Lyrics to
D.O.A.

This version of D.o.a. was released by Van Halen in 1979.

Our Van Halen Songs profile has D.o.a. lyrics from 1979 and most if not all of the lyrics by Van Halen that we have here at Decade Lyrics.

Here's more interesting things in songs and lyrics tied to Van Halen or about the 1970s in general.

We was broke and hungry on a summer day.
They sent the sheriff down to try and drive us away.
We was sittin’ ducks for the police man.
They found a dirty faced kid in a garbage can.
And I’m alone, I’m on the highway, wanted dead or alive, dead or alive.
Broken down and dirty, dressed in rags a from the day my mama told me, “Boy, you pack your bags.”
Send the mayor down in his pickup truck.
The jury look at me, say, “Outta luck.”
And I’m alone, I’m on the highway, wanted dead or alive, dead or alive.
Now, I’m broken down and dirty, dressed in rags a from the day my mama told me, “Boy, you pack your bags.”
We was sittin’ ducks for the police man.
They found a dirty faced kid in a garbage can.
And I’m alone, I’m on the highway, wanted dead or alive, dead or alive.

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Van Halen has released many songs over the years besides D.o.a.. Van Halen released songs from 1978 to 1998 spanning across albums like Van Halen, Van Halen II, Women And Children First, Fair Warning, Diver Down, 1984 (MCMLXXXIV), 5150, OU812, For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge, Balance, and Van Halen III. Decade Lyrics has over lyrics & songs by Van Halen.

If you're a fan of 1970s music looking for more songs from 1979 or the 1970s overall, you've come to the right place!

About Lyrics and D.o.a. by Van Halen

The lyrics to D.o.a. are the words, verses and chorus for the song released by Van Halen in 1979. Elements of the lyrics to D.o.a. are both direct in meaning and also metaphorical with the real meanings of the song only known by Van Halen and any collaborating writers working on the lyrics for D.o.a. back when it was created.

Some people have an interest in the etymology behind words and phrases. You can take apart the lyrics to D.o.a. by Van Halen in a number of ways. The word "lyric" itself derives from the Latin word lyricus, with the actual English word lyrics applied to the definition "words set to music" listed in Stainer and Barrett's 1876 Dictionary of Musical Terms. Continuing the chain, the Latin word lyricus derives from the Greek word λυρικός or lyrikós. This somewhat means "poetry accompanied by the lyre" or "words set to music." You can easily see that by looking at the background of the word lyric, that the "lyrics to D.o.a." means the words set to the music of D.o.a., or poetry accompanied by the lyre played by Van Halen. The singular form "lyric" is still used to mean the complete words to a song. However, the singular form lyric is also commonly used to refer to a specific line (or phrase) within a song's lyrics. Hence, by this analysis of word structure, you could say that the lyric to D.o.a. and the lyrics to D.o.a. are both one and the same thing. None of this talk about the word Lyrics is really relevant to fans of Van Halen who came here looking just for the lyrics to D.o.a., but we feel it is still fun to learn what's behind commonly used words and lyrics in songs.

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