Lyrics to
Distant Lover

Released by Marvin Gaye in 1973
From the Album: Let's Get It On |

This version of Distant Lover was released by Marvin Gaye in 1973.

Our Marvin Gaye Songs profile has Distant Lover lyrics from 1973 and most if not all of the lyrics by Marvin Gaye that we have here at Decade Lyrics.

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

You know, when you’re in love and your lover leaves you
And you’ve got nobody, the lonely hours over here
Sittin’ home and thinkin’, you say:

Distant lover, darlin’, ooo hoo hoo
So many miles away, ooo please
Oh please, baby, think about me
Hey, in misery
Oh say, baby, as I reminisce about your life
That we shared together
The promises we made, baby
Of the day you left, child
Then all of a sudden, if it may seem to explode
Now I gaze out my window, sugar, down a lonesome road, ooo

Distant lover, ooo, sugar
How can you treat my heart so mean and cruel
Didn’t you know, sugar, that I dream
Of what I spent with you
I treasure it like it was a precious jewel, oh baby
Lord have mercy!

Oh baby, don’t go
Please come back, baby
Ooo, something I wanna say
When you left to go away
No ‘ther do I want, do you wanna have me plead and scream
Please! Please, oh please baby
Come back home, girl
Oh baby, come back
Oh oh


Marvin Gaye has released many songs over the years besides Distant Lover. Marvin Gaye released songs from 1961 to 1985 spanning across albums like The Soulful Moods Of Marvin Gaye, That Stubborn Kinda Fella, Together, How Sweet It Is To Be Loved By You, Moods Of Marvin Gaye, Take Two, United, You're All I Need, I Heard It Through The Grapevine, Easy, M.P.G., That's The Way Love Is, What's Going On, Trouble Man, Let's Get It On, Diana & Marvin, I Want You, Here, My Dear, Midnight Love, Romantically Yours, and Dream Of A Lifetime. Decade Lyrics has over lyrics & songs by Marvin Gaye.

If you're a fan of 1970s music looking for more songs from 1973 or the 1970s overall, you've come to the right place!

About Lyrics and Distant Lover by Marvin Gaye

The lyrics to Distant Lover are just the words, phrases, verses and chorus that Marvin Gaye used when the song was created in 1973. The lyrics to Distant Lover have both easy-to-spot meanings and hidden metaphors that have been discussed by the music press and fans, but only Marvin Gaye and any collaborators know all of the inspirations for the song.

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

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