Three Times A Lady

Album

Natural High (Commodores album)

Label

Motown

Genre

Adult contemporary

Composer(s)

Lionel Richie

Entered Chart

Jun 17, 1978

Peak Date

Aug 12, 1978

Released

9 June 1978 (US)

Recorded

Unknown

Catalog #

Motown 1443

This song was written by Commodores lead singer Lionel Richie, who explained in a 1979 interview with Blues & Soul magazine: "I wrote it back in 1978 and it was a very personal meaning to me. I attended the wedding anniversary of my parents and my father made a speech about how much he loved my mother and appreciated the way she had stood beside him for 37 years. It was beautiful and I started to think about my own life and how my wife stands by me, how she does so many things without being asked or thanked. So, I wrote 'Three Times A Lady' as a dedication to my wife and my mother. I think my next door neighbor summed it up when she said that if a man wanted to buy her a present, all he need do is buy her that record and he wouldn't have to say anything else." This was a breakthrough song for the Commodores and for Lionel Richie as a songwriter. It crossed over to pop, easy listening and even country formats, setting the stage for further Commodores hits and Richie's massive solo success. In the same Blues & Soul interview, Richie said: "The song has given me so much personal satisfaction. I think it is every songwriter's dream to be totally accepted. And from the masses of awards that the song has won, it seems that the whole world really does love that song. It's a great feeling." This validation came after the Commodores song "Easy," also written by Richie, lost to Leo Sayer's "You Make Me Feel Like Dancing" as the best Rhythm & Blues Song at the 1977 Grammy Awards. The Commodores were more of a funk band before their massive success with sentimental love songs like this one. They had more hits in a similar style with "Still" and "Sail On," and Richie followed the formula all the way to the bank with solo hits like "Truly," "Hello," "Stuck On You" and "Penny Lover." In the UK, this was #1 for five weeks. It was the biggest UK hit for Motown Records. The Commodores had six members at the time, and they all wrote separately and competed to get songs on their albums. The band knew this track was a hit when Lionel Richie brought it in, and they made it the centerpiece of the album. This was the first #1 hit Lionel Richie wrote, but far from his last: He wrote songs that were #1 US hits in each of the next seven years, giving him the record for most consecutive #1s by a songwriter who was never a Beatle (Paul McCartney wrote songs that went to #1 1964-1971). Lionel Richie sang "Three Times A Lady" throughout his solo career, performing it more than any other song from the Commodores era. On his 1984 Cant Slow Down tour, he sang it as a duet with his opening act, Tina Turner, whose comeback album, Private Dancer, was released two weeks after the tour started.

Thanks for the times that you've given me
The memories are all in my mind
And now that we've come to the end of our rainbow
There's something i must say out loud

You're once, twice, three times a lady
And I love you
Yes, you're once, twice, three times a lady
And I love you, I love you

When we are together the moments I cherish
With every beat of my heart
To touch you, to hold you
To feel you, to need you
There's nothing to keep us apart

You're once, twice, three times a lady
And I love you, I love you