New York City Songs: One’s On the Way

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Surprise! Sure, you knew Sinatra would be here. Ace Frehley was no shock. But this? As I said a couple of months ago, expanding these countdowns from titles only to the lyrics is very liberating…and that makes for big shocks. Who expects a woman from Kentucky to show up in the Big Apple? Let’s sing! One’s On the Way - Loretta Lynn The other day Scott (@teamfreak16 ) said something about not letting a man write a song for a woman (in the case of Billie Jo Spears’ “Mr. Walker, It’s All Over”). I told him to hold on for a surprise. Well, here we are! And NOT just that Loretta Lynn is on this list, but the fact that no less than Shel Silverstein wrote this. Yep, he got stoned and he missed Sylvia’s mother and ended up with this! Shel Silverstein, if you’re only familiar with his work as a writer of things like the children’s book The Giving Tree, was a very prolific songwriter. Most of Dr. Hook & the Medicine Show’s songs prior to 1975 or so came from Silverstein’s pen. Bobby Bare did an entire album (a double album, at that) of his songs in 1973 (I’ve mentioned before that it was the first album I ever bought that my dad objected to). Oh, sit down, he wrote “A Boy Named Sue.” While you’re sitting, he wrote this. The original title was “Here in Topeka.” Now, Lynn did put a little of her own life into it: “Oh, yeah, I hope it ain’t twins again” was a page out of her life, where her last pregnancy had resulted in her twin daughters. The rest, though, was Silverstein’s great mind. The cool thing about this song is that it’s a swipe at men without actually sounding like one. The spoken part at the bridge, “Hello, honey, what’s that you say? You’re bringing a few old Army buddies home? You’re calling from a bar???!” definitely doesn’t paint a picture of idyllic midwestern married life. Dr. Bill C. Malone, one of my heroes, called this “feisty.” Yep, it certainly is. Even if Lynn didn’t write it, it’s her song. And you’re probably as shocked to discover that she didn’t write it as you are to see it on this list. One’s On the Way Written by Shel Silverstein Recorded by Loretta Lynn From One’s On the Way, 1971 NYC LYRICS: The girls in New York City, they all march for women’s lib