Lyrics to
Roberta

This version of Roberta was released by Billy Joel in 1974.

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Roberta, you say you know me,
But I see only what you’re paid to show me.
Oh, I wish you had the time,
Oh, I wish you had the time.

Oh, Roberta, I understand you,
I know you need to move in other circles too;
It’s tough for me, It’s tough for you.

Roberta, how I’ve adored you,
I’d ask you over but I can’t afford you.
Oh, I wish you’d take the time,
Oh, I wish you’d take the time.

Oh, Roberta, the night goes slowly,
I know you’re workin’ but you must get lonely too;
It’s tough for me, It’s tough for you.

And I’m in a bad way and wanna make love to you, Oo, oo.

Oh, I wish you had the time,
Oh, I wish you had the time.

Roberta, I really need you,
But I suppose that my small change won’t see you through;
It’s tough for me, It’s tough for you.

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Billy Joel has released many songs over the years besides Roberta. Billy Joel released songs from 1971 to 1993 spanning across albums like Cold Spring Harbor, Piano Man, Streetlife Serenade, Turnstiles, The Stranger, 52nd Street, Glass Houses, The Nylon Curtain, An Innocent Man, The Bridge, Storm Front, and River Of Dreams. Decade Lyrics has over lyrics & songs by Billy Joel.

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About Lyrics and Roberta by Billy Joel

The lyrics for Roberta are made up of the words, verses and background chorus for the popular 1974 song by Billy Joel. Like a lot of songs, the lyrics to Roberta have both direct meanings and metaphorical context hidden within the song's words. All of the meanings are only truly known by the creators of the lyrics for Roberta - Billy Joel and any of the writers who worked with them on the song.

If you have an interest in the structure of words and phrases, you can dissect the lyrics to Roberta by Billy Joel in multiple 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 Roberta" means the words set to the music of Roberta, or poetry accompanied by the lyre played by Billy Joel. 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 Roberta and the lyrics to Roberta are both one and the same thing. None of this talk about the word Lyrics is really relevant to fans of Billy Joel who came here looking just for the lyrics to Roberta, but we feel it is still fun to learn what's behind commonly used words and lyrics in songs.

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