Lyrics to
What A Life I’ve Led

This version of What A Life I’Ve Led was released by The Hollies in 1971.

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There never was a man so doggone mean
I wore only black and my eyes were green
And I can tell you now that I’m very old
I’d kill any man for a piece of gold

Oh what a life I’ve led
I’ve been a real bad man and I oughta be dead
Oh what a life I’ve led
I’ve been real mean man, full of cheating and lying
Left a lot of men dead and a lot of girls crying
Yes I did

I rode into Dodge on a sunny day
I went there to steal all the railmen’s pay
And when I left town all the streets ran red
I had ten grand in gold, and three guards lay dead

I was a bad man with a heart made of stone
If you were a wise man, you would’ve left me alone

I’ve lived all my life, such a lonely one
Just me and my horse and a fine six-gun
I’ve lived and I’ve loved and I knew great pain
But I know now I’d do it over again Singing

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The Hollies has released many songs over the years besides What A Life I’Ve Led. The Hollies released songs from 1964 to 1998 spanning across albums like Stay With The Hollies, In The Hollies Style, Hollies, For Certain Because, Would You Believe?, Butterfly, Evolution, Hollies Sing Dylan, Hollies Sing Hollies, Confessions Of The Mind, Distant Light, Romany, Another Night, Russian Roulette, Write On, A Crazy Steal, 5317704, Buddy Holly, What Goes Around, The Hollies At Abbey Road 1963-1966, and The Hollies At Abbey Road 1966-1970. Decade Lyrics has over lyrics & songs by The Hollies.

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About Lyrics and What A Life I’Ve Led by The Hollies

The lyrics for What A Life I’Ve Led are defined as the words making up the song released by The Hollies in 1971. It also includes the verses and words used by the background chorus in the song. Like many hit songs, the lyrics to What A Life I’Ve Led have different meanings to different people. While it is clear in some of the lyrics what the artist is trying to really say, only The Hollies 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 What A Life I’Ve Led by The Hollies 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 What A Life I’Ve Led" means the words set to the music of What A Life I’Ve Led, or poetry accompanied by the lyre played by The Hollies. 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 What A Life I’Ve Led and the lyrics to What A Life I’Ve Led are both one and the same thing. None of this talk about the word Lyrics is really relevant to fans of The Hollies who came here looking just for the lyrics to What A Life I’Ve Led, but we feel it is still fun to learn what's behind commonly used words and lyrics in songs.

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