"Lord, Mr. Ford" is a song written by Deena Kaye Rose and recorded by

Jerry Reed Jerry Reed Hubbard (March 20, 1937 – September 1, 2008), known professionally as Jerry Reed, was an American country singer, guitarist, composer, songwriter and actor who appeared in more than a dozen films. His signature songs included " Gui ...

. It was released in May 1973 as the only single from the album of the same name, ''Lord, Mr. Ford''. The single was Jerry Reed's second of three No. 1's on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

Hot Country Singles Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data along with digital sales and streaming. ...

chart. "Lord, Mr. Ford" spent one week at the top and a total of 13 weeks inside the chart's top 40.

Song background

"Lord, Mr. Ford" is a satire on the social, cultural and economic influence that the automobile has had on the American public. The lyrics bemoan the fact that a seemingly simple invention to assist mankind has instead brought nothing but grief, become increasingly more complex and added to the increasing fast-paced demands of society. The refrain asks the question aloud to the late

Henry Ford Henry Ford (July 30, 1863 – April 7, 1947) was an American Technological and industrial history of the United States, industrialist and business magnate. As the founder of the Ford Motor Company, he is credited as a pioneer in making automob ...

: "''Lord, Mr. Ford, I just wish that you could see/ What your simple horseless carriage has become''." In an

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

review for the album bearing "Lord, Mr. Ford," Pemberton Roach terms the song "a semi-political song," with Reed's version an "appropriately crotchety considering the song's 'simple working man' theme. Referring to a substitution in the lyrics concerning the average American owning 1½ cars, ("''Now the average American father and mother''/''Own one whole car and half another''/''And I bet that half a car is a trick to drive, don't you''"), Roach alludes to the original lyrics using the word "bitch," instead of the word "trick" as in the final recorded version. Noted Roach: "(I)t's amusing to hear notorious bad boy Reed forced to substitute the word "trick" for the original version's 'bitch'."."

Chart performance

Notes

References

1973 singles Novelty songs Jerry Reed songs Song recordings produced by Chet Atkins Songs written by Deena Kaye Rose Songs about business people Songs about cars Satirical songs Cultural depictions of Henry Ford {{1970s-country-song-stub