Lyrics to
Paper

This version of Paper was released by Talking Heads in 1979.

Our Decade Lyrics Talking Heads profile has all of the Paper lyrics from 1979 and many more songs from the Talking Heads discography that we have on file.

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

Hold the paper up to the light
(some rays pass right through)
Expose yourself out there for a minute
(some rays pass right through)

Take a little rest when the rays pass through
Take a little time off when the rays pass through

Go ahead and mis it up…Go ahead and tie it up
In a long distance telephone call

Hold on to that paper
Hold on to that paper
Hold on becuase it’s been taken care of
Hold on to that paper

See if you can fit it on the paper
See if you can get it on the paper
See if you can fit it on the paper
See if you can get it on the paper

Had a love affair but it was only paper
(some rays they pass right through)
Had a lot of fun, could have been a lot better
(some rays they pass right through)

Take a little consideration, take every combination
Take a few weeks off, make it tighter, tighter
But it was never, it was never written down
Still might be a chance that it might work out (if you)

Hold on to that paper
Hold on to that paper
Hold on because it’ll be taken care of
Hold on to that paper

Don’t think I can fit it on the paper
Don’t think I can get it on the paper
Go ahead and rip up, rip up the paper
Go ahead and tear up, tear up the paper

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Want more lyrics and songs by Talking Heads?

Talking Heads has released many songs over the years besides Paper. Talking Heads released songs from 1977 to 1988 spanning across albums like Talking Heads 77, More Songs About Buildings & Food, Fear Of Music, Remain In Light, Speaking In Tongues, Little Creatures, True Stories, and Naked. Decade Lyrics has over lyrics & songs by Talking Heads.

If you're a fan of lyrics from 1970s songs looking for more songs from 1979 or the 1970s overall, you've come to the right place!

About Lyrics and Paper by Talking Heads

The lyrics to Paper are just the words, phrases, verses and chorus that Talking Heads used when the song was created in 1979. The lyrics to Paper have both easy-to-spot meanings and hidden metaphors that have been discussed by the music press and fans, but only Talking Heads and any collaborators know all of the inspirations for the song.

If you like etymology or breaking apart phrases and words, it is easy to understand the lyrics to Paper by Talking Heads. 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 Paper" means the words set to the music of Paper, or poetry accompanied by the lyre played by Talking Heads. 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 Paper and the lyrics to Paper are both one and the same thing. None of this talk about the word Lyrics is really relevant to fans of Talking Heads who came here looking just for the lyrics to Paper, but we feel it is still fun to learn what's behind commonly used words and lyrics in songs.

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