Cover art for Cry for the Bad Man by Lynyrd Skynyrd

Cry for the Bad Man

Producer

Feb. 2, 19761 viewer

Cry for the Bad Man Lyrics

[Verse 1]
Well, he walks so tall, to be so small
Never met a man who's stranger
He lives his life for a dollar sign
And to deal with him is dangerous
Well, he knocked me down but I'm on my feet
Now I'm so much wiser
I'd rather quit and go back home
Than to deal with the money miser


[Chorus]
Let's cry for this bad man
I sing a song for the bad man

[Verse 2]
Well, you treat me right baby, I'll treat you right
That's the way it's supposed to be
I put my faith down in my friend
And he almost put an end to me

Well I work seven days a week
Eight when I am able
When you take my money from me, you take food from my mama's table

[Chorus]
Let's cry for this bad man
I wrote a song for the bad man
[Bridge]
Oh baby you know who you are
Let's cry for this bad man
I wrote a song for the bad man, way down in Georgia

[Verse 3]
Well, you treat me right baby, I'll treat you right
That's the way it's supposed to be
I put my faith down in my friend
And he almost put an end to me
Well, when you take my money baby, when you hurt my family
It's like walking through the swamps without no shoes
Step on a snake, it scares you

[Chorus]
Let's cry for this bad man
I wrote a song for the bad man

[Chorus]
Let's cry for this bad man
I wrote a song for the bad man

[Outro]
Oh baby straight to you
He's so bad, so bad

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Genius Annotation

Ronnie Van Zant explained:

Cry for the Bad Man, which was written [about] – I won’t give his name because he might make a suit – a gentleman we did business with one time and he really messed us over, he cost us a lot of money. He was a money miser and he treated us real bad. Finally we got out from under the contracts with him and so I figured to write a song about him – that’s “Cry for the Bad Man”.

It is believed that, although he isn’t named directly in the song (for legal reasons), the lyrics are about Alan Walden, the band’s former manager, who had separated from the band in 1974.

Credits
Producer
Percussion
Keyboards
Lead Vocals
Background Vocals
Recorded At
Record Plant St
Release Date
February 2, 1976
Songs That Interpolate Cry for the Bad Man
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