‘Oh, Pretty Woman’ or simply ‘Pretty Woman’ is a song recorded by Roy Orbison, written by Orbison and Bill Dees. It was released as a single in August 1964 and spent three weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 from September 26, 1964, the second and final single by Orbison to top the US charts. It was also Orbison's third single to top the UK Singles Chart (for a total of three weeks).
The single version (in mono) and the LP version (in stereo on the Oribisongs LP) have slightly differing lyrics. The LP version with the intended lyric: "come with me baby" was changed for the single to "come to me baby" as the former was considered too risque. The record ultimately sold seven million copies and marked the high point in Orbison's career. Within months of its release, in October 1964, the single was certified gold by the RIAA. At the year's end, Billboard ranked it the number four song of 1964.
The title was inspired by Orbison's wife, Claudette, interrupting a conversation to announce she was going out. When Orbison asked if she had enough cash, his co-writer Bill Dees interjected, "A pretty woman never needs any money."
Orbison posthumously won the 1991 Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance for his live recording of ‘Oh Pretty Woman’ on his HBO television special Roy Orbison and Friends, A Black and White Night. In 1999, the song was honored with a Grammy Hall of Fame and was named one of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll. In 2004, Rolling Stone magazine ranked it number 224 on their list of the "500 Greatest Songs of All Time." On May 14, 2008, The Library of Congress selected the song for preservation in the National Recording Registry.
‘Oh, Pretty Woman’ was later used for the title of the 1990 film Pretty Woman starring Richard Gere and Julia Roberts, and the 2018 Broadway musical Pretty Woman: The Musical.
Label – Monument
Songwriters – Roy Orbison, Bill Dees
Producer – Fred Foster
SONG LYRICS
[Instrumental Intro][Verse 1]
Pretty woman, walking down the street
Pretty woman, the kind I'd like to meet
Pretty woman, I don't believe you
You're not the truth
No one could look as good as you
Mercy!
[Verse 2]
Pretty woman, won't you pardon me?
Pretty woman, I couldn't help but see
Pretty woman, that you look lovely as can be
Are you lonely just like me?
Rwar-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r
[Middle-Eight]
Pretty woman, stop a while
Pretty woman, talk a while
Pretty woman, give your smile to me
Pretty woman, yeah, yeah, yeah
Pretty woman, look my way
Pretty woman, say you'll stay with me
'Cause I need you, I'll treat you right
Come with me, baby, be mine tonight
[Verse 3]
Pretty woman, don't walk on by
Pretty woman, don't make me cry
Pretty woman, don't walk away, hey
[Outro]
Okay
If that's the way it must be, okay
I guess I'll go on home, it's late
There'll be tomorrow night, but wait
What do I see?
Is she walking back to me?
Yeah, she's walking back to me
Oh, oh, pretty woman