Lyrics to
When The Eagle Flies

This version of When The Eagle Flies was released by Traffic in 1974.

Our Decade Lyrics Traffic profile has all of the When The Eagle Flies lyrics from 1974 and many more songs from the Traffic discography that we have on file.

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

When the eagle flies you’d better watch your eyes
He’s gonna sweep everything in his path
And when the heavens cry it’s gonna drown the sky
And you’ll get caught in the aftermath
When the mountains move it’s no good trying
To prove that you’ve been doing everything you can
And don’t you start to cry when you’re about to die
You gotta stand up and take it like a man
Because you’ve been taking instead of giving
And all the while you’ve been living lies
Economics, all your atomics
Ain’t gonna save you from that bird in the sky
And when the good times roll wrapped up in your mink coat

You will be stepping from your Cadillac
You will be stepping from your Cadillac
And in a micro flash you’re gonna feel the lash
Of big eagle’s wing across your back
And when the seas subside you’ll see him glide right out of view
In clouds of snow the rains will come
And wash away the scum so that all the little flowers can grow
There’ll be no more taking, only giving
And the sun pouring down
No economics and no atomics
Just the spread of Mother Nature’s gown
Do you hear me, Mother Nature? …

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Want more lyrics and songs by Traffic?

Traffic has released many songs over the years besides When The Eagle Flies. Traffic released songs from 1967 to 1994 spanning across albums like Mr. Fantasy, Traffic, Last Exit, John Barleycorn Must Die, Welcome To The Canteen, The Low Spark Of High Heeled Boys, Shoot Out At The Fantasy Factory, When The Eagle Flies, and Far From Home. Decade Lyrics has over lyrics & songs by Traffic.

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 When The Eagle Flies by Traffic

The lyrics for When The Eagle Flies are defined as the words making up the song released by Traffic in 1974. It also includes the verses and words used by the background chorus in the song. Like many hit songs, the lyrics to When The Eagle Flies have different meanings to different people. While it is clear in some of the lyrics what the artist is trying to really say, only Traffic 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 When The Eagle Flies by Traffic 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 When The Eagle Flies" means the words set to the music of When The Eagle Flies, or poetry accompanied by the lyre played by Traffic. 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 When The Eagle Flies and the lyrics to When The Eagle Flies are both one and the same thing. None of this talk about the word Lyrics is really relevant to fans of Traffic who came here looking just for the lyrics to When The Eagle Flies, but we feel it is still fun to learn what's behind commonly used words and lyrics in songs.

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