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Do Wacka Do
I hear tell you’re doin’ well oger Dean Miller (January 2, 1936 – October
Good thing have come to you R25, 1992) was an American singer-songwrit-
I wish I had your happiness er, musician, and actor, widely known for his
And you had a do-wacka, do-wacka, honky-tonk-influenced novelty songs and his chart-
do-wacka, do-wacka, do-wacka-do topping country and pop hits “King of the Road”,
“Dang Me”, and “England Swings”, all from the mid-
They tell me you’re runnin’ free 1960s Nashville sound era.
Your days are never blue
I wish I had your good-luck charm After growing up in Oklahoma and serving in the
And you had a do-wacka, do-wacka, United States Army, Miller began his musical career
do-wacka, do-wacka, do-wacka-do as a songwriter in the late 1950s, writing such hits as
“Billy Bayou” and “Home” for Jim Reeves and
Yeah, I see you’re goin’ down the street “Invitation to the Blues” for Ray Price. He later began
in your big Cadillac a recording career and reached the peak of his fame
You got girls in the front, you got girls in the back in the mid-1960s, continuing to record and tour into
Yeah, way in back, you got money in a sack the 1990s, charting his final top 20 country hit “Old
Both hands on the wheel Friends” with Willie Nelson in 1982. He also wrote
and your shoulders rared back and performed several of the songs for the 1973
Root-doot-doot-doot-doot, do-wah Disney animated film Robin Hood. Later in his life,
I hear tell you’re doin’ well he wrote the music and lyrics for the 1985 Tony
Good things have come to you Award−winning Broadway musical Big River, in
I wish I had your happiness which he acted.
And you had a do-wacka, do-wacka,
do-wacka, do-wacka, do-wacka-do Miller died from lung cancer in 1992 and was
inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame three
Yeah, I see you’re goin’ down the street years later. His songs continued to be recorded by
in your big Cadillac other singers, with covers of “Tall, Tall Trees” by Alan
You got girls in the front, you got girls in the back Jackson and “Husbands and Wives” by Brooks &
Yeah, way in back, you got money in a sack Dunn; both reached the number one spot on country
Both hands on the wheel charts in the 1990s. The Roger Miller Museum in
and your shoulders rared back his home town of Erick, Oklahoma, was a tribute to
Root-doot-doot-doot-doot, do-wah Miller. Miller left for Santa Fe to live with his family
following the success of Big River. He co-wrote
I hear tell you’re doin’ well Dwight Yoakam’s hit “It Only Hurts When I Cry”
Good things have come to you from his 1990 album If There Was a Way, and
I wish I had your good-luck charm supplied background vocals. The song was released
And you had a do-wacka, do-wacka, do-wacka, as a single in 1991, peaking at No. 7 on country
do-wacka, do-wacka-do charts.He began a solo guitar tour in 1990, ending
the following year after being diagnosed with lung
Source: LyricFind cancer. His last performance on television
Songwriters: Roger Miller occurred on a special tribute to Minnie Pearl which
Do-Wacka-Do lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc, aired on TNN on October 26, 1992, the day after
Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC Miller’s death. On June 25, 2019, The New York
Times Magazine listed Roger Miller among hundreds
To listen follow this link.... of artists whose master material was reportedly
destroyed in the 2008 Universal fire.
(Source Wikipedia)
76 www.writeawaymag.co.uk