Lyrics to
Ace

This version of Ace was released by Jimmy Buffett in 1971.

Our Decade Lyrics Jimmy Buffett profile has all of the Ace lyrics from 1971 and many more songs from the Jimmy Buffett discography that we have on file.

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

It hardly seems a long time just a minute of the day
When the man who stood beside me more than gave himself away
The food stain on his spotted shirt a gray beard on his face
A man composed of many names so I just called him Ace

Ace can’t read and Ace can’t write and
He sleeps on a bench at night
A little man the world has left behind
He ain’t bitter he ain’t sweet
Makes his living on the street
Never knowin’ what he’s gonna find

Born in Mississippi pickin’ cotton as a child
Left soon for the city where he heard that life was wild
That was fifty years ago when nothin’s really strange
From a poor dirt farm to dirty streets is really not much change

Ace can’t read and Ace can’t write and
He sleeps on a bench at night
A little man the world has left behind
He ain’t bitter he ain’t sweet
Makes his living on the street
Never knowin’ what he’s gonna find

Go back to the country no he really can’t do that
Wasted years have left him nothin’ but an old straw hat
So he puts it on his head and waves a last good-bye
With no time left to turn around and no time to ask why

Ace can’t read and Ace can’t write and
He sleeps on a bench at night
A little man the world has left behind
He ain’t bitter he ain’t sweet
Makes his living on the street
Never knowin’ what he’s gonna find

This old world has left poor Ace behind

---

Want more lyrics and songs by Jimmy Buffett?

Jimmy Buffett has released many songs over the years besides Ace. Jimmy Buffett released songs from 1970 to 2004 spanning across albums like Down To Earth, High Cumberland Jubilee, A White Sport Coat And A Pink Crustacean, A1A, Living And Dying In 3/4 Time, Havana Daydreamin', Changes In Latitudes, Changes In Attitudes, Son Of A Son Of A Sailor, Volcano, Coconut Telegraph, Somewhere Over China, One Particular Harbour, Riddles In The Sand, Last Mango In Paris, Floridays, Hot Water, Off To See The Lizard, Boats, Beaches, Bars & Ballads, Fruitcakes, Barometer Soup, Christmas Island, Banana Wind, Beach House On The Moon, Far Side Of The World, and License To Chill. Decade Lyrics has over lyrics & songs by Jimmy Buffett.

If you're a fan of lyrics from 1970s songs looking for more songs from 1971 or the 1970s overall, you've come to the right place!

About Lyrics and Ace by Jimmy Buffett

When you decide to study the lyrics to Ace, you're looking at the words, verses and background chorus from the 1971 song by Jimmy Buffett. Some of the lyrics to Ace have clear meanings and some contain metaphorical references. Like most songs, only Jimmy Buffett and their collaborators know the full story behind any of the their songs.

You can understand the lyrics to Ace if you take apart the structure of the words. 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 Ace" means the words set to the music of Ace, or poetry accompanied by the lyre played by Jimmy Buffett. 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 Ace and the lyrics to Ace are both one and the same thing. None of this talk about the word Lyrics is really relevant to fans of Jimmy Buffett who came here looking just for the lyrics to Ace, but we feel it is still fun to learn what's behind commonly used words and lyrics in songs.

More Songs & Lyrics by Jimmy Buffett

Visit our Jimmy Buffett profile for more Jimmy Buffett songs, lyrics & info!

)