On and On - Stephen Bishop (cover-live by Bill Sharkey)

On and On (Stephen Bishop, 1977). Live cover performance by Bill Sharkey, Home Studio, Hawaii Kai, HI. 2025-07-28. "Keeping the Oldies & Classics Alive"

"On and On," written by Stephen Bishop, was Bishop's highest ranking release landing at the no. 11 position on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1977 (Whitburn, 2013) and no. 2 on Billboard’s Easy Listening chart (M. Miller, classicsongoftheday, Feb. 2, 2024). Bishop told songfacts how he came up with the song. "I write from titles usually. I was walking down to the corner grocery store in Silverlake where I was living at the time and I came up with the idea of 'On and On.' My landlady had a lot of exotic flowers all around the house and I wanted to write something from somewhere else, like Jamaica" (songfacts, 2025). A funny aside, in an interview with Houston Press, Bishop said that Bob Marley's wife Rita had an issues with the opening verse of the song. “Yeah, she started screaming at me [at a Hollywood party]. ‘You do not know about Jamaican women! They do not steal your money!’ I was scared to death because she was really livid! I was just … uh … ‘poetic license?’ I spent the rest of the party hiding out in the kitchen” (J. Beviglia, americansongwriter, Dec. 8, 2024).

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Lyrics:

Down in Jamaica, they got lots of pretty women
Steal your money then they break your heart
Lonesome Sue, she's in love with old Sam
Take him from the fire into the frying pan

On and on
She just keeps on trying
And she smiles
When she feels like crying
On and on, on and on, on and on

Poor ol' Jimmy sits alone in the moonlight
He saw his woman kiss another man
So he takes a ladder, steals the stars from the sky
Puts on Sinatra and starts to cry

On and on
He just keeps on trying
And he smiles
When he feels like crying
On and on, on and on, on and on

When the first time is the last time
It can make you feel so bad
But if you know it, show it
Hold on tight, don't let her say, "Goodnight"

I got the sun on my shoulders and my toes in the sand
Woman's left me for some other man
But I don't care, I'll just dream and stay tan
Toss up my heart to see where it lands

On and on
I just keep on trying
And I smile
When I feel like dying
On and on, on and on, on and on

On and on, on and on, on and on
On and on, on and on, on and on