The morning sun touched lightly on
The eyes of Lucy Jordan
In a white suburban bedroom
In a white suburban town

And she lay there 'neath the covers
Dreaming of a thousand lovers
'Til the world turned to orange
And the room went spinning round

At the age of 37
She realized she'd never ride
Through Paris in a sports car
With the warm wind in her hair

So she let the phone keep ringing
As she sat there softly singing
Pretty nursery rhymes she'd memorized
In her Daddy's easy chair

Her husband he's off to work
And the kids are off to school
And there were oh so many ways
For her to spend her days

She could clean the house for hours
Or rearrange the flowers
Or run naked through the shady street
Screaming all the way

At the age of 37
She realized she'd never ride
Through Paris in a sports car
With the warm wind in her hair

So she let the phone keep ringing
As she sat there softly singing
Pretty nursery rhymes she'd memorized
In her Daddy's easy chair

The evening sun touched gently on
The eyes of Lucy Jordan
On the rooftop where she climbed
When all the laughter grew too loud

And she bowed and curtsied to the man
Who reached and offered her his hand
And he led her down to the long white car that waited past the crowd

At the age of 37
She knew she'd found forever
As she rode along through Paris
With the warm wind in her hair



Lyrics submitted by Arbiter

Track duration: 04:10

"The Ballad of Lucy Jordan" as written by Shel Silverstein

Lyrics © T.R.O. INC.

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The Ballad of Lucy Jordan song meanings
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19 Comments

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  • 0
    My Interpretation:This song is about a Psychotic Break - What used to be called a 'Nervous Breakdown' - sitting and rocking, singing to oneself, running through the streets naked - are quite familiar symptoms. In the end the 'Long White Car' that Lucy is led to by the man who got her down off the ROOF is an AMBULANCE taking her to the Psychiatric Hospital where; disconnected from Reality and her own SELF she has found FOREVER.
    Flag oneSTARmanon May 01, 2013   Link
  • +1
    General Comment:This song could have been written about my ex-wife. She too was mentally unstable, and used to run to the upstairs room when she was upset, and lie in a foetal position on the floor, rocking back and forth for hours, while singing softly to herself. She did actually run naked through the street, many times, although laughing, not screaming.

    Than she had an affair with a friend of mine, so I kicked her out, and after a short while, when he realised what she was really like, so did he. She tried desperately to come back. Her depression worsened.

    One day she called me, sounding so blissfully happy, and saying that I should call her tomorrow. When I finally realised what that all meant, the long white car had already been and gone. She had already seen Paris though. Oh, and, she was 37 (not joking).
    Flag EccoQuaon April 29, 2013   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:The song is beautiful, or al least, very good one.

    However, the main character is not very positive. She has kids still at school and has no
    love or even responsibility towards them. She dreams of thousand lovers and stupid drive through Paris at the age of 37!? She is obviously selfish and net very inteligent. If a woman at that age behaves like that I feel no sympathy for her. Of course, there is tragedy, the song is sad, the main tragedy is for the children . having such a mother.
    Flag Cukunioon March 08, 2013   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:Yes, she died. This is confirmed by the word "forever". She used to climb to the rooftop to escape the laughter - she was very depressed.

    The sadness of the song is that she got to this state in her sad life. Her only escape was in death.

    What was she on that morning? Til the world turned to orange
    And the room went spinning round"
    Flag SadSongs12on December 16, 2012   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:Yes, she died. This is confirmed by the word "forever". She used to climb to the rooftop to escape the laughter - she was very depressed.

    The sadness of the song is that she got to this state in her sad life. Her only escape was in death.

    What was she on that morning? Til the world turned to orange
    And the room went spinning round"
    Flag SadSongs12on December 16, 2012   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:The movie "Montenegro" illustrates the meaning perfectly.
    Flag ThisSuckson August 26, 2012   Link
  • -3
    General Comment:This is the story of a mom in crisis who is fed-up w/her life, could never achieve her dreams, then one day breaks down and winds up on the roof-top of her tenement. An LAPD radio car responds to a call of a drunk female on a roof-top. The officer determines that the female is not a drunk but only needs a “good one,” so being the good Caucasian officer that he is, he agrees to relive her of her sexual displeasure and takes her for a long white ride.
    Flagged nomoreobamaon April 12, 2012   Link
  • -3
    General Comment:Sad song. Almost like poetry. Although, I have yet to hear about a trend involving depressed homemakers committing suicide. (Too many of them are probably having fun at bars with their girlfriends or out on dates to be depressed.....yes, the times have changed in society, thankfully:)
    Flag SweetCheeks2on February 26, 2012   Link
  • +1
    General Comment:@orngrimm. How could Faithfull reference the "meaning she meant to put across"? She didn't write the song. It was written by Shel Silverstein. And also recorded by Dr. Hook before Faithfull did her version.
    Flag roaddog73on November 20, 2011   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I have such a dysfuntional relationship with this song.
    Before I could ever form an opinion, my dad told me it was his mother's favourite song, by Marianne Faithful, and, unless I am mistaken, of all time.

    This song is a reflection of someone trapped in 'everyday life', be it unappreciated, banal, forgettable, or just neither what she had dreamed nor what she wanted. My grandmother was someone I never met, never had the chance of meeting. She died when my father was a child. Almost straight after a hideously lengthy and depressing divorce. I know almost nothing about her, my father can barely bring himself to talk about her and I have only seen one photo in my entire life. She is this collection of 'things' to me, I can't even really put a face to the name (I can only assume I have her right name, and haven't forgotten the correct one.) She was a woman who in my vague knowledge of her, escaped to continue her life and be happy, only to die pretty much straight after.

    Man. Now. I sound all depressed.
    This song is beautiful.
    Sad.

    (when all the laughter grew too loud.)

    Ruined/Ruining.

    Listening to this song makes me feel crazy sometimes. When you really think about it, things you CHOOSE to do don't make a lot of sense.

    (and there were oh so many ways,for her to spend her days,
    she could clean the house for hours, or rearrange the flowers,

    or run naked through the shady street
    SCREAMING ALL THE WAY)
    Flag Wheretofindyouon October 07, 2010   Link

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