Lyrics to
Traveling Man

This version of Traveling Man was released by Dolly Parton in 1971.

Our Dolly Parton Songs profile has Traveling Man lyrics from 1971 and most if not all of the lyrics by Dolly Parton that we have here at Decade Lyrics.

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The man I loved ran a salesman route
Selling goods from house to house
Now I knew my mama would never stand
For me stepping out with no traveling man
Mama bought things that he was a’selling
But mama didn’t know and I sure wasn’t telling
That behind her back I was making plans
To meet somewhere with that traveling man
Oh the traveling man was a good bit older
But a girl needs arms to hold her
Mama didn’t know ’cause I didn’t told her
But mama wouldn’t understand
Me stepping out with a traveling man

Mama didn’t allow me a’going courting
And I’d tell lies that I reckon I oughtn’t
Oh but she’d a’give me the back a’ her hand
If she’d a’seen me with that traveling man
So I tell my mama that I reckon I oughta
Go to the spring and fetch us some water
What mama didn’t know is I had a plan
To meet down there with that traveling man

Now I make plans to run away
With that traveling man on a Saturday
Well Saturday’s here and here I stand
And there goes my mama with that traveling man

Oh that traveling man was a two-time lover
He took my love then he took my mother
But I didn’t know ’cause mama didn’t told me and I don’t understand
My mama running off with my traveling man

Mama, you know you oughtn’t a’done that
You just like my daddy
He run off before I ever knowed him
You done run-off with my traveling man
And I really don’t think I ever knowed you either
Oh there goes my mama with my traveling man
And I’m really gonna miss that traveling man
Mm-hm

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Dolly Parton has released many songs over the years besides Traveling Man. Dolly Parton released songs from 1967 to 2005 spanning across albums like Hello, I'm Dolly, Just Because I'm A Woman, My Blue Ridge Mountain Boy, In The Good Old Days, As Long As I Love, The Fairest Of Them All, A Real Live Dolly, Coat Of Many Colors, The Golden Streets Of Glory, Joshua, Touch Your Woman, My Favorite Songwriter: Porter Wagoner, Bubbling Over, My Tennessee Mountain Home, Love Is Like A Butterfly, Jolene, Dolly: The Seeker / We Used To, The Bargain Store, All I Can Do, New Harvest... First Gathering, Here You Come Again, Heartbreaker, Great Balls Of Fire, 9 To 5 And Odd Jobs, Dolly, Dolly, Dolly, Heartbreak Express, The Best Little Whorehouse In Texas, Burlap & Satin, Rhinestone, The Great Pretender, Real Love, Rainbow, White Limozeen, Home For Christmas, Eagle When She Flies, Straight Talk, Slow Dancing With The Moon, Heartsongs: Live From Home, Something Special, Treasures, Hungry Again, The Grass Is Blue, Precious Memories, Little Sparrow, Halos & Horns, For God And Country, and Those Were The Days. Decade Lyrics has over lyrics & songs by Dolly Parton.

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

About Lyrics and Traveling Man by Dolly Parton

The lyrics for Traveling Man are defined as the words making up the song released by Dolly Parton in 1971. It also includes the verses and words used by the background chorus in the song. Like many hit songs, the lyrics to Traveling Man have different meanings to different people. While it is clear in some of the lyrics what the artist is trying to really say, only Dolly Parton and those working with them know all of the meanings behind all of the lyrics to their songs.

Some folks are interested in word and phrase etymology. It is easy to understand the lyrics to Traveling Man by Dolly Parton if you think through it. 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 Traveling Man" means the words set to the music of Traveling Man, or poetry accompanied by the lyre played by Dolly Parton. 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 Traveling Man and the lyrics to Traveling Man are both one and the same thing. None of this talk about the word Lyrics is really relevant to fans of Dolly Parton who came here looking just for the lyrics to Traveling Man, but we feel it is still fun to learn what's behind commonly used words and lyrics in songs.

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