Lyrics to
Ridin’ Thumb

This version of Ridin’ Thumb was released by Three Dog Night in 1973.

Our Three Dog Night Songs profile has Ridin’ Thumb lyrics from 1973 and most if not all of the lyrics by Three Dog Night that we have here at Decade Lyrics.

Here's more interesting things in songs and lyrics tied to Three Dog Night or about the 1970s in general.

See the man on the black top highway
Moving to no man’s land
All alone on the black top highway
Moving just as fast as he can
Ridin’ thumb, ridin’ thumb

Left his home down in Macon, Georgia
Left the shade of an old oak tree, tree
Got his dreams in his left front pocket
Got his eyes squinted towards the sea
Ridin’ thumb, ridin’ thumb

He don’t care where the wind blows
Just as long as he gets his ride
And he don’t care for food and water
Just lets his conscience be his guide,
Ridin’ thumb

Left his sisters and mama crying
Beggin him not to leave that day
Said he’d write but they knew he was lying
Got no razor, got no blade
Ridin’ thumb, ridin’ thumb

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Three Dog Night has released many songs over the years besides Ridin’ Thumb. Three Dog Night released songs from 1968 to 1976 spanning across albums like Three Dog Night, Suitable For Framing, It Ain't Easy, Naturally, Harmony, Seven Separate Fools, Cyan, Hard Labor, Coming Down Your Way, and American Pastime. Decade Lyrics has over lyrics & songs by Three Dog Night.

If you're a fan of popular 1970s songs looking for more songs from 1973 or the 1970s overall, you've come to the right place!

About Lyrics and Ridin’ Thumb by Three Dog Night

The lyrics for Ridin’ Thumb are defined as the words making up the song released by Three Dog Night in 1973. It also includes the verses and words used by the background chorus in the song. Like many hit songs, the lyrics to Ridin’ Thumb have different meanings to different people. While it is clear in some of the lyrics what the artist is trying to really say, only Three Dog Night 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 Ridin’ Thumb by Three Dog Night 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 Ridin’ Thumb" means the words set to the music of Ridin’ Thumb, or poetry accompanied by the lyre played by Three Dog Night. 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 Ridin’ Thumb and the lyrics to Ridin’ Thumb are both one and the same thing. None of this talk about the word Lyrics is really relevant to fans of Three Dog Night who came here looking just for the lyrics to Ridin’ Thumb, but we feel it is still fun to learn what's behind commonly used words and lyrics in songs.

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