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What can I do (The Corrs) (Ireland)
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A romantic and sad song about a heartache.

You can sing to the karaoke version here.

I haven't slept at all in days
It's been so long since we've talked
And I have been here many times
I just don't know what I'm doing wrong

What can I do to make you love me?
What can I do to make you care?
What can I say to make you feel this?
What can I do to get you there?

There's only so much I can take
And I just got to let it go
And who knows I might feel better, yeah
If I don't try and I don't hope

What can I do to make you love me?
What can I do to make you care?
What can I say to make you feel this?
What can I do to get you there?

No more waiting, no more aching...
No more fighting, no more trying...

Maybe there's nothing more to say
And in a funny way I'm calm
Because the power is not mine
I'm just gonna let it fly

What can I do to make you love me?
What can I do to make you care?
What can I say to make you feel this?
What can I do to get you there?

What can I do to make you love me?
What can I do to make you care?
What can I change to make you feel this?
What can I do to get you there?

And love me... love me...

I HAVEN’T SLEPT= We use the present perfect tense to talk about a present situation caused by a past action, for instance:
- I have bought a new car = now I have a new car (because I bought it)
When she says "I haven’t slept at all in days" she’s not talking about her sleeping problems, but rather about her present situation: I feel physically very bad (as well as emotionally)
Another use of the present perfect tense is to talk about an action (or a series of repetitions of the same action) that started in the past but continues now in the present:
- He has phoned me every day for three weeks = and he still does
In this case, she’s not talking about how bad she feels because she needs some sleep, she says that her sleepless nights (nights without sleep) continue up to the present. That means that she hasn’t got over the situation, she is still heart-sick (very sad about her love problems).
Both interpretations would be grammatically accurate. Personally, I think the context here favours the second interpretation.

AT ALL= We use this phrase to emphasize negative and interrogative sentences:
- I don’t like her at all
- Are you listening at all?

I HAVE BEEN HERE MANY TIMES= Again, present perfect. The action is repeated up to the present, so now I’m here, but I’ve come here many times before.

WHAT CAN I DO...?= A rhetorical question: she’s not really asking anyone, she’s just expressing her puzzlement, she thinks there’s nothing more she can do about it.

CARE= The spelling AR is usually pronounced like the vowel in CAR, but when it is followed by a written vowel then it is usually pronounced like the diphthong in CHARE:
- car / care /kɑ:/ /keə/
- to mar, Mary /mɑ:*/ /mrɪ/
- far, fare /fɑ:*/ /feə*/
- bar, baring /bɑ:*/ /brɪŋ/.

TO GET YOU THERE= To make you understand, or to make you feel this the same way as me.

THERE’S ONLY SO MUCH I CAN TAKE= I can only suffer things up to a certain limit, but no more than that.

I JUST GOT TO LET IT GO= I simply have to let it go; I just must let it go.

ACHING= Feeling pain, suffering. Pronounced /kɪŋ/. If you have a pain in your head you have a "headache", if you suffer from love you have "heartache".

IN A FUNNY WAY= In a strange manner. A funny thing may be something that makes you laugh, like a joke, or something very unusual (funny= odd, strange).

CALM= We don’t pronounced the L here. /kɑ:m/

GONNA (conversational English)= Going to.

The lyrics are simple, so is the song.
But in it's simplicity it conveys a complicated situation. Loving someone who will possibly never love you back.

The speaker knows that the one she loves will never love her. She knows it's useless to try and hope. But part of her always will hope and therefore try. Love does that to you.

Shades-of-Gray

 
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