Lyrics to
Knockin’ Lost John

This version of Knockin’ Lost John was released by The Band in 1977.

Our About The Band page at Decade Lyrics includes the lyrics for Knockin’ Lost John from 1977 as well as all of the other lyrics from The Band that we have in our lyrics database.

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I went down to Duffy’s bar with depression on my mind
Just to blow off a little steam and try to unwind
Times were getting tough with no relief in sight
Last straw I lost my job, next straw your life

Knock on knockin’ lost John
The Great Depression was going strong
Hard times comin’ on
Long gone knockin’ lost John

Born on the south side, got my schoolin’ at the pool hall
Saturday night we get back to back, Sunday mornin’, wall to wall
Never seen nothing like it, people jumpin’ out of windows and going mad
That’s not half as bad as losin’ what you never had

Back in 1929 it was livin’ hell
Crime was on the rise when the bottom fell
Keepin’ poverty pocket high upon the hill
Back door you lock it, they’ll break it still

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The Band has released many songs over the years besides Knockin’ Lost John. The Band released songs from 1968 to 2002 spanning across albums like Music From Big Pink, The Band, Stage Fright, Cahoots, Moondog Matinee, Northern Lights - Southern Cross, Islands, Jericho, High On The Hog, Jubilation, and The Last Waltz. Decade Lyrics has over lyrics & songs by The Band.

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About Lyrics and Knockin’ Lost John by The Band

The lyrics to Knockin’ Lost John are the words, verses and chorus for the song released by The Band in 1977. Elements of the lyrics to Knockin’ Lost John are both direct in meaning and also metaphorical with the real meanings of the song only known by The Band and any collaborating writers working on the lyrics for Knockin’ Lost John back when it was created.

Some people have an interest in the etymology behind words and phrases. You can take apart the lyrics to Knockin’ Lost John by The Band in a number of 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 Knockin’ Lost John" means the words set to the music of Knockin’ Lost John, or poetry accompanied by the lyre played by The Band. 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 Knockin’ Lost John and the lyrics to Knockin’ Lost John are both one and the same thing. None of this talk about the word Lyrics is really relevant to fans of The Band who came here looking just for the lyrics to Knockin’ Lost John, but we feel it is still fun to learn what's behind commonly used words and lyrics in songs.

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