This week’s task for Song Lyric Sunday is simple, at least on the face of it: a song that reached #1 in the charts.
Well, hereby hangs a tale. A little over fifty years ago, I went on a first date with the most stunning girl I had (have) ever seen. Reader, I married her.
A few weeks after that first date, this single release by Rod Stewart started to work its way up the charts, reaching number one (his first) for a week in early September 1972. As true now as it was then…
I had nothing to do on this hot afternoon
But to settle down and write you a line
I’ve been meaning to phone you but from Minnesota
Hell it’s been a very long time
You wear it well
A little old fashioned but that’s all right
Well I suppose you’re thinking I bet he’s sinking
Or he wouldn’t get in touch with me
Oh I ain’t begging or losing my head
I sure do want you to know that you wear it well
There ain’t a lady in the land so fine
Remember them basement parties, your brother’s karate
The all day rock and roll shows
Them homesick blues and radical views
Haven’t left a mark on you, you wear it well
A little out of time but I don’t mind
But I ain’t forgetting that you were once mine
But I blew it without even tryin’
Now I’m eatin’ my heart out
Tryin’ to get a letter through
Since you’ve been gone it’s hard to carry on
I’m gonna write about the birthday gown that I bought in town
When you sat down and cried on the stairs
You knew it did not cost the earth, but for what it’s worth
You made me feel a millionaire and you wear it well
Madame Onassis got nothing on you
Anyway, my coffee’s cold and I’m getting told
That I gotta get back to work
So when the sun goes low and you’re home all alone
Think of me and try not to laugh and I wear it well
I don’t object if you call collect
‘Cause I ain’t forgetting that you were once mine
But I blew it without even tryin’
Now I’m eatin’ my heart out tryin’ to get back to you
I love you, I love you, I love you
After all the years I hope it’s the same address
Since you’ve been gone it’s hard to carry on
Written by Rod Stewart and Martin Quittenton
the only deadhead in the hameau 
I guess Rod must have just written this song, as he needed to look at that yellow paper to get the words right. Nice choice.
To be fair, I think it was a humorous reference to the lyrics. Rod’s appearances on Top Of The Pops were always famously jokey (drink had been taken).