THE QUEEN OF THE SILVER DOLLAR

 

THE QUEEN OF THE SILVER DOLLAR

Every once in a while  you hear a song that has the right tune, the right cadence and the  right singer. The best singers put something of themselves into singing the song or, as I like to say,  telling the story. One of my favorite singers was Randy Travis. He hailed from a small town in North Carolina.  He would always hum at the beginning of a song to make sure that he was in tune   with the chord being played.  Up until his debilitating stroke, he did the necessary thing of putting himself into the song. In other words, he inserted feeling and emotion as he sung the story. Every song has a story  either in the song or in the writing of the song.

 Country songs are noted for the sad songs like Born to Lose. . Can you imagine feeling like you were born to lose? What a depressing thought.  Many prisoners had prison tattoos with those words on their fingers. Johnny Cash sang a song called  Dark as a  Dungeon. It is about the coal miners, the black lung folks who worked down in the mines of Virginia,  West Virginia and Kentucky. Down in the mine, the wind never blows and the sun never shines.

Tennessee Ernie Ford sang a memorable song about loading coal, Sixteen Tons. Coal used to be King up until the politicians wanted to shut it down as a dirty source of fuel. Hillary Clinton lost a lot of votes  when she  said in a speech in West Virginia that when she became president, that she was going to " put a lot of  coal miners out of work". You could count her supporters in West Virginia on the  tattooed fingers  bearing the the saying, Born to Lose. I thank God that her misspeaks helped defeat this odious person. Yes Madam President Wanna be, you will never measure up to the Queen of the Silver Dollar. I am a proud "deplorable". 

Loretta Lynn was a Coal Miner's Daughter and Dolly Parton  wore a Coat of Many Colors. The Carter  family was famous for songs like Wild Wood Flower and Keep on the Sunny Side. Jim Reeves sang of hanging out in a tavern  called Three Teardrops.  Merle Haggard sang of Swinging Doors and Mama Tried. Jimmy Rogers sang of a hobo Waiting for a train and he sang about what killed him when he sang TB  Blues.

The majority of people who like music have a favorite song, There is even a song named: They're playing my song and Look What They've Done to my Song. People plug the jukebox and punch in A10 to hear their favorite song or they send a note on a napkin to request a band to play what they consider  their song.

Anita and I claimed the song "Oh How Happy You Have Made Me as our song. Yes, it is a soul song. My other famous soul song is "Bring it on Home to Me".

I normally believe the best songs are the ones written and sung  by the songwriter. The exception to this is Kris Kristofferson. He came from a wealthy family who wanted him to make something of himself. He was  a Rhodes  scholar and he was a Captain in the Army, a helicopter pilot. He gave all that up and took a  job as a janitor in a music studio in Nashville. He wrote numerous number one hits for other singers  but his voice quality was not flexible enough to sing most of his own songs. Other singers made hits of  memorable songs like Sunday Moring Coming Down and Loving Her Was Easy but Forgiving seems to  Take a Long Long Time. . Two songs that I think he did an excellent job on is Why Me Lord and The  Silver Tongued Devil and I.  He received a letter from his parents disowning him. He showed it to Johnny Cash who remarked: " It's always nice to get a letter from home, isn't it Kris?

My all time favorite songs were the songs of Roger Miller. Crazy Looney songs like Dang Me and sad songs like Husbands and Wives. Of course his signature song made him a star King of The Road. His songs were both sad and happy. England Swings was a favorite of mine  as well as Walking in the Sunshine and Summertime. He had so much more to give and died too young. 

I could go on and on but I will get to the point of the title of this story.  Shel Silverstein wrote the song Queen of the Silver Dollar especially for Dr. Hook and the Medicine Show. Ray Hook was the leader of  the band and my did they have fun with every song they performed. They sold out a huge concert in  Australia and many other places. Ray Hook liked the taste of alcohol and word is that the band regularly took drugs. But a lot of musicians bit the dust because of using drugs to help them Make it through the Night. Janis Joplin tore up the song Me and Bobby McGee and then died young. The story  is that Mama Cass choked on a chicken bone. You are not supposed to eat the bone but other stories say  that she died of drug overdose. Elvis sang Its Now or Never and he lies in a grave with his name  misspelled on the tombstone.  The word misspelled is very often misspelled and the English accept the  spelling as Misspelt as an  easier way to spell misspelled. My English teacher paid the word no mind as she concentrated in the rule: Never end a sentence in a preposition. 

There I go again. It is easy for me to slip off topic but I will continue to do better.  If I could summarize what I consider significant about a song or a story, it would be to insert emotion. Anyone can sign or speak  the words but Ray Hook put a ton of emotion into singing The Queen of the Silver Dollar. Other singers have covered the song but to me, no one can match the sheer emotion that Dr. Hook puts into the song. It makes all the difference. The presentation of a story, a joke or a song is critical and vital. I want you to listen to the song, then read the words and feel the emotion that Dr. Hook puts into the words. 

QUEEN OF THE SILVER DOLLAR

She's the queen of the silver dollar and she rules this smoky kingdom
And her scepter is a wine glass, and the bar stool is her throne
And the jesters, they flock around her and they fight to win her favors
And see which one will take the queen of the silver dollar home
 

She arrives in all her splendor every night at nine o'clock
And her chariot is a crosstown bus that stops right down the block
The ol' piano minstrel plays a song as she walks in
And the queen of the silver dollar, she's home again

[Chorus]
She's the queen of the silver dollar, and she rules this smoky kingdom And her scepter is a wine glass and the bar stool is her throne, And the jesters flock around her, and fight to win her favors
And see which one will take the queen of the silver dollar home, 


[Verse 2]
Her royal gown is a satin dress that's stained and slightly torn 

And her sparkling jewels are rhinestones, and her shoes are scuffed and worn From the many roads she's traveled and the wonderous sights she's seen

And I watch her and I pray, "God save the queen"

[Verse 3]
The queen of the silver dollar is not as haughty as she seems
She was once an ordinary girl with ordinary dreams
But I found her and I won her, and I brought her to this world
Yes, I'm the man who made a queen of a simple country girl

[Chorus]
Now she's the queen of the silver dollar, and she rules this smoky kingdom
And her scepter is a wine glass and the bar stool is her throne
And the jesters flock around her, and fight to win her favors
And see which one will take the queen of the Silver Dollar home

[Outro]
She's the queen of the silver dollar, and she rules this smoky kingdom
And her scepter is a wine glass

I will now give my analysis of this song. 

No name is mentioned for the Queen of this song. She was an ordinary girl who the songwriter discovered. He claims that he made a Queen of an ordinary Country Girl. Sort of a take on the movie: My Fair Lady" One of the characters remarked that he could make a silk purse out of a sow's ear.  Then there's the saying also how you can put lipstick on a pig, but she's still a pig. 

Apparently, this Queen filled the role the songwriter wrote for her. She got into her role and played the part well. The sad thing I picked up on was where the songwriter said he won her but then he placed her in a position where "the jesters" competed for her favors. Why was he not keeping her as his "won" lover instead of placing her on a barstool to be won each night by one of the jesters? My thought is that he took more pleasure in building her up so that others might look upon him as the inventor of this Queen. She must have been a good looking country girl but without much means. 

Her royal gown is a satin dress that's stained and slightly torn. 

This adds sadness to the song . The least the guy who "won" this ordinary girl could have bought her some nice clothes. I picture a thrift store dress that was long out of fashion. The stains most likely from beer and wine. She had no funds to dry clean the dress or replace it with a more current style. But, that is part of the picture that portrays her as a Queen, quite a promotion for an "ordinary country girl" After all she had "ordinary dreams" not lofty dreams. 

So, her chariot is a cross town bus that drops her down the block and she walks to the Silver Dollar to shine until closing time. The patrons of the bar look to her as royalty for the barroom setting.

And her sparkling jewels are rhinestones, and her shoes are scuffed and worn From the many roads she's traveled and the wonderous sights she's seen

The sparkling jewels came from a yard sale or a thrift store and were purchased from crumpled up dollars stuffed into her bra by lovesick drunks. She sits on her barstool throne and observes the pool and dart games in the background. She has a wine glass in her hand with cheap chardonnay or rose wine which the bartender supplies without charge. After all, it is part of her persona. 

The odor of her smoky kingdom clings to her nostrils and her clothes, but , she became accustomed to the smells.

Her shoes are scuffed and worn but she has seen no wonderous sights as the song sarcastically suggests.  She still has dreams of a better existence but she has fell into this rut and this fantasy of ruling a smoky kingdom from the uncomfortable barstool throne. No one  of the regulars dares sit upon her designated barstool and the bartender informs any bar hopper that stops by that the "throne" is reserved.

This is an extremely sad song and Dr. Hook puts his feelings and emotions into the song to make it memorable. The tune is catchy and one cannot but tell that this is a story told in untold venues across the world. America does not have real royalty but in the minds of the songwriter (Shel Silverstein) and the singer (Ray Hook) there is royalty at the Silver Dollar.

Carl Owen May 14, 2025