Lyrics to
The Missionary

This version of The Missionary was released by Jimmy Buffett in 1970.

Our Decade Lyrics Jimmy Buffett profile has all of the The Missionary lyrics from 1970 and many more songs from the Jimmy Buffett discography that we have on file.

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

I didn’t know we were at war
I’ve been away so long
Trying to help once lost men
Distinguish right from wrong
I didn’t know we killed the men
Our leaders proud and strong
The situation’s changed my friend
I’ve been away too long

I taught my friends
How we had gained respect for every man
And freedom flowed like jungle streams
While peace embraced the land
I told them how we’d learn to change
Our sword blades into plows
I told them how they should learn from us
What should I tell them now

‘Cause I didn’t know we were at war
I’ve been away so long
Trying to help once lost men
Distinguish right from wrong

The jungle silence shut them off
From civilized mankind
Their nakedness was no disgrace
No censors could I find
The population lived in peace
All brothers on their own
And now that I have seen the mess
I don’t think I’ll go home

‘Cause I didn’t know we were at war
I’ve been away so long
I told them they should learn from us
I think I told them wrong

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Want more lyrics and songs by Jimmy Buffett?

Jimmy Buffett has released many songs over the years besides The Missionary. Jimmy Buffett released songs from 1970 to 2004 spanning across albums like Down To Earth, High Cumberland Jubilee, A White Sport Coat And A Pink Crustacean, A1A, Living And Dying In 3/4 Time, Havana Daydreamin', Changes In Latitudes, Changes In Attitudes, Son Of A Son Of A Sailor, Volcano, Coconut Telegraph, Somewhere Over China, One Particular Harbour, Riddles In The Sand, Last Mango In Paris, Floridays, Hot Water, Off To See The Lizard, Boats, Beaches, Bars & Ballads, Fruitcakes, Barometer Soup, Christmas Island, Banana Wind, Beach House On The Moon, Far Side Of The World, and License To Chill. Decade Lyrics has over lyrics & songs by Jimmy Buffett.

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 The Missionary by Jimmy Buffett

The lyrics for The Missionary are made up of the words, verses and background chorus for the popular 1970 song by Jimmy Buffett. Like a lot of songs, the lyrics to The Missionary have both direct meanings and metaphorical context hidden within the song's words. All of the meanings are only truly known by the creators of the lyrics for The Missionary - Jimmy Buffett and any of the writers who worked with them on the song.

If you have an interest in the structure of words and phrases, you can dissect the lyrics to The Missionary by Jimmy Buffett in multiple 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 The Missionary" means the words set to the music of The Missionary, or poetry accompanied by the lyre played by Jimmy Buffett. 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 The Missionary and the lyrics to The Missionary are both one and the same thing. None of this talk about the word Lyrics is really relevant to fans of Jimmy Buffett who came here looking just for the lyrics to The Missionary, but we feel it is still fun to learn what's behind commonly used words and lyrics in songs.

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