Don't Sleep In The Subway

This is a tale of a couple, who like many, have lots of disagreements. The man tends to retreat into his own little world instead of engaging the issue. When threatens to walk out on her, the woman tells him that it's better to come up with a solution and make up. When she tells him, "don't sleep in the subway," she is asking him to spend the night with her instead of leaving.

Petula Clark's producer/songwriter Tony Hatch co-wrote this song with his wife Jackie Trent. Of all the songs that Hatch has written or co-written, this song is Clark's favorite. When asked what the song is about, she said, "It's a bit of a mystery to me, the song. But it's got to be one of my favorites, though I'm not quite sure what it's about. It doesn't matter."

Petula added that when she starred opposite Fred Astaire in the 1968 movie Finian's Rainbow, he asked her what this song was about, and she didn't have a good answer.

The entire song is actually a combination of three different songs which Tony Hatch had written but did not complete. The segments of the unfinished songs were molded into one to create one song.

This was Petula Clark's last hit to reach the Top-10 in the States.

The "subway" in the song title is not a mode of transportation, but refers to the underground passages found throughout London to enable pedestrians to cross busy intersections with heavy traffic flow. Clark's other big hit, "Downtown," also had a different meaning across the Atlantic, as in America it means the center of urban activity, while in England it would mean a downtrodden area. That song was written with the American meaning, as its writer, Tony Hatch, was inspired by New York City.

Gordon McLendon, known as "The Old Scotchman," was an ultra-conservative owner of radio stations in Dallas, Houston, Chicago, San Francisco, Detroit and San Antonio in the 1960s -'70s. He refused to play this on his stations because he believed the words were: "...take off your clothes and close the door.