The Ballad of Lucy Jordan - wikipedia The Ballad of Lucy Jordan `` The Ballad of Lucy Jordon '' Single by Dr. Hook & the Medicine Show B - side `` Make it Easy '' Released Length 3 : 53 Label CBS Songwriter ( s ) Shel Silverstein Producer ( s ) Ron Haffkine Dr. Hook & the Medicine Show singles chronology `` Life Ai n't Easy '' ( 1973 ) `` The Ballad of Lucy Jordon '' ( 1974 ) `` The Millionaire '' ( 1975 ) `` Life Ai n't Easy '' ( 1973 ) `` The Ballad of Lucy Jordon '' ( 1974 ) `` The Millionaire '' ( 1975 ) `` The Ballad of Lucy Jordan '' is a song by American poet and songwriter Shel Silverstein. It was originally recorded 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. '' Contents 1 Marianne Faithfull version 1.1 Background 1.2 Charts 2 Other cover versions 3 References Marianne Faithfull version `` The Ballad of Lucy Jordan '' Single by Marianne Faithfull from the album Broken English B - side `` Brain Drain '' Released 26 October 1979 ( 1979 - 10 - 26 ) Format 7 '' 12 '' Recorded May -- July 1979 Matrix Studios, London Genre New wave Length 4 : 09 Label Island Songwriter ( s ) Shel Silverstein Producer ( s ) Mark Miller Mundy Marianne Faithfull singles chronology `` The Way You Want Me To Be '' ( 1978 ) `` The Ballad of Lucy Jordan '' ( 1979 ) `` Broken English '' ( 1980 ) `` The Way You Want Me To Be '' ( 1978 ) `` The Ballad of Lucy Jordan '' ( 1979 ) `` Broken English '' ( 1980 ) Background In 1979, the song was also recorded by the English singer Marianne Faithfull. Taken from her 1979 album Broken English, it was released as a single in October 1979 and has become one of her highest charted songs. It is featured on the soundtracks to the films Montenegro, Tarnation and Thelma & Louise. Faithfull also performed the song during a guest appearance in the episode `` Donkey '' from the fourth season of Absolutely Fabulous, 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 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 mental hospital, 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 theme. There is also a darker interpretation. Claire Dederer, writing for The Poetry Foundation, takes it as a given that Lucy Jordan commits suicide and explains her view in an insightful piece lauding Faithull 's version of the song. Charts Chart ( 1979 -- 80 ) Peak position Australia ( ARIA ) 18 Austria ( Ö3 Austria Top 40 ) Belgium ( Ultratop 50 Wallonia ) 7 France ( SNEP ) 17 Germany ( Official German Charts ) 5 Netherlands ( Dutch Top 40 ) 19 New Zealand ( Recorded Music NZ ) 20 Switzerland ( Schweizer Hitparade ) 5 UK Singles ( Official Charts Company ) 48 Other cover versions 1976 : Lee Hazlewood, on his album 20th Century Lee 1980 : Ruthi Navon 1996 : Belinda Carlisle, on her album A Woman and a Man 1996 : Barra MacNeils, on their album The Question 2000 : Dennis Locorriere, on his album Out of the Dark ( as the singer for Dr. Hook, he performed on the original version of the song ) 2003 : Liv Marit Wedvik, on her album Then He kissed Me 2004 : Patricia O'Callaghan, on her album Naked Beauty 2005 : Bobby Bare, on his album The Moon Was Blue 2007 : Nicki Gillis, on her album Lucy 's Daughter ( a remixed version appears on her 2011 album Woman of Substance ) 2007 : Hanne Boel, on her album Private Eye 2009 : Wiwa, Swedish pop duo 2010 : Lucinda Williams, on the Shel Silverstein tribute album Twistable Turnable Man References Jump up ^ Podcast The South Bank Show Jump up ^ Bernie Cook, Thelma & Louise live ! Jump up ^ Claire Dederer, Bad Poem, Great song Jump up ^ `` Australian-charts.com -- Marianne Faithfull -- The Ballad of Lucy Jordan ''. ARIA Top 50 Singles. Retrieved 15 April 2016. Jump up ^ `` Austriancharts.at -- Marianne Faithfull -- The Ballad of Lucy Jordan '' ( in German ). Ö3 Austria Top 40. Retrieved 15 April 2016. Jump up ^ `` Ultratop.be -- Marianne Faithfull -- The Ballad of Lucy Jordan '' ( in French ). Ultratop 50. Retrieved 15 April 2016. Jump up ^ `` Lescharts.com -- Marianne Faithfull -- The Ballad of Lucy Jordan '' ( in French ). Les classement single. Retrieved 15 April 2016. Jump up ^ `` Musicline.de -- Marianne Faithfull Single - Chartverfolgung '' ( in German ). Media Control Charts. PhonoNet GmbH. Retrieved 15 April 2016. Jump up ^ `` Nederlandse Top 40 -- Marianne Faithfull search results '' ( in Dutch ) Dutch Top 40. Retrieved 15 April 2016. Jump up ^ `` Charts.org.nz -- Marianne Faithfull -- The Ballad of Lucy Jordan ''. Top 40 Singles. Retrieved 15 April 2016. Jump up ^ `` Swisscharts.com -- Marianne Faithfull -- The Ballad of Lucy Jordan ''. Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved 15 April 2016. Jump up ^ `` Official Singles Chart Top 100 ''. Official Charts Company. Retrieved 15 April 2016. Jump up ^ http://www.wiwa.se/ Wiwa, official site Shel Silverstein Books Uncle Shelby 's ABZ Book Lafcadio : The Lion Who Shot Back The Giving Tree Do n't Bump the Glump ! : and Other Fantasies The Missing Piece Runny Babbit Poem collections Where the Sidewalk Ends A Light in the Attic Falling Up Every Thing on It Albums Freakin ' at the Freakers Ball Inside Folk Songs Twistable Turnable Man Where the Sidewalk Ends A Light in the Attic Songs `` 25 Minutes to Go '' `` The Ballad of Lucy Jordan '' `` Big Four Poster Bed '' `` A Boy Named Sue '' `` The Cover of Rolling Stone '' `` Marie Laveau '' `` The Mermaid '' `` One 's on the Way '' `` Sylvia 's Mother '' `` The Unicorn '' `` Wrong Ideas '' Film soundtracks Ned Kelly ( 1970 ) Who Is Harry Kellerman and Why Is He Saying Those Terrible Things About Me ? ( 1971 ) Screenplays Things Change ( 1988 ) Dr. Hook & the Medicine Show Billy Francis Ray Sawyer George Cummings Bobby Dominguez Jimmy Allen Dennis Locorriere Popeye Phillips Joseph Oliver John David Rik Elswit Jance Garfat John Wolters Bob `` Willard '' Henke Rod Smarr Walter Hartman Studio albums Sloppy Seconds ( 1972 ) Pleasure and Pain ( 1978 ) Sometimes You Win ( 1979 ) Compilations Greatest Hits ( 1980 ) Singles `` Sylvia 's Mother '' `` The Cover of Rolling Stone '' `` The Ballad of Lucy Jordan '' `` Only Sixteen '' `` A Little Bit More '' `` Walk Right In '' `` Sharing the Night Together '' `` When You 're in Love with a Beautiful Woman '' `` Better Love Next Time '' `` Sexy Eyes '' Marianne Faithfull Discography Studio Albums Marianne Faithfull Come My Way Go Away from My World North Country Maid Loveinamist Dreamin ' My Dreams Broken English Dangerous Acquaintances A Child 's Adventure Strange Weather A Secret Life The Seven Deadly Sins Vagabond Ways Kissin Time Before the Poison Easy Come, Easy Go Horses and High Heels Give My Love to London Compilation albums Faithfull Forever Rich Kid Blues Live albums Blazing Away 20th Century Blues Singles `` As Tears Go By '' `` Blowin ' in the Wind '' `` Come and Stay With Me '' `` Yesterday '' `` Is This What I Get For Loving You ? '' `` Something Better '' `` The Ballad of Lucy Jordan '' `` Broken English '' `` Sister Morphine '' Books Faithfull : An Autobiography Bobby Bare Studio albums The Game of Triangles Notable singles `` 500 Miles '' `` The Ballad of Lucy Jordan '' `` A Dear John Letter '' `` Detroit City '' `` Four Strong Winds '' `` God Bless America Again '' `` Green, Green Grass of Home '' `` How I Got to Memphis '' `` Just to Satisfy You '' `` ( Margie 's At ) The Lincoln Park Inn '' `` Marie Laveau '' `` Ruby, Do n't Take Your Love to Town '' `` Song of the South '' `` Streets of Baltimore '' Guest singles `` No Memories Hangin ' Round '' ( with Rosanne Cash ) Related articles Bobby Bare, Jr. Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Ballad_of_Lucy_Jordan&oldid=812198113 '' Categories : 1979 singles 1974 singles Marianne Faithfull songs Songs written by Shel Silverstein Dr. Hook & the Medicine Show songs Bobby Bare songs Lee Hazlewood songs 1974 songs CBS Records singles Island Records singles Hidden categories : Use dmy dates from March 2015 Use British English from March 2015 Articles with hAudio microformats Singlechart usages for Australia Singlechart making named ref Singlechart usages for Austria Singlechart usages for Wallonia Singlechart usages for France Singlechart usages for Germany Singlechart usages for Dutch40 Singlechart usages for New Zealand Singlechart usages for Switzerland Singlechart usages for UK Talk Contents About Wikipedia Français Ripoarisch Српски / srpski Edit links This page was last edited on 26 November 2017, at 15 : 43. 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Question: who wrote the song the ballad of lucy jordan
Answer: Shel Silverstein