Lyrics to
Do What You Want, Be What You Are

This version of Do What You Want, Be What You Are was released by Hall & Oates in 1976.

Our Hall & Oates Songs profile has Do What You Want, Be What You Are lyrics from 1976 and most if not all of the lyrics by Hall & Oates that we have here at Decade Lyrics.

Here's more interesting things in songs and lyrics tied to Hall & Oates or about the 1970s in general.

Do what you want girl, but be what you are
There ain’t no right er wrong way
Just a play from the heart
It ain’t a sign of weakness to give yourself away
Because the strong give up and move on,
While the weak give up and stay

So do what you want to do
But be what you are…

Do you believe in hot cars,
Leather bars, or movie stars
Is that what’s real
Payin’ dues, Earth Shoes, Chicago blues
Is that how you feel?
You can change, but you can’t conceal
What’s deep inside you
It’s your game, it’s your deal

So do what you want to do
But be what you are…

---

Want more lyrics and songs by Hall & Oates?

Hall & Oates has released many songs over the years besides Do What You Want, Be What You Are. Hall & Oates released songs from 1972 to 2004 spanning across albums like Whole Oats, Abandoned Luncheonette, War Babies, Daryl Hall & John Oates, Bigger Than Both Of Us, Beauty On A Back Street, Along The Red Ledge, X-Static, Voices, Private Eyes, H2O, Big Bam Boom, Ooh Yeah!, Change Of Season, Marigold Sky, Do It For Love, and Our Kind Of Soul. Decade Lyrics has over lyrics & songs by Hall & Oates.

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 Do What You Want, Be What You Are by Hall & Oates

The lyrics to Do What You Want, Be What You Are are just the words, phrases, verses and chorus that Hall & Oates used when the song was created in 1976. The lyrics to Do What You Want, Be What You Are have both easy-to-spot meanings and hidden metaphors that have been discussed by the music press and fans, but only Hall & Oates and any collaborators know all of the inspirations for the song.

If you like etymology or breaking apart phrases and words, it is easy to understand the lyrics to Do What You Want, Be What You Are by Hall & Oates. 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 Do What You Want, Be What You Are" means the words set to the music of Do What You Want, Be What You Are, or poetry accompanied by the lyre played by Hall & Oates. 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 Do What You Want, Be What You Are and the lyrics to Do What You Want, Be What You Are are both one and the same thing. None of this talk about the word Lyrics is really relevant to fans of Hall & Oates who came here looking just for the lyrics to Do What You Want, Be What You Are, but we feel it is still fun to learn what's behind commonly used words and lyrics in songs.

More Songs & Lyrics by Hall & Oates

Visit our Hall & Oates profile for more Hall & Oates songs, lyrics & info!

)