The Blogger’s Best Friend ™ tells us that Bobby wrote this song whie he was serving in the Army and recorded it on his 1962 album Roses Are Red. It wasn’t released as a single until 1964, just as the US was ramping up its involvement in Vietnam. That probably was part of the reason it did so well: it spent 15 weeks on the Hot 100, reaching #1 a couple of weeks before Christmas 1964. It was also a #1 in Canada, #2 in New Zealand, #8 in Australia, and #3 in South Africa.
Interesting story about this: Bobby wanted to release it as a single in 1962, but Epic Records gave the song to Buddy Greco, whose version reached #64. When confronted, Epic’s management said they did that because they didn’t think of Bobby as a singer, but as a musician and songwriter. It turns out that Bobby was Epic’s most successful artist in the ’60’s.
I didn’t think I knew this song but I do! This is a great song especially for nowadays but created for people who suffered far more than we are right now.
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That’s true, although it wasn’t as widespread as it is now.
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Such a sad song
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Especially when you realize what the song is really about. He’s not just complaining about not having a date…
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