Lyrics to
Death Of An Unpopular Poet

This version of Death Of An Unpopular Poet was released by Jimmy Buffett in 1973.

Our Jimmy Buffett Songs profile has Death Of An Unpopular Poet lyrics from 1973 and most if not all of the lyrics by Jimmy Buffett that we have here at Decade Lyrics.

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I once knew a poet
Who lived before his time
He and his dog spooner
Would listen while he’d rhyme
Words to make ya happy
Words to make you cry
Then one day the poet suddenly did die

But he left behind a closet
Filled with verse and rhyme
And through some strange transaction
One was printed in the times
And everybody’s searchin’
For the king of underground
Well they found him down in Florida
With a tombstone for a crown

Everybody knows a line
From his book that cost four ninety-nine
I wonder if he knows he’s doin’
Quite this fine

’cause his books are all best sellers
And his poems were turned to song
Had his brother on a talk show
Though they never got along
And now he’s called immortal
Yes he’s even taught in school
They say he used his talents
A most proficient tool

But he left all of his royalties
To spooner his ol’ hound
Growin’ old on steak and bacon
In a doghouse ten feet ’round
And everybody wonders
Did he really lose his mind
No he was just a poet who lived before his time
He was just a poet who lived before his time

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Jimmy Buffett has released many songs over the years besides Death Of An Unpopular Poet. 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.

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About Lyrics and Death Of An Unpopular Poet by Jimmy Buffett

When you decide to study the lyrics to Death Of An Unpopular Poet, you're looking at the words, verses and background chorus from the 1973 song by Jimmy Buffett. Some of the lyrics to Death Of An Unpopular Poet 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 Death Of An Unpopular Poet 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 Death Of An Unpopular Poet" means the words set to the music of Death Of An Unpopular Poet, 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 Death Of An Unpopular Poet and the lyrics to Death Of An Unpopular Poet 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 Death Of An Unpopular Poet, but we feel it is still fun to learn what's behind commonly used words and lyrics in songs.

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