.

And the relationship could be  a romantic relationship, but it  

could also be a friendship as well, so let's say.

You started a new friendship with someone  and you hung out three or four times.

You went to the movies, you got coffee,  you went out for dinner together,  

and then all of a sudden in that  person doesn't talk to you anymore.

You send them a message.

Hey, do you want to get together this weekend?

No reply.

You send them another message.

Hey, did you get my last message?

No reply.

That person just ghosted you.

So I wrote the definition here for you.

And let me give you another example sentence.

We went out on three dates,  but then she ghosted me.

She just stopped.

Replying to my messages.

Stop sending me messages and she  didn't tell me or explain why.

The next sentence is I should  not be left to my own devices.

This is an idiom to leave  someone to their own devices.

Notice the plural.

It's devices.

Plural devices.

And this is to allow someone to make  their own decisions about what to do.

So by saying I should not be left  to my own devices, Taylor Swift is  

saying that she should not be allowed to  make her own decisions about what to do.

Here's another example sentence.

My boss never leaves me to my own.

Devices.

So my boss doesn't allow me to  make my own decisions, of course.

In this context, it's about  a workplace decisions, right?

So it's a very.

Common expression more so  used in a business context,  

but as you can see with Taylor Swift, you  can use it in a general context as well.

Let's continue on with our lyrics.

They come with prices and vices.

Well, that rhymes, prices, vices.

What does vice mean?

Well, a vice is a noun and  it simply means a bad habit.

So remember, her line before is that she  shouldn't be left to her own devices.

She shouldn't be able to make her own decisions.

If she does well, then she has a lot of bad  habits that will influence her decision,  

so that could be a reason  why she shouldn't be left.

To her own devices.

Now we use this quite a lot with bad habits  that aren't that bad of habits like chocolate.

A lot of people will say chocolate  is my main vice in life, which is  

saying you know you shouldn't eat so  much chocolate, but you do anyway.

It's a bad habit of yours, so you can use this  with more serious vices like drugs and alcohol,  

but we also use it with more light vices like  chocolate or McDonald's or things like that.

Maybe listening to too much Taylor Swift  is your vice, because you should be.

Working and not listening to Taylor.

OK, let's continue on.

That I don't think you'll understand  because you got tired of my scheming.

So remember, we're skipping quite a lot  because we're just focusing on specific.

Now, what does it mean to Scheme?

When you scheme, it's when you make plans,  

But those plans are secret and  the purpose of those plans is to.

Deceive others.

Deceive simply means you want them to believe  

or do something that isn't  true or isn't good for them.

So it's a negative thing to scheme, to scheme.

How can we trick someone?

How can we do something that  will benefit us but not?

Them Here's an example for you.

My kids have been scheming to avoid chores.

So imagine your kids are like, how can we tell  mom that we don't need to clean the bathroom?

Or how can we get dad to do the dishes for us?

That's scheming.

And then they talk back and forth to each other.

We can tell them we have homework to do,  but then they don't actually have homework.

It's just this scheme, right?

So.

Of course this is more of a light hearted example,  but it can be used in a more negative way as well.

You can scheme to try to  cheat or steal, for example.

So because you.

Got tired of my scheming.

So someone, whoever the you.

Is was tired of.

Taylor Swift always creating these plans  to deceive that person Scheming and it  

makes sense that the person would get  tired of it, not want her to do that.

The chorus is pretty.

OK then the?

There's just one word that I'll point out.

I'll stare directly at the  sun, but never in the mirror.

So to stare, this is.

The same as look.

So right now I'm looking here.

But notice when I look, you  know, sometimes my eyes will  

move a little bit or I'll blink my eyes,  but when you stare, it's really intense.

And I look directly at you and  I don't blink, I'm just staring.

So it can be very intimidating  when you stare at someone,  

and it's considered rude or impolite in  North American culture at least, to stare.

But in this example.

Staring directly at the sun,  

which is actually something you should  not do because it can hurt your eyes.

You shouldn't stare at the sun.

So let me.

Leave that as your example sentence.

You shouldn't stare at the sun  because you could hurt your eyes.

So don't take that advice from Taylor Swift.

But she never stares in the mirror.

So she doesn't look at herself.

For a long period of time, intensely in  the mirror, so I left the definition of.

Stare for you as.

Well, now let's continue on.

It must be exhausting always rooting for.

The antihero.

You know what antihero is, so  let's talk about the verb to root.

And notice you root for someone or  you can root for something as well.

Here's the definition.

When you root for someone,  you want that person or team.

To win or to achieve something specific  in the sense of a promotion or a job,  

they win that promotion, they win that job.

So you can think of it really as winning.

We do use.

This a lot in sports, so  let's say it was the world.

Cup and we had France and  Argentina in the playoffs, right?

So you would ask someone, Who are you rooting for?

Who are you rooting for?

Which team are you rooting for?

You're asking them who do you want to win?

Are you rooting for France or  are you rooting for Argentina?

Why are you rooting for France?

And then you can explain why.

Now seeing, let's say there's two people.

Up for a job promotion?

Fred and Nancy, are you rooting for Fred?

Or are you?

Rooting for Nancy.

You have two candidates. Or it could be in a political.

Are you rooting for candidate X or candidate Y?

So let me just leave that example sentence with  sports, because that is probably the most common  

time you'll use it.

Are you rooting for France or Argentina?

And then whoever you're rooting  for is the person or team.

You want to win?

Okay.

It must be exhausting.

Always rooting for the antihero.

So you want the antihero to win, remember?

I highly recommend.

You listen to the song with the.

Lyrics and then you can see all this new  vocabulary and you can listen to the song.

Did you know that?

Is the most popular song according to the  charts right now at the time of this recording.

That's why I chose it, OK?

And remember I said it seems like the  lyrics don't really make a lot of sense.

They don't tell a story.

It's more like she's talking about her dream.

Sometimes I feel like everybody is a sexy baby.

Like that's something you might have dreamt about.

Last night, right?

So that's why I'm not going through.

It word for word, and I'm  focusing on specific words.

Did you hear my covert narcissism?

I disguise as altruism.

I'll explain some other words here because  you might be wondering about covert.

Covert simply means secret.

Secret or Hidden?

This is used a lot.

In a military context,  they're on a covert mission.

So it's a mission that's secret.

The general public has no knowledge of it.

They're on a covert mission.

They're working on a covert project for.

So it's used more in military,  but it could also be used at work.

You could be working.

On a covert project within your company.

Now let's talk about narcissism and altruism.

Narcissism is having too much  self-interest interest in your  

own appearance or it could also be your abilities.

As well.

And covert narcissism is I'm trying to hide it.

I'm trying to keep this interest in  myself secret or hidden from others.

Altruism, on the other hand.

Is more of the opposite.

Of narcissism.

Because altruistic people are more concerned  about others, not themselves, and it's that  

willingness to do things for others, even  if it means sacrificing your own needs.

That's altruism.

Now let's talk about disguise.

When you disguise something, you trying to hide  it, and in this case it's a feeling or an emotion.

But we also try.

You can try to disguise yourself.

I could try to disguise myself  by wearing, oh, a black wig,  

so I could have black hair  instead of my normal hair.

I could wear glasses, and I could wear  different clothing so I don't look like myself.

Nobody would recognize me if they saw  me on the street, for example, you.

So you can disguise yourself.

But in this case, she's talking  about disguising an emotion,  

so trying to hide that  emotion with another emotion.

So she's trying to hide her narcissism,  which is interest in herself, her secret  

narcissism as altruism, interest in other people.

So that's a very.

Interesting lyric, to be honest.

It's very well written.

Let's continue on.

OK, our chorus again.

So remember we saw stare and rooting  and we already discussed that.

Now let's take a look at daughterinlaw again.

This is what caused me to say this is  more like her talking about her dream.

Because when I first saw this, I was  really confused because Taylor Swift  

cannot have a daughterinlaw.

She's too young to have a daughterinlaw because a  

daughterinlaw is the woman who is  married to your son or daughter.

So if Taylor Swift had a daughterinlaw,  Taylor Swift would have to have a child,  

a son or a daughter, but that child would  have to be old enough to be married.

And then the person her child marries  

is either her daughterinlaw for  a woman or soninlaw for a man.

Now obviously that's not possible,  but if you're in your mid.

To late 40s.

Or 50s, Sixties.

Then you could definitely have a daughterinlaw.

But.

You possibly have a motherinlaw.

A motherinlaw is the mother  of your husband or wife.

So in the song she says I have this dream.

My daughterinlaw kills me for the money.

She thinks I left them in the will.

OK, that sounds like a common  dream that one could have.

Now the will a will is.

A legal.

Document and it outlines how your assets Now your  assets could be your money, your house, your car  

or any other possessions will be distributed  which means given to other people after.

You die now.

I wonder what?

This is in In your native language.

Do you use the terminology will just  translated in your native language?

I wonder.

Let me know in the comments.

I'm curious about that.

Okay, she thinks she, the daughterinlaw  thinks I left them in the will.

That's funny.

All right, so it's the chorus  again and oh, that's it.

You are doing so awesome.

Make sure you.

Listen to the.

Song Listen to the vocabulary you just learned.

And when you're ready, let's move on with  our next song, Flowers by Miley Cyrus.

Here we go.

Let's get started with the song review  and we'll go through this song together.

Now keep in mind, for copyright  purposes I'm not allowed to.

Play the song, but I have included the link to.

Where you can listen to the song.

With the lyrics, so you.

Can learn what the lyrics mean and then after this  lesson you can listen to the song with the lyrics.

The song starts by saying.

We were good.

We were.

Gold kind of dream that can't be sold.

We were good.

We were gold.

I said I wasn't going to sing.

Notice the.

Verb tense.

Here we were good.

What verb?

Tense is this.

Of course it's the past simple of the verb to be,  

so it means of course they are no longer good,  which implies this is a song about a breakup.

A breakup.

A breakup is when a couple, a romantic couple, is  together, but then they break up and they're no.

Longer together, That's a breakup.

So here I gave you some examples.

So you could say this is a breakup.

Good.

This is a song about a breakup.

This is our noun.

And here we're no longer together.

We broke up.

This is the phrasal verb break  up, and this is the past form.

Broke is the past simple of break we.

We're not anymore.

We were gold.

We're not anymore Kind of  dream that can't be sold.

In music, it's very common to reduce certain words  

for pronunciation purposes  because it flows smoother.

Kinda is a reduction of the.

Word kind of.

And in this case it means the kind of dream.

So it's talking about the type  of dream, the kind of dream,  

the type of dream, kind of  dream that can't be sold.

We were right till we weren't.

Built a home and watched it burn.

So here when they were still  a couple before they broke up.

They built a home together, and then they  broke up, and now they're watching it burn.

Of course, metaphorically, not literally.

They're watching all their  memories, their time together.

Burn so this.

Sets the tone of the song.

I didn't want to leave you.

We know it's going to be a  sad song about a breakup.

Now this is the pre.

Wanna is a reduction.

It's the word want to.

But when you're singing,  

it's a lot easier to say I didn't wanna  than saying I didn't want to leave you.

So it's just easier to say in spoken  English, especially when you're singing.

So this is.

Saying that it wasn't Miley's decision.

Break up to end the relationship.

I didn't want to leave you.

I didn't want to lie.

I'm not sure what they're lying about.

A lie is, of course, when you do not tell.

The truth to lie.

Now notice the verb I'm using here.

You tell the truth.

In this case, truth is a noun  and we do not use the verb say.

You never say the truth and you never say lies.

You always tell the truth or you tell lies.

But when you use tell, tell is  your verb and lies is a noun.

It doesn't have to be plural.

You could tell all lie, or you  can tell lies in the plural.

But for truth, there's only one truth, right?

Which is why we use the truth and it's singular.

But you can say all lie or lies in plural.

But again.

Lies and truth.

That's the noun, and the verb is tell.

But you can also use lie as a verb.

For example, I lied to my boyfriend.

This is our.

Verb lie And it's in the past.

Simple. I lied to my boyfriend.

I didn't want to lie.

Started to cry, but then I remembered.

Now the song goes into the chorus.

And although this is a breakup song, the  song becomes more optimistic, more upbeat.

In the chorus.

I can buy myself flowers,  write my name in the sand.

Now notice she doesn't repeat this.

I can, but it's implied for every line.

I can write my name in the sand, I can talk to  myself for hours, but that would sound quite.

Repetitive to say it over and over, so this I  can applies to all the actions by myself Flowers.

So someone else usually gives you flowers, right?

I can buy myself flowers,  write my name in the sand.

Because normally when you're in love,  you write your name with your initials  

and your boyfriend or girlfriend's  initials in the sand with a big heart.

Around it.

So she's saying I can write my name  in the sand, talk to myself for hours.

This is a good.

Time reference here for hours.

This is a nonspecific amount of  time, but it sounds like a long time.

For example, we.

Worked on the project.

For hours four hours.

That sounds like a long time.

Even though you don't specify it now,  

you can specify the time and say  we worked on the project for.

Three hours and be more specific, but if you don't  include a specific quantity and just say 4 hours.

It sounds like a long period of time.

Now this time reference for hours is flexible  and you can use it in different verb tenses.

For example, you can use it in the  present perfect continuous and you  

can say we've been working  on the project for hours.

So remember 4 hours just means a long period  of time and it's in the present perfect  

continuous because it shows that the actions  started in the past and continues until now.

Now, and we actually don't know when the  action will stop but this one in the past?

Simple. It's a completed action.

You're not working on it anymore,  but yesterday or last week.

You.

Worked on the project for hours.

Coming back to our song Talk to myself for hours.

I can talk to myself for a long period of time.

I can see things you don't understand.

I can take myself dancing.

Notice this sentence structure.

You can take someone and then you  have an activity or a location.

So generally someone else will take you dancing.

They will come to your house  and you'll get in the car and  

you will go together to a club and go dancing.

Right.

But Miley is saying I can take.

Myself dancing, You don't have to  use this in a romantic context.

Of course, for example.

I took my mom, so I.

Went.

I got my mom and then.

Together we went to.

The doctor's appointment.

I took my mom to her doctor's appointment.

We waited 4 hours for a.

Long period of time.

So generally we use this when we  want to express some frustration.

Oh, I was stuck in traffic for hours.

Okay, let's continue on  and I can hold my own hand.

So of course, let's say this.

Is your boyfriend or your husband?

It's very common to hold hands, to hold hands.

And she's just joking and saying I don't need you,  

I can hold my own hand,  which I think is quite funny.

I can love me better than you can.

Notice our sentence structure here.

This is a comparative sentence.

I can.

And then a certain activity.

And then we have our comparative  adjective better than someone can.

Let's review these two sentences here.

Miley can sing better than I can.

That's true.

Or I can say Miley can sing better than me.

Notice the difference between these two sentences.

In this one I have I.

And then can because I'm using a verb.

You need a subject before the verb.

I can now, Miley.

Uses this word.

Can a lot in her chorus, which is  probably why she ended it on can  

rather than just saying better than you,  better than you, better than you can.

Now you can also just say better than  someone, and in this case you want a pronoun.

Miley can sing better than me  and the next part just repeats.

Can love me better over  and over again in the song.

Now the next part, paint my nails.

So that's when you put nail Polish.

You paint your nails with nail Polish.

Paint my nails.

Cherry Red the color match the roses  that you left, so match well what is?

Being matched here, when you match, you have  two or more things that are coming together.

So we have cherry red which is a bright red  and then we have roses which are also red.

So I can say, oh look, my  nail Polish matches the roses.

The sentence structure is X matches Y.

Our verb is match and it just means X.

The nail Polish combines well with Y,  combines well in the sense that it.

Is similar to, similar to.

So if I'm wearing this.

Sweater, I might say.

What lipstick will match this sweater?

Or what jewelry will match this sweater?

What combines well with this sweater?

And you can do that for paint.

When you're painting your room,  does the paint match the chair?

Does the pillow match the chair, for example?

OK, let's continue on.

No remorse, no regret.

These are two great words, especially  in the context of a breakup song.

Remorse is a deep feeling  of sadness for a wrongdoing.

So let's say Miley cheated on her  boyfriend and that's why they broke up.

It's considered wrong to cheat on someone, right?

So that's all wrong.

A wrongdoing is something,  

an action that is considered wrong by  society or by your own personal values.

So if Miley cheated on her boyfriend,  

she might feel remorse, which is  a really deep feeling of sadness.

Now regret is very similar  to remorse, to be honest.

It's a feeling of sadness over something  that has happened so very similar.

Both of them are negative emotions.

I would say remorse.

It's.

A deeper feeling.

It's a more painful feeling and also there's  always a wrong doing associated with it.

Whereas regret you didn't  necessarily do something wrong.

Maybe you regret.

Not applying for a job, but it isn't  wrong to not apply for that job.

It's just a decision that you made.

So there's very similar, but  just used in different context.

So no remorse.

She doesn't feel a deep feeling of  sadness for a wrongdoing and no regret.

She doesn't regret ending the relationship.

She doesn't regret telling the person  that she doesn't love them anymore.

No regret.

I forgive every word you said.

When you forgive someone, it means  you're no longer mad at them.

Now we got into the course again  and it's the same as before.

Before, she said.

I didn't want to lie and now she's  saying I didn't want to fight.

When two people fight, it's when they're  in an argument or a disagreement.

Ba ba ba ba ba. That's.

You know, they're fighting.

Oh, my parents are.

Fighting again or?

My two friends are fighting again.

You don't just.

Have to fight.

With a romantic relationship, you can fight with  your sibling, You can fight with your friend.

So when you get into a disagreement and  you're mad at each other, you can say.

We're.

Here are two example sentences.

My sister and I fight a lot.

Very common for siblings to fight.

My husband and I rarely fight.

So fight is the only word that's different here.

And then it goes right into the  chorus, which we already reviewed.

So now.

And we reviewed this already.

And this is the chorus again.

And this is the chorus again.

So that is the end of the song.

So now you know all the lyrics from the song.

So again.

Click on this link, it will be in the description  

below and I want you to listen to  Miley Cyrus's song and you can.

Follow along with the lyrics as well.

Oh, you have already learned.

So.

Many advanced expressions, grammar  concepts, and pronunciation as well.

I have one more song for you.

This is.

A.

Classic song yesterday by The B.

Beatles. Let's do it.

It's an oldie but a goodie.

We're reviewing the song yesterday by The  Beatles, so let's go through the lyrics together.

Yesterday all my troubles seemed.

So far away, Of course you'll need to notice  that our keyword is yesterday, so notice all the.

Verbs that are.

Going to be in the past?

Simple, because we're talking about yesterday.

Yesterday, all my troubles, all my troubles.

This is another way of saying  problems or difficulties.

All my problems, all my  difficulties seemed so far away.

Of course our verb in the past simple seemed.

They seemed so far away.

Now it looks as though they're here to stay.

Let's take a look at this.

It looks as though this is used to.

Show probability you can think of.

As 75% probable, so 75% chance  that something will happen.

So here the something is that his  problems, his troubles are here to stay.

Now it looks as though.

Is not the most commonly used.

It sounds a little outdated,  a little formal perhaps.

And remember, The Beatles are  from quite a long time ago.

Today, more commonly we say it looks as.

You know what?

It looks as if they're here to stay.

So it looks as though is grammatically correct,  

but in my opinion it's more common to  say it looks as if they're here to stay.

They have the exact same.

Meaning now, to show you an example sentence,  you could say it looks as though or as if  

it'll rain, it'll rain.

Here, notice I use a contraction.

It'll it'll rain.

The full form is it will rain.

So again I might look out my window, see some dark  clouds and then say oh it looks as if it'll rain.

I'm saying it's about 75% probable.

You can also use.

It looks like and in this case  you could say it looks like rain.

A little difference.

When we use it looks like generally  what comes next is a noun.

So in this case rain is a noun.

It looks like plus noun is more common.

When you use it looks like.

And then when you use, it looks  as though as if we have a clause.

It looks as though they're here to stay.

Oh, I believe in yesterday.

Now just quickly notice the preposition  

is always important to remember which  prepositions are used with which words.

Believe in you, believe in something.

And a very nice thing to say  to someone is I believe in you.

So if your friend tells.

You They want to be the next Beatles.

They want to be.

An amazing singer-songwriter,  you can say I believe in you.

I believe in your vision, your goals, your dreams.

I believe in you.

It's a very nice thing to say so.

Say that to.

Someone today.

It will make them very happy and  I believe in you, all of you,  

and your ability to become a fluent, confident  English speaker, hopefully with my help.

Let's continue on now.

I will also let you know that  

you can download the free lesson PDF so you  don't need to worry about writing everything  

down because you can download the free lesson  PDF that will have all the notes from the lesson.

So you can look in the description of this video,  

or you can look in the chat in  the first comment pinned to.

Find the lesson PDF.

Let's continue on.

Suddenly I'm not half the man I used to be.

Suddenly we use this of course for time.

Suddenly there is not a lot of  time when an action happens.

So you can say suddenly the phone rang suddenly.

My boss gave me a promotion,  

so this expresses that it happened very  quickly and often unexpectedly as well.

So quickly and I'll put in  brackets and unexpectedly,  

suddenly I'm not half the man I used to be.

Let's take a look at this, a very  common past simple expression.

I used to be a writer.

For example, I used to be a writer.

This means I am not a writer  now, but it was a routine action.

In the past.

I used to, I used to notice my pronunciation.

You don't hear this D at all.

I used to.

I used to.

I used to be a writer.

I used to work.

At a bank I used to live.

In Hawaii, that's not true.

None of these are true, actually.

So you try 1.

Leave an example sentence with I used to.

Now you could say she used to.

There'd be no difference in  the conjugation, of course,  

because this is a past simple verb  and it's the same for all subjects.

So here I could put they used to work.

At a bank.

She used to live in a in Hawaii,  so try some example sentences.

Remember the spelling?

Here we have an Ed, but you  don't hear it in pronunciation.

Let's continue on.

There's a shadow hanging over me.

This is a very poetic.

Line.

Of course a shadow is.

An area of darkness caused by  the absence of light, actually.

You can see a little.

Bit of a shadow right here in the corner.

It's a little bit of a dark spot,  

just the way the light is reflecting against  an object on my wall that you can't see.

There's a little bit of a shadow, so the.

Shadow hanging over him could be  the the image of this woman that  

he's talking about in this song and it's just.

Her image is just there with him.

I'm not sure if.

That's what it means.

It's very poetic, but that's  what a shadow is, at least.

So when you're taking a picture,  you want to be mindful of shadows.

Because you.

Want to remove as many shadows as you can?

Oh, yesterday, came suddenly notice.

Here suddenly.

We have before we had it at the beginning.

Suddenly I'm not the I'm not  half the man I used to be.

And here we have it at the end.

This adverb is quite flexible,  you can put it at different parts.

Yesterday came suddenly, I said  before suddenly the phone rang.

I could also say the phone rang suddenly.

Suddenly so it's a flexible adverb.

Of course, our past simple  came because it's yesterday.

So this is a great beginner song  to practice the past simple.

Why she had to go.

Remember this is a song.

This is actually not grammatically correct though.

Do you know why?

What's the grammar error here?

Why she had to go?

Why she had to go.

Well, we know this is a question  because there's a question mark here,  

and it starts with why, which is a question mark.

When we have a WH question  in this form, we need why.

Do you know how to correct this?

Why did she have to go?

Why did she have to go?

Now notice I change.

Had to have.

Why?

Because my past simple is here.

Why did and then you use the base.

Verb because my past simple  is already indicated with the  

auxiliary verb do conjugated in the past simple.

Why did she have to go as a song?

It probably sounds better to say this,  even though it is grammatically correct.

Incorrect.

So let me just write this so you  don't say this in your speech.

Grammatically incorrect.

And then this is grammatically correct.

Why did she have to go?

I don't know.

She wouldn't say.

She wouldn't say wouldn't is our modal verb.

In this case, it's being used  to suggest a unwillingness.

For example, she wouldn't help me.

She wouldn't help me, She wouldn't help me.

There's an unwillingness.

She could help me.

She had the ability.

To help me.

But she didn't.

She wouldn't help me.

Now important, grammatically,  when you have a modal verb,  

your next verb needs to be the base verb,  not the infinitive modal plus base verb.

So we don't say she wouldn't to say because that's  the infinitive to say she wouldn't to help me.

No, that's incorrect.

Now it's also possible she.

Would help me, she would help me.

And here it's not.

She would to help me because  that's the infinitive.

We don't want that.

We want our base burp.

She would help me.

She wouldn't help me.

She refused to help me.

I don't know.

She wouldn't say I said something wrong.

Now I long for yesterday.

This is a very poetic.

Expression.

Honestly, I don't think you'll  use it too much in your speech,  

but it is a very nice poetic expression and  you may hear it in other songs, movies, TV and.

Most likely poetry as well.

I long for When you long for  something, you really, really, really.

Want it?

That you might say I long for summer, for example.

There's a strong desire. Right now it's winter.

It's very.

Cold I.

Long for summer.

I long to see the trees in bloom, the  trees in bloom, the flowers in bloom.

Notice, because I have a verb here, I use the  infinitive I long to see the trees in bloom.

I long for summer.

Summer is a noun.

So we use.

4 plus noun.

Let me write this 4 plus.

Noun and then you use infinitive if you're  going to use a verb so long plus infinitive  

and this is long plus 4 plus.

Noun.

Now, because long is a verb,  you do need to conjugate it.

She longs for summer.

She longed for summer.

That would be in the past.

Simple, of course.

She longs for summer.

I long to see the trees in bloom.

It sounds very poetic.

Honestly, I probably wouldn't say that  because it does sound very poetic.

I probably wouldn't say it to my  friends, but it sounds beautiful to me.

So why don't you try that in the comments below?

Try.

Sharing something that you long for  or you can use a hypothetical she, he.

We long for as well.

Let's continue on.

Yesterday, Love was such an easy game to play.

Of course, our verb to be in the past simple  conjugated with our subject, which is love.

That's why it's was.

Now I need a place to hide A way.

Oh, I believe in yesterday again.

I believe in you.

I believe in your abilities.

I believe in your talent.

You got this.

Let's continue on.

Okay, this is back to the course.

So I don't think there's anything new here.

Why she had to go?

We already talked about this.

This is the same as before,  and that's the end of the song.

So it's a simple song, but it's a great  reminder of the past simple because it's  

about yesterday and there's some very  nice expressions in this song as well.

So now what I recommend is that you.

Listen to the song.

So the link to listen to the song  and follow along with the lyrics  

is in the free lesson PDF that  you can download this exact PDF.

And you can listen to this song.

I hope you enjoyed this lyric review.

So what did you think about this lesson?

Did you enjoy learning English with music?

Would you like me to create more lessons?

Where we review song lyrics?

If so, put more, more, more in the comments so  I know you enjoyed this lesson and you can get  

this free speaking guide where I share 6 tips on  how to speak English fluently and confidently.

You can click here to download it or look for the.

Link in the description.

And why don't you get started  with your next lesson right now?