# Come on over here, and lay by my side - I've got to be touching you **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 8, 2006, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/come-on-over-here-and-lay-by-my-side-ive-got-to-be-touching-you/355836 "2006-05-08T02:38:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![roger\_thornhill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d9b06d/32.png) [@roger\_thornhill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/roger_thornhill)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2006, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/come-on-over-here-and-lay-by-my-side-ive-got-to-be-touching-you/355836/1 "2006-05-08T02:38:49Z")
Immortal lyrics from Dr Hook, one of the most creative and humorous bands of the 70s. If you’re not familiar with their stuff (besides _Sylvia’s Mother_, perhaps - not their best work by a long chalk), check out such gems as the self-mocking _Rolling Stone_, the beautiful love song _Who If Not You?_, and of course the song from which the words above are taken, _A Little Bit More_. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2006, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/come-on-over-here-and-lay-by-my-side-ive-got-to-be-touching-you/355836/2 "2006-05-08T03:39:53Z")
Didn’t Shel Silverstein write several of their songs? (Silverstein wrote the Johnny Cash classic “A Boy Named Sue,” as well as books of children’s poetry like _Where the Sidewalk Ends_ and _A Light in the Attic_.) ---
**Author:** ![TLDRIDKJKLOLFTW](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/51bf81/32.png) [@TLDRIDKJKLOLFTW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TLDRIDKJKLOLFTW)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2006, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/come-on-over-here-and-lay-by-my-side-ive-got-to-be-touching-you/355836/3 "2006-05-08T04:12:09Z")
Did they do “Freakin’ at the freakers ball?” ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2006, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/come-on-over-here-and-lay-by-my-side-ive-got-to-be-touching-you/355836/4 "2006-05-08T14:24:12Z")
> [@Thudlow Boink](#): > > Didn’t Shel Silverstein write several of their songs? (Silverstein wrote the Johnny Cash classic “A Boy Named Sue,” as well as books of children’s poetry like _Where the Sidewalk Ends_ and _A Light in the Attic_.) He wrote nearly all their songs in the beginning: “Sylvia’s Mother” (which is a great song, BTW – it’s supposed to be a joke), “On the Cover of the Rolling Stone,” “Freaking at the Freaker’s Ball,” “Roland the Roadie and Gertrude the Groupie,” and others. Many of these were printed as poems in Playboy (where Silverstein was a staff member/cartoonist). Silverstein was a triple threat: writer, lyricist, and cartoonist. He also wrote “The Unicorn” as recorded by the Irish Rovers, giving him Top 5 hits for three different artists. ---
**Author:** ![roger\_thornhill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d9b06d/32.png) [@roger\_thornhill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/roger_thornhill)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2006, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/come-on-over-here-and-lay-by-my-side-ive-got-to-be-touching-you/355836/5 "2006-05-09T00:24:22Z")
[DJ voice]“And now you can check out the Dr Hook CDs care of Google Ads, while we take you up to the noos with this message from our sponsors…” ---
**Author:** ![pinkfreud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pinkfreud/32/17603_2.png) [@pinkfreud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pinkfreud)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2006, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/come-on-over-here-and-lay-by-my-side-ive-got-to-be-touching-you/355836/6 "2006-05-09T00:39:27Z")
One of my favorite Dr. Hook songs is “Baby Makes Her Blue Jeans Talk.” Fun stuff. ---
**Author:** ![tanstaafl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ba8739/32.png) [@tanstaafl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tanstaafl)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2006, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/come-on-over-here-and-lay-by-my-side-ive-got-to-be-touching-you/355836/7 "2006-05-09T03:19:11Z")
You know, I had somehow missed the connection between Shel Silverstein and Dr. Hook. I will now spend the rest of the evening in total brainlock with a case of cognative dissonance. I haven’t been this confused since learning that Chip Davis of Manneheim Steamroller also wrote the CB song “Convoy”. ---
**Author:** ![Auntbeast](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Auntbeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Auntbeast)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2006, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/come-on-over-here-and-lay-by-my-side-ive-got-to-be-touching-you/355836/8 "2006-05-10T02:25:51Z")
Well, Ya’ll can just rock me to sleep tonight! who’d a thunk? ---
**Author:** ![Lambo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecc23a/32.png) [@Lambo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lambo)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2006, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/come-on-over-here-and-lay-by-my-side-ive-got-to-be-touching-you/355836/9 "2006-05-10T03:27:05Z")
> [@tanstaafl](#): > > I haven’t been this confused since learning that Chip Davis of Manneheim Steamroller also wrote the CB song “Convoy”. Holy crap. I had no idea. ---
**Author:** ![DrMemory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/977dab/32.png) [@DrMemory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrMemory)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2006, 10:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/come-on-over-here-and-lay-by-my-side-ive-got-to-be-touching-you/355836/10 "2006-05-10T10:13:47Z")
My favorites, not mentioned, are **I got Stoned and I missed it.**. and probably their biggest commercial hit, **When you’re in Love with a beautiful woman.** ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2006, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/come-on-over-here-and-lay-by-my-side-ive-got-to-be-touching-you/355836/11 "2006-05-10T15:16:54Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > (Silverstein) also wrote “The Unicorn” as recorded by the Irish Rovers, giving him Top 5 hits for three different artists. Huh! I always chanted that one “rap” style when I was a kid. Weird to hear the “Irish folk” version on Amazon. Also, Shel Silverstein’s photo on the back of _The Giving Tree_ is _ **way scary** _. -FrL-