Lyrics to
Careful Man

This version of Careful Man was released by Jim Croce in 1973.

Our About Jim Croce page at Decade Lyrics includes the lyrics for Careful Man from 1973 as well as all of the other lyrics from Jim Croce that we have in our lyrics database.

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I don’t gamble, I don’t fight,
I don’t be hangin’ in the bars at night,
Yeah, I used to be a fighter but
Now I am a wiser man.

I don’t drink much, I don’t smoke,
I don’t be hardly mess around with no dope.
Yeah, I used to be a problem but
Now I am a careful man.

But if you used to want to see a commotion,
You shoulda seen the man that I used to be,
I was trouble in perpetual motion,
Trouble with a capital “T”.

Stayin’ out late, havin’ fun
And shot off every single shot in my gun.
Yeah, I used to be a lover but
Now I’m an older man.

But if you used to want to see a commotion,
You shoulda seen the man that I used to be,
I was trouble in perpetual motion,
Trouble with a capital “T”.

Stayin’ out late, havin’ fun
And shot off every single shot in my gun.
Yeah I used to be a terror but
Now I am a tired old man.
Yeah I used to be a terror but
Now I am a tired old man.

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Jim Croce has released many songs over the years besides Careful Man. Jim Croce released songs from 1972 to 1973 spanning across albums like You Don't Mess Around With Jim, Life And Times, and I Got A Name. Decade Lyrics has over lyrics & songs by Jim Croce.

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About Lyrics and Careful Man by Jim Croce

The lyrics for Careful Man are defined as the words making up the song released by Jim Croce in 1973. It also includes the verses and words used by the background chorus in the song. Like many hit songs, the lyrics to Careful Man have different meanings to different people. While it is clear in some of the lyrics what the artist is trying to really say, only Jim Croce 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 Careful Man by Jim Croce 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 Careful Man" means the words set to the music of Careful Man, or poetry accompanied by the lyre played by Jim Croce. 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 Careful Man and the lyrics to Careful Man are both one and the same thing. None of this talk about the word Lyrics is really relevant to fans of Jim Croce who came here looking just for the lyrics to Careful Man, but we feel it is still fun to learn what's behind commonly used words and lyrics in songs.

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