David Fermers Lyric Lane: „Breathing“ by Jason Derulo
The human body doesn’t need much to survive. The most important things in life are food, water, oxygen and sleep. The human body is an amazing machine. We have a heart to pump blood around our body, from head to toe, a stomach to process the food we eat, and lungs to breathe. Everybody knows that if a person stops breathing for a long time, they’re going to have a serious problem. Without breathing, not even water or sleep can help us survive. We all know what it’s like to hold our breath for a minute or two. We start breathing again when our faces turn red and we don’t feel good. Some people can even hold their breath for three to four minutes. But without breathing, it takes about six minutes before our brain cells start to die. Then our hearts stop beating and it’s time to say goodbye.
So when Jason Derulo sings about „Breathing“ in his latest song, he’s talking about something that nobody can live without. „I only miss you when I’m breathing“ he sings in the chorus of his electro R&B song. What he’s saying, of course, is that he misses the person he’s singing about all the time, every minute of the day, every second of the night. „I only need you when my heart is beating“ is another way of saying the same thing. „This ain’t no ordinary feeling“, he tells us. „It’s you that’s keeping me alive.“ Like oxygen and water.
Derulo has said that he wrote the song following the death of his cousin. „You are the only thing that I believe in / I know you’re coming back to me / and I will be waiting for you until the end.“ Derulo knows about having to say goodbye. His parents come from the Caribbean island of Haiti which we all know from the terrible earthquake which hit the island in January 2010, killing thousands of people. Derulo wasn’t there at the time, because his parents had moved to Miami in the USA, where Derulo was born. When he was older, Derulo went to an Arts and Drama school in Florida and starting making music. Then he changed his name from Desrouleaux to Derulo to make it easier to pronounce. And now he is a star. The simple message of „Breathing“ is something people all around the world can understand.
Vokabeln
to survive = überleben;
oxygen = Sauerstoff;
lungs = Lungen;
to breathe = atmen;
to hold one’s breath = den Atem anhalten;
to beat = schlagen;
chorus = Refrain;
to keep something alive = etwas am Leben halten;
death = Tod;
to believe = glauben;
earthquake = Erdbeben;
to pronounce = aussprechen;
message = Botschaft
