Lucille (Kenny Rogers song)
Encyclopedia
"Lucille" is the title of a ballad written by Roger Bowling
and Hal Bynum
, and recorded by Kenny Rogers
. It was released in January 1977 as the second and final single from the album Kenny Rogers
. The song is about a man in a bar that meets a woman who has left her husband. It became Rogers' first major hit as a solo artist after leaving the successful Country/Rock group The First Edition
the previous year. An international hit, it reached #1 on the Billboard Country Singles chart and #5 on the Billboard Hot 100
and reached the top of the UK singles chart in June 1977, Rogers’ second single to top a sales chart on that side of the Atlantic.
, who soon curiously acquaints himself with a downhearted married woman, named Lucille. When the drinks take their affect on her, she admits an unhappiness in life and vies for change and adventure. Her husband now on the scene (first observed by the narrator in a mirror and described as a mountain with big calloused hands) approaches her and the intimidated narrator. The brokenhearted husband, starting to shake, scorns her for her inconvenient timing in abandoning him "with four hungry children and a crop in the field" and expresses his culminating unhealed hurt. After the distraught husband leaves them, the determined narrator and married woman eventually make their way to a hotel room. Now all alone, the beautiful woman comes to the narrator and is blindsided by his odd, sudden change of heart. His reluctance giving way to those recurring haunting words that her husband pitifully told her.
Roger Bowling
Roger D. Bowling was a Nashville songwriter in the 1970s who specialized in Country music...
and Hal Bynum
Hal Bynum
Hal Bynum is an American songwriter most notably associated with the Outlaw country movement in the 1970s. Bynum has written more than 200 songs for popular country artists, including Kenny Rogers Patty Loveless , Johnny Cash , Cash and Waylon Jennings , and Jim Reeves...
, and recorded by Kenny Rogers
Kenny Rogers
Kenneth Donald "Kenny" Rogers is an American singer-songwriter, photographer, record producer, actor, and entrepreneur...
. It was released in January 1977 as the second and final single from the album Kenny Rogers
Kenny Rogers (1977 album)
Kenny Rogers is the title of Kenny Rogers' second solo album for United Artists Records, released worldwide in 1977. The album marked his first major solo success following the minor success of Love Lifted Me in 1976....
. The song is about a man in a bar that meets a woman who has left her husband. It became Rogers' first major hit as a solo artist after leaving the successful Country/Rock group The First Edition
The First Edition
The First Edition was a country music/rock band. Its stalwart members being Kenny Rogers , Mickey Jones and Terry Williams...
the previous year. An international hit, it reached #1 on the Billboard Country Singles chart and #5 on the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
and reached the top of the UK singles chart in June 1977, Rogers’ second single to top a sales chart on that side of the Atlantic.
Content
The song, told by the narrator (Rogers), tells the story of a man in a bar in Toledo, OhioToledo, Ohio
Toledo is the fourth most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Lucas County. Toledo is in northwest Ohio, on the western end of Lake Erie, and borders the State of Michigan...
, who soon curiously acquaints himself with a downhearted married woman, named Lucille. When the drinks take their affect on her, she admits an unhappiness in life and vies for change and adventure. Her husband now on the scene (first observed by the narrator in a mirror and described as a mountain with big calloused hands) approaches her and the intimidated narrator. The brokenhearted husband, starting to shake, scorns her for her inconvenient timing in abandoning him "with four hungry children and a crop in the field" and expresses his culminating unhealed hurt. After the distraught husband leaves them, the determined narrator and married woman eventually make their way to a hotel room. Now all alone, the beautiful woman comes to the narrator and is blindsided by his odd, sudden change of heart. His reluctance giving way to those recurring haunting words that her husband pitifully told her.
Chart performance
| Chart (1977) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles | 1 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 | 5 |
| Canadian RPM Country Tracks | 1 |
| Canadian RPM Top Singles | 1 |
| Canadian RPM Adult Contemporary Tracks | 1 |
| UK Singles Chart | 1 |
| New Zealand Singles Chart | 2 |
| Swiss Singles Chart | 3 |
| Australia Singles Chart | 7 |
| Austria Top 40 | 8 |
| Dutch Top 40 | 17 |
Cover versions
- A cover version was recorded by American country musicCountry musicCountry music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
artist Billy CurringtonBilly CurringtonWilliam Matthew "Billy" Currington is an American country music artist. Signed to Mercury Nashville Records in 2003, he has released four studio albums for the label: 2003's Billy Currington, 2005's Doin' Somethin' Right, 2008's Little Bit of Everything, and 2010's Enjoy Yourself...
on his 2005 Doin' Somethin' Right album. - A cover version was recorded by American country musicCountry musicCountry music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
artist Waylon JenningsWaylon JenningsWaylon Arnold Jennings was an American country music singer, songwriter, and musician. Jennings began playing at eight. He began performing at twelve, on KVOW radio. Jennings formed a band The Texas Longhorns. Jennings worked as a D.J on KVOW, KDAV and KLLL...
on his 1977 album Ol' WaylonOl' WaylonOl' Waylon is an album by Waylon Jennings, released on RCA Victor in 1977. It plays to Jennings' established outlaw country image. The album features one of his signature songs, a track featuring Willie Nelson called "Luckenbach, Texas ", as well as the Neil Diamond song "Sweet Caroline", a version...