About The Song
“Tokyo, Oklahoma” is a song written by Mack Vickery. It was recorded by American country music artist John Anderson and released in August 1985 as the second single from his seventh studio album Tokyo, Oklahoma. The album was issued by Warner Bros. Nashville on June 3, 1985. Jim Ed Norman, Lou Bradley, and John Anderson produced the recording. The track runs approximately 2 minutes and 43 seconds.
The single was issued under Warner Bros. catalog number 28916. On the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart, it debuted around late August 1985 and reached a peak of number 30. It also peaked at number 33 on the Canadian RPM Country Tracks chart. The parent album Tokyo, Oklahoma peaked at number 24 on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart.
Recording sessions for the album took place at The Music Mill, Nashville Sound Connection, and Sound Stage Studios in Nashville, Tennessee. Session credits associated with the project include contributions from musicians such as Fred Carter Jr., Steve Gibson, Larry Byrom, Paul Worley, Josh Leo, and Vernon Pilder on guitar; Buddy Emmons and Buck Reid on steel; Larry Emmons, Michael Rhodes, and X. Lincoln on bass; Eddie Bayers, Clyde Brooks, Jerry Kroon, and James Wolfe on drums; John Barlow Jarvis, Barry Beckett, Dennis Burnside, and Mike Jordan on keyboards; Tom Morley on fiddle and mandolin; and Bill Puett on saxophone. Background vocals were provided by Donna Anderson, Diane Tidwell, Hershel Wiginton, and Bergen White. Arrangements were handled by Bergen White.
Mack Vickery is the sole songwriter credited. The track appears as the fourth song on the original album sequence of Tokyo, Oklahoma. Other singles from the same album included “It’s All Over Now” (which reached number 15 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart) and “Down in Tennessee” (which reached number 12). The album was reissued on CD by Collectors’ Choice Music in 2007.
Tokyo, Oklahoma followed Greatest Hits (1984) and preceded Countrified (1986) in Anderson’s Warner Bros. catalog. Official audio is available through the John Anderson YouTube channel and Warner catalog reissues under Rhino/Warner Records. A re-recorded version appears on the 2019 collection 40 Years & Still Swingin’.
Primary sources document consistent songwriting credit to Mack Vickery, production by Jim Ed Norman, Lou Bradley, and John Anderson, the August 1985 single release, the number 30 Billboard Hot Country Songs peak, the number 33 Canadian peak, and the album’s number 24 placement on the Top Country Albums chart. These details place the recording within Anderson’s mid-1980s Warner Bros. period.
Video
Lyric
Tokyo, Oklahoma is on the line
Is this Hiroshima seven-nine-eight-o-five?
I have a person to person for miss Soo-Ling-Foo
This is Tulsa, Oklahoma, ma’am, is that you?
“I have your party waitin’ sir,” the operator said
Tokyo’s on the line in Tulsa, go ahead
I started to smile when she said to me
“This is Soo-Ling-Foo, who’s calling please?”This is Tok-San Ichiban, Soo-Ling-Foo
And your number one cowboy’s missing you
Tokyo, Oklahoma is lonely tonight
Pretty geisha girl, you are on my mind
Dark clouds hangin’ over Tulsa skies
Tokyo, Oklahoma is lonely tonightOh well, we talked and we talked on into the night
I was on the early mornin’ western red-eye flight
Due to turbulent weather, we were way overtime
When we taxied into Tokyo’s terminal D-9
I stepped off of Pan-Am’s flight twenty-two
I kept on lookin’ but I couldn’t find Soo-Ling-Foo
I was headed for the lounge the arrow pointed to
When an oriental angel stepped from the ladies roomShe wrapped her arms around me and she started to smile
When I said, “Pretty geisha girl, would you be my bride?”
She said, “Tok-San Ichiban, Soo-Ling-Foo
Be honorable number one wife to you”
Tokyo, Oklahoma is smilin’ tonight
Smell the cherry blossoms, hear the weddin’ bells chime
Soon we’ll be livin’ on Tulsa time
Tokyo, Oklahoma is smilin’ tonight, that’s right