Friday, May 11, 2007

10 Songs about Tragedy from the 1960s

10. Nightmare, The Whyte Boots. Such a blantant Shangri-Las rip-off but its so over the top I thought it had to be on the list.

9. Tommy's Doll, Ernest Tubb. "He layed there for a moment like a tragic broken toy... And whispered with his dying breath someone please hand me my doll"

8. Tell Laura I Love Her, Ray Peterson. One can only assume that there were a lot of car crashes in the 60s as a result of ill-fated teen love.

7. Why (The King of Love is Dead), Nina Simone. This one is a little different than the other ones on the list because its about an actual, national tragedy.

6. Elusive Dreams, Lee Hazelwood and Nancy Sinatra. The tragedy might be a little tangential in this one ("But this time, only two of us move on. And now we have each other. And a little memory to cling to.") But, its a really good song.

5. Leader of the Pack, The Shangri-Las. The classic ill-fated teen love car crash song. "Is she really going out with him?" (Wasn't that line used at the beginning of one of The Damned songs?)

4. The First Mrs. Jones, Porter Wagoner. "Did my little story scare you?... After all you are the Second Mrs. Jones."

3. Ode to Billie Joe, Bobbie Gentry. When I was 4 or 5 my dad was tucking me into bed one night and I turned and asked him - Dad, what were they throwing off the Tallahatchie bridge?

2. Last Kiss, J Frank Wilson and the Cavaliers. Way better than the Pearl Jam cover.

1. I Can Never Go Home Anymore, The Shangri-Las. "And that's called, sad."

4 comments:

Beth said...

What were they throwing off the Tallahatchie bridge?

Akshay Ahuja said...

You know you've asked a good question when there's a Wikipedia article on the subject:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ode_to_Billie_Joe

Sarah said...

I think maybe an aborted baby? But, its totally subject to interpretation.

Unknown said...

You forgot Teen Angel. It is more tragic than any song on this miserable list.