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TL;DR:

  • Tom Jones’ “She’s a Lady” was inspired by the singer’s cocky, macho image.
  • The pop star who wrote “She’s a Lady” didn’t like the song.
  • The track was Jones’ highest-charting song in the United States.
Tom Jones in a pool during his "She's a Lady" era
Tom Jones | Eddie Sanderson / Contributor

Many pop stars wrote little of their own music. For example, Tom Jones’ “She’s a Lady” was written by another pop star. The pop star in question said “She’s a Lady” is the worst song he ever wrote.

A pop star wrote Tom Jones’ ‘She’s a Lady’ like he was a Method actor

In his 2013 book My Way: An Autobiography, Paul Anka recalled writing “She’s a Lady” for Jones. Anka discussed the writing process. “When I think about Tom Jones, I get a cocky, macho image — writing for other people is like playing a character and I thought, ‘What would this character say?'” he wrote. 

“What came out was pretty brash and arrogant, and sure, it was politically incorrect, but what the hell,” he said. “I write like a Method actor, putting myself in his place.” 

Paul Anka doesn’t like the song because it’s too ‘chauvinistic’ but he felt it represented Tom Jones

Anka said the writing process was uncharacteristically swift. “It’s the shortest time it ever took me to write a song,” he wrote. “I knocked off the lyric on that TWA flight from London back to New York. Later I went to my den and pulled the melody out in about an hour and a half.” 

Anka wasn’t a fan of his work. “But I can tell you this, I dislike ‘She’s a Lady’ more than anything I’ve written,” he revealed. “I’m not saying I don’t have a chauvinistic side, but not like that. Still, I wanted to make it as realistic as possible, and Tom Jones is as swaggering and brash as a Welsh coal miner in a pub on a Saturday night.”

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How ‘She’s a Lady’ performed on the pop charts in the United States

“She’s a Lady” reached No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming Jones’ highest-charting single in the United States. The tune stayed on the chart for 14 weeks. The track appeared on the album Tom Jones Sings She’s a Lady, which peaked at No. 17 on the Billboard 200 and stayed on the chart for 20 weeks.

According to The Official Charts Company, “She’s a Lady” was a more modest hit in the United Kingdom. The track hit No. 13 there and remained on the chart for 10 weeks. Meanwhile, the album Tom Jones Sings She’s a Lady hit No. 9 in the U.K. and lasted a total of seven weeks on the chart.

Even if Anka didn’t like it much, he thought “She’s a Lady” was a perfect fit for Jones.

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