What the song is about
The singer describes his family as a family tree that keeps growing. He starts with his parents and siblings, then his grandparents, then his uncle, aunt and cousins who come to visit, and finally a nephew, a niece and his wife. The chorus says that the family is where he belongs: like the roots of a tree, it holds him up and catches him when he falls.
Useful words: family members
- mother / father: together they are your parents
- brother / sister: together they are your siblings
- grandmother / grandfather: your parents' parents (grandparents)
- uncle / aunt: your parents' brother and sister
- cousins: the children of your uncle and aunt
- nephew / niece: the son and daughter of your brother or sister
- wife: the woman you are married to (for a man, husband)
- relations: all the people in your family (also relatives)
Useful expressions
- family tree: a picture showing all the people in a family and how they are connected
- where I belong: the place or people where I feel at home
- silver hair: a kind way to say grey or white hair
- the moments that we get to share: get to + verb means "have the chance to"
- stay up late: go to bed late
- The apple doesn't fall far from the tree: a common idiom meaning children are similar to their parents
- the blood in my veins: a poetic way to talk about being related by birth
- a bond: a strong connection between people
Grammar
- Present simple for things that are generally true or happen regularly: My grandmother tells me a story, We talk and we listen, we help when we can. Note the -s with he/she: my grandfather makes, my family tree is.
- Present continuous for something happening now or changing: my family tree is growing, my cousins are laughing.
- Possessive my: the song repeats my mother, my father, my brother..., a good pattern for talking about your own family.
- Have for features: They have silver hair, We have the same eyes.
- First conditional idea with if: catching me if I fall.
Song language to be careful with
Some lines are shaped by rhyme and rhythm, so they sound a little unusual in everyday English:
- My brother and my sister, we understand rhymes with hand. In normal speech you would say we understand each other.
- My uncle and my aunt come to visit today: for a plan or event today, people usually say are coming to visit today.
- a meal on the plate rhymes with late. More natural would be food on our plates or a big meal.
- for many a mile is old-fashioned and poetic. Today you would say for many miles.
- With roots in the ground, catching me if I fall is poetic: it is the tree (the family) that catches him, not the ground.