The Ballad of Lucy Jordan

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"The Ballad of Lucy Jordon"
Single by Dr. Hook & the Medicine Show
B-side "Make it Easy"
Released 1974
Length 03:53
Label CBS
Writer(s) Shel Silverstein
Producer(s) Ron Haffkine
Dr. Hook & the Medicine Show singles chronology
"Life Ain't Easy"
(1973)		 "The Ballad of Lucy Jordon"
(1974)		 "The Millionaire"
(1975)
"The Ballad of Lucy Jordan"
Single by Marianne Faithfull
from the album Broken English
B-side "Brain Drain"
Released 1979
Label Island
Writer(s) Shel Silverstein
Producer(s) Mark Miller Mundy
Marianne Faithfull singles chronology
"The Way You Want Me To Be"
(1978)		 "The Ballad of Lucy Jordan"
(1979)		 "Broken English"
(1980)

"The Ballad of Lucy Jordan" is a song by American poet and songwriter Shel Silverstein. It was originally recorded by Dr. Hook & the Medicine Show, with the name spelt "Jordon". The song describes the disillusionment and mental deterioration of a suburban housewife.

Marianne Faithfull version

In 1979, the song was also recorded by the English singer Marianne Faithfull. Taken from her 1979 album Broken English, it was released as a single in November 1979 and has become one of her highest charted songs. It is featured on the soundtracks to the films Montenegro, Tarnation and Thelma & Louise. Faithfull also performed the song during a guest appearance in the episode "Donkey" from the fourth season of Absolutely Fabulous.

In an interview on ITV's The South Bank Show aired on 24 June 2007, Faithfull said that her interpretation was that Lucy climbs to the rooftop but gets taken away by "the man who reached and offered her his hand" in an ambulance ("long white car") to a mental hospital, and that the final lines ("At the age of thirty-seven she knew she'd found forever / As she rode along through Paris with the warm wind in her hair ...") are actually in her imagination at the hospital.[1] Thelma and Louise has a similar fatalistic theme.[2]

Charts

Chart (1979-80) Peak
position
Australia (ARIA)[3] 18
Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[4] 2
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Wallonia)[5] 7
France (SNEP)[6] 17
Germany (Official German Charts)[7] 5
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40) 19
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[8] 20
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[9] 5
UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[10] 48

Other cover versions

References

  1. ↑ Podcast The South Bank Show
  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ "Australian-charts.com – {{{artist}}} – {{{song}}}". ARIA Top 50 Singles.
  4. ↑ "Austriancharts.at – {{{artist}}} – {{{song}}}" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40.
  5. ↑ "Ultratop.be – {{{artist}}} – {{{song}}}" (in French). Ultratop 50.
  6. ↑ "Lescharts.com – {{{artist}}} – {{{song}}}" (in French). Les classement single.
  7. ↑ "Musicline.de – {{{artist}}} Single-Chartverfolgung" (in German). Media Control Charts. PhonoNet GmbH.
  8. ↑ "Charts.org.nz – {{{artist}}} – {{{song}}}". Top 40 Singles.
  9. ↑ "Swisscharts.com – {{{artist}}} – {{{song}}}". Swiss Singles Chart.
  10. ↑ "Archive Chart: 2014-02-01" UK Singles Chart.
  11. ↑ http://www.wiwa.se/ Wiwa, official site
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