Songwriter: Shel Silverstein
Producer: Ron Haffkine
[Verse 1]
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
[Chorus]
Please, Mrs. Avery, I just gotta talk to her
I'll only keep her a while
Please, Mrs. Avery, I just want to tell her goodbye
[Verse 2]
Sylvia's mother says Sylvia's packing
She's gonna be leaving today
Sylvia's mother says Sylvia's marrying
A fella 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
[Chorus]
Please, Mrs. Avery, I just gotta talk to her
I'll only keep her a while
Please, Mrs. Avery, I just want to tell her goodbye
[Verse 3]
Sylvia's mother says Sylvia's hurrying
She's catching the nine o'clock train
Sylvia's mother says take your umbrella
'Cause, Sylvie, it's starting to rain
And Sylvia's mother says thank you for calling
And, sir, won't you call back again?
And the operator says forty cents more
For the next three minutes
[Chorus]
Please, Mrs. Avery, I just gotta talk to her
I'll only keep her a while
Please, Mrs. Avery, I just want to tell her goodbye
Tell her goodbye
Please, tell her goodbye
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
[Chorus]
Please, Mrs. Avery, I just gotta talk to her
I'll only keep her a while
Please, Mrs. Avery, I just want to tell her goodbye
[Verse 2]
Sylvia's mother says Sylvia's packing
She's gonna be leaving today
Sylvia's mother says Sylvia's marrying
A fella 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
[Chorus]
Please, Mrs. Avery, I just gotta talk to her
I'll only keep her a while
Please, Mrs. Avery, I just want to tell her goodbye
[Verse 3]
Sylvia's mother says Sylvia's hurrying
She's catching the nine o'clock train
Sylvia's mother says take your umbrella
'Cause, Sylvie, it's starting to rain
And Sylvia's mother says thank you for calling
And, sir, won't you call back again?
And the operator says forty cents more
For the next three minutes
[Chorus]
Please, Mrs. Avery, I just gotta talk to her
I'll only keep her a while
Please, Mrs. Avery, I just want to tell her goodbye
Tell her goodbye
Please, tell her goodbye
more tracks from the album
The Ballad of Lucy Jordon
- Carry Me, Carrie
- Life Ain’t Easy
- The Ballad of Lucy Jordon
- Makin’ It Natural
- If I’d Only Come and Gone
- Hey, Lady Godiva
- Roland the Roadie and Gertrude the Groupie
- Four Years Older Than Me
- Last Mornin’
- Monterey Jack
- Queen of the Silver Dollar
- The Cover of the “Rolling Stone”
- Penicillin Penny
- The Wonderful Soup Stone
- Freakin’ at the Freaker’s Ball
- Sylvia’s Mother
From the albums
- Doctor Hook (1972)
- 20 Dynamic Hits (1973)
- The Ballad of Lucy Jordon (1975)
- The Best Of Dr. Hook And The Medicine Show (1976)
- Dr. Hook Greatest Hits (And More) (1987)
- Super Hits Of The ’70s: Have A Nice, Day, Vol. 8 (1990)
- Greatest Hits (1992)
- Greatest Hits (1995) (1995)
- Pleasure & Pain The History Of Dr. Hook (1996)
- Love Songs (1998)
- 70s 100 Hits (2010)
- Timeless (2014)
- Icon (2014)
- NOW 100 Hits Country [UK] (2020)
- NOW That’s What I Call Country 2 [UK] (2021)
- Mellow 70's Gold (2021)
Dr. Hook popular songs
- Sylvia’s Mother
- Sharing the Night Together
- The Cover of the “Rolling Stone”
- Sexy Eyes
- Storms Never Last
- A Little Bit More
- When You’re in Love with a Beautiful Woman
- The Ugliest Man In Town
- Chained to Her Memory
- Up on the Mountain
- Bread Upon the Water
- Love You Now
- I’m a Lamb
- More Like the Movies
- The Things I Didn’t Say
- Help Me Mama
- Mountain Mary
- Do You Right Tonight
- The Shadow Knows
- Monterey Jack
- That Plane
- Dooley Jones
- Feels Good
- Last Mornin’