Never gonna give you up - Rick Astley

give up, let down, run around, go on

Today's helping of Rock n roll Phrasal Verbs are unashamedly pop. Rick Astley's 1987 hit Never gonna give you up is almos as rich a source of phrasal verbs as it was a source of money for Rick and his producers, the 80's hit factory Stock Aitken and Waterman.

If you somehow missed out on being Rickrollered when the craze swept the internet in 2008, then another look at the video of this 80s synth dance smash hit can't do you any harm.

 

Never gonna give you up, never gonna let you down
Never gonna run around and desert you
Never gonna make you cry, never gonna say goodbye
Never gonna tell a lie and hurt you

.................

We've known each other for so long
Your heart's been aching but you're too shy to say it
Inside we both know what's been going on
We know the game and we're gonna play it

give up: to abandon, to renounce.
He is saying he will never leave her, that he will stay with her.
See the full dictionary definition of give up

let down: dissappoint, fail
See the full dictionary definiton of let down

run around: to be promiscuous
He is saying he will be faithful to her
See the dictionary definition of run around 

go on: happen
this line of the song means: "we both know what has been happening"
See the dictionary definition for go on

Read the lyrics to the song