"My Girl Bill" is a 1974 hit song written and recorded by
Jim Stafford
James Wayne Stafford (born January 16, 1944) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and comedian. While prominent in the 1970s for his recordings " Spiders & Snakes", "Swamp Witch", "Under the Scotsman's Kilt", " My Girl Bill", and " Wildw ...
. It was the third of four U.S. Top 40 singles from his
eponymous debut album. The lyrics in the verses are spoken, rather than sung.
Premise
The song is about a man named William/Bill and his friend, the narrator of the song. The lyrics employ
double entendre
A double entendre (plural double entendres) is a figure of speech or a particular way of wording that is devised to have a double meaning, of which one is typically obvious, whereas the other often conveys a message that would be too socially ...
, leading the listener to infer that the men, as the title also suggests, are themselves involved in a romantic relationship. However, in the last verse a twist occurs; the narrator speaks of a woman who has been the men's mutual love interest but who has now summarily rejected Bill, and he is explaining the situation (i.e. "(she's) MY girl, Bill").
Chart performance
"My Girl Bill" reached number 12 on the U.S.
''Billboard'' Hot 100, number 7 on the Canadian pop singles chart and number 20 in the BBC UK Top 50 chart. It was a crossover hit onto the Adult Contemporary and Country charts of both nations. The song was also a Top 20 hit in Australia.
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
Later uses
"My Girl Bill" was included on the 1975
Ronco
Ronco was an American company that manufactured and sold a variety of items and devices, most commonly those used in the kitchen. Ron Popeil founded the company in 1964, and infomercials and commercials for the company's products soon became pe ...
compilation album, ''Far Out''.
Actor Cash Backman covered the song in 1974. His version reached number nine in Australia in 1974.
and was the 77th biggest selling single of 1974, 14 places higher than Stafford's version.
References
External links
Lyrics of this song*
{{DEFAULTSORT:My Girl Bill
1974 singles
1974 songs
MGM Records singles
Jim Stafford songs
LGBT-related songs
Novelty songs