Croce explained he came up with the idea for the song while in the military at Fort Jackson, running telephone cables on poles and thinking he should be doing something else.

In the song, a man has just been released from a 90-day prison sentence for "non-support", and believing himself to be "an undiscovered Howard Hughes" and "a genius", tries to smooth-talk his way into an executive position.

While begrudgingly doing his duties, he fantasizes about the executive life, and imagines himself sitting in an air-conditioned office (as compared to the reality of working "at this indoor Niagara Falls"), smoking cigars, drinking martinis, appearing in high-society magazines, and making sexual remarks at his secretary.

Cash Box said that "this cute composition...will naturally be another smash for old Croce fans and new" and that "the late singer -songwriter's ability to weave a lyric into his music is quite in evidence here and the result is a totally entertaining experience.

"[2] Record World said it was Croce's "first local color story-song since 'Leroy Brown'" and described it as a "saga of an undiscovered Howard Hughes.