Lyrics to
Paranoia Blues

This version of Paranoia Blues was released by Paul Simon in 1972.

Our Decade Lyrics Paul Simon profile has all of the Paranoia Blues lyrics from 1972 and many more songs from the Paul Simon discography that we have on file.

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

I got some so-called friends
They’ll smile right to my face
But, when my back Is turned
They’d like to stick it to me
Yes they would
Oh no no, oh no no
There’s only one thing I need to know
Whose side are you on

I fly into J.F.K.
My heart goes boom boom boom
I know that customs man
He’s going to take me
To that little room
Oh no, no. Oh no, no
There’s only one thing I need to know
Whose side are you on
Whose side are you on

I got the paranoia blues
From knockin’ around In New York City
Where they roll you for a nickel
And they stick you for the extra dime

Anyway you choose
You’re bound to lose in New York City
Oh I just got out in the nick of time
Well I just got out in the nick of time

Once I was down in Chinatown
I was eating some Lin’s Chow Fon
I happened to turn around
And when I looked I see
My Chow Fon’s gone
Oh no, no. Oh no, no
There’s only one thing I need to know
Whose side are you on, whose side are you on
There’s only one thing I need to know
Whose side, whose side, whose side

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Paul Simon has released many songs over the years besides Paranoia Blues. Paul Simon released songs from 1965 to 2000 spanning across albums like The Paul Simon Songbook, Paul Simon, There Goes Rhymin' Simon, Paul Simon In Concert: Live Rhymin', Still Crazy After All These Years, One-Trick Pony, Hearts And Bones, Graceland, The Rhythm Of The Saints, Songs From The Capeman, and You're The One. Decade Lyrics has over lyrics & songs by Paul Simon.

If you're a fan of the music of the 1970s looking for more songs from 1972 or the 1970s overall, you've come to the right place!

About Lyrics and Paranoia Blues by Paul Simon

The lyrics to Paranoia Blues are the words, verses and chorus for the song released by Paul Simon in 1972. Elements of the lyrics to Paranoia Blues are both direct in meaning and also metaphorical with the real meanings of the song only known by Paul Simon and any collaborating writers working on the lyrics for Paranoia Blues back when it was created.

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

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