D.I.V.O.R.C.E.

For other uses, see Divorce (disambiguation).
"D.I.V.O.R.C.E."
Single by Billy Connolly
B-side"Cuckoo"[1]
Released1975[1]
GenreNovelty
LabelPolydor Records[1]
Songwriter(s)Sheb Wooley Bobby Braddock and Curly Putman
Producer(s)Phil Coulter[1]

"D.I.V.O.R.C.E." is a 1975 UK number-one single by Scottish folk singer and comedian Billy Connolly.[2] A comedy song, it reached No. 1 for one week in November 1975,[3] and was one of the few songs of its genre to reach this milestone.

The song is a cover of Sheb Wooley's[4] parody of the Tammy Wynette song "D-I-V-O-R-C-E",[5] and Connolly's version to date has been his only No. 1 UK single,[3] though in the late 1970s he had a further two UK hits which parodied contemporary songs. He later dropped musical performances from his act.

"D.I.V.O.R.C.E." has a similar theme to Wynette's original in that the events in the song lead to a couple divorcing, however in the parody, the words are spelled out to withhold the truth from a dog rather than a child as in Wynette's version, and the divorce is sparked by a riotous visit to a veterinarian[6] that results in the husband being bitten by both the dog and his wife.

Some versions of the song, such as the live performance included on the album Get Right Intae Him! which was released as the single, are censored, with the letters "f'ing c" being bleeped.

References

  1. ^ a b c d "Billy Connolly - D.I.V.O.R.C.E. (Vinyl) at Discogs". Discogs.com. 1975. Retrieved 2014-03-27.
  2. ^ Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 320. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
  3. ^ a b "Official Charts Company". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 2010-03-08.
  4. ^ Braddock, Bobby (6 October 2015). Bobby Braddock: A Life on Nashville's Music Row. ISBN 9780826520845. Retrieved 2022-07-04.
  5. ^ "Rock and roll years: the 1970s". The Scotsman. 2003-10-16. Retrieved 2010-03-08.
  6. ^ Brian Beacom (2009-09-21). "The story of Billy Connolly in 11 and a half chapters". The Herald. Retrieved 2010-03-08.


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