Lyrics to
Ruins

This version of Ruins was released by Cat Stevens in 1972.

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It’s so quiet in the ruins walking though the old town
Stones crumbling under my feet I see smoke for miles around
Oh it’s enough to make you weep, all that remains of the main street
Up in the park on Sunday, dogs chasing and the children played
Old man with his head down, can’t see nothing more around…no

But he remembers how it used to be, back in the old days,
So nice to see you coming back in this town again
It’s nice to see a friendly face come peeping through having tea
In the afternoon, so nice to see you coming back in this town again…

Ah but it’s all changed winter turned on a man
Came down on day when no-one was looking and it
Stole away the land, people running scared, losing hands
Dodging shadows of falling sand, buildings standing like empty shells
And nobody…helping no-one else
Young child with his hands high, ain’t able to see no reason why…no

But he remembers how it used to be, back in the old days,
So nice to see you coming back in this town again
It’s nice to see a friendly face come peeping through
You’d better know what you’re going through now
You came back here to find your home is a black horizon
That you don’t recognize, evil destruction has taken everything
You’d better walk on the side while you’re still walking
Just keep on walking on down the street keep your distance
From the people you meet. Oh Lord and you’d better watch your eyes
‘Cause if smoke gets in them, baby you won’t rise again.
Where’s it leading to freedom at what cost
People needing more and more and it’s all getting lost
I want back, I want back
Back to the time when the earth was green
And there was no high walls and the sea was clean
Don’t stop that sun to shine, it’s not yours or mine…no.

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Cat Stevens has released many songs over the years besides Ruins. Cat Stevens released songs from 1967 to 1978 spanning across albums like New Masters, Matthew & Son, Tea For The Tillerman, Mona Bone Jakon, Teaser And The Firecat, Catch Bull At Four, Foreigner, Buddha And The Chocolate Box, Numbers, Izitso, and Back To Earth. Decade Lyrics has over lyrics & songs by Cat Stevens.

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About Lyrics and Ruins by Cat Stevens

The lyrics for Ruins are defined as the words making up the song released by Cat Stevens in 1972. It also includes the verses and words used by the background chorus in the song. Like many hit songs, the lyrics to Ruins have different meanings to different people. While it is clear in some of the lyrics what the artist is trying to really say, only Cat Stevens 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 Ruins by Cat Stevens 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 Ruins" means the words set to the music of Ruins, or poetry accompanied by the lyre played by Cat Stevens. 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 Ruins and the lyrics to Ruins are both one and the same thing. None of this talk about the word Lyrics is really relevant to fans of Cat Stevens who came here looking just for the lyrics to Ruins, but we feel it is still fun to learn what's behind commonly used words and lyrics in songs.

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