Lyrics to
It Doesn’t Have To Be That Way

This version of It Doesn’T Have To Be That Way was released by Jim Croce in 1973.

Our About Jim Croce page at Decade Lyrics includes the lyrics for It Doesn’T Have To Be That Way from 1973 as well as all of the other lyrics from Jim Croce that we have in our lyrics database.

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

Snowy nights and Christmas lights,
Icy windowpanes,
Make me wish that we could be
Together again
And the windy winter avenues
Just don’t seem the same,
And the Christmas carols sound like blues,
But the choir is not to blame

But it doesn’t have to be that way
What we had should never have ended
I’ll be dropping by today
We could easily get it together tonight
It’s only right

Crowded stores, the corner Santa Claus,
Tinseled afternoons,
And the sidewalk bands play their songs
Slightly out of tune
Down the windy winter avenues
There walks a lonely man,
And if I told you who he is,
Well I think you’d understand

But it doesn’t have to be that way
What we had should never have ended
I’ll be dropping by today
We could easily get it together tonight
It’s only right

No, it doesn’t have to be that way
What we had should never have ended
I’ll be dropping by today
We could easily get it together tonight
It’s only right

---

Want more lyrics and songs by Jim Croce?

Jim Croce has released many songs over the years besides It Doesn’T Have To Be That Way. Jim Croce released songs from 1972 to 1973 spanning across albums like You Don't Mess Around With Jim, Life And Times, and I Got A Name. Decade Lyrics has over lyrics & songs by Jim Croce.

If you're a fan of popular 1970s songs looking for more songs from 1973 or the 1970s overall, you've come to the right place!

About Lyrics and It Doesn’T Have To Be That Way by Jim Croce

When you decide to study the lyrics to It Doesn’T Have To Be That Way, you're looking at the words, verses and background chorus from the 1973 song by Jim Croce. Some of the lyrics to It Doesn’T Have To Be That Way have clear meanings and some contain metaphorical references. Like most songs, only Jim Croce and their collaborators know the full story behind any of the their songs.

You can understand the lyrics to It Doesn’T Have To Be That Way 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 It Doesn’T Have To Be That Way" means the words set to the music of It Doesn’T Have To Be That Way, or poetry accompanied by the lyre played by Jim Croce. 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 It Doesn’T Have To Be That Way and the lyrics to It Doesn’T Have To Be That Way are both one and the same thing. None of this talk about the word Lyrics is really relevant to fans of Jim Croce who came here looking just for the lyrics to It Doesn’T Have To Be That Way, but we feel it is still fun to learn what's behind commonly used words and lyrics in songs.

More Songs & Lyrics by Jim Croce

Visit our Jim Croce profile for more Jim Croce songs, lyrics & info!

)