I Live for You

Question

Isn't there something odd in the first verse of this Cliff Richard song?

I LIVE FOR YOU

(Pete Chester - Hank B. Marvin)

I love you darling, I live for you

Why did you cheat me, and be untrue?

When you knew, yes you knew

I live for you

CB

Mister Micawber · Accepted Answer

You mean semantically?  There are a couple of obvious punctuation problems.

Cool Breeze · Answer

Mister Micawber There are a couple of obvious punctuation problems.

I understand that, yes. I just copied the words exactly as they were written where I found them. I think it's very common to omit periods and commas when the lyrics of songs are printed. That's not what I had in mind. To my mind, there is a grammatical oddity in the lyrics. Actually, I would say there's something grammatically incorrect.

I don't know how natives see this, though. In English many ungrammatical things are perfectly good idiomatic English!

That's why I'm interested in all opinions.

CB

Regards · Answer

Cool BreezeIsn't there something odd in the first verse of this Cliff Richard song?
CB

Hi,

CB, I think you should take into account that we're talking about a song -- hence its grammar issues.

Songs writers commonly don't apply the grammar rules to their songs as we do to our written stuff in English.

You'll find that most of the popular songs consist of simple words or anecdotes, which sometimes have

nothing to do with proper English grammar. In addition, the punctuation might appear inappropriate, but I presume you cannot judge it as you are not the original writer of the song. Likewise, you can simply distinguish between songs and formal material because songs involve emotions, personal identify and experiences. Furthermore, when one attempts to realize the intended meaning that the song conveys, one should be able to do so without struggling with complex grammar. Therefore, you don't have to analyze each word appearing in the song even if it seems or sounds odd. Unlike you, I don't detect anything wrong with this song because I'm happy with my having read it. I'm not going to judge the writer for his being honest; I appreciate the way he expresses himself and accept it completely. Bear in mind that love has no language. Even three words can be powerful and significant when you use them properly. The whole idea is quite sophisticated, but as long as you learn how to ignore such insignificant issues, you'll truly be able to derive pleasure from its both natural and clean reading.

Regards

Cool Breeze · Answer

Why did you cheat me? OK

Why did you be untrue?

Be sounds good because there is another infinitive (cheat) before it. However, why did you be isn't correct grammar.

CB

Regards · Answer

Hi,

It's indeed not good grammar because there are songs which do not pretend correct grammar.

I agree it shouldn't have read why did you be, yet I think it shouldn't be our main interest while reading

a song or a poem.

Regards

I Live for You

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