“Sylvia’s Mom” is a 1972 single by Dr. Hook & the Drugs Present and the group’s first hit track. It was written by Shel Silverstein, produced by Ron Haffkine and was extremely profitable in the USA, reaching #5 on the Billboard singles chart (tied with “Horny Eyes” from the album Generally You Win for the band’s finest performing track), in addition to #1 in Eire and #2 in the UK.
It spent 3 weeks at #1 on the Australian music charts, making it the fifteenth ranked single in Australia for 1972; and likewise reached #1 in South Africa, the place it was the third ranked track for the 12 months. It appeared on the group’s first album, Dr. Hook.
Sylvia’s Mom” is autobiographical, with songwriter Shel Silverstein drawing upon his unsuccessful try and revive a failed relationship. Silverstein had been in love with a girl named Silvia Pandolfi, however she would later develop into engaged to a different man and find yourself as a museum curator on the Museo de Arte Carrillo Gil, Mexico Metropolis. Determined to proceed the connection, Silverstein referred to as Pandolfi’s mom, Louisa, however she instructed him that the love had ended.
The lyrics inform the story in a lot the identical approach: a person, despondent after studying that Sylvia, with whom he had an earlier relationship, is leaving city, tries to phone her to say one final goodbye. Nevertheless, Sylvia’s mom (Mrs. Avery) tells him that Sylvia is engaged to be married, and is attempting to start out a brand new life in Galveston. She asks the person to not say something to her as a result of she may begin crying and need to keep.
She tells the person Sylvia is hurrying to catch a 9 o’clock prepare. She then returns to the telephone dialog, thanks the (unnamed) narrator for calling. The pathos lies within the singer’s consciousness that Sylvia is true there together with her mom, Sylvia being unaware that he’s the person on the telephone. All through the telephone dialog, an operator interrupts to ask for extra money (“40 cents extra for the following three minutes”) to proceed the decision.
