Lyrics to
El Condor Pasa (If I Could)

This version of El Condor Pasa (If I Could) was released by Simon & Garfunkel in 1970.

Our About Simon & Garfunkel page at Decade Lyrics includes the lyrics for El Condor Pasa (If I Could) from 1970 as well as all of the other lyrics from Simon & Garfunkel that we have in our lyrics database.

Here's more interesting things in songs and lyrics tied to Simon & Garfunkel or about the 1970s in general.

I’d rather be a sparrow than a snail
Yes I would, if I could, I surely would
I’d rather be a hammer than a nail
Yes I would, if I only could, I surely would

Away, I’d rather sail away
Like a swan that’s here and gone
A man gets tied up to the ground
He gives the world it’s saddest sound
Its saddest sound

I’d rather be a forest than a street
Yes I would, if I could, I surely would
I’d rather feel the earth beneath my feet
Yes I would, if I only could, I surely would

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Simon & Garfunkel has released many songs over the years besides El Condor Pasa (If I Could). Simon & Garfunkel released songs from 1964 to 2004 spanning across albums like Wednesday Morning, 3 AM, Parsley, Sage, Rosemary And Thyme, Sounds Of Silence, Bookends, Bridge Over Troubled Water, The Concert In Central Park, and Old Friends: Live On Stage. Decade Lyrics has over lyrics & songs by Simon & Garfunkel.

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About Lyrics and El Condor Pasa (If I Could) by Simon & Garfunkel

The lyrics to El Condor Pasa (If I Could) are just the words, phrases, verses and chorus that Simon & Garfunkel used when the song was created in 1970. The lyrics to El Condor Pasa (If I Could) have both easy-to-spot meanings and hidden metaphors that have been discussed by the music press and fans, but only Simon & Garfunkel and any collaborators know all of the inspirations for the song.

If you like etymology or breaking apart phrases and words, it is easy to understand the lyrics to El Condor Pasa (If I Could) by Simon & Garfunkel. 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 El Condor Pasa (If I Could)" means the words set to the music of El Condor Pasa (If I Could), or poetry accompanied by the lyre played by Simon & Garfunkel. 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 El Condor Pasa (If I Could) and the lyrics to El Condor Pasa (If I Could) are both one and the same thing. None of this talk about the word Lyrics is really relevant to fans of Simon & Garfunkel who came here looking just for the lyrics to El Condor Pasa (If I Could), but we feel it is still fun to learn what's behind commonly used words and lyrics in songs.

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