Born To Lose
Shirley Bassey Lyrics


Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴  Line by Line Meaning ↴

Born to lose
Born to lose the game
Born to cry
When I hear you're near
Born to smile
Through a mist of tears
Born to live
Lost in lonely years
Born to lose
Every game I play
You must go
There's no other way
Touch my life
With your love once more
It must last
Till forever more
Take my love
Take my life, my soul
Take my dreams
Take my word, my own
Would I change
Could I only choose?
No, not me
I was born to lose
Take my love
Take my life, my soul
Take my dreams
Take my word, my own
Would I change
Could I only choose?
No, not me
I was born to lose
Take my love
Take my life, my soul
Take my dreams
Take my word, my own
Would I change
Could I only choose?
No, not me
I was born to lose
Take my love
Take my life, my soul




Take my dreams
Take my word, my own

Overall Meaning

In Shirley Bassey's song "Born To Lose," the lyrics depict a sense of inevitability and resignation. The singer sings about being born to lose, born to lose the game, born to cry when their love interest is near, and born to live in lonely years. The repetition of "born to" emphasizes a sense of fate and lack of control over their life's circumstances. Despite the sadness and despair in the lyrics, there is also a sense of an enduring love that the singer wants to last "till forever more." The singer offers their love, life, soul, dreams, and word to their love interest, accepting their fate of being born to lose.


Line by Line Meaning

Born to lose
I am destined to fail in everything that I do


Born to lose the game
I am not capable of winning even simple games


Born to cry
I often feel sad and tend to cry a lot


When I hear you're near
When I know you are close, I feel overwhelmed with emotions


Born to smile
Despite being born to lose and cry, I try to maintain positivity on the outside


Through a mist of tears
Even when I am crying, I try to put on a smile and hide my sadness


Born to live
I was born to experience and endure a life full of hardships


Lost in lonely years
I often feel lonely and lost in my own thoughts


Born to lose
Once again, emphasizing the fact that I am not meant to succeed


Every game I play
No matter what game or endeavor I take on, I always end up losing


You must go
Despite our love, at this moment, it is best for you to leave


There's no other way
No matter how much we may want it to be, there is no alternate solution to our problems


Touch my life
Have a positive impact on my life once more


With your love once more
Through your affection and care, make me feel loved once again


It must last
Whatever love we have, it should last for eternity


Till forever more
Until the end of time, our love should remain strong


Take my love
Accept all the love I have to offer


Take my life, my soul
Accept me wholly, not just my love


Take my dreams
Share in my dreams and aspirations


Take my word, my own
Believe in me and trust that everything I say is true


Would I change
If I could change my fate, my destiny to lose, would I do it?


Could I only choose?
If I had a choice in my life, would I choose to be born to lose?


No, not me
I would not change myself or my fate


I was born to lose
Again, emphasizing the fact that I am meant to lose and fail




Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Written by: ALBERTO BALDAN BEMBO, NORMAN NEWELL, SERGIO BARDOTTI

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
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Most interesting comment from YouTube:

stribor111

Born to lose
Born to lose the game
Born to cry
When I hear you're near
Born to smile
Through a mist of tears
Born to live
Lost in lonely years
Born to lose
Every game I play
You must go
There's no other way
Touch my life
With your love once more
It must last
Till forever more
Take my love
Take my life, my soul
Take my dreams
Take my word, my own
Would I change
Could I only choose?
No, not me
I was born to lose
Take my love
Take my life, my soul
Take my dreams
Take my word, my own
Would I change
Could I only choose?
No, not me
I was born to lose
Take my love
Take my life, my soul
Take my dreams
Take my word, my own
Would I change
Could I only choose?
No, not me
I was born to lose
Take my love
Take my life, my soul
Take my dreams
Take my word, my own



All comments from YouTube:

jeh500

No one like her. A pohenomenal artist like no other and an amazing career. This is one hard song to deliver in so many ways. The nuances, the subletiesm the emotions she conveys. Few pop singers would touch anything like this - except Shirley Bassey. Its almost opera. And, she's one of the great living divas. Happy 75th to Dame Shirley. Brava!

Brian Patmore

E But

John Birtley

My late sister Joan could sing like Shirley bassey she sang all her songs around the North East clubs.
As backing my sister would only have a drummer and a organist or sometimes a piano and

John Birtley

One snare drum

Delia Winn

The one and ONLY Shirley Bassey.

Kyle Kurt

No voice can break my heart and open it up to shreds like hers! Not Aretha, Not Whitney, Not Celine... Only BASSEY!!!

Andrew Smith

As someone once said, " she doesn't just sing the song, she is the song"

mark bennett

I've have seen the Dame in concert so many times, but how I wish I had been at this one. Born to lose is in my humble opinion her best song

John Newman

BY FAR

Ruth Tagg

Shirley puts so much emotion into this song and I can really see the anguish in her face, when she sings "Take my soul". This song is sad but beautiful. Thanks for uploading.

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