Who draws the crowd?
Who plays so loud?
Baby it's the guitar man
Who's gonna steal the show
You know baby it's the guitar man
He can make you love he can make you cry
He will bring you down he will get you high
Something keeps him going
Miles and miles away
To find another place to play
And night after night who treats you right
Baby it's the guitar man
Who's on the radio?
You know baby it's the guitar man
When he comes to town and you see his face
And you think you might like to take his place
Something keeps him drifting miles and miles away
Searching for the songs to play
Then you listen to the music and you'd like to sing along
And you want to get the meaning out of each and every song
And you find yourself a message and some words to call your own and take 'em home

He can make you love he can get you high
He will bring you down he will make you cry
Something keeps him moving
But no one seems to know
What it is that makes him go
Then the lights begin to flicker and the sound is getting dim
The voice begins to falter and the crowds are getting thin
But he never seems to notice he's just got to find another place to play
(Fade away)
(Got to play)
(Fade away)



Lyrics submitted by Eamon

Track duration: 03:53

"The Guitar Man" as written by David Gates

Lyrics © DAVID GATES D/B/A KIPAHULU MUSIC

Lyrics powered by LyricFind


The Guitar Man song meanings
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20 Comments

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  • 0
    General Comment:This song makes me think about Jimmy Page. He is definitely The Guitar Man!
    Flag ZosoFan4Lifeon April 01, 2012   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:The original was by a band called Bread? lol

    I think it's about how a musician is super-popular, but he's empty inside. Though I may just be listening to too much Ev.
    Flag Raven92on May 30, 2010   Link
  • +1
    General Comment:Long time since anyone has posted. I heard the song and all of the sudden I think I found the hidden meaning of the "Guitar Man" (or at least something that works). If you think of the guitar man as Satan the song kind of takes on a completely new, dark meaning. The guitar man is at the forefront at the begininning of the song just giving everyone what they want. People eventually shift their focus away from him but he just continues onward, searching for someone, somewhere who he can give what he wants. I can't really explain it too well. Listen to the song with that perspective and see what you think... maybe I'm crazt
    Flag kidwhoaon January 15, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:LOL @ seaprince.
    Yes, I LOVE "emo, digitalized music". Because that's exactly what CAKE is. You've sure hit the nail right on the head with that one! Also, I love 60's and 70's music. I just also happen to love CAKE. Why stick to one decade/generation of music? Why limit yourself to that? That's rather stupid.
    (And by the way, I'm not in my 20's.)
    If you want poser, emo music, go check out Fallout Boy.
    Flag lovethon March 17, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:And what's up with people like you who hear one song by a group and call them posers. Cake is anything but posers; they're not Fallout Boy or My Chemical Romance. So they took an old song and updated it a bit; now maybe many people will look up the original and fall in love with that version and/or bread. Stop being such a poser yourself.
    Flag CakeFTWon December 24, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:What's up with all you darn 20-somethings that are too young to appreciate great classic rock of the 60's and 70's? You can't like anything these days unless it's all punked out, emo, or digitized. Not that punk is bad, but with the exception of a few bands, I would say we are currently in a musical dark age. The original Guitar Man is better than the one by these posers. I'm 32 by the way.
    Flag seaprince75on September 20, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:Nothing compares to Bread. Sorry to burst the bubble, but Cake doesn't have the voice.
    Flag MaggieMayon April 17, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:Cake never does a cover wrong
    Flag walnut_whaleon February 09, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:CAKE got to cover "the Guitar Man" on a tribute album of songs by Bread last yr. John had heard this song as a 10 yr. old going through albums at the public library and had remembered feeling sad over the fact that even as this guitarist brought pleasure to many people,still felt pretty lonely as kept playing show after show. Now as a guitar-playing musician in a touring band, he felt this would be the perfect song to cover.
    Flag pharmageekon September 11, 2006   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:way better than the original.

    I must agree.
    Flag xLucyInTheSkyx3on April 07, 2006   Link

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