49) Calm Down

Hello and welcome to Learning English with Lyrics. I am your host Jake, and today we are going to discuss the song "Calm Down" by Rema, featuring Selena Gomez. It has been a while since I've made a new episode, and I apologize for the long delay! Life has been extremely busy, but I'm happy to have found a moment to record a new episode for you for the summer! I don't know much about this artist (and I hope I'm pronouncing his name right), so I don't have much to say about it, other than, let's jump in!

The line that stuck out to me, that is, the line that was most interesting to me, came from the chorus.

"Baby, show me you can calm down"

The first word here, "baby" is well-known, but worth explaining if you're newer to the English language. A "baby" is of course the smallest version of a child, usually between the ages of 0 and 2. Around the time the child starts walking, they start to become less of a baby, and are usually referred to as a "toddler". The name "toddler" comes from the verb "toddle" which describes the way a small child walks. They've only just learned to walk, so their movements are a bit wild. They are unable to walk straight, and they fall quite often. This is known as "toddling", and why we call them "toddlers". But I'm getting distracted a bit! The word we were talking about wasn't "toddler", it was "baby". And this song is not referring to a small child. "Baby" can also be a term of endearment, a sweet way to speak to your romantic interest. Other words like this include "Honey", "Dear", and the shortened version of "Baby", "Babe".

So by saying "Baby", we know that the singer is talking to his romantic interest. The next part says "show me you can calm down". This is an imperative sentence, that is to say, he is commanding something of her. You'll notice in the first half of the sentence we don't have a subject. We have the verb "show", and the object "me", but no subject. So what is the subject? The subject here is "implied", that is to say, it is not actually said, but we know what it is. Since it's a command, the subject is the person that is being commanded. We can add the word "you" at the beginning of the sentence, and it would be complete. "(You) show me". So what does he want her to "show" or "demonstrate" to him? The second phrase here is also incomplete, containing an implied word. The word that is "missing" is the word "that". We often drop this in English speaking and in English writing. If we were to add it, the sentence would sound like this: "(You) show me (that) you can calm down". The singer is asking his romantic interest if she can demonstrate, show, him that she is able to calm down.

So what does it mean to "calm down"? This is one of English's infamous "phrasal verbs", a verb that takes an additional modifier that changes the meaning. Let's start with the first word. To "calm" something or someone, means to make them no longer agitated. It is to move them from a state of excitement to a state of tranquility. It is the opposite of enthusiasm and excitement. If you are stressed about something, that might make you anxious. You are overly agitated. If you take a deep breath, that might help you to "calm yourself", releasing the nervous tension that you have.

If you take your child to the grocery store, and they are screaming angrily at you, you might try to "calm" the child by offering them a treat or a snack. Another common way to use the word "calm" is to "be calm". This may or may not mean you are agitated, but moves you further away from that state than you currently are. In a scary situation, someone could ask you to "stay calm", meaning that you shouldn't become anxious or panic. You need to maintain your current calm state and not become overly frightened.

To "calm down", as in our song, means that you are already agitated, and need to lower or reduce that agitation. This could be agitation due to stress, anxiety, panic, anger, enthusiasm, or anything else that excites you. This is often given as a command, such as "Calm down kids!", but it can also be simply a way to describe yourself. In our song, since we don't know exactly what's going on, the only assumption that we can have is that the singer thinks their romantic interest is in an overly agitated state, and would like them to relax.

And that's all we have for today, thanks for joining us! As always, check out the description for links to a transcript, as well as a music video, and a Spotify playlist containing every song that we have covered on this podcast. I hope you have a calm and relaxing summer! I'll talk to you soon.