Cover art for Common Man by David Ruffin

Common Man

Produced by

Feb. 19731 viewer

Common Man Lyrics

[Verse 1]
I have dreamed the dream of every common man
Ahh, hoping to rise to the top
I have sworn by my blood as your man, my love
That one day, I promise one day your heartaches would stop

[Chorus]
But I've never, never, never, never, changed
I never changed one single grain of sand
Oh, thanks to you, baby (Thanks to you, baby)
Haha, for just loving a common man
I want to thank you this evening, honey

[Verse 2]
Oh, I thought, I thought that I'd failed you so
But that's when you turned around and looked me in my eyes
And you let me know
You said, and you said it softly
I didn't have to worry about being a common man
You said, "David, you don't have to worry about rising to the top"
You said, you said, you said I didn't have to swear by my blood
But ah baby, that one day your heartaches would stop

[Chorus]
Then you put your arms around and you said
You never, never, never, never cared
If I never change one single grain of sand
You said, "I love you, baby" (I love you, love you, baby)
"I love you for just being a common man"
[Outro]
For my gratitude just keep on growing, yeah (Don't have to worry, worry, worry)
For recognizing me, I thank you, baby, yeah (Don't have to worry, worry, worry)
For respecting me, yeah, I want to thank you, baby (Don't have to worry, worry)
For every time of need, Lord, I thank you, baby (Don't have to worry, worry, worry)
Oh, for my gratitude, for respecting me, baby (Don't have to worry, worry, worry)
For just being a common man (Don't have to worry, worry, worry)
Ah, I want to thank you, babe (Don't have to worry, worry, worry)
For in a time of need, I want to thank you for respecting me (Don't have to worry, worry, no no)
In a time of worry, I want to thank you for calming my troubles (Don't have to worry, no no)
Oh, I thank you baby (Don't have to worry, no no)
Thank you honey, for loving a common man, common man like me, yeah, yeah, yeah (Don't have to worry, no no)

How to Format Lyrics:

  • Type out all lyrics, even repeating song parts like the chorus
  • Lyrics should be broken down into individual lines
  • Use section headers above different song parts like [Verse], [Chorus], etc.
  • Use italics (<i>lyric</i>) and bold (<b>lyric</b>) to distinguish between different vocalists in the same song part
  • If you don’t understand a lyric, use [?]

To learn more, check out our transcription guide or visit our transcribers forum

About

This song bio is unreviewed
Genius Annotation

As a producer, Kanye West heavily sampled Ruffin’s recording for the Jay-Z track “Never Change” on 1999’s The Blueprint.

Q&A

Find answers to frequently asked questions about the song and explore its deeper meaning

Credits
Produced By
Written By
Mix Engineer
Release Date
February 1973
View Common Man samples
Tags
Comments