Lyrics to
Back Home

This version of Back Home was released by Gil Scott-Heron in 1974.

Our Decade Lyrics Gil Scott-Heron profile has all of the Back Home lyrics from 1974 and many more songs from the Gil Scott-Heron discography that we have on file.

Here's more interesting things in songs and lyrics tied to Gil Scott-Heron or about the 1970s in general.

There’s been a whole lot said about your city living
They told us that the streets were paved with gold
And some of us believed ’em, left our home and came looking
But that was just another story they told
I got to get back and see my people
Someday and someway

My old Uncle Henry don’t believe in them airplanes
Lord you know you sure been good to me
Gave me piggy back rides down them dusty highways
When I came just up to his knees
I got to get back and see my people
Someday and someway

I never thought I’d be lost and searching for a warm friendly smile
I never thought I’d be running through the city streets like a newborn child
No, no, no

I never thought I’d be lost and searching for a warm friendly smile
I never thought I’d be running through the city streets like a newborn child
But here I am
And I
I got me some people and I know that they love me
And I know just where to look this time
Collard greens and cornbread on my Sunday dinner
And don’t you know that makes me think it’s working out fine
When I get back to see my people
Someday and someway
Someday and someway
And someday, and someway

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Want more lyrics and songs by Gil Scott-Heron?

Gil Scott-Heron has released many songs over the years besides Back Home. Gil Scott-Heron released songs from 1970 to 2005 spanning across albums like Small Talk At 125th And Lenox, Pieces Of A Man, Free Will, Winter In America, The First Minute Of A New Day, It's Your World, From South Africa To South Carolina, Bridges, Secrets, The Mind Of Gil Scott-Heron, 1980, Real Eyes, Reflections, Moving Target, Spirits, and Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson - Messages (Anthology). Decade Lyrics has over lyrics & songs by Gil Scott-Heron.

If you're a fan of lyrics from 1970s songs looking for more songs from 1974 or the 1970s overall, you've come to the right place!

About Lyrics and Back Home by Gil Scott-Heron

The lyrics for Back Home are defined as the words making up the song released by Gil Scott-Heron in 1974. It also includes the verses and words used by the background chorus in the song. Like many hit songs, the lyrics to Back Home have different meanings to different people. While it is clear in some of the lyrics what the artist is trying to really say, only Gil Scott-Heron and those working with them know all of the meanings behind all of the lyrics to their songs.

Some folks are interested in word and phrase etymology. It is easy to understand the lyrics to Back Home by Gil Scott-Heron if you think through it. 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 Back Home" means the words set to the music of Back Home, or poetry accompanied by the lyre played by Gil Scott-Heron. 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 Back Home and the lyrics to Back Home are both one and the same thing. None of this talk about the word Lyrics is really relevant to fans of Gil Scott-Heron who came here looking just for the lyrics to Back Home, but we feel it is still fun to learn what's behind commonly used words and lyrics in songs.

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