Musical Tragedies of the 70s

ToplessRideFL · Post by **ToplessRideFL** » August 4, 2006 12:10 pm

Another thread prompted me to think about the song TIMOTHY. SO I googled it... found my answer and then some. I never thought about tragic songs...but after reading this list.... I must agree. LOL

Can you think of any????????

"Timothy," The Buoys
Certainly the only top 40 (or top 100) record about cannibalism. Three guys go into a mine, it collapses, only two come out. Thing is, they can't find Timothy's body, and while the narrator can't remember exactly what happened, he knows they were really hungry. Where IS Timothy, anyway? Believe it or not, this was written by Rupert Holmes, who would later ask us if we liked pina coladas.

"Wildfire," Michael Martin Murphey
The quintessential horse song. Teenage (probably) girl loves horse, horse gets lost, girl goes looking for her, dies of exposure. We think. The narrator - whose relationship to the girl is unclear - is about to die, as well, following her and the horse to that great ranch in the sky. Bookended by a heartbreaking piano figure, this is probably the one song here not drowning in sap.

"Billy, Don't Be A Hero," Bo Donaldson and the Heywoods
This monument of Seventies kitsch is one of the best written songs here - it's catchy and precise, even if the arrangement is beyond hokey. Billy wants to fight in the war (any war, really) but his young fiance warns him that it's pointless, and that he'll probably die. Billy does just that, and his fiance throws the death notice away. Stunningly anti-war, even for its time.

"Seasons In The Sun," Terry Jacks
This one's vague... we're not sure who's dying here, or why, just that it's irredeemably sad. Our subject is young, was "the black sheep of the family," and so probably died of misadventure. Either way, this mawkish little ballad is one of the finest examples of life-flashing-before-your-eyes lucidity.

"The Night The Lights Went Out In Georgia," Vicki Lawrence
Most of the songs on this list are rather vague, indicating death rather than explaining it. This Grammy-winner, however, boasts a plot so intricate it's still confusing people. Vicki (star of the Carol Burnett Show) kills her philandering sister-in-law, but her brother's the one who takes it in the neck instead. Oops. Don't take the law into your own hands, Vicki - take them to court!

Skibo · Post by **Skibo** » August 4, 2006 12:32 pm

Not familiar with Timothy, but the others are really good songs. My mother liked Patches

"Patches," Dickey Lee
Not to be confused with an different but equally heartbreaking Clarence Carter song. Here, Dickey falls for a girl from the wrong side of the tracks; when his parents object to him marrying out of his station, he breaks up with her. She commits suicide, and as the song ends, Dickey is about to take the same plunge.

Bubbaphan · Post by **Bubbaphan** » August 4, 2006 12:35 pm

Ode to Billie Joe...1967

"And now you tell me Billie Joe's jumped off the Tallahatchie Bridge"

ToplessRideFL · Post by **ToplessRideFL** » August 4, 2006 12:55 pm

Skibo wrote:Not familiar with Timothy, but the others are really good songs. My mother liked Patches

"Patches," Dickey Lee
Not to be confused with an different but equally heartbreaking Clarence Carter song. Here, Dickey falls for a girl from the wrong side of the tracks; when his parents object to him marrying out of his station, he breaks up with her. She commits suicide, and as the song ends, Dickey is about to take the same plunge.

I loved that song ........ *sigh*

TIMOTHY was really quite catchy.... LOL I was in middle school I think.... parents had a fit!!! LOL

PackPhanGirl · Post by **PackPhanGirl** » August 4, 2006 2:56 pm

Remember this.."Run, Joey, Run"?

It was about a girl who got pregnant by her boyfriend and her dad was going to shoot him. She cried out, "Daddy, please don't, it wasn't his fault, he means so much to me. Daddy please don't, we're gonna get married. Just you wait and see.." Then her dad aimed the gun and fired and she jumped in front to save her man and her dad actually shot her instead.

Man..now I can't get that song out of my head!

ToplessRideFL · Post by **ToplessRideFL** » August 4, 2006 3:00 pm

PackPhanGirl wrote:Remember this.."Run, Joey, Run"?

Man..now I can't get that song out of my head!

yep...LOL Thanks

tully mars · Post by **tully mars** » August 4, 2006 3:19 pm

The night Chicago died...Paperlace

OceanCityGirl · Post by **OceanCityGirl** » August 4, 2006 4:04 pm

jr high Billy Don't be a Hero was huge and all the girls were shedding tears over it.

Cubbie Bear · Post by **Cubbie Bear** » August 4, 2006 4:10 pm

musically, all of these songs are pretty tragic

Try being named Billy when that freakin' song came out

carolinagirl · Post by **carolinagirl** » August 4, 2006 4:42 pm

Never realized that story line to Seasons in the Sun... The middle verse was theme song for my childhood-to-high-school best friend and me: "Skinned our Hearts and Skinned our Knees."

60s Tragic Songs:
Lonely, I'm Mr. Lonely... First time this little girl cried to a song on the radio.
The Green Berets. Second time.
Honey -- tear jerker... See the tree how big's grown, it wasn't long when it was small and just a twig... And Honey, I love you and I'm being good... etc., etc.

tikitatas · Post by **tikitatas** » August 4, 2006 5:07 pm

I am old. It's official. I know all of the above, plus I shed tears listening to:

Tell Laura I Love Her
The Leader of the Pack
Teen Angel

12vmanRick · Post by **12vmanRick** » August 4, 2006 6:16 pm

Seasons in the Sun by Terry Jacks and yes I knew that by memory

Also, Honey by Bobby Goldsboro and yes I remembered that one too.

But hey you can probably throw in Lynn Anderson's I never promised you a rose garden

Richie Valens - Teen Angel but not sure it's 70's

ejr · Post by **ejr** » August 4, 2006 6:47 pm

tikitatas wrote:I am old. It's official. I know all of the above, plus I shed tears listening to:

Tell Laura I Love Her
The Leader of the Pack
Teen Angel

And I love on the live Steve Goodman disc when he gets off on a tangent and winds up singing bits of Tell Laura, Teen Angel etc!

SharkOnLand · Post by **SharkOnLand** » August 4, 2006 6:50 pm

I'd count disco as a musical tragedy...

Tequila Revenge · Post by **Tequila Revenge** » August 4, 2006 7:07 pm

Bad Company song about Johnny...

Shooting Star or something like that.

ragtopW · Post by **ragtopW** » August 4, 2006 8:11 pm

was it "Watching Bobbie grow"?

Ceol na Mara · Post by **Ceol na Mara** » August 5, 2006 1:09 am

The Smothers Brothers did a hysterical send up of "Honey" on their show. As I recall it, it was a tour of Honey's house.

ragtopW · Post by **ragtopW** » August 5, 2006 2:21 am

The Ballad of Thunder Road..

Oh Oh I can almost sing the song..

" He wore Black Denim Trousers and a "

ragtopW · Post by **ragtopW** » August 5, 2006 2:22 am

Bat out of Hell..

ragtopW · Post by **ragtopW** » August 5, 2006 2:27 am

ragtopW wrote:The Ballad of Thunder Road..

Oh Oh I can almost sing the song..

" He wore Black Denim Trousers and a "

Black Denim Trousers
The Diamonds
Words and Music by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller

-as sung on "The Diamonds Collection"-Stardust CD-1010
-charted by The Cheers at # 6 in 1955

He wore black denim trousers and motorcycle boots
And a black leather jacket with an eagle on the back
He had a hopped-up 'cicle that took off like a gun
That fool was the terror of Highway 101

Well, he never washed his face and he never combed his hair
He had axle grease imbedded underneath his fingernails
On the muscle of his arm was a red tattoo
A picture of a heart saying "Mother, I love you"

He had a pretty girlfriend by the name of Mary Lou
But he treated her just like he treated all the rest
And everybody pitied her and everybody knew
He loved that doggone motorcycle best

He wore black denim trousers and motorcycle boots
And a black leather jacket with an eagle on the back
He had a hopped-up 'cicle that took off like a gun
That fool was the terror of Highway 101

Mary Lou, poor girl, she pleaded and she begged him not to leave
She said "I've got a feeling if you ride tonight I'll grieve"
But her tears were shed in vain and her every word was lost
In the rumble of an engine and the smoke from his exhaust

: Then he took off like the Devil and there was fire in his eyes!! He
said "I'll go a thousand miles before the sun can rise." But he hit a screamin' diesel
that was California-bound"

And when they cleared the wreckage, all
they found

Was his black denim trousers and motorcycle boots
And a black leather jacket with an eagle on the back
But they couldn't find the 'cicle that took off like a gun
And they never found the terror of High way 1 oh 1