"The Ballad of Lucy Jordan" is a song by American poet and songwriter

Shel Silverstein Sheldon Allan Silverstein (; September 25, 1930 – May 10, 1999) was an American writer, poet, cartoonist, singer / songwriter, musician, and playwright. Born and raised in Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, Silverstein briefly attended universit ...

. It was originally recorded in 1974 by Dr. Hook & the Medicine Show, with the name spelled "Jordon". The song describes the disillusionment and mental deterioration of a suburban housewife, who climbs to a rooftop "when the laughter grew too loud".

Marianne Faithfull version

Background

The song was recorded by the English singer

Marianne Faithfull Marianne Evelyn Gabriel Faithfull (born 29 December 1946) is an English singer and actress. She achieved popularity in the 1960s with the release of her hit single " As Tears Go By" and became one of the lead female artists during the British I ...

for her 1979 album ''

Broken English Broken English is a name for a non-standard, non-traditionally spoken or alternatively-written version of the English language. These forms of English are sometimes considered as a pidgin if they have derived in a context where more than one ...

''. This version was released as a single in October 1979, and became one of her highest-charting songs. It is featured on the soundtracks to the films ''

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'', '' Tarnation'' and ''

Thelma & Louise ''Thelma & Louise'' is a 1991 American road crime comedy-drama film directed by Ridley Scott and written by Callie Khouri. It stars Susan Sarandon as Louise and Geena Davis as Thelma, two friends who embark on a road trip that ends up in unfores ...

''. Faithfull also performed the song during a guest appearance in the episode "Donkey" from the fourth season of ''

Absolutely Fabulous ''Absolutely Fabulous'' (also known as ''Ab Fab'') is a British television sitcom based on the ''French and Saunders'' sketch, "Modern Mother and Daughter", created by Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders. The show was created and written by Saund ...

'', in which God (Faithfull) sings the song in a dream to a miserable, dieting Edina. In 2016, the Faithfull version was used in the finale of '' American Horror Story: Hotel''. In an interview on ITV's ''

The South Bank Show ''The South Bank Show'' is a British television arts magazine series originally produced by London Weekend Television and broadcast on ITV between 1978 and 2010. A new version of the series began 27 May 2012 on Sky Arts. Conceived, written, ...

'' 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

psychiatric hospital Psychiatric hospitals, also known as mental health hospitals, behavioral health hospitals, are hospitals or wards specializing in the treatment of severe mental disorders, such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, eating disorders, dissociative ...

, 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. ''Thelma and Louise'' has a similar

fatalistic Fatalism is a family of related philosophical doctrines that stress the subjugation of all events or actions to fate or destiny, and is commonly associated with the consequent attitude of resignation in the face of future events which are thou ...

theme.

Reception

Smash Hits ''Smash Hits'' was a British music magazine aimed at young adults, originally published by EMAP. It ran from 1978 to 2006, and, after initially appearing monthly, was issued fortnightly during most of that time. The name survived as a brand fo ...

'' said, "The

Debbie Harry Deborah Ann Harry (born Angela Trimble; July 1, 1945) is an American singer, songwriter and actress, best known as the lead vocalist of the band Blondie. Four of her songs with the band reached on the US charts between 1979 and 1981. Born in ...

of the sixties returns to vinyl with an honestly outstanding offering, a version of an old Doctor Hook number related over a swimming synthesiser. If you can handle this, it sounds like

Dolly Parton Dolly Rebecca Parton (born January 19, 1946) is an American singer-songwriter, actress, philanthropist, and businesswoman, known primarily for her work in country music. After achieving success as a songwriter for others, Parton made her album d ...

produced by

Brian Eno Brian Peter George St John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno (; born Brian Peter George Eno, 15 May 1948) is a British musician, composer, record producer and visual artist best known for his contributions to ambient music and work in rock, pop an ...

. Only better.""

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

noted Faithfull's "faint vocal approach accompanied by the lone synthesizer emanates an eerie candor throughout the song's duration. This wispiness helps to build the fantasy/reality concept of the song, and shows Faithfull at her most sincere."

Pitchfork A pitchfork (also a hay fork) is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to th ...

mentioned the, "pain in her fractured voice".

The Arts Desk ''The Arts Desk'' (theartsdesk.com) is a British arts journalism website containing reviews, interviews, news, and other content related to music, theatre, television, films, and other art forms written by journalists from a variety of tradition ...

said, "Pin-sharp, it was laceratingly at one with the dark clouds gathering over music in the wake of punk."

Personnel

– vocals *

Steve Winwood Stephen Lawrence Winwood (born 12 May 1948) is an English musician, singer, and songwriter whose genres include blue-eyed soul, rhythm and blues, blues rock, and pop rock. Though primarily a keyboard player and vocalist prominent for his disti ...

– synthesizer

Charts

Other cover versions

*1975:

Johnny Darrell Johnny Darrell (July 23, 1940 – October 7, 1997) was an American country music artist. Darrell was born in Hopewell, Alabama but grew up in Marietta, Georgia. After a stint in the army, he moved to Nashville and began managing a Holiday Inn ...

, on his album ''Water Glass Full Of Whiskey'' *1976:

Lee Hazlewood Barton Lee Hazlewood (July 9, 1929 – August 4, 2007) was an American country and pop singer, songwriter, and record producer, most widely known for his work with guitarist Duane Eddy during the late 1950s and singer Nancy Sinatra in the 1960s ...

, on his album ''20th Century Lee'' *1980:

Marie Bottrell Marie Diane Bottrell (born 1961) is a Canadian country music singer and songwriter. Bottrell released many singles which appeared on Canadian country music charts, and has received multiple Country Female Vocalist of the Year nominations. Early ...

, on her album ''The Star'', reached #10 in the Canadian country charts *1995:

The Barra MacNeils The Barra MacNeils are a Canadian musical group from Sydney Mines, Nova Scotia. The founding members of the group are siblings Sheumas, Kyle, Stewart, and Lucy MacNeil.Bowman, Durrell.Barra MacNeils, The Canadian Encyclopedia. Retrieved Januar ...

, on their album ''The Question'', reached #50 in the Canadian AC charts *1996:

Belinda Carlisle Belinda Jo Carlisle ( ; born August 17, 1958) is an American singer. She gained fame as the lead vocalist of the Go-Go's, the most successful all-female rock band of all time, and went on to have a prolific career as a solo artist. Raised in ...

, on her album ''

A Woman and a Man ''A Woman & a Man'' is the sixth studio album by American singer Belinda Carlisle, released in the United Kingdom on September 23, 1996, by Chrysalis Records (then part of the EMI Group, like Carlisle's former label Virgin Records). The album co ...

'' *2000:

Dennis Locorriere Dennis Michael Locorriere (born June 13, 1949; Union City, New Jersey, United States) is the American lead vocalist and guitarist of the country rock group Dr. Hook (formerly Dr. Hook & the Medicine Show).Bonitto, Brian (2014)Hooking up with ...

, on his album ''Out of the Dark'' (as the singer for Dr. Hook, he performed on the original version of the song) *2005:

Bobby Bare Robert Joseph Bare Sr. (born April 7, 1935) is an American country music singer and songwriter, best known for the songs "Marie Laveau", " Detroit City" and "500 Miles Away from Home". He is the father of Bobby Bare Jr., also a musician. Early ca ...

, on his album ''The Moon Was Blue'' *2010:

Lucinda Williams Lucinda Gayle Williams (born January 26, 1953) is an American singer-songwriter and a solo guitarist. She recorded her first two albums: '' Ramblin' on My Mind'' (1979) and '' Happy Woman Blues'' (1980), in a traditional country and blues style ...

, on the

tribute album ''Twistable Turnable Man'' *2017:

Kikki Danielsson Ann-Kristin "Kikki" Danielsson (born 10 May 1952) is a Swedish country, dansband and pop singer. Sometimes, she also plays the accordion and she has also written some lyrics. She has gained notice for yodeling in some songs. Danielsson gained he ...

, on her album '' Portrait of a Painted Lady''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ballad Of Lucy Jordan, The Songs about mental health Songs about fictional female characters 1979 singles 1974 singles Marianne Faithfull songs Songs written by Shel Silverstein Song recordings produced by Ron Haffkine Dr. Hook & the Medicine Show songs Bobby Bare songs Lee Hazlewood songs 1974 songs CBS Records singles Island Records singles Kikki Danielsson songs