Lyrics to
El Condor Pasa (If I Could)

This version of El Condor Pasa (If I Could) was released by Paul Simon in 1974.

Our Decade Lyrics Paul Simon profile has all of the El Condor Pasa (If I Could) lyrics from 1974 and many more songs from the Paul Simon discography that we have on file.

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

I’d rather be a sparrow than a snail.
Yes I would.
If I could,
I surely would.
I’d rather be a hammer than a nail.
Yes I would.
If I could,
I surely would.

Away, I’d rather sail away
Like a swan that’s here and gone.
Its saddest sound.
I’d rather be a forest than a street.
Yes I would.
If I could,
I surely would.
I’d rather feel the earth beneath my feet.
Yes I would.
If I could,
I surely would.

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Paul Simon has released many songs over the years besides El Condor Pasa (If I Could). Paul Simon released songs from 1965 to 2000 spanning across albums like The Paul Simon Songbook, Paul Simon, There Goes Rhymin' Simon, Paul Simon In Concert: Live Rhymin', Still Crazy After All These Years, One-Trick Pony, Hearts And Bones, Graceland, The Rhythm Of The Saints, Songs From The Capeman, and You're The One. Decade Lyrics has over lyrics & songs by Paul Simon.

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About Lyrics and El Condor Pasa (If I Could) by Paul Simon

The lyrics to El Condor Pasa (If I Could) are just the words, phrases, verses and chorus that Paul Simon used when the song was created in 1974. The lyrics to El Condor Pasa (If I Could) have both easy-to-spot meanings and hidden metaphors that have been discussed by the music press and fans, but only Paul Simon 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 El Condor Pasa (If I Could) by Paul Simon. 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 El Condor Pasa (If I Could)" means the words set to the music of El Condor Pasa (If I Could), or poetry accompanied by the lyre played by Paul Simon. 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 El Condor Pasa (If I Could) and the lyrics to El Condor Pasa (If I Could) are both one and the same thing. None of this talk about the word Lyrics is really relevant to fans of Paul Simon who came here looking just for the lyrics to El Condor Pasa (If I Could), but we feel it is still fun to learn what's behind commonly used words and lyrics in songs.

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