Released: November 16, 1964

Songwriter: Charlie Foxx Inez Foxx

Producer: Clyde Otis

[Intro]
(Mock) Yeah
(Ing) Yeah
(Bird) Yeah
(Yeah) Yeah
Mockingbird

[Chorus]
Everybody have you heard
He's going to buy me a mockingbird
Well now, if that mockingbird don't sing
He's going to buy me a diamond ring
And if that diamond ring don't shine
He's going to surely break this heart of mine
And that's why I can't tell him that sad thing

[Verse 1]
Oh, I know I love him and I can't tell him so
That I, I, I, I love him and that's all he doesn't know, he doesn't know
If that diamond don't ring don't shine
He's gonna surely break this heart of mine
And that's why I can't tell him that sad thing

[Chorus]
Oh oh oh, ooh ooh, everybody have you heard
He's going to buy me a mockingbird
Said now, if that mockingbird don't sing
He's going to buy me a diamond ring
If that diamond ring don't shine
He's going to surely break this heart of mine
And that's why I can't tell him that sad thing

[Verse 2]
Oh, I know that I, I love him and I can't tell him so
That I, I, I, I love him and it's all he doesn't know, he doesn't know
If that diamond don't ring don't shine
He's gonna surely break this heart of mine
And that's why I can't tell him that sad thing

[Chorus]
Oh oh oh, everybody have you heard
He's going to buy me a mockingbird
Said now, if that mockingbird don't sing
He's going to buy me a diamond ring
If that diamond ring don't shine
He's going to surely break this heart of mine
And that's why I can't tell him that sad thing
Oh oh oh, I, everybody have you heard
He's going to buy me a mockingbird
Said now, if that mockingbird don't sing
He's going to buy me a diamond ring

Aretha Franklin

Aretha Franklin is both a 20th and 21st century musical and cultural icon known simply by her first Aretha. She is the reigning and undisputed “Queen Of Soul” with a legacy that spans five decades. A native of Detroit, Michigan, Aretha began her career singing gospel at her father, minister C. L. Franklin’s church as a child. In 1960, at the age of 18, Aretha embarked on a secular career, recording for Columbia Records with modest success.

After moving to Atlantic Records in 1967, she released a steady string of US top ten hits through 1973 including “Spanish Harlem”, “Chain Of Fools”, “Baby I Love You”, “Since You’ve Been Gone”, “Daydreaming”, “The House That Jack Built”, “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman", ”Think“ and her first chart-topper “Respect” – a song that also won Aretha her first of 18 Grammys. During this time, several of her songs were also successful overseas.

By the mid-70s, Aretha’s commercial success waned and she left Atlantic for Clive Davis' Arista Records in 1980. Her 1982 song “Jump to It,” returned her to the top 40 for the first time in six years. 1985’s Who’s Zoomin' Who? got her back into the top 10 twice with its title track and “Freeway Of Love”. Four more songs reached the top 40 through 1986.