Lyrics to
Sleepin’

This version of Sleepin’ was released by Diana Ross in 1973.

Our About Diana Ross page at Decade Lyrics includes the lyrics for Sleepin’ from 1973 as well as all of the other lyrics from Diana Ross that we have in our lyrics database.

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Johnny’s been runnin’ hard all his life
‘Cause life never treated him right
Well he ain’t running now
You see his eyes are closed
They can’t hurt him tonight

Sleepin’, he’s sleepin’
Just let him be for a while
Don’t wake him, don’t take him
To where the people don’t smile

Sleepin’, my man is sleepin’ nice now
Please let him stay here with me
I promise, I’ll keep him
At home, where he’s supposed to be

He’s been out there
In the streets you know
And strugglin’, scufflin’
Trying to survive
Out there in a richman’s world
And now you say my Johnny is not alive
But you’re wrong, can’t you see

Sleepin’, he’s just sleepin’ mister
He doesn’t rest very much
He lives hard and he gives hard
And I’ll just die for his touch

Sleepin’, he’s sleepin’
Without a care to his name
He’s peaceful
He’s quiet
He’s tired of runnin’ his game

He’s been out there
In the streets you know
With all the pain and all the suffering
Out there
Where you fight like hell
He never learned a fix don’t fix a thing
Don’t touch him

Johnny put too much in his vanes
And now you’re trying to tell me he’s gone
I don’t believe you
I’m just gonna sit here
And rock him in my arms

Sleepin’, he’s sleepin’
He doesn’t rest very much
You see he lives hard and gives hard

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Diana Ross has released many songs over the years besides Sleepin’. Diana Ross released songs from 1970 to 2006 spanning across albums like Everything Is Everything, Diana Ross, Surrender / I'm Still Waiting, Lady Sings The Blues, Touch Me In The Morning, Last Time I Saw Him, Diana & Marvin, Live At Caesar's Palace, Baby It's Me, The Wiz, Ross, The Boss, diana, To Love Again, Why Do Fools Fall In Love, Silk Electric, Swept Away, Eaten Alive, Red Hot Rhythm And Blues, Workin' Overtime, The Force Behind The Power, Take Me Higher, Every Day Is A New Day, I Love You, and Blue. Decade Lyrics has over lyrics & songs by Diana Ross.

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 Sleepin’ by Diana Ross

The lyrics to Sleepin’ are just the words, phrases, verses and chorus that Diana Ross used when the song was created in 1973. The lyrics to Sleepin’ have both easy-to-spot meanings and hidden metaphors that have been discussed by the music press and fans, but only Diana Ross and any collaborators know all of the inspirations for the song.

If you like etymology or breaking apart phrases and words, it is easy to understand the lyrics to Sleepin’ by Diana Ross. 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 Sleepin’" means the words set to the music of Sleepin’, or poetry accompanied by the lyre played by Diana Ross. 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 Sleepin’ and the lyrics to Sleepin’ are both one and the same thing. None of this talk about the word Lyrics is really relevant to fans of Diana Ross who came here looking just for the lyrics to Sleepin’, but we feel it is still fun to learn what's behind commonly used words and lyrics in songs.

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