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Do you love learning English through song lyrics? How about with one of the most successful and talented songstresses of our generation? Ms. Taylor Alison Swift. Her song “Teardrops on My Guitar” is a story of a love that is unrequited — or one person who is in love with someone who doesn’t love them back. Within the lyrics are several English words and phrases that can be difficult to understand. Here are seven of those challenging words and phrases and explanations of each one to help you grasp their significance and better understand the song, but also to help you be able to use them in your every day, outside of belting Taylor Swift in the car.
But first, let’s listen to the song:
Fake a smile
- The lyric: “I fake a smile so he won’t see”
- The meaning: To fake something is to do something that isn’t real. So to fake a smile is to smile and to look happy when you actually feel sad or even angry.
- Example sentence: I really didn’t think the joke was funny but I knew Bob was sad so I made sure to fake a smile anyways.
Have to live without
- The lyric: “And she’s got everything that I have to live without”
- The meaning: To have to live without something means that there is something you want very badly, or potentially that you need, but you cannot have that thing so you have to carry on with your life anyways.
- Example sentence: My car is getting old and I’d love to upgrade it but I don’t have the money so I’ll have to live without a new car for now.
Teardrops
- The lyric: “He’s the Reason for the Teardrops on My Guitar”
- The meaning: When we cry our eyes produce tears. One of these is a teardrop, and many of them are teardrops. The word “teardrop” can also be used to describe the shape we often use when drawing a drop of water — small at the top and larger and rounded at the bottom.
- Example sentence: Her teardrops stained the collar of her shirt as she sat and cried.
Wishing star
- The lyric: “The only thing that keeps me wishing on a wishing star”
- The meaning: A wishing star can also be called a a lucky star or a dream star. It is a star that shoots across the sky. When people see a wishing star it is beloved they can make a wish and it will come true. Of course this is a fairytale. And actually wishing stars are not actually stars but rather meteors.
- Example sentence: I saw a wishing star last night, I hope I get what I asked for.
Flawless
- The lyric: “The kind of flawless I wish I could be”
- The meaning: Flawless is a synonym for perfect. It means without flaw or to be extraordinary or ideal.
- Example sentence: That was a flawless performance, she didn’t make a single mistake and she looked exceptional.
Hold him tight
- The lyric: “She’d better hold him tight, give him all her love”
- The meaning: To hold someone tight means to hug them very closely or to cuddle them. This can be done by a partner or perhaps a parent, it does not always show a romantic love but just a strong one.
- Example sentence: I though I’d lost my beloved dog, so when he came home I held him tight that night.
Break my heart
- The lyric: The only one who’s got enough of me to break my heart
- The meaning: To break someone’s heart means to hurt them or make them very sad. This is often because of romantic love, but it is also possible for someone or something to break your heart who you do not have a romantic love for.
- Example sentence: Watching my young children go to school for the first time makes me so happy but it also breaks my heart to watch them grow up so fast.
I hope looking at these seven words helps you better understand the meaning of Taylor Swift’s song “Teardrops On My Guitar”! If there are other songs you’d love to understand better, why not book a lesson and we can talk through the lyrics together?
