Girl on the Billboard

"Girl on the Billboard" is a 1965 single released by American country music singer Del Reeves. The novelty song was Reeves' fourth entry on the U.S. country chart and his only No. 1 single. "Girl on the Billboard" spent two weeks at No. 1 and a total of 20 weeks on the chart,^[1] in addition to reaching No. 96 on the Billboard Hot 100. It has become one of many country standards about lust.

"Girl on the Billboard"
Single by Del Reeves
from the album Girl on the Billboard
B-side	"Eyes Don't Come Crying to Me"
Released	February 1965
Genre	Country
Length	2:41
Label	United Artists
Songwriter(s)	Hank Mills, Walter Haynes
Producer(s)	Kelso Herston
Del Reeves singles chronology
"Talking to the Night Lights" (1964) "Girl on the Billboard" (1965) "The Belles of the Southern Bell" (1965)

Song meaning

The song is about a trucker who falls in love with a picture of a beautiful young woman, whose towel-clad likeness is plastered as part of a roadside billboard advertisement along Route 66. The trucker drives a daily freight route from Chicago to St. Louis along the highway where the billboard is located. He also notes how many trucker accidents have occurred near the billboard.

Early one morning, while his truck idles nearby, the trucker knocks on the door of the artist who painted the billboard and (presumably) asks for the model's contact information. The painter curtly tells the trucker that the "girl wasn't real" and that he'd "better get the [censored] on his way." (An electric guitar riff is used in place of the profanity.) Disillusioned at his fantasy being ruined, the trucker moans that along the highway, "you'll find tiny pieces of my heart scattered every which-a-way."

Cover versions

• In 2005, Canadian band The Road Hammers released a cover version on its debut album. It was later released in the U.S., peaking at No. 54 in 2008.
• In 2023, Brian Setzer released a cover which appears on his album The Devil Always Collects.^[2]

Chart performance

Del Reeves

Chart (1965)	Peak position
U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles	1
U.S. Billboard Hot 100[3]	96
Canadian RPM Top Singles	31

The Road Hammers

Chart (2008)	Peak position
US Hot Country Songs (Billboard)[4]	54