Lyrics to
Whitey On The Moon

This version of Whitey On The Moon was released by Gil Scott-Heron in 1970.

Our About Gil Scott-Heron page at Decade Lyrics includes the lyrics for Whitey On The Moon from 1970 as well as all of the other lyrics from Gil Scott-Heron that we have in our lyrics database.

Here's more interesting things in songs and lyrics tied to Gil Scott-Heron or about the 1970s in general.

A rat done bit my sister Nell
With Whitey on the moon
Her face and arms began to swell
And Whitey’s on the moon

I can’t pay no doctor bills
But Whitey’s on the moon
Ten years from now I’ll be paying still
While Whitey’s on the moon

You know, the man just upped my rent last night
Cause Whitey’s on the moon
No hot water, no toilets, no lights
But Whitey’s on the moon

I wonder why he’s uppin’ me?
Cause Whitey’s on the moon?
Well i was already given him fifty a week
And now Whitey’s on the moon

Taxes takin’ my whole damn check
The junkies make me a nervous wreck
The price of food is goin up
And if all that crap wasn’t enough
A rat done bit my sister nell
With Whitey on the moon

Her face and arms began to swell
And Whitey’s on the moon

With all that money i made last year
For Whitey on the moon
How come I ain’t got no money here?
Hmm, Whitey’s on the moon

You know I just about had my fill
Of Whitey on the moon
I think I’ll send these doctor bills
airmail special
(To Whitey on the moon)

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Gil Scott-Heron has released many songs over the years besides Whitey On The Moon. Gil Scott-Heron released songs from 1970 to 2005 spanning across albums like Small Talk At 125th And Lenox, Pieces Of A Man, Free Will, Winter In America, The First Minute Of A New Day, It's Your World, From South Africa To South Carolina, Bridges, Secrets, The Mind Of Gil Scott-Heron, 1980, Real Eyes, Reflections, Moving Target, Spirits, and Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson - Messages (Anthology). Decade Lyrics has over lyrics & songs by Gil Scott-Heron.

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 Whitey On The Moon by Gil Scott-Heron

The lyrics to Whitey On The Moon are just the words, phrases, verses and chorus that Gil Scott-Heron used when the song was created in 1970. The lyrics to Whitey On The Moon have both easy-to-spot meanings and hidden metaphors that have been discussed by the music press and fans, but only Gil Scott-Heron and any collaborators know all of the inspirations for the song.

If you like etymology or breaking apart phrases and words, it is easy to understand the lyrics to Whitey On The Moon by Gil Scott-Heron. 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 Whitey On The Moon" means the words set to the music of Whitey On The Moon, or poetry accompanied by the lyre played by Gil Scott-Heron. 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 Whitey On The Moon and the lyrics to Whitey On The Moon are both one and the same thing. None of this talk about the word Lyrics is really relevant to fans of Gil Scott-Heron who came here looking just for the lyrics to Whitey On The Moon, but we feel it is still fun to learn what's behind commonly used words and lyrics in songs.

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