"The Teddy Bear Song" is a 1973 single written by Don Earl and Nick Nixon, and made famous by country music vocalist Barbara Fairchild

Barbara Fairchild

Barbara Fairchild is an American Country Music/Gospel Music Singer, who is best known for her 1973 Country chart-topper "The Teddy Bear Song". After the success of the song, she continued to have success on the Country charts....

. Released in December 1972, the song became Fairchild's first (and only) No. 1 song on the Billboard magazine Hot Country Singles

Hot Country Songs

Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States.This 60-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly mostly by airplay and occasionally commercial sales...

 chart in March 1973. The song also became a modest pop hit, peaking at No. 32 on the Billboard Hot 100

Billboard Hot 100

The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...

 in June 1973.

Song background

In "The Teddy Bear Song," the female protagonist expresses such dismay over poor choices in her life—most notably, a just-ended emotional love affair that ended badly—that she'd rather revert to the innocence of a department store-window teddy bear

Teddy bear

The teddy bear is a stuffed toy bear. They are usually stuffed with soft, white cotton and have smooth and soft fur. It is an enduring form of a stuffed animal in many countries, often serving the purpose of entertaining children. In recent times, some teddy bears have become collector's items...

, as spoken in the song's main tag line, "I wish I was a teddy bear ..." . The song's lyrics depict the carefree, simple existence of the teddy bear she wishes she were: not having to dream, cry or express other emotion (except for a sweetly voiced "Hi, I'm Teddy. Ain't it a lovely day?" programmed on a pull string-activated voice chip), have regrets or feel sorry for herself.

"The Teddy Bear Song" was the first in a series of Fairchild songs where childhood themes were used to express dismay over broken relationships and the male-dominated hierarchy of traditional relationships. For instance, the follow-up "Kid Stuff" (a No. 2 country hit for Fairchild in October 1973) plays upon the childhood game of house

House (game)

House, also referred to as "playing house", is a traditional game where children or adults take on the roles of a nuclear family, which typically consists of a father, mother, a child/children, a baby, and a cat/dog....

, where a young woman recalls a childhood memory of how she played the game with a little boy, who dominated the game and was uncaring of her feelings; those feelings are re-triggered when as an adult, she enters into a relationship where the man is the dominant figure and is either ignorant or uncaring when she objects.

Cover versions

Several female country vocalists recorded cover version

Cover version

In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...

s of "The Teddy Bear Song," including Jean Shepard

Jean Shepard

Ollie Imogene Shepard , better known as Jean Shepard, is an American honky tonk singer-songwriter who was a pioneer for women in country music. Shepard released a total of 73 singles to the Hot Country Songs chart, one of which reached the #1 spot...

, Connie Smith

Connie Smith

Connie Smith is an American country music artist. She began her career in 1963 after winning a local talent contest near Columbus, Ohio, which attracted the attention of country songwriter Bill Anderson...

, Diana Trask

Diana Trask

Diana Trask is an Australian and American country and pop singer born in Melbourne, Australia. She was a popular country singer during the 1970s in the United States and also was a popular star in her native Australia...

, Barbi Benton

Barbi Benton

Barbi Benton is an American model, actress and singer.-Career:She was featured on the cover of Playboy several times and in nude photo layouts in the March 1970, December 1973, and January 1975 issues, although she was never one of the magazine's "Playmates of the Month".Benton is known for her...

 and Tanya Tucker

Tanya Tucker

Tanya Denise Tucker is a female American country music artist who had her first hit, "Delta Dawn", in 1972 at the age of 13...

.

Honors

"The Teddy Bear Song" was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Country Vocal Performance by a Female in 1974, but did not win.

Chart performance

Chart (1972–1973)	Peak position
U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles	1
U.S. Billboard Hot 100	32
Canadian RPM Country Tracks	1
Canadian RPM Top Singles	42
Canadian RPM Adult Contemporary Tracks	24