The Ballad Of Lucy Jordan
Dr. Hook&The Medicine Show Lyrics


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The mornin' sun touched lightly on the eyes of Lucy Jordan
In her white suburban bedroom, in a white suburban town
As she lay there 'neath the covers, dreaming of a thousand lovers
'Til the world turned to orange and the room went spinnin' round

At the age of 37, she realized she'd never ride through Paris
In a sports car, with the warm wind in her hair
And she let the phone keep ringin' as she sat there softly singin'
Pretty nursery rhymes she'd memorized in her daddy's easy chair

Her husband, he was off to work, and the kids were off to school
And there were oh so many ways for her to spend her day
She could clean the house for hours, or rearrange the flowers
Or run naked down the shady street screaming all the way

At the age of 37, she realized she'd never ride through Paris
In a sports car, with the warm wind in her hair
And she let that phone keep ringin' as she sat there softly singin'
Pretty nursery rhymes she'd memorized in her daddy's easy chair

The evening sun touched gently on the eyes of Lucy Jordan
On the rooftop where she'd climbed when all the laughter grew too loud
And she bowed and curtsy to the man, who reached and offered her his hand
And led her down to the long white car that waited past the crowd

At the age of 37, she knew she'd found forever as they rode along through Paris




With the warm wind in her hair
Ooooohhh yes with the wind in her hair oooooohhhh

Overall Meaning

The Ballad of Lucy Jordan by Dr. Hook is a tale of a woman's realization of all the things she wanted to do and never did. At the start of the song, the morning sun shines on Lucy Jordan in her white suburban bedroom, where she dreams of a thousand lovers, but her reality is the mundane tasks of a suburban housewife. The lyrics describe her consuming thoughts of never having the opportunity to ride through Paris with the warm wind blowing her hair in a sports car, something she has always dreamed of. The phone rings in the background, but she doesn't pick it up, instead softly singing nursery rhymes. She has a husband who is off to work, and the kids are already at school. She constantly thinks of different ways she can spend her day, like cleaning the house for hours, rearranging flower beds, or even running naked down the street screaming. As the evening sun sets, she climbs to the rooftop, where the laughter of the people is too loud for her. There she meets a man who offers her a hand, and he leads her down to a white car waiting past the crowd. The last stanza shows her finally fulfilling her lifelong dream of riding through Paris with the warm wind in her hair, forever realizing her dream at the age of 37.


The Ballad of Lucy Jordan was originally written and performed by the British songwriter Shel Silverstein. It was later covered by the American rock band Dr. Hook in 1974, and their version became a massive hit.


Line by Line Meaning

The morning sun touched lightly on the eyes of Lucy Jordan
Lucy Jordan woke up to a bright morning sun shining on her closed eyes.


In her white suburban bedroom, in a white suburban town
She lived in a white house in a quiet suburban area.


As she lay there 'neath the covers, dreaming of a thousand lovers
She was under the covers, daydreaming about being with many different lovers.


'Til the world turned to orange and the room went spinnin' round
She was so lost in her daydream that she felt like the world was spinning.


At the age of 37, she realized she'd never ride through Paris
When she was 37, Lucy Jordan realized that she had never been to Paris.


In a sports car, with the warm wind in her hair
She always imagined herself driving through Paris in a sports car with the wind blowing in her hair.


And she let the phone keep ringin' as she sat there softly singin'
She ignored the ringing phone and sang nursery rhymes while sitting in her father's chair.


Pretty nursery rhymes she'd memorized in her daddy's easy chair
She sang nursery rhymes that she had learned while sitting with her father in their comfortable chair.


Her husband, he was off to work, and the kids were off to school
Her husband and children were busy with their day while she was at home.


And there were oh so many ways for her to spend her day
She had many options for how to spend her free time.


She could clean the house for hours or rearrange the flowers
One option was to clean the house or rearrange the flowers.


Or run naked down the shady street screaming all the way
Another option, although unlikely, was to strip down and run through the street screaming.


The evening sun touched gently on the eyes of Lucy Jordan
Later in the day, the sun shone gently on Lucy Jordan's eyes.


On the rooftop where she'd climbed when all the laughter grew too loud
She climbed onto a rooftop to escape the noise of laughter.


And she bowed and curtsy to the man who reached and offered her his hand
A man offered her his hand and she bowed and curtsied as a sign of respect.


And led her down to the long white car that waited past the crowd
The man led her to a white car that was waiting for them.


At the age of 37, she knew she'd found forever as they rode along through Paris
At 37, Lucy Jordan finally found what she was looking for as she rode through Paris with the man.


With the warm wind in her hair
She finally had her dream of the wind blowing through her hair while driving in a sports car in Paris.




Lyrics © OBO APRA/AMCOS

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Most interesting comments from YouTube:

legalizitt

[Verse 1]
The mornin' sun touched lightly on
The eyes of Lucy Jordon
In her white suburban bedroom
In a white suburban town
As she lay there 'neath the covers
Dreaming of a thousand lovers
'Til the world turned to orange
And the room went spinnin' round

[Chorus]
At the age of 37
She realised she'd never ride through Paris
In a sports car, with the warm wind in her hair
And she let the phone keep ringin'
As she sat there softly singin'
Pretty nursery rhymes
She'd memorised
In her daddy's easy chair

[Verse 2]
Her husband, he was off to work
And the kids were off to school
And there were oh so many ways
For her to spend her day
She could clean the house for hours
Or rearrange the flowers
Or run naked down the shady street
Screaming all the way

[Chorus]
At the age of 37
She realised she'd never ride through Paris
In a sports car, with the warm wind in her hair
And she let the phone keep ringin'
As she sat there softly singin'
Pretty nursery rhymes
She'd memorised
In her daddy's easy chair

[Verse 3]
The evening sun
Touched gently on
The eyes of Lucy Jordon
On the rooftop
Where she'd climbed
When all the laughter grew too loud
And she bowed and curtseyed to the man
Who reached and offered her his hand
And led her down
To the long white car
That waited past the crowd

[Outro]
At the age of 37
She knew she'd found forever
As they rode along through Paris
With the warm wind in her hair
Ooooohhh yes
With the wind in her hair
Oooohhhh yeah, yes



Alternating Currents

SOME LYRICS:
The mornin' sun touched lightly on the eyes of Lucy Jordan
In her white suburban bedroom, in a white suburban town
As she lay there 'neath the covers, dreaming of a thousand lovers
'Til the world turned to orange and the room went spinnin' round

At the age of 37, she realized she'd never ride through Paris
In a sports car, with the warm wind in her hair
And she let the phone keep ringin' as she sat there softly singin'
Pretty nursery rhymes she'd memorized in her daddy's easy chair

Her husband, he was off to work, and the kids were off to school
And there were oh so many ways for her to spend her day
She could clean the house for hours, or rearrange the flowers
Or run naked down the shady street screaming all the way

At the age of 37, she realized she'd never ride through Paris
In a sports car, with the warm wind in her hair
And she let that phone keep ringin' as she sat there softly singin'
Pretty nursery rhymes she'd memorized in her daddy's easy chair

The evening sun touched gently on the eyes of Lucy Jordan
On the rooftop where she'd climbed when all the laughter grew too loud
And she bowed and curtsy to the man, who reached and offered her his hand
And led her down to the long white car that waited past the crowd

At the age of 37, she knew she'd found forever as they rode along through Paris
With the warm wind in her hair
Ooooohhh yes with the wind in her hair oooooohhhh



All comments from YouTube:

Paul Sumner

What a voice.

RockatanskyRodShop

Best dr hook song ever! I love all of their work but this is truly a masterpiece, it almost feels like he personally knew Lucy Jordan the emotion in his voice alone makes this song so beautiful

Frankie Casper

Dennis Locorriere is an amazing singer. Dr Hook were a great band. Shel Silverstein's songs are all classics.

jimbob1

Seen Dennis Locoriere in Dorset 2022,this guy was amazing brilliant singer, fantastic hearing this guy live ,claim to fame that nights concert was announced the queen died,so memorable,but anyway Dr hook and Dennis were brilliant.

Franice Stokes

One of my most favourite song ever it lives rent free in my head ❤️💯

Bfinky

I discovered Dr. Hook a few months ago and just love them. I had only ever heard Marianne Faithfull's version of this song and absolutely loved it. Now I discover this amazing original version and am just thrilled! Two different versions but equally beautiful!

Mark Petersen

You might be able to find the original by Shel Silversteen

Vishnu Vardhan

Please listen to A Little Bit More

Trey West

Most of the early stuff that Dr. Hook and The Medicine Show performed was written by Shel Silverstein.
He is worth checking out too.

John Galvin

A story told in song, only a voice like that could turn it into a vivid film running through your mind.

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