GROUP Group name: Tho Ngoc

Members:
Nguyen Thanh Dat
PROJECT 1 Pham Thi Ngoc Han
Nguyen Thi Thu Hien
Le Kim Ngan

When we were young

Adele

A. Song lyrics
Everybody loves the things you do
From the way you talk to the way you
move
Everybody here is watching you
'Cause you feel like home
You're like a dream come true
know
You look like a movie
You sound like a song
My God, this reminds me
Of when we were young

But if by chance you're here alone
Can I have a moment before I go?
'Cause I've been by myself all night
long
Hoping you're someone I used to
Let me photograph you in this light
In case it is the last time
That we might be exactly like we
were
Before we realized
We were sad of getting old
It made us restless
It was just like a movie
It was just like a song
I was so scared to face my fears
Nobody told me that you'd be here
And I swear you moved overseas
That's what you said, when you left
me
You still look like a movie
You still sound like a song
My God, this reminds me
Of when we were young
(*) Repeat
When we were young [x4]
It's hard to admit that
Everything just takes me back
To when you were there
To when you were there
And a part of me keeps holding on
Just in case it hasn't gone
I guess I still care
Do you still care?
It was just like a movie
It was just like a song
My God, this reminds me
Of when we were young
When we were young [x4]
(*) Repeat
When we were young

B. Analysis and Reflection

Unlike the greatest hits of Adele such as “Rolling in the deep”,
“Someone like you”, “Set fire to the rain”,... “When we were young” is less
popular. Let’s say it’s the song listeners find out after having listened through
those songs. This beautiful song brings a familiar feeling of love to listeners.
Throughout the song, warm memories that they have had before come
flooding back when the author reminisces about her old friend. The author
converted present simple tense into past simple tense “You look like a
movie/You sound like a song/My God, this reminds me/Of when we were
young”, which revealed that she felt nostalgic for the happy times in the past
and reminds herself of capturing every memorable moment in the present.
Although they have drifted apart for a long time, the memories they used to
have together are still alive. The past simple tense appears in “It made us
restless / It was just like a movie / It was just like a song.” Because in this
moment, her feelings about someone mentioned in the song and the moment
become one.
 The depth of emotion is expressed through only one verb phrase: “might
be exactly” in “In case it is the last time/That we might be exactly like we
were.” The modal verb “might” is utilized to express that something was
possible to happen while the word “exactly” is used with an aim at
emphasizing that something is correct in every way. The combination between
them means that the author and someone she mentioned in the song were
likely to experience the same moment again but their feeling at that time is
not totally as precise as the first one.
The subtle transition of tenses from present simple into past simple and
word choice contributes to the profound meaning of the song. The author
wants to pass on a valuable message to everyone that we should not always
look back on and regret the past, keep enjoying our own current life.