Lyrics to
Policeman

This version of Policeman was released by Chicago in 1977.

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Everyday he wakes up
As his bare feet hit the floor
Grabs a cup of coffee
Straps his Magnum on once more
Feeds the cat he lives with
Since his wife walked out the door
In nine years he’ll retire with a pension.
Everyday he suffers
‘Cause he sees all kinds of pain
Sometimes feels helpless
In a world that’s gone insane
Then he wins a battle
It restores his faith again
It’s only human kindness he is after.
He is a Policeman, you know
All the years and nothing to show
He is a Policeman, you know.
Every night he comes home
With a six-pack all alone
Feeds the cat he lives with
He picks up the telephone
Needs to talk with someone
But the only love he’s known
Was lost forever, he is a Policeman.
He is a Policeman, you know
All the years and nothing to show
He is a Policeman, you know
All the years and nothing to show

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Chicago has released many songs over the years besides Policeman. Chicago released songs from 1969 to 2006 spanning across albums like The Chicago Transit Authority, Chicago (Chicago II), Chicago III, Chicago V, Chicago VI, Chicago VII, Chicago VIII, Chicago X, Chicago XI, Hot Streets, Chicago 13, Chicago XIV, Chicago 16, Chicago 17, Chicago 18, Chicago 19, Twenty 1, Night & Day: Big Band, Chicago XXV: The Christmas Album, and Chicago XXX. Decade Lyrics has over lyrics & songs by Chicago.

If you're a fan of popular 1970s songs looking for more songs from 1977 or the 1970s overall, you've come to the right place!

About Lyrics and Policeman by Chicago

The lyrics for Policeman are defined as the words making up the song released by Chicago in 1977. It also includes the verses and words used by the background chorus in the song. Like many hit songs, the lyrics to Policeman have different meanings to different people. While it is clear in some of the lyrics what the artist is trying to really say, only Chicago 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 Policeman by Chicago 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 Policeman" means the words set to the music of Policeman, or poetry accompanied by the lyre played by Chicago. 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 Policeman and the lyrics to Policeman are both one and the same thing. None of this talk about the word Lyrics is really relevant to fans of Chicago who came here looking just for the lyrics to Policeman, but we feel it is still fun to learn what's behind commonly used words and lyrics in songs.

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