| Levi Stubbs' Tears | |
| Type: | single |
| Artist: | Billy Bragg |
| Album: | Talking with the Taxman about Poetry |
| Genre: | Rock |
| Label: | Go! Discs |
| Producer: | John Porter |
| Prev Title: | Days Like These |
| Prev Year: | 1985 |
| Next Title: | Greetings to the New Brunette |
| Next Year: | 1986 |
"Levi Stubbs' Tears" is a song by Billy Bragg.[1] It was the first single released from Bragg's 1986 album Talking with the Taxman about Poetry. The song's title refers to The Four Tops lead singer Levi Stubbs, whose music remains a source of comfort to the protagonist through years of abandonment, injury, and domestic violence.[2]
A guitar riff from the song was sampled by Norman Cook and featured in his 1989 song "Won't Talk About It", also featuring Billy Bragg on "falsetto soul" vocals. When Cook formed Beats International they released their own hit version of the song in 1990 without the guitar riff sample.
In 2014, NME ranked it at number 207 in their list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.[3]
All tracks composed by Billy Bragg; except where indicated