Lyrics to
Turnabout

This version of Turnabout was released by Jimmy Buffett in 1970.

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As large as life she stood there
Kissed my cheek and called my old nickname
And though several years had passed
Both of us still looked quite the same
I said Hi, relaxed a bit then asked her how she’d been all these years
She told me she was feeling fine and came to see a friend who lived up
here

She told me she had finished school
And then went on to college for a year
I asked if she had married
And slowly down her cheek there came a tear
She said just an itchy eye it must be the weather way up here
Told her I can’t stand the cold
It freezes me and I can’t feel my ears

We talked a bit about Mobile
And thought about how it has never changed
I told her I was comin’ home to spend some time
And hoped it wouldn’t rain
She asked if she could see me then
And we could spend some time now and then
Because I lived so far away
Was still no chance why we could not be friends

I drove her to the waiting plane
And watched that big jet streaking through the sky
Thought about the sad young girl
And the time that I just saw her cry
That flame must still be burning bright
I think I’ll catch a later flight today
It’s time for me to go on home and spend a day or two down by the bay

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Jimmy Buffett has released many songs over the years besides Turnabout. 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.

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About Lyrics and Turnabout by Jimmy Buffett

When you decide to study the lyrics to Turnabout, you're looking at the words, verses and background chorus from the 1970 song by Jimmy Buffett. Some of the lyrics to Turnabout have clear meanings and some contain metaphorical references. Like most songs, only Jimmy Buffett and their collaborators know the full story behind any of the their songs.

You can understand the lyrics to Turnabout 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 Turnabout" means the words set to the music of Turnabout, 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 Turnabout and the lyrics to Turnabout 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 Turnabout, but we feel it is still fun to learn what's behind commonly used words and lyrics in songs.

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