Lyrics to
Sit Down Young Stranger

This version of Sit Down Young Stranger was released by Gordon Lightfoot in 1970.

Our Decade Lyrics Gordon Lightfoot profile has all of the Sit Down Young Stranger lyrics from 1970 and many more songs from the Gordon Lightfoot discography that we have on file.

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

I’m standin’ in the doorway
My head bowed in my hands
Not knowin’ where to sit
Not knowin’ where to stand
My father looms above me
For him there is no rest
My mother’s arms enfold me
And hold me to her breast
They say you been out wandrin’
They say you travelled far
Sit down young stranger
And tell us who you are

The room has all gone misty,
My thoughts are all in spin
Sit down young stranger
And tell us where you been

I’ve been up to the mountain
I’ve walked down by the sea
I never questioned no one
And no one questioned me
My love was given freely
And oftimes was returned
I never came to borrow
I only came to learn

Sometimes it would get lonely
But it taught me how to cry
And laughter came too easy
For life to pass me by
I never had a dollar
That I didn’t earn with pride
Cause I had a million daydreams
To keep me satisfied

And will you gather daydreams
Or will you gather wealth
How can you find your fortune
When you cannot find yourself
My mother’s eyes grow misty
There’s a tremblin’ in her hand
Sit down young stranger
I do not understand

Now will you try to tell us
You been too long at school
That knowledge is not needed
That power does not rule
That war is not the answer
That young men should not die
Sit down young stranger
I wait for your reply

The answer is not easy
For souls are not reborn
To wear the crown of peace
You must wear the crown of thorns
If jesus had a reason
I’m sure he would not tell
We treated him so badly
How could he wish us well

The parlor now is empty
There’s nothin’ left to say
My father has departed
My mother’s gone to pray
There’s rockets in the meadows
And ships out on the sea
The answer’s in the forest
Carved upon a tree

John loves mary
Does anyone love me

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Gordon Lightfoot has released many songs over the years besides Sit Down Young Stranger. Gordon Lightfoot released songs from 1966 to 2004 spanning across albums like Lightfoot!, The Way I Feel, Back Here On Earth, Did She Mention My Name, Sunday Concert, Sit Down Young Stranger / If You Could Read My Mind, Summer Side Of Life, Don Quixote, Old Dan's Records, Sundown, Cold On The Shoulder, Summertime Dream, Endless Wire, Dream Street Rose, Shadows, Salute, East Of Midnight, Waiting For You, A Painter Passing Through, and Harmony. Decade Lyrics has over lyrics & songs by Gordon Lightfoot.

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

About Lyrics and Sit Down Young Stranger by Gordon Lightfoot

The lyrics to Sit Down Young Stranger are the words, verses and chorus for the song released by Gordon Lightfoot in 1970. Elements of the lyrics to Sit Down Young Stranger are both direct in meaning and also metaphorical with the real meanings of the song only known by Gordon Lightfoot and any collaborating writers working on the lyrics for Sit Down Young Stranger back when it was created.

Some people have an interest in the etymology behind words and phrases. You can take apart the lyrics to Sit Down Young Stranger by Gordon Lightfoot in a number of 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 Sit Down Young Stranger" means the words set to the music of Sit Down Young Stranger, or poetry accompanied by the lyre played by Gordon Lightfoot. 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 Sit Down Young Stranger and the lyrics to Sit Down Young Stranger are both one and the same thing. None of this talk about the word Lyrics is really relevant to fans of Gordon Lightfoot who came here looking just for the lyrics to Sit Down Young Stranger, but we feel it is still fun to learn what's behind commonly used words and lyrics in songs.

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