Lyrics to
A Junkie’s Lament

This version of A Junkie’S Lament was released by James Taylor in 1976.

Our About James Taylor page at Decade Lyrics includes the lyrics for A Junkie’S Lament from 1976 as well as all of the other lyrics from James Taylor that we have in our lyrics database.

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

Ricky’s been kicking the gong, lickity-split, didn’t take too long.
A junkie’s sick, a monkey’s strong, that’s what’s wrong.
Well, I guess he’s been messing around downtown, so sad to see the man losing ground.
Winding down behind closed doors on all fours.

Mama, don’t you call him my name, he can’t hear you anymore.
Even if he seems the same to you, that’s a stranger to your door.
Go on, ask him what’s he come here for.

Oh my God, a monkey can move a man. Send him to hell and home again.
An empty hand in the afternoon, shooting for the moon.
It’s halfway sick and it’s halfway stoned. He’d sure like to kick but he’s too far gone.
They wind him down with the methadone, he’s all on his own.

But baby, don’t you throw your love away, I hate to seem unkind.
It’s only that I understand the man that the monkey can leave behind,
I used to think he was a friend of mine.

Oh, La la la la la la la la, oh, la la la la la la la la. La la la, la la la, la la la la.

---

Want more lyrics and songs by James Taylor?

James Taylor has released many songs over the years besides A Junkie’S Lament. James Taylor released songs from 1968 to 2002 spanning across albums like James Taylor, Sweet Baby James, Mud Slide Slim And The Blue Horizon, One Man Dog, Walking Man, Gorilla, In The Pocket, JT, Flag, Dad Loves His Work, That's Why I'm Here, Never Die Young, New Moon Shine, Hourglass, and October Road. Decade Lyrics has over lyrics & songs by James Taylor.

If you're a fan of the music of the 1970s looking for more songs from 1976 or the 1970s overall, you've come to the right place!

About Lyrics and A Junkie’S Lament by James Taylor

The lyrics for A Junkie’S Lament are made up of the words, verses and background chorus for the popular 1976 song by James Taylor. Like a lot of songs, the lyrics to A Junkie’S Lament have both direct meanings and metaphorical context hidden within the song's words. All of the meanings are only truly known by the creators of the lyrics for A Junkie’S Lament - James Taylor and any of the writers who worked with them on the song.

If you have an interest in the structure of words and phrases, you can dissect the lyrics to A Junkie’S Lament by James Taylor in multiple 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 A Junkie’S Lament" means the words set to the music of A Junkie’S Lament, or poetry accompanied by the lyre played by James Taylor. 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 A Junkie’S Lament and the lyrics to A Junkie’S Lament are both one and the same thing. None of this talk about the word Lyrics is really relevant to fans of James Taylor who came here looking just for the lyrics to A Junkie’S Lament, but we feel it is still fun to learn what's behind commonly used words and lyrics in songs.

More Songs & Lyrics by James Taylor

Visit our James Taylor profile for more James Taylor songs, lyrics & info!

)