Songwriter: Bill Rice Jerry Foster

Producer: Eddie Kilroy

He's out there somewhere every night
The music's playin' loud
He's doing all-a those fifty's steps
He's in a 1980 crowd

Dim lights hide the milage line
Clairol hides the gray
And he won't mention anything
To give his old age away

Oh Lord, he's thirty-nine and he's holdin'
He's holdin' everything that he can
From seventeen to twenty-five
He'll prove he's still a man

Hey boy, you're holding to a candle
And it's a-burning at both ends
Thirty-nine and holding
A-holdin' everything that he can

Well, now you can bet he'll never see
Thirty-nine, again
Son, you oughta given up a long time ago
But you just keep on hangin' in

He still thinks that he's the man
That he used to be
Boy, you're just thirty-nine
And you're dreamin'
Acting twenty-three

Oh-oh, he's thirty-nine, he's holdin'
Holdin' everything that he can
From seventeen to twenty-five
He'll prove he's still a man

He's a-holding to a candle
My God, it's burning at both ends!
He's thirty-nine and he's holdin'
Holdin' everything he can

Jerry Lee Lewis

Jerry Lee Lewis was a leading figure in the popularization of rock & roll during the 1950s. He was first signed to Sun Records in 1956 where he was labelmates with Johnny Cash, Elvis Presley, Roy Orbison, and other early rock artists. Of those musicians, however, he was the only piano player and combined with his heavy-handed playing style, sexually suggestive lyrics, and provocative stage antics he came to epitomize the rebelliousness of the genre.

He rose to international fame for his 1957 versions of the songs “Great Balls of Fire” and “Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On.”

Lewis' popularity rapidly tumbled, however, when in 1958, when at the age of 22, he married his 13-year-old cousin. Though this scandal continued to tarnish his image, Lewis never retired from music. As of October 2015, he continues to perform live.