Lyrics to
I Was Only Telling A Lie

This version of I Was Only Telling A Lie was released by James Taylor in 1977.

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Got the one room suite in the downtown motel, got a lovely view.
Classic shot of the parking lot, an off ramp of route 72.
Half flat six pack of lukewarm beer, so lay down by my side.
Like to whisper sweet nothings in my filthy ear till I’m satisfied.

Baby-bootie, juicy-fruity, truck-stop cutie, roadside-beauty,
I’m in love with you. Hope it don’t last too long.

You got the mackerel eyes, brought the side of fries.
You got me hypnotized, I’m in love again.
Now baby when I told you that I love you, I was only telling a lie.
I’ll be long gone come the crack of dawn and I believe the word is
good-bye, bye baby, bye, bye.

I was only telling a lie, there ain’t no need to act like I shot your dog, no.
I was only telling a lie, lie, lie, lie, lie.

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James Taylor has released many songs over the years besides I Was Only Telling A Lie. James Taylor released songs from 1968 to 2002 spanning across albums like James Taylor, Sweet Baby James, Mud Slide Slim And The Blue Horizon, One Man Dog, Walking Man, Gorilla, In The Pocket, JT, Flag, Dad Loves His Work, That's Why I'm Here, Never Die Young, New Moon Shine, Hourglass, and October Road. Decade Lyrics has over lyrics & songs by James Taylor.

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About Lyrics and I Was Only Telling A Lie by James Taylor

The lyrics for I Was Only Telling A Lie are made up of the words, verses and background chorus for the popular 1977 song by James Taylor. Like a lot of songs, the lyrics to I Was Only Telling A Lie have both direct meanings and metaphorical context hidden within the song's words. All of the meanings are only truly known by the creators of the lyrics for I Was Only Telling A Lie - James Taylor and any of the writers who worked with them on the song.

If you have an interest in the structure of words and phrases, you can dissect the lyrics to I Was Only Telling A Lie by James Taylor in multiple ways. 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 I Was Only Telling A Lie" means the words set to the music of I Was Only Telling A Lie, or poetry accompanied by the lyre played by James Taylor. 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 I Was Only Telling A Lie and the lyrics to I Was Only Telling A Lie are both one and the same thing. None of this talk about the word Lyrics is really relevant to fans of James Taylor who came here looking just for the lyrics to I Was Only Telling A Lie, but we feel it is still fun to learn what's behind commonly used words and lyrics in songs.

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