What the song is about

The singer describes a daily routine: waking up early, drinking coffee, reading the newspaper, working hard and always being on time. Every day from Monday to Sunday follows the same plan. In the bridge, once in a blue moon (very rarely), the singer throws the routine away for a day, with no clocks and no habits, and then goes back to the usual rhythm.

Useful words and expressions

  • always, usually, often, sometimes, rarely, never: adverbs of frequency, from most often to least often.
  • once in a blue moon: very rarely, almost never.
  • the paper: short for the newspaper.
  • a habit: something you do regularly, often without thinking.
  • daily routine: the things you do every day, in the same order.
  • as simple as can be: extremely simple.
  • go out walking: leave the house to take a walk.
  • sleep in (late): stay in bed longer than usual in the morning.
  • be on time: not be late.
  • until the sun goes down: until evening.
  • get lost: not know where you are.
  • the days go by: time passes.
  • make the moments last: enjoy the moments so they feel longer.
  • throw it away / let it go: here they mean giving up the routine for a while, not throwing an object away.
  • break the rules: not do what you normally must do.
  • nice and slow: in a relaxed, slow way.

Grammar

Present simple for habits. The song uses the present simple to talk about things that happen regularly: I drink my coffee, I follow the plan, I walk around the town.

Where adverbs of frequency go:

  • before the main verb: I always wake up early, I sometimes go out walking, I rarely get lost.
  • after the verb be: I am always on time.
Will for the future: What I do today, I will do again.

Watch out

  • In the chorus, ever is listed together with rarely and often to rhyme with never. In normal English, ever is not used like often in a positive sentence. It appears mainly in questions and negatives: Do you ever sleep in? / I don't ever get lost. Do not say I ever drink coffee.
  • Then back to the rhythm, nice and slow has no verb. That is fine in a song, but in a full sentence you would say Then I go back to the rhythm.