Lyrics to
Run Charlie Run

This version of Run Charlie Run was released by The Temptations in 1972.

Our The Temptations Songs profile has Run Charlie Run lyrics from 1972 and most if not all of the lyrics by The Temptations that we have here at Decade Lyrics.

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

I watch you go to church on Sunday
But you forget all you learned on Monday
You see your smiling face can’t hide
How you hate your brother inside

So Ima telling you
Run, Charlie, run
Look! The niggers are coming!
(The niggers are coming?!)
Run, Charlie, run
Look! The niggers are coming!
(The niggers are coming?!)

You built this great big beautiful city
But you ran away and left it to die. What a pity.
You could have made friends with your neighbor
But you are much too prejudiced to try; tell me why!

So Ima telling you
Run, Charlie, run
Look! The niggers are coming!
(The niggers are coming?!)
Run, Charlie, run
Look! The niggers are coming!
(The niggers are coming?!)

But the greatest wrong you know you’ve done
Is you passed this sickness onto your son
(your one and only boy)
He came into this world with a mind so clean
You took it, molded it, and made it mean!

So Ima telling you
Run, Charlie, run
Look! The niggers are coming!
(The niggers are coming?!)
Run, Charlie, run
Look! The niggers are coming!
(The niggers are coming?!)

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The Temptations has released many songs over the years besides Run Charlie Run. The Temptations released songs from 1964 to 1980 spanning across albums like Meet The Temptations, The Temptations Sing Smokey, The Temptin' Temptations, Gettin' Ready, The Temptations With A Lot O' Soul, The Temptations In A Mellow Mood, The Temptations Wish It Would Rain, Cloud Nine, Puzzle People, The Temptations Christmas Card, Psychedelic Shack, Sky's The Limit, All Directions, Solid Rock, Masterpiece, A Song For You, and Give Love At Christmas. Decade Lyrics has over lyrics & songs by The Temptations.

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

About Lyrics and Run Charlie Run by The Temptations

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

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