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Lynyrd Skynyrd - Simple Man

Lynyrd Skynyrd - Simple Man Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

Album: Pronounced Leh-nerd Skin-nerd
Released: 1973

Simple Man Lyrics

Mama told me when I was young
"Come sit beside me, my only son
And listen closely to what I say
And if you do this it'll help you some sunny day"

"Oh, take your time, don't live too fast
Troubles will come and they will pass
You'll find a woman and you'll find love
And don't forget, son, there is someone up above"

"And be a simple kind of man
Oh, be something you love and understand
Baby be a simple kind of man
Oh, won't you do this for me, son, if you can"

"Forget your lust for the rich man's gold
All that you need is in your soul
And you can do this, oh baby, if you try
All that I want for you, my son, is to be satisfied"

"And be a simple kind of man
Oh, be something you love and understand
Baby be a simple kind of man
Oh, won't you do this for me, son, if you can"

Oh yes, I will

"Boy, don't you worry, you'll find yourself
Follow your heart and nothing else
And you can do this, oh baby, if you try
All that I want for you, my son, is to be satisfied"

"And be a simple kind of man
Oh, be something you love and understand
Baby be a simple kind of man
Oh, won't you do this for me, son, if you can"

Baby, be a simple, really Simple Man
Oh, be something you love and understand

Writer/s: VAN ZANT, RONNIE / ROSSINGTON, GARY ROBERT
Publisher: Universal Music Publishing Group
Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Simple Man

Shortly after Ronnie Van Zant's grandmother and Gary Rossington's mother died, they got together in Van Zant's apartment and started telling stories about them. Rossington came up with a chord progression, and Van Zant wrote the lyrics based on advice the women had given them over the years. They wrote it in about an hour.

Even though the lyrics state, "Sit beside me, my only son," Ronnie was not the only son. He had 2 younger brothers along with one older sister and one younger sister.

This appears on the soundtrack to the movie Almost Famous.

Skynyrd producer Al Kooper didn't like the way this was coming out, so the band recorded it without him and had him add his organ part later. He didn't think they should release it, but realized he was wrong when it went over so well with their fans.

When Skynyrd toured in 1987, they dedicated this to Van Zant.

The studio and live versions of this song are tuned to different keys. The studio is in Ab while the live is the key of A.

The Heavy Metal band Shinedown recorded an acoustic version. The Deftones also covered it on their B-Sides And Rarities CD.

Frontman Johnny Van Zant discussed this song in a track-by-track commentary to promote the band's 2010 CD/DVD Live From Freedom Hall. He said: "Well that's a great song and something that I think we all live by. I think anybody out there needs to respect their mother, and the words of their mother. It's mama talking to you in that song and I think it's probably one of my favorite's if not my favorite to do live. It's just a great song and that one stays in the set and the crowd always goes crazy on that one."

The song charted in the Hot 100 for the first time in May 2015. A version by Sawyer Fredericks, performed on the April 27, 2015 episode of The Voice, debuted at #71 the following week.

Machine Head - Real Eyes, Realize, Real Lies

Machine Head - Real Eyes, Realize, Real Lies Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

Album: Burn My Eyes
Released: 1994

Real Eyes, Realize, Real Lies Lyrics

Real Eyes, Realize, Real Lies

The song referenced the 1992 Los Angeles Riots, which was caused by the acquittal of four white police officers accused of beating a black motorist. It contains actual samples from police radio broadcasts and news report snippets of the riots.

The Marshall Tucker Band - Can't You See

The Marshall Tucker Band - Can't You See Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

Album: The Marshall Tucker Band
Released: 1973

Can't You See Lyrics

I'm gonna take a freight train, down at the station
I don't care where it goes
Gonna climb me a mountain, the highest mountain, Lord,
Gonna jump off, nobody gonna know

Can't You See, can't you see, what that woman, she been doin' to me
Can't you see, can't you see, what that woman been doin' to me

I'm gonna find me a hole in the wall, gonna crawl inside and die
That lady, mean ol' woman Lord, never told me goodbye

Can't you see, can't you see, what that woman she been doin' to me
Can't you see, can't you see, what that woman been doin' to me

Gonna buy me a ticket now, as far as I can, ain't never comin' back
Take me Southbound, all the way to Georgia now, till the train run out of track

Can't you see, can't you see, what that woman, she been doin' to me
Can't you see, can't you see, what that woman been doin' to me

Writer/s: TOY TALMADGE CALDWELL
Publisher: SPIRIT MUSIC GROUP
Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Can't You See

This became the anthem song for The Marshall Tucker Band, similar to "Free Bird" for Lynyrd Skynyrd. It was never a Top 40 hit, but was very popular on Album Oriented Radio (AOR) and continues to get a lot of airplay on Classic Rock stations.

The open in unusual - it starts with the picking of a guitar and the playing of a flute. Jerry Eubanks of the Marshall Tucker Band played the flute, giving the song a very distinctive sound - it's not a common instrument in the world of Southern Rock.

This was featured in the soundtrack for the movie Blow.

There is no Marshall Tucker in The Marshall Tucker Band. They saw the name on a key ring where they used to rehearse and decided it would make a good name for their band.

The song was named the #1 greatest Southern Rock song ever recorded by Ultimate Classic Rock with Sweet Home Alabama as runner-up.

Said the site, "Next time you hear this song in public, take notice and you'll make the strangest observation, especially if there is booze involved. There seems to be something about this particular song that makes the majority (very ironically) close their eyes and sway their head from left to right while singing the song's famous 'Can't you see' line. That universal connection earns this song the top spot on our southern rock songs list.†

Of Mice & Men - Second & Sebring

Of Mice & Men - Second & Sebring Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

Album: Of Mice & Men
Released: 2010

Second & Sebring Lyrics

I believe its time for me to be famous
And out of place
I believe its time for me to move for forward
When I break through

This time I'll, make you

Proud to see me over, come on daylight

Proud of, who you raised

Your shelter, your peacefulness

So this time I'll make you proud

Proud of, who you raised up
You know that I will
Always be here till' the end

Come back so I can say thank you for this
Home cooked meals and a place to rest
My troubled head when you're away
I've passed the test, I've earned an A
Not just in school, but in life
You'll always be right by my side
To help me show, hope to all
That are lost and sick in this dying world
I'll use the love you left behind
I'll change their mind, I'll change their mind

I hope, I hope you smile
When you look down on me
I hope you smile

This can't, we won't know
I hope that I make you proud

This is not what it is, only baby scars
I need your love like a boy needs his mother's side

This is not what it is, only baby scars
I need your love like a boy needs his mother's side

Writer/s: MANANSALA, PHIL / ARTEAGA, VALENTINO / CARLILE, AUSTIN / BOURGET, SHAYLEY
Publisher: Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, SONGS MUSIC PUBLISHING
Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Second & Sebring

In 2007 Austin Carlile's mother passed away to Marfan Syndrome (a disorder of the bodies corrective tissues). When the of Mice & Men vocalist sat down to write a song to vent his emotions, it became a dedication to her memory, as well as a statement of how he hoped to make her proud, by living his life as an inspiration for others. Austin told Kerrang! magazine: "I wrote it for myself as a way to vent and express myself. It's made me want to write more stuff like that, to open up and be more real. Reading all the letters I get from fans, I've gone through a lot of that same stuff: bullying, depressive thoughts, not having any friends and living in an orphanage. These are things I went through and I can help others. I can be like a big brother, a mentor or guide."

The last place that Carlile lived with his mom was Second Street and Sebring Circle in Lehigh Acres, Florida. He told Kerrang!: "Everything that happened in the song happened while we were living there."

Carlile originally disliked this tune. He told Kerrang!: "The funny thing is, in the studio. The song's name was 'Austin Hates' because I didn't like it at all before I wrote the lyrics. But then, after I wrote them, I fell in love with it."

Linkin Park - Nobody's Listening

Linkin Park - Nobody's Listening Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

Album: Meteora
Released: 2003

Nobody's Listening Lyrics

Come, come, come, coming at you,
Come, coming at you,
Come, coming at you,
Peep the style and the kids checking for it
The number one question is
How could you ignore it
We drop right back in the cut
Over basement tracks
With raps that got you backing this up like (rewind that)
We're just rolling with the rhythm
Rise from the ashes of stylistic division
With these non-stop lyrics of life living
Not to forgotten
But still unforgiven
But in the meantime there are those who want to
Talk this and that, so I suppose
It gets to a point feelings gotta get hurt
And get dirty with the people spreading the dirt

[Chorus]
Try to give you warning
But everyone ignores me
(Told you everything loud and clear)
But Nobody's Listening
Call to you so clearly
But you don't want to hear me
(Told you everything loud and clear)
But nobody's listening

I got a
Heart full of pain, head full of stress
Handful of anger, held in my chest
And everything's left is a waste of time
I hate my rhymes
(But hate everyone else's more)
I'm riding on the back of this pressure
Guessing that it's better
I can't keep myself together
Because all of this stress
Gave me something to write on
The pain gave me something
I could set my sights on
You never forget the blood, sweat, and tears
The uphill struggle over the years
The fear and trash talking
And the people it was to
And the people that started it
Just like you

[Chorus]

I got a
Heart full of pain, head full of stress
Handful of anger, held in my chest
Uphill struggle, blood, sweat, and tears
Nothing to gain, everything to fear

(scratches)
Coming at you at every style

Writer/s: FARRELL, DAVE / BOURDON, ROBERT G. / SHINODA, MIKE / DELSON, BRAD / BENNINGTON, CHESTER CHARLES / HAHN, JOSEPH
Publisher: Universal Music Publishing Group
Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Nobody's Listening

This is about the pain and stress one must go through when writing music.

Mike Shinoda was going through his record collection when he got the idea to use a Japanese flute on this called a shakuhachi. Chester Bennington decided they had to make the lyrics go along with the flute, which was played by an outside musician.

Sleeping with Sirens - A Trophy Father's Trophy Son

Sleeping with Sirens - A Trophy Father's Trophy Son Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

Album: Let's Cheers to This
Released: 2011

A Trophy Father's Trophy Son Lyrics

A Trophy Father's Trophy Son

When Kellin Quinn was young his father walked out on his family. Now the Sleeping with Sirens vocalist is a father to his own child and stepfather to his wife's two children from a previous relationships. So, although this isn't a song specifically about Kellin's own childhood, when he wrote about a father walking out on his children, he knew how it felt. He explained to Kerrang! magazine: "When you have to watch someone else – especially a child – go through the same disappointments you went through, it's tough. It opened up a lot of feelings I haven't felt in the long time and I really wanted to write about it. I really wanted to write something real."

Roxette - Joyride

Roxette - Joyride Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

Album: Joyride
Released: 1991

Joyride Lyrics

Hit the road out of nowhere, I had to jump my car
and be a rider in the love game following the stars.
don't need no book of wisdom, I get no money talk at all.
She has a train going downtown, she's got a club on the moon
and she's telling all her secrets in a wonderful balloon.

Oh she's the heart of the funfair,
she's got me whistling her private tune.
And it all begins where it ends,
and she's all mine, my magic friend

She says: Hello, you fool, I love you.
C'mon join the Joyride, join the joyride

She's a flower, I can paint her, she's a child of the sun,
we're a part of this together, could never turn around and run.
Don't need no fortune teller
to know where my lucky love belongs oh no.
Cos it all begins again when it ends,
and we're all magic friends

She says: hello, you fool, I love you.
C'mon join the joyride, be a joyrider

I take you on a skyride,
a feeling like you're spellbound.
The sunshine is a lady
who rox you like a baby.

She says: hello, you fool, I love you.
C'mon join the joyride, join the joyride
Writer/s: GESSLE, PER
Publisher: Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Joyride

Per Gessle (the male member of the duo) wrote this for his girlfriend. He came home late and she had written a note that said, "Hej din tok, jag alskar dig", which means "Hello you fool I love you" in Swedish. Gessle used the line in the song.

John Mellencamp - Crumblin' Down

John Mellencamp - Crumblin' Down Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

Album: Uh-Huh
Released: 1983

Crumblin' Down Lyrics

Some people ain't no damn good
You can't trust 'em, you can't love em
No good deed goes unpunished
And I don't mind being their whipping boy
I've had that pleasure for years and years
No, no I never was a sinner-tell me what else can I do
Second best is what you get-till you learn to bend this rules
Time respects no person-what you lift up must fall
They're waiting outside-to claim my crumblin' walls

Saw my picture in the paper
Read the news around my face
And now some people
Don't want to treat me the same

When the walls come tumblin' down
When the walls come crumblin' crumblin'
When the walls come tumblin' tumblin' down

Some people say I'm obnoxious and lazy
That I'm uneducated and my opinion means nothin'
But I know I'm a real good dancer
Don't need to look over my shoulder to see what I'm after
Everybody's got their problems-ain't no new news here
I'm the same old trouble you've been having for years
Don't confuse the problem with the issue, girl,
'Cause it's perfectly clear

Just a human desire to have you come near
Want to put my arms around you
Feel your breath in my ear
You can bend me, you can break me
But you better stand clear

When the walls come tumblin' down
When the walls come crumblin' crumblin'
When the walls come tumblin' tumblin' down

Writer/s: MELLENCAMP, JOHN / GREEN, GEORGE
Publisher: Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Crumblin' Down

Mellencamp describes this as a "political song." He told Rolling Stone in 2013: "Reagan was president - he was deregulating everything and the walls were crumbling down on the poor. the song was the last one recorded and the first single. It was a hit immediately. I felt like I was pulling the wool over everyone's eyes."

This is one of several songs Mellencamp wrote with the songwriter George Green, who was a childhood friend. Green also co-wrote "Hurts So Good," "Rain On The Scarecrow" and "Human Wheels."

Megadeth - Hangar 18

Megadeth - Hangar 18 Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

Album: Rust in Peace
Released: 1990

Hangar 18 Lyrics

Welcome to our fortress tall
Take some time to show you around
Impossible to break these walls
For you see the steel is much too strong
Computer banks to rule the world
Instruments to sight the stars

Possibly I've seen to much
Hangar 18 I know too much

Foreign life forms inventory
Suspended state of cryogenics
Selective amnesia's the story
Believed foretold but who'd suspect
The military Intelligence
Two words combined that can't make sense

Possibly I've seen to much
Hangar 18 I know too much

Writer/s: MUSTAINE, DAVE
Publisher: Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Hangar 18

Hangar 18 is an Air Force base in Dayton, Ohio where the alien bodies were taken when a UFO supposedly crashed in Roswell, New Mexico in 1947. The remains were later taken to Area 51 in Nevada, and many people believe they are still there. Dave Mustaine of Megadeth explained when the album was
Released: "'Hangar 18' is about military intelligence – two words combined that don't make sense. I can't understand why they're hiding stuff from us. It's our country, too. But see, they run it, and the more I get into politics, the less I become a musician."

The video, directed by Paul Boyington, depicts an alien landing in Roswell. The song that plays at the beginning of the clip is another Rust In Peace track, "Dawn Patrol."

Dave Mustaine, who was a member of Metallica until he was fired in 1983, wrote this song. The main riff of this song is similar to Metallica's "The Call Of Ktulu" which appeared on their Ride The Lightning album. Mustaine had composer credits on that song, but he was kicked out of Metallica before the album was released.

In 2001, Megadeth recorded a sequel to this called "Return To Hangar."

This is featured as a playable song in Guitar Hero 2.

Mustaine told Rock Radio that drummer Nick Menza sealed his departure from Megadeth while the band were creating this track. He explained: "I wrote the song and called it 'N2RHQ – it was like the numbers on the side of a plane. It was a future-tech thing. It was kind of sci-fi where I would go someplace in the future into space. Not that I saw an alien. Menza is the guy who believes in UFOs. If you look at his website or if you listen to his solo music, it shows you where he's at in his life. Nick said something that I found really juvenile and offensive. He told me that Jesus was an alien and he could levitate. That was the end of me taking Nick seriously – I believed in God ever since I was a kid."

This received a Grammy nomination for Best Metal Performance, but lost to Mustaine's former band, Metallica, who won with their self-titled album.

Chase Rice - Ready Set Roll

Chase Rice - Ready Set Roll Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

Album: Ready Set Roll
Released: 2013

Ready Set Roll Lyrics

Ready
Set
Let's roll
Let's roll

Damn pretty girl ya' went and done it again
Ya' gone and turned your sexy all the way up to ten
I never seen a side ride seat looking so hot
Baby you rock, hit the spot
Like a fireball shot

You got me all high head spinning around and around
I'm down if you're down to burn down this town

Ready, set, let's roll
Ready, set, let's ride
Get ya' little fine ass on the step
Shimmy up inside
Just slide girl by my side girl
Yeah we can run this town
I can rock your world
We can roll'em down, fog'em up
Cruise around, get stuck
Pedal to the metal 'til the sun comes up
I made a deal with the man on the moon
He's gonna put in some overtime
We got all night

Ready, set, let's roll
Ready, set, let's ride

Ready, set, let's roll where the good ears and good times meet
Girl we can rev' it up right 'til we overheat
Just forget about the time get ya' lips on mine
Gotta kiss you get to know your smile
On your mark, get set

Ready, set, let's roll
Ready, set, let's ride
Get ya' little fine ass on the step
Shimmy up inside
Just slide girl by my side girl
Yeah we can run this town
I can rock your world
We can roll'em down, fog'em up
Cruise around, get stuck
Pedal to the metal 'til the sun comes up
I made a deal with the man on the moon
He's gonna put in some overtime
We got all night

Ready, set, let's roll
Ready, set, let's ride

Ready, set, let's roll
Ready, set, let's ride

You got my heart bump bumpin'
When I'm pulling up into ya' drive
Let's hit it 90 to nothing
Couple kids running into the night

Ready, set, let's roll
Ready, set, let's ride
Get ya' little fine ass on the step
Shimmy up inside
Just slide girl by my side girl
Yeah we can run this town
I can rock your world
We can roll'em down, fog'em up
Cruise around, get stuck
Pedal to the metal 'til the sun comes up
I made a deal with the man on the moon
He's gonna put in some overtime
We got all night

Ready, set, let's roll
Ready, set, let's ride

Ready, set, let's roll
Ready, set, let's ride
Get ya' fine little ass on the step
Shimmy up inside

Yeah we can run this town
You know I'll rock your world, come on
Let's roll, let's ride
Let's run this town tonight

Ready
Set
Let's roll
Let's roll

Writer/s: DESTEFANO, CHRIS / AKINS, RHETT / RICE, CHASE
Publisher: Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Ready Set Roll

Chase Rice penned this song with Rhett Akins and Chris DeStefano. He told Roughstock that it was his first collaboration with the two Nashville songwriters. "We had a different title … a title with the word 'night' in it, which is a very popular word right now," he recalled. "We just kind of worked toward that topic, and started dropping lines here and there. I dropped the line 'Damn pretty girl you went and done it again. Turned your sexy all the way up to 10.' That was what started the write and made me feel comfortable in the write."

"With new writers, you never know how it's going to go," Rice continued. "I knew Rhett real well, but I'd never written with him. First thing he said was yeah, I like that. He was just very relaxed. I thought it would be different because he's the big time songwriter. I've only got one hit. We all meshed real well together. Then I threw out the 'Ready set let's roll' at the top of the chorus. We decided that was so catchy, let's do it again. So that turned into the chorus."

Rice was so impressed with how the song came together that he asked Chris DeStefano to produce and Rhett Akins to executive produce his Ignite The Night album. "By the end of the day we went from that [writing 'Ready Set Roll'] to hearing what Chris did in the studio," Rice told Radio.com . "While we were writing the song he was building the track that made it sound like it sounds on radio today. At the end of the day we had a full song. I heard it and was like, 'Why would I do this with any other producer?'"

"'Ready Set Roll' was a big day," he added. "I found my producer. I found my executive producer and I wrote a Gold Record."

Dr. Hook & the Medicine Show - Sylvia's Mother

Dr. Hook & the Medicine Show - Sylvia's Mother Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

Album: Dr. Hook and the Medicine Show
Released: 1971

Sylvia's Mother Lyrics

Sylvia's Mother says Sylvia's busy, too busy to come to the phone
Sylvia's mother says Sylvia's trying, to start a new life of her own.
Sylvia's mother says "Sylvia's happy
So why don't you leave her alone?"
And the operator says : "Forty cents more, for the next three minutes."

Please Mrs. Avery, I've just got to talk to her
I'll only keep her a while
Please Mrs. Avery, just want to tell her
Goodbye.

Sylvia's mother says Sylvia's packing, she's going be leaving today.
Sylvia's mother says Sylvia's marrying, a fellow down Galveston-Way
Sylvia's mother says "Please don't say nothing...
To make her start crying and stay."
And the operator says : "Forty cents more, for the next three minutes."

Please Mrs. Avery, I've just got to talk to her
I'll only keep her a while
Please Mrs. Avery, just want to tell her
Goodbye

Sylvia's mother says Sylvia's hurrying,
She's catching the nine o'clock train.
Sylvia's mother says: "Take your umbrella,
Cause Sylvia it's starting to rain."
And Sylvia's mother says "Thank you for calling.
And sir won't you come back again."
And the operator says :" Forty cents more,
For the next three minutes."

Please Mrs. Avery, I've just got to talk to her
I'll only keep her a while
Please Mrs. Avery, just want to tell her
Goodbye

Tell her goodbye
Please, tell her goodbye
Goodbye

Writer/s: SHEL SILVERSTEIN
Publisher: T.R.O. INC.
Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Sylvia's Mother

Like most of the early songs recorded by Dr. Hook & the Medicine Show, this was written by Shel Silverstein. Silversteen was a brilliant storyteller with a vivid imagination, but this story was real.

In the song, Sylvia's mother is Mrs. Avery, and while that wasn't her real last name, the rest of the story - exaggerated a bit - was true. Silversteen told Rolling Stone in 1972: "I just changed the last name, not to protect the innocent, but because it didn't fit. It happened about eight years ago and was pretty much the way it was in the song. I called Sylvia and her mother said, 'She can't talk to you.' I said, 'Why not?' Her mother said she was packing and she was leaving to get married, which was a big surprise to me. The guy was in Mexico and he was a bullfighter and a painter. At the time I thought that was like being a combination brain surgeon and encyclopedia salesman. Her mother finally let me talk to her, but her last words were, 'Shel, don't spoil it.' For about ten seconds I had this ego charge, as if I could have spoiled it. I couldn't have spoiled it with a sledge hammer."

The real Sylvia kept her secret to all but a few family and friends. Remarkably, it was a Dutch public television producer named Arjan Vlakveld who found not only Sylvia, but also Sylvia's mother. Arjan told us: "The search for Sylvia was a big coincidence. I was having a glass of wine in the garden of my brother. He had quests and there was an American woman who after I explained what kind of things I produced, told me the story about Sylvia and her mother, who she knew. It was an old story because it was about her mother working on a high school with "sylvia's mother." She was already old in the time of her story. She didn't knew if it was true but the woman had claimed ones that she was the mother in the song. I only had a few names to go on and ended up in a telephone conversation with Sylvia Pandolfi, who at that time was a museum director in Mexico City.(Down galveston way in the song meant in het real life that she was getting married to a mexican and moving there).

So I asked her the question: Are you by any chance the Sylvia in the song 'Sylvia's Mother?' She was very surprised because nobody knew, it was a personal and family story, she never told anyone. I filmed the interview with her mother in Homewood, Illinois. The same house where she had the telephone call with Shell Silverstein, probably even the same telephone number. She was 95 years at that time."

Here is the segment on Sylvia and her mother .

The band had two lead singers: Ray Sawyer (with the eye patch) and Dennis Locorriere. It was Locorriere, then 20 years old, who sang on this one, delivering the vocal with sincere sorrow. Many of Shel Silverstein's songs for the band were works of comedy ("Roland the Roadie and Gertrude the Groupie," "The Cover Of Rolling Stone), and Dr. Hook had a bawdy stage show that wasn't to be taken seriously, so not everyone picked up that this was a serious song about heartbreak. "A surprising number of people thought it was a parody but I always saw it as a truly heartbreaking story and I did my best to portray the anxiety and sadness that I knew that poor guy in the phone booth would be feeling," Locorriere told us. Dr. Hook's next single, "Carry Me, Carrie," was another serious heartbreak song written by Silverstein.

Silverstein was a popular author and songwriter, who wrote for both children and adults. He was a writer and cartoonist for Playboy magazine, and a best-selling author of children's poems. He wrote "A Boy Named Sue" for Johnny Cash and another hit song for Dr. Hook and the Medicine Show: "Cover Of The Rolling Stone." He died of a heart attack in 1999 at age 68. Learn more about Shel Silverstein in our interview with Mitch Myers.

After this song became a hit, audience members would sometimes throw coins at the band Rocky Horror-style at the line "40 cents more." This could hurt quite a bit, especially when they were launched from the balcony.

This was the first single released by Dr. Hook & the Medicine Show, who later became simply Dr. Hook. While they were playing bars in the New Jersey area, they got a gig appearing in the movie Who Is Harry Kellerman and Why Is He Saying Those Terrible Things About Me?, and signed with Columbia/CBS Records, which is the label that released the soundtrack for the film. "Sylvia's Mother" was their first single; it made the Hot 100 at #99 for one week when it was first released, but months later, after CBS (led by Clive Davis) started promoting it, it took off and became a hit.

After the band had been performing this song for a while, Shel Silverstein wrote a new version for them called "Sylvia's Father." Only the end of the song was different, with the last verse changed to:
Sylvia's father says Sylvia's pregnant and you went and made her that way
Sylvia's father says you motherf--ker I'm gonna kill you someday

At this point, Dennis Locorriere would do a rant about the no-good scoundrel that knocked up Sylvia. This version was never recorded.

In the UK, this was kept out of the #1 spot by Donny Osmond's "Puppy Love."

John Mellencamp - Women Seem

John Mellencamp - Women Seem Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

Album: Cuttin' Heads
Released: 2001

Women Seem Lyrics

Women Seem

The Kinks' frontman Ray Davies provided the impetus for this song: "That's just me plagiarizing Ray Davies," Mellencamp admitted in the liner notes for the On The Rural Route 7609 box set: "Don't forget, I did something like 150 shows with the Kinks over a three-year period, and everything I've learned about being a live performer is from Ray."