"Girl on the Billboard" is a 1965 single released by American country music singer
Del Reeves
Franklin Delano Reeves (July 14, 1933 – January 1, 2007) was an American country music singer, best known for his "girl-watching" novelty songs of the 1960s including "Girl on the Billboard" and "The Belles of Southern Bell". He is also know ...
. The novelty song was Reeves' fourth entry on the U.S. country chart and his only No. 1 single. "Girl on the Billboard" spent two weeks at No. 1 and a total of 20 weeks on the chart,
in addition to reaching No. 96 on the
''Billboard'' Hot 100, and has become one of many country standards about
lust
Lust is a psychological force producing intense desire for something, or circumstance while already having a significant amount of the desired object. Lust can take any form such as the lust for sexuality (see libido), money, or power. It c ...
.
The Song's Story
The song is about a truck driver who falls in love with a picture of a beautiful young woman, whose towel-clad likeness is plastered as part of a
roadside billboard advertisement along
Route 66. The truck driver drives a daily freight route from Chicago to St. Louis along the highway where the billboard is located. He also notes how many trucker accidents have occurred near the billboard.
Early one morning (4:45 AM), while his diesel idles nearby, the trucker knocks on the door of the artist who painted the billboard and (presumably) asks for the model's contact information. The painter curtly tells the trucker that the "girl wasn't real" and that he'd "better get the (censored) on his way." (An electric guitar riff is used in place of the
profanity
Profanity, also known as cursing, cussing, swearing, bad language, foul language, obscenities, expletives or vulgarism, is a socially offensive use of language. Accordingly, profanity is language use that is sometimes deemed impolite, rud ...
). Disillusioned at his fantasy being ruined, the trucker moans that along the highway, "You'll find tiny pieces of my heart scattered every which a way."
Cover versions
In 2005, Canadian band
The Road Hammers
The Road Hammers are a Canadian country rock group composed of Jason McCoy, Clayton Bellamy and Chris Byrne. Formed by McCoy as a side project, the trio's music is influenced by 1960s and 1970s trucker music and Southern rock. Their first self-ti ...
released a
cover version
In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...
on its
debut album. It was later released in the U.S., peaking at No. 54 in 2008.
Chart performance
Del Reeves
The Road Hammers
References
1965 singles
Novelty songs
Del Reeves songs
The Road Hammers songs
Songs written by Hank Mills
1965 songs
United Artists Records singles
Music videos directed by Margaret Malandruccolo
Songs about truck driving
Songs written by Walter Haynes
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