Lyrics to
Song For Bobby Smith

This version of Song For Bobby Smith was released by Gil Scott-Heron in 1974.

Our Gil Scott-Heron Songs profile has Song For Bobby Smith lyrics from 1974 and most if not all of the lyrics by Gil Scott-Heron that we have here at Decade Lyrics.

Here's more interesting things in songs and lyrics tied to Gil Scott-Heron or about the 1970s in general.

I know a young warrior named Bobby Smith
He’s gonna be 4 years old on his next birthday
He happened to be with Brian and I when we wrote this song
It’s about new life and new spirit, new feelings
We asked Bobby, “Bobby, what should we call this song?”
And he said, “Oh that’s pretty, that’s my song.”
That was very appropriate, this song for new life should be about Bobby
This is ‘A Song for Bobby Smith’

Ain’t you been there?
Ain’t you goin?
Can’t you taste your ideas growin?
We are soldiers
Soldiers of a new day
Can’t you see it?
Can’t you feel it in your heart?

Ain’t you been there and ain’t you goin
To a place where friendship’s flowin?
We are brothers
Brothers and sisters in spirit
Can’t you see it?
Yeah, can’t you feel it in your heart?

Ain’t you been there?
Ain’t you goin?
Can’t you take this love I’m showin?
Got to be you and me
You and me together
Can’t you see it?
Can’t you feel it in your heart?

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Gil Scott-Heron has released many songs over the years besides Song For Bobby Smith. Gil Scott-Heron released songs from 1970 to 2005 spanning across albums like Small Talk At 125th And Lenox, Pieces Of A Man, Free Will, Winter In America, The First Minute Of A New Day, It's Your World, From South Africa To South Carolina, Bridges, Secrets, The Mind Of Gil Scott-Heron, 1980, Real Eyes, Reflections, Moving Target, Spirits, and Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson - Messages (Anthology). Decade Lyrics has over lyrics & songs by Gil Scott-Heron.

If you're a fan of popular 1970s songs looking for more songs from 1974 or the 1970s overall, you've come to the right place!

About Lyrics and Song For Bobby Smith by Gil Scott-Heron

The lyrics to Song For Bobby Smith are just the words, phrases, verses and chorus that Gil Scott-Heron used when the song was created in 1974. The lyrics to Song For Bobby Smith have both easy-to-spot meanings and hidden metaphors that have been discussed by the music press and fans, but only Gil Scott-Heron 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 Song For Bobby Smith by Gil Scott-Heron. 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 Song For Bobby Smith" means the words set to the music of Song For Bobby Smith, or poetry accompanied by the lyre played by Gil Scott-Heron. 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 Song For Bobby Smith and the lyrics to Song For Bobby Smith are both one and the same thing. None of this talk about the word Lyrics is really relevant to fans of Gil Scott-Heron who came here looking just for the lyrics to Song For Bobby Smith, but we feel it is still fun to learn what's behind commonly used words and lyrics in songs.

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