Released: October 27, 1981

Songwriter: Ringo Starr Harry Nilsson

Producer: Harry Nilsson

[Verse]
One, two, three, four

Stop and take the time to smell the roses
I said, stop and take the time to fill your noses
Stop as you stroll through life, ("pitter patter, pitter patter
Stop and take the time to talk it over with your wife

I said, stop and take the time, take the time to read the label
Stop, you must remember clark and betty grable
Stop, there's no train to catch, no there isn't, rose
No, no, no

Come on, everybody, you've got to stop
Stop on the highway
Stop when you're in your car on that highway
Roll down your window
Look for a man in a porsche and say
"fuck it, brother, let's get out and walk, let's go! Can you hear me?

Stop
Stop when you're in your ford cortina
You know when you're accident prone
Nobody likes you
Wave to a man in a rolls
'Cause he knows how to live, ha! Ha

Well, i said, stop and take the time to stop that smoking
Stop, there's no train to catch
You won't be blue
You, you, you

"well, i was walking down the street the other day
You know, and i said to myself, what's all this hurry
What's all this hustle and bustle
Why don't i just stop, look at the pretty roses
Smell them for one moment, take the time to see
Take the time to smell, have a good time in life
Don't let everything pass you by, you're only here once
And I've been here longer than most of you

So stop and take the time to buy this album
So i can plant roses and smell them all day long
Stop everything you're doing
Run to your local record shop and say
"give me that record called 'stop
I'm going crazy with this record business
I want to stop it, you want me to stop it
Everybody wants it to stop

[Outro]
Well, i'm leaving you now
'Cause i just got to stop
I'm going to stop it now

Ringo Starr

Best known as the drummer for The Beatles, Ringo Starr (born Richard Starkey, 1940) also had a moderately successful solo career (with hits like “It Don’t Come Easy” and “Photograph”) and was the narrator for Thomas The Tank Engine.

His country-infused nickname emerged from a tendency to wear rings on his fingers.