Lyrics to
Smoke Signal

This version of Smoke Signal was released by The Band in 1971.

Visit the The Band Lyrics profile at Decade Lyrics - it has the Smoke Signal lyrics as well as the rest of the songs by The Band.

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

Went to the movie matinee
To see the blue coats try to get away
From a smoke signal
Above the trees
A smoke signal
Shifting in the breeze
Some folks think it’s make believe
Other folks ain’t so naive
About a smoke signal
Could see it coming
A smoke signal
Hear the drums drumming

You don’t believe what you read in the paper
You can’t believe the stranger at your door
You don’t believe what you hear from your neighbor
Your old neighborhood ain’t even there no more

Indian maid will plant the seed
And cultivate a whole new breed
There’s a smoke signal
Over your head
A smoke signal
You know what it said?
When they’re torn out by the roots
Young brothers join in cahoots
To send a smoke signal
Near and far
A smoke signal
No matter where you are

You don’t believe what they say on the radio
You don’t believe what you see on the video
Living in the shadow of a doubt today
Still waiting for the smoke to clear away

Tried to get in touch with you
Tried to get my message through
By smoke signal
Honey, do ya read me
Smoke signal
Call me if you need me
There you were all in white
Standing out in the broad daylight
Lookin’ like a smoke signal
From heaven above
Smoke signal
Oh, my love

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The Band has released many songs over the years besides Smoke Signal. The Band released songs from 1968 to 2002 spanning across albums like Music From Big Pink, The Band, Stage Fright, Cahoots, Moondog Matinee, Northern Lights - Southern Cross, Islands, Jericho, High On The Hog, Jubilation, and The Last Waltz. Decade Lyrics has over lyrics & songs by The Band.

If you're a fan of the music of the 1970s looking for more songs from 1971 or the 1970s overall, you've come to the right place!

About Lyrics and Smoke Signal by The Band

When you decide to study the lyrics to Smoke Signal, you're looking at the words, verses and background chorus from the 1971 song by The Band. Some of the lyrics to Smoke Signal have clear meanings and some contain metaphorical references. Like most songs, only The Band and their collaborators know the full story behind any of the their songs.

You can understand the lyrics to Smoke Signal if you take apart the structure of the words. 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 Smoke Signal" means the words set to the music of Smoke Signal, or poetry accompanied by the lyre played by The Band. 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 Smoke Signal and the lyrics to Smoke Signal are both one and the same thing. None of this talk about the word Lyrics is really relevant to fans of The Band who came here looking just for the lyrics to Smoke Signal, but we feel it is still fun to learn what's behind commonly used words and lyrics in songs.

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