Lyrics to
If I Only Had The Words (To Tell You)

This version of If I Only Had The Words (To Tell You) was released by Billy Joel in 1973.

Our Billy Joel Songs profile has If I Only Had The Words (To Tell You) lyrics from 1973 and most if not all of the lyrics by Billy Joel that we have here at Decade Lyrics.

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If I only had the words to tell you
If you only had the time to understand
Though I know it wouldn’t change your feelings
And I know you’ll carry on the best you can.

If I only had the urge to tell you
If you only knew how hard it is to say
When the simple lines have all been taken
And the radio repeats them ev’ry day.

If I never find the song to sing you
If you always find it hard to comprehend
Well, you know there wouldn’t be much meaning
If I had to sing those tired words again.

Life goes on and on
And tonight will soon be gone
But if we try we can be sure.

If I only had the words to tell you
If you only had the time to understand
But I only have these arms to hold you
And it’s all that you can ask of any man.

La la la la, la la la la

If I only had the words to tell you
If you only had the time to understand
Oh, but I only have these arms to hold you
And it’s all that you can ask of any man.

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Billy Joel has released many songs over the years besides If I Only Had The Words (To Tell You). Billy Joel released songs from 1971 to 1993 spanning across albums like Cold Spring Harbor, Piano Man, Streetlife Serenade, Turnstiles, The Stranger, 52nd Street, Glass Houses, The Nylon Curtain, An Innocent Man, The Bridge, Storm Front, and River Of Dreams. Decade Lyrics has over lyrics & songs by Billy Joel.

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About Lyrics and If I Only Had The Words (To Tell You) by Billy Joel

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

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