Lyrics to
Motherless Children

This version of Motherless Children was released by Eric Clapton in 1974.

Our About Eric Clapton page at Decade Lyrics includes the lyrics for Motherless Children from 1974 as well as all of the other lyrics from Eric Clapton that we have in our lyrics database.

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

Motherless children have a hard time when mother is dead, lord.
Motherless children have a hard time when mother is dead, lord.
They don’t have anywhere to go;
Wandering around from door to door.
Nobody treats you like a mother will when your mother is dead, lord.

Father will do the best he can when your mother is dead, lord.
Father will do the best he can when your mother is dead, lord.
Father will do the best he can;
So many things a father can’t understand.
Nobody treats you like a mother will when your mother is dead, lord.

Sister will do the best she can when your mother is dead, lord.
Sister will do the best she can when your mother is dead, lord.
Sister will do the best she can;
So many things a sister can’t understand.
Nobody treats you like a mother will when your mother is dead.

When your mother is dead, when your mother is dead.
When your mother is dead, Lord, when your mother is dead.

---

Want more lyrics and songs by Eric Clapton?

Eric Clapton has released many songs over the years besides Motherless Children. Eric Clapton released songs from 1970 to 2005 spanning across albums like Eric Clapton, 461 Ocean Boulevard, There's One In Every Crowd, No Reason To Cry, Slowhand, Backless, Another Ticket, Money And Cigarettes, Behind The Sun, August, Crossroads, Journeyman, Unplugged, From The Cradle, Pilgrim, Riding With The King, Reptile, Me And Mr. Johnson, and Back Home. Decade Lyrics has over lyrics & songs by Eric Clapton.

If you're a fan of popular 1970s songs looking for more songs from 1974 or the 1970s overall, you've come to the right place!

About Lyrics and Motherless Children by Eric Clapton

The lyrics for Motherless Children are defined as the words making up the song released by Eric Clapton in 1974. It also includes the verses and words used by the background chorus in the song. Like many hit songs, the lyrics to Motherless Children have different meanings to different people. While it is clear in some of the lyrics what the artist is trying to really say, only Eric Clapton 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 Motherless Children by Eric Clapton 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 Motherless Children" means the words set to the music of Motherless Children, or poetry accompanied by the lyre played by Eric Clapton. 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 Motherless Children and the lyrics to Motherless Children are both one and the same thing. None of this talk about the word Lyrics is really relevant to fans of Eric Clapton who came here looking just for the lyrics to Motherless Children, but we feel it is still fun to learn what's behind commonly used words and lyrics in songs.

More Songs & Lyrics by Eric Clapton

Visit our Eric Clapton profile for more Eric Clapton songs, lyrics & info!

)