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japple

(9,773 posts)
Sat Jun 15, 2019, 08:48 PM Jun 2019

Does any else remember those gruesome songs from the 1950s-1970s? I don't know why

this song came to mind today, but it brought back all those death songs stored in my memory bank, starting with Pat Boone's Moody River. Anyone else feeling grotesque tonight?

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Does any else remember those gruesome songs from the 1950s-1970s? I don't know why (Original Post) japple Jun 2019 OP
Sometimes they were refused air play, ala 'Teen Angel' empedocles Jun 2019 #1
Full disclosure: I owned that on a 45 when I was in high school. Arkansas Granny Jun 2019 #31
tell laura I love her msongs Jun 2019 #2
In 1960 in Catholic school our nun let us bring records to play on Fridays. One song was about a guy wasupaloopa Jun 2019 #3
Pearl Jam did a great cover of Last Kiss... Drunken Irishman Jun 2019 #32
J.Frank Wilson and Last Kiss. We have a winner. n/t. argyl Jun 2019 #37
J. Frank Wilson was born in my hometown Jane Austin Jun 2019 #54
Oh Jeez. That song still makes me tear up. nt LNM Jun 2019 #52
D.O.A. by Bloodrock House of Roberts Jun 2019 #4
I just came back to post this iwillalwayswonderwhy Jun 2019 #8
That is one song ChazII Jun 2019 #27
He says there's no chance for me. Arkansas Granny Jun 2019 #30
You're Dead -- Norma Tanega -- 1966 Freelancer Jun 2019 #5
Leader Of The Pack Ptah Jun 2019 #6
That song.. cannabis_flower Jun 2019 #20
The motorcycle guy is a dead-ringer for Stephen Colbert Zambero Jun 2019 #23
And the sequel ... sl8 Jun 2019 #25
Some Velvet Morning -- Nancy Sinatra & Lee Hazelwood -- 1966? Freelancer Jun 2019 #7
I think it was because we thought we were going to burn up in a mushroom cloud any day, wasupaloopa Jun 2019 #9
Slightly different. . . . . .but 1960s. Hoyt Jun 2019 #10
One of my favorite Byrds songs! I thought this 80's Ultravox song about a nuclear 50 Shades Of Blue Jun 2019 #26
One of those songs I had to jump up to replay it several times. Like song you posted. Hoyt Jun 2019 #33
Fever Ray -- Keep the Streets Empty for Me Freelancer Jun 2019 #11
Billy Joe MacAllister jumped off the Talahatchie Bridge about then right? JDC Jun 2019 #12
'67 Lochloosa Jun 2019 #22
Pull the Plug - Starz sl8 Jun 2019 #13
gooey teenage death songs we used to call them rurallib Jun 2019 #14
My parents called them Dead Teenager Songs. Iggo Jun 2019 #56
I think this is the first one I ever heard. japple Jun 2019 #15
This is from 2000, so it doesn't quite meet the criterion, but here it is anyway. cos dem Jun 2019 #16
Another spoof, this one obvious. Iggo Jun 2019 #57
Jan & Dean's Deadman's Curve japple Jun 2019 #17
Good eye! sl8 Jun 2019 #18
Run Joey Run Eugene Jun 2019 #19
Patches Zambero Jun 2019 #21
Last Kiss - J. Frank Wilson and the Cavaliers (1964) subterranean Jun 2019 #24
Seasons in the Sun oregonjen Jun 2019 #28
Laurie (aka Strange Things Happen in This World) dflprincess Jun 2019 #29
The long black veil! Mopar151 Jun 2019 #34
oh yeah Grasswire2 Jun 2019 #35
here's a cheesy death ballad for ya Amyishere Jun 2019 #36
"Billy and Sue" by BJ Thomas and the Dakotas, and "The Wreck on the Highway" by The Louvin Bros. NBachers Jun 2019 #38
"Tom Dooley" by Kingston Trio riverwalker Jun 2019 #39
Link riverwalker Jun 2019 #40
The Severed Garden... Aristus Jun 2019 #41
What's that song where she keeps wailing "Let it please be him, oh dear lord it must be him..." Grasswire2 Jun 2019 #42
"It Must Be Him" by Viki Carr; another in that vein is "Wives and Lovers" by Jack Jones, a Burt NBachers Jun 2019 #46
Vicki Carr '67 shanny Jun 2019 #53
"Town Without Pity" Gene Pitney KY_EnviroGuy Jun 2019 #43
That 'so felt' Pitney voice! empedocles Jun 2019 #44
Yes, and that song "Only Love Can Break A Heart"...... KY_EnviroGuy Jun 2019 #45
Excitable Boy and Werewolves of London by Warren Zevon DFW Jun 2019 #47
Thanks, those are favorites discntnt_irny_srcsm Jun 2019 #62
Classics DFW Jun 2019 #63
Bobby Goldsboro and "Honey". llmart Jun 2019 #48
Oops, I posted this one, too; didn't see your post. Laffy Kat Jun 2019 #66
This one pressbox69 Jun 2019 #49
Rupert Holmes wrote Timothy gratuitous Jun 2019 #50
Nervous Norvus - Transfusion (1956) WheelWalker Jun 2019 #51
I thought I posted this before, Corgigal Jun 2019 #55
Wreck of The Edmund Fitzgerald Mendocino Jun 2019 #58
Song for Adam -- Jackson Browne Zorro Jun 2019 #59
Everly Brothers-"Down in the River Garden" Doc_Technical Jun 2019 #60
Billy Don't Be a Hero... hunter Jun 2019 #61
Leadfoot Marthe48 Jun 2019 #64
"Honey" Bobby Goldsboro. Laffy Kat Jun 2019 #65
Wildfire TuxedoKat Jun 2019 #67
Here's a gloom and room song from the 60s cannabis_flower Jun 2019 #68
The End - The Doors Dire Wolf - The Dead. nt UniteFightBack Jun 2019 #69
 

wasupaloopa

(4,516 posts)
3. In 1960 in Catholic school our nun let us bring records to play on Fridays. One song was about a guy
Sat Jun 15, 2019, 08:54 PM
Jun 2019

whose girl friend died in a car wreck. He says "she's gone to heaven so I've got to be good so I can see may baby when I leave this world."


The nun said, "that boy has faith."

Jane Austin

(9,199 posts)
54. J. Frank Wilson was born in my hometown
Mon Jun 17, 2019, 06:53 PM
Jun 2019

a few years before me.

As small a place as it was, I didn't know him.

hashtag: brushes with fame

cannabis_flower

(3,764 posts)
20. That song..
Sat Jun 15, 2019, 10:01 PM
Jun 2019

brings back memories. I was about 10, my sister was 8. My cousin had it at her house. My sister played it so much that my cousin gave it to her on the condition that she not play it there again. At home, I saw my baby brother step on it and break it, but my sister accused me of breaking it because I was sick of hearing it. Also, I was sick of Bye Bye Birdie, but I didn't break that one.

 

wasupaloopa

(4,516 posts)
9. I think it was because we thought we were going to burn up in a mushroom cloud any day,
Sat Jun 15, 2019, 08:59 PM
Jun 2019

after playing duck and cover every week.

Then the Pentagon brought us new fun and games. You're going to die in Vietnam after high school.


What the hell was there to live for? Drug, sex and rock and roll

50 Shades Of Blue

(9,771 posts)
26. One of my favorite Byrds songs! I thought this 80's Ultravox song about a nuclear
Sat Jun 15, 2019, 10:39 PM
Jun 2019

explosion kinda went with it.

sl8

(13,584 posts)
13. Pull the Plug - Starz
Sat Jun 15, 2019, 09:03 PM
Jun 2019

Last edited Sat Jun 15, 2019, 09:49 PM - Edit history (1)



They left the room for a minute or two
Now I know exactly what I'm going to do
It's been so long since your vital signs went
And you don't look the same in that oxygen tent

Now if I get I get caught
I don't care if I get hung
I can't let my baby linger on in an iron lung
Good-bye my sweet
Understand what I've done
You can't suffer no more if the motor won't run

I pulled the plug!
I pulled the plug!
Yeah, I pull the plug on my love!

I pulled the plug!
I pulled the plug!
Yeah, I pull the plug on my love!

Yeah, something like this...

You look so pale
You've lost so much weight
Well, six months ago was the last time you ate
If you would just smile
My tears would come like a flood
But your heart ain't even pumping
Your body's all done

Now if I get caught
Oh, they can give me the chair
At least I know I didn't just leave you lying there
Good-bye my sweet
Understand what I've done
You can't suffer no more if the motor won't run

I pulled the plug!
I pulled the plug!
Yeah, I pull the plug on my love!

Iggo

(47,486 posts)
56. My parents called them Dead Teenager Songs.
Mon Jun 17, 2019, 09:52 PM
Jun 2019

I was born in the early sixties.

I just assumed being a teenager was dangerous.

cos dem

(895 posts)
16. This is from 2000, so it doesn't quite meet the criterion, but here it is anyway.
Sat Jun 15, 2019, 09:29 PM
Jun 2019

I'm pretty sure it's meant to be a spoof on the genre of death songs.


japple

(9,773 posts)
17. Jan & Dean's Deadman's Curve
Sat Jun 15, 2019, 09:32 PM
Jun 2019



Oh, by the way, did anyone notice the caption on The Buoy's album cover: "Give Up Your Guns"

sl8

(13,584 posts)
18. Good eye!
Sat Jun 15, 2019, 09:56 PM
Jun 2019


When I woke up this morning
I found myself alone
I turned to touch her hair, but she was gone
She was gone
And there beside my pillow
Were her tears from the night before
She said, give up your guns and face the law
I robbed a bank in Tampa
And I thought I had it made
But the hounds picked up my trail within the glades
So I ran
And I stumbled on this cabin
And she came to me once more
She said, give up your guns and face the law
I don't wanna leave her
I don't wanna die
Deep within a cold, cold grave
With no one 'round to cry
But I have got my pistol
Now it's time to choose
Shooting here or hanging there
And either way I lose
And now, I'm in this cabin
Where my own true love should be
Instead, there lies a note she wrote to me
And it says
No, you can't live by the bullet
But you sure as death can die
My love, give up your guns or say goodbye, goodbye
And the sheriff now is calling
With his shotgun at my door
Son, give up your guns and face the law

Songwriters: R. Holmes / D. Jordan
Give Up Your Guns lyrics © S.I.A.E. Direzione Generale, Music Sales Corporation

subterranean

(3,427 posts)
24. Last Kiss - J. Frank Wilson and the Cavaliers (1964)
Sat Jun 15, 2019, 10:21 PM
Jun 2019

A group called Wednesday also had a hit with a cover of this song in 1974.

Mopar151

(9,965 posts)
34. The long black veil!
Sat Jun 15, 2019, 11:29 PM
Jun 2019

Lefty Frizzell, who wrote some other sad classics like "Detroit City" penned this one. Looking for a GA Satellites Bootleg of this - found it!

?t=3m47s

NBachers

(16,999 posts)
38. "Billy and Sue" by BJ Thomas and the Dakotas, and "The Wreck on the Highway" by The Louvin Bros.
Sun Jun 16, 2019, 12:21 AM
Jun 2019


"The Wreck on the Highway" is particularly gruesome:

riverwalker

(8,694 posts)
39. "Tom Dooley" by Kingston Trio
Sun Jun 16, 2019, 01:02 AM
Jun 2019

He killed a girl and now going to hang. My Norwegian mom used to sing it while putting curlers in my hair, it was on the radio all the time.

Grasswire2

(13,564 posts)
42. What's that song where she keeps wailing "Let it please be him, oh dear lord it must be him..."
Sun Jun 16, 2019, 01:18 AM
Jun 2019

"...or I shall die"

Something about waiting for a telephone to ring.

KY_EnviroGuy

(14,483 posts)
43. "Town Without Pity" Gene Pitney
Sun Jun 16, 2019, 01:44 AM
Jun 2019

I remember it from the drive-in....



"Town Without Pity"

When you're young and so and love as we
And bewildered by the world we see
Why do people hurt us so
Only those in love would know
What a Town Without Pity can do..

If we stop to gaze upon a star
People talk about how bad we are...
Ours is not an easy age
We're like tigers in a cage
What a Town Without Pity can do..

The young have problems Many problems
We need an understanding heart..
Why don't they help us, try to help us
Before this clay and granite planet falls apart...

Take these eager lips and hold me fast..
I'm afraid this kind of joy can't last
How can we keep love alive
How can anything survive
When these little minds tear you in two..
What a town Without Pity can do..

How can we keep love alive
How can anything survive
When these little minds tear you in two..
What a town Without Pity can do..

KY_EnviroGuy

(14,483 posts)
45. Yes, and that song "Only Love Can Break A Heart"......
Sun Jun 16, 2019, 05:53 AM
Jun 2019

still comes back to me occasionally after well over 50-years.

Amazing how that first teenage heartbreak never leaves us....

Laffy Kat

(16,354 posts)
66. Oops, I posted this one, too; didn't see your post.
Tue Jun 18, 2019, 12:39 PM
Jun 2019

"Honey" was the first sappy song I remember. As a little girl, it really got to me, LOL.

WheelWalker

(8,943 posts)
51. Nervous Norvus - Transfusion (1956)
Mon Jun 17, 2019, 03:53 PM
Jun 2019

<iframe width="524" height="393" src="

" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Mendocino

(7,430 posts)
58. Wreck of The Edmund Fitzgerald
Mon Jun 17, 2019, 10:20 PM
Jun 2019

Down By The River

Hey Joe


Mechanical World-Spirit
some lyrics:


Death falls so heavy on my soul

Death falls so heavy, makes me moan

Somebody tell my father that I died

Somebody tell my mother that I cried



Marthe48

(16,689 posts)
64. Leadfoot
Tue Jun 18, 2019, 11:13 AM
Jun 2019

But he was clockin' 97 when he passed the Pearly Gates. Leadfoot, leadfoot, speed was always great, right foot on the floorboard and his left foot on the brake.

We knew them all by heart. The neighborhood girls my sister's age would sing Tommy and Laura on the bus riding to school.

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