I'm with the Hook original, Locorriere's original delivery has an emotional urgency I don't hear in the other versions (though for Dr Hook standards, the song is almost over-arranged with all the brass heralding the arrival of the "Queen"). With all the jauntiness, it's not really a happy song. And there is of course the bitter twist at the end that it his her pimp who is singing the song. That really gripped me when I first heard it.
The third verse reveals it all:
She's the Queen of the Silver Dollar
And she rules this smokey kingdom
And her scepter is a wine glass
And a bar stool is her throne.
And the jesters flock around her
And fight to win her favor
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 the crosstown bus
That stops right down the block.
The old piano minstrel
Plays her song as she walks in.
And the Queen of the Silver Dollar is home again.
She's the Queen of the Silver Dollar
And she rules this smokey kingdom
And her scepter is a wine glass
And a bar stool is her throne.
And the jesters flock around her
And fight to win her favor
And see which one will take the Queen of the Silver Dollar home.
Her royal gown is a satin dress
That's stained and slightly torn;
Her sparkling jewels are rhinestones
And her shoes are scuffed and worn
From the many roads she's traveled
And the wondrous sights she's seen
I watch her and I pray, God save the Queen.
She's the Queen of the Silver Dollar
And she rules this smokey kingdom
And her sceptre is a wine glass
And a bar stool is her throne.
And the jesters flock around her
And fight to win her favor
And see which one will take the Queen of the Silver Dollar home.
The Queen of the Silver Dollar
Is not as haughty as she seems.
She was once an ordinary girl
With ordinary dreams.
'Til I found her and I won her
And I brought her to this world.
Yes I'm the one who made a queen
Of a simple country girl.
She's the Queen of the Silver Dollar
And she rules this smokey kingdom
And her sceptre is a wine glass
And a bar stool is her throne.
And the jesters flock around her
And fight to win her favor
And see which one will take the Queen of the Silver Dollar home.
No, no, no. He's not a pimp and she's not a prostitute. She's a woman he introduced to the honky tonk life and now she sits there drinking every night, looking for the right man to go home with. Such women definitely do exist.
Whenever I hear the song, it reminds me of Cheryl, a coworker many moons ago. She met a construction worker named Pete who took her to a notorious local bar. After he dumped her and left town, she hung out there for years, looking for the right man. She was beautiful, and there were always guys trying to take her home. I've seen her photo on Facebook through a group we both follow, she looks in very rough shape.
