A teenage tragedy song is a style of sentimental ballad in popular music that peaked in popularity in the United States in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Lamenting teenage death scenarios in melodramatic fashion, these songs were variously sung from the viewpoint of the dead person's romantic interest, another witness to the tragedy, or the dead or dying person.[1] [2] Examples of the style are also known as "tear jerkers", "death discs" or "splatter platters", among other names coined by DJs that passed into the vernacular.
Notable examples of teenage tragedy songs include "Teen Angel" by Mark Dinning (1959), "Tell Laura I Love Her" by Ray Peterson (1960), "Ebony Eyes" by the Everly Brothers (1961), "Last Kiss" by Wayne Cochran (1961), "Dead Man's Curve" by Jan and Dean (1964), and "Leader of the Pack" by the Shangri-Las (1964).[3] The genre's popularity faded around 1965 amid the British Invasion, but the form has inspired many similar songs and parodies since.
By the mid-1950s, postwar youth culture in the United States was embracing rock and roll, and the folk revival was also approaching its zenith—the narrative style of many teenage tragedy songs would have similarities to folk ballads.[4] Prison ballads (such as the Kingston Trio's "Tom Dooley", based on a folk song about a real murder) and gunfighter ballads (such as Johnny Cash's "Don't Take Your Guns to Town" and Marty Robbins' "El Paso") were also popular during the teenage tragedy song's heyday; "El Paso" was followed at #1 by two consecutive teenage tragedy songs, "Running Bear" and "Teen Angel".The teenage tragedy genre's popular era began with "Black Denim Trousers and Motorcycle Boots" by the Cheers, written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. Released just before James Dean's death in an automobile accident in the fall of 1955, it climbed the charts immediately afterward.[5] Teenage tragedies featured specific thematic tropes such as star-crossed lovers, reckless youth, eternal devotion, suicide, and despair over lost love, along with lyrical elements that teens of the time could relate to their own lives[4] such as dating, motorcycles and automobiles, and disapproving parents or peers.[6] [7] Contemporary girl groups borrowed the genre's melodramatic template and use of sound effects, orchestration, and echo for other story-songs.
Ethnomusicologist Kirsten Zemke considers these songs as forming a strictly musical genre that was bound by common themes, musical style, and production elements, and as being particularly of their time. As for their popularity, she writes:
They sold well in their time, and the style has persisted throughout the decades in various forms. And … they have an interesting history. The question some writers have asked is "why?". Some of the reasons suggested for this genre’s macabre popularity are:These were the ultimate teen rebellion songs. The only way out of parents' (and/or societal) control and expectations was death.
They were a natural extension of the "unrequited love" song, facilitated by the obvious rhyming of: good bye, cry and die.
Zemke also speculates that the popularity of teenage tragedy songs may be due in part to the many publicized deaths of young musicians and actors during their period of prominence, including those of Sam Cooke, Johnny Ace, Eddie Cochran, Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and the Big Bopper.[8]
| Title | Original artist | Year | Songwriter(s) | Synopsis | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| "Black Denim Trousers and Motorcycle Boots" | 1955 | Protagonist collides with speeding train, presumed dead but never found. | U.S. #6. | |||
| "Endless Sleep" | 1958 | Jody Reynolds, Dolores Nance | Man believes his girlfriend has drowned, goes to the sea to do the same but finds and saves her. | Precursor of the genre.[9] The song's original ending was to have the man's girlfriend die, but it was changed at the request of the record company to give the song a happy ending. U.S. #5. | ||
| "The Grave" | Tony Casanova | 1958 | Tony Casanova | Boyfriend laments the death of his girlfriend, cause of death unspecified. | ||
| "Running Bear" | 1959 | The couple drowns. | The chart success followed Richardson's own death in a plane crash along with Buddy Holly and Ritchie Valens. U.S. #1. | |||
| "The Ballad of Angel" | Bobby Swanson | 1959 | Bobby Swanson | Narrator’s girlfriend has died, cause unspecified. | ||
| "Teen Angel" | 1959 | Jean Dinning, Red Surrey | Couple’s car stalls on railroad track; boyfriend pulled girl out in time but she ran back to get his ring and got killed. | U.S. #1. | ||
| "Tell Laura I Love Her" | Ray Peterson[10] | 1960 | Protagonist dies in an automobile racing accident while trying to win the $1,000 prize money to buy an engagement ring. | Cover by Ricky Valance was #1 in the UK. U.S. #7. | ||
| "The Water Was Red" | 1960 | Stanley Wagner | Narrator meets girl on the beach, then she dies in a shark attack. Devastated, the narrator picks up a knife and sets off to kill the shark in retribution. | |||
| "Ebony Eyes" | 1961 | Protagonist's fiancée dies in a plane crash on the way to the wedding. | U.S. #8, UK #1, Can. #2 | |||
| "The Prom" | 1961 | Del Shannon | Narrator is on his way to the high school prom, sees his date fatally injured in a car accident. | |||
| "Moody River" | 1961 | Gary D. Bruce | Singer's girlfriend commits suicide by drowning. | U.S. #1. | ||
| "Johnny Remember Me" | 1961 | Protagonist's girlfriend died a year ago, cause unspecified, he still misses her. | Produced by Joe Meek; later covered by psychobilly band The Meteors. UK #1. | |||
| "Last Kiss" | Wayne Cochran & the C.C. Riders | 1961 | Wayne Cochran | Narrator’s girlfriend dies in a traffic accident. | The J. Frank Wilson and the Cavaliers cover was a 1964 U.S. #2 Cover by Pearl Jam was a 1999 U.S. #2. | |
| "Jimmy Love" | Cathy Carroll | 1961 | Jody Reynolds, Bert Carroll | Narrator walks home with her fiance, lightning strikes a tree, a branch breaks off and kills him. | ||
| "Star Crossed Lovers" | The Mystics | 1961 | T. Cooper & E. Zolas | Young couple elope, die in car crash. | B-side of "Goodbye Mr Blues". | |
| "The Ballad of Billy Brown" | Mort (Doc) Downey, Jr. | 1961 | Mort Downey Jr. | Boyfriend has unexpectedly died, cause unspecified. | ||
| "A Thousand Feet Below" | Terry Tyler | 1961 | C. Miller-Munn & J.W. Foster | Girlfriend commits suicide, boyfriend blames himself but doesn’t specify why, decides to do it too. | ||
| "Leah" | 1962 | Roy Orbison | Protagonist thinks he's drowning while diving for pearls to give as love tokens, wakes and realises it's a dream about his dead girlfriend. | U.S. #25, Can. #7 | ||
| "Call Me Lonesome" | 1962 | Arthur Alexander | At a party another man dances with protagonist's girlfriend; when challenged, he stabs protagonist to death. | Unreleased until 1987; early version of "Lonely Just Like Me" | ||
| "Patches" | 1962 | Barry Mann, Larry Kolber | Patches commits suicide by drowning; her boyfriend follows suit. | U.S. #6. | ||
| "Echo" | 1962 | The Emotions, Henry Boye | Narrator reminisces about the time he crashed a car and his girlfriend died. | |||
| "Chapel Bells Ringing" | 1962 | M. Torver | Protagonist's fiancée has died, cause unspecified. | |||
| "Oh, Susie Forgive Me" | Kenny Karen | 1962 | Barry Mann & Cynthia Weil | Reckless boyfriend crashes car leaving girlfriend paraplegic; he robs a store to fund her surgery, gets shot by cops and lies dying at her feet as he realises she can walk after all. | ||
| "The Pickup" | Mark Dinning | 1962 | Helen Carter | Narrator on a first date feels overwhelmed by his strength of feeling for the girl, is embarrassed so says he doesn’t want to see her again; she swiftly kills herself and he is sad. | B-side of "All of This for Sally". | |
| "Tragic Honeymoon" | Cody Brennan & the Temptations | 1962 | Tony Lindauer | Narrator recalls his friends; newlyweds get distracted while driving, crash and die. | ||
| "Teenage Honeymoon" | Kenny Ancel | 1962 | Buddy Mize | Newlyweds killed in a car crash. | ||
| "A Tear for Jesse" | Jody Reynolds | 1963 | George R Brown, Dennis Hardesty | Couple try to elope but her parents catch them; she commits suicide. | ||
| "The Girl From King Marie" | Jody Reynolds | 1963 | Jody Reynolds | Singer's girlfriend dies after being struck by lightning. | ||
| "A Young Man Is Gone" | 1963 | Man dies in car crash. | Though it doesn't mention him by name, it appears to refer to James Dean. | |||
| "B.J. the D.J." | 1963 | Country music radio DJ gets little sleep and drives a poorly maintained car, with fatal results. | U.S. Country #1 | |||
| "Dead Man's Curve" | 1964 | The protagonist is severely injured; his racing opponent is killed. | U.S. #8. | |||
| "Terry" | 1964 | Lynn Ripley (Twinkle) | Couple have an argument, boy leaves on his motorcycle and fatally injures himself; unclear if it was deliberate. | UK #4 | ||
| "Leader of the Pack" | 1964 | Jimmy, the titular motorcycle gang leader, is killed in a motorcycle crash. | U.S. #1, Can. #3. | |||
| "The Hero" | Bernadette Carroll | 1964 | B. Nosal, P. Maheu | Protagonist's fiance is a high school football player, his team bus crashes and kills everyone aboard. | A regional airplay hit in North Carolina (#1), Florida, West Virginia and elsewhere[11] | |
| "Down Where the Woodbine Twineth" | Jody Reynolds | 1964 | Jody Reynolds | Singer breaks up with girlfriend; later changes his mind and returns only to find that she has hanged herself. | ||
| "Laurie (Strange Things Happen)"[12] | Dickey Lee | 1965 | Milton Addington, Cathie Harmon | Narrator recounts a tale similar to the story of Resurrection Mary. | U.S. #14, Can. #6. | |
| "Give Us Your Blessings" | The Shangri-Las | 1965 | Jeff Barry, Ellie Greenwich | A girl’s parents don’t approve of her boyfriend, the couple elope and both die in a car crash with an unspecified cause, vision impeded by tears is suggested. | U.S. #29, Can. #11 | |
| "I Can Never Go Home Anymore" | 1965 | George "Shadow" Morton | Following an argument with her mother, the narrator runs away only to regret it when her mother dies of a broken heart. | U.S. #6, Can. #2. | ||
| "A Young Girl of Sixteen" | 1965 | Charles Aznavour, Oscar Brown Jr., Robert Chauvigny | Rich girl elopes with a man who eventually leaves her; she dies in an unspecified manner. | From a French song recorded by Aznavour in 1959[13] and by Edith Piaf in 1951. U.S. #51, Can. #5. | ||
| "Nightmare"[14] | Lori Burton/ The Whyte Boots | 1966 | Pam Sawyer, Lori Burton | Girl’s boyfriend goes off with another girl; goaded on by her friends, she attacks the other girl and accidentally kills her. | "The Whyte Boots" were a fabricated girl group; Burton sang lead and the track is on her 1967 LP Breakout | |
| "Ode to Billie Joe" | 1967 | Bobbie Gentry | Local boy commits suicide, narrator’s family are somewhat indifferent. | U.S. #1, Can. #1 | ||
| "Condition Red" | 1968 | Don Davis, Freddie Briggs | Girl’s parents disapprove of her boyfriend; he leaves on his motorcycle and immediately fatally crashes into a car. | U.S. #46, Can. #14 | ||
| "Sweet Rosie Jones" | 1968 | Buck Owens | Protagonist’s girlfriend falls for another man; she says she’d ‘rather die than hurt you’, but it’s unclear if she actually does die; either way, he plans to drown himself in response. | Title track from Owens’ album of the same name. #2 US Country, #4 CAN Country. | ||
| "D.O.A." | Bloodrock | 1971 | Jim Rutledge, Lee Pickens, Ed Grundy, Chris Taylor, Stevie Hill, Rick Cobb | Protagonist was in a plane crash, has lost both his arms and is now receiving medical attention but is about to die from his injuries. | U.S. #36 | |
| "Seasons in the Sun" | 1974 | Man reflects on his life in light of his impending death. | English-language adaptation of Brel's "Le Moribond".[15] CAN #1, US #1, UK #1 | |||
| "Emma" | 1974 | Errol Brown, Tony Wilson | Teen sweethearts get married, some time later the wife kills herself due to failure to be a film star. | U.S. #8, U.K. #3 | ||
| "Run Joey Run" | 1975 | Paul Vance & Jack Perricone | Protagonist gets his girlfriend pregnant; her father goes after him with a gun; girlfriend pleads with father for mercy; father accidentally shoots daughter; angels sing. | US Billboard #4, Cash Box #1; Canada #12 | ||
| "Hello, This Is Joanie" | 1978 | Paul Evans, Fred Tobias | Protagonist had a drunken argument with titular girlfriend and she left in anger and died in a car crash; he consoles himself by listening to the outgoing message on her answering machine. | UK #6 | ||
| "Bat Out of Hell" | 1978 | Protagonist is a motorcyclist, riding "faster than any other boy has ever gone." He is so involved that he "never [sees] the sudden curve till it's way too late." Drums and a roaring guitar indicate the crash. The biker lies fatally injured, "torn and twisted at the foot of a burning bike." He can see his "heart still beating." Throughout the song, the repeated line "I'll be gone when the morning comes" is a double entendre of leaving his lover and of his impending death.[16] [17] The song was inspired by as "Leader of the Pack", "Terry" and "Tell Laura I Love Her"; Steinman wanted to write the "most extreme crash song of all time".[18] | UK #8 |
As popular music and the society it mirrored changed from the late 1960s onward, the themes of teenage tragedy songs carried on in different forms and styles. Songs and spoken-word productions about the dangers of drug abuse ranged from three-minute morality plays to lamentations on the generation gap. These include "Once You Understand" by Think (U.S. #23, 1971) and radio and TV host Art Linkletter's Grammy-winning single "We Love You, Call Collect" (U.S. #42, 1969). Recorded before his daughter Diane's apparent suicide in 1969, the record also included Diane speaking the reply, "Dear Mom and Dad".[19] Into the 1970s, as the Vietnam War continued, hit ballads of youth and death included Terry Jacks' No. 1 hit "Seasons in the Sun" (1974), their protagonists of indeterminate age, or slightly older than teens. A song that was thought to have referenced the Civil War was Paper Lace's 1974 hit "Billy Don't Be a Hero", made a bigger hit in the U.S. by Bo Donaldson and the Heywoods. Hard-rock acts recorded vehicular death scenarios such as "D.O.A." (Bloodrock, 1971), "Detroit Rock City" (Kiss, 1976), and "Bat Out of Hell" (Meat Loaf, 1977).
Teenage tragedy themes would continue to chart through the 1970s. In 1979, the the Boomtown Rats' "I Don't Like Mondays",[20] inspired by the Grover Cleveland school shooting in San Diego earlier that year,[21] reached No. 1 in the U.K., and No. 4 in Canada.[22] The Smiths' 1987 song "Girlfriend in a Coma" also took inspiration from teenage tragedy songs. Some songs merely updated the sound of the previous era, such as "Racing Car" by Dutch group Air Bubble (1976), while others used the melodic and stylistic tropes of teen tragedy in tougher, grittier settings, as in the Ramones' "You're Gonna Kill That Girl" (1977) and "7-11" (1981), and the Misfits' "Saturday Night" (1999). "Teen Idle" by Marina and the Diamonds (2012), evoking an archetype of disenfranchised youth, is a thematic heir to the original teen tragedy oeuvre.[23]
Notable parodies of teenage tragedy songs over the decades have included: