Hello all, I hope you won't think this is one of THOSE posts. I'm trying to identify a song with little or no information to go on.

Normally, I just google the bit of lyric that I can remember, and within a minute or so, I've found it on YouTube or somewhere else. But this time, I don't even have that. I've been trying to remember more of it, but keep coming up blank.

Back when I was a kid in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, I used to listen to 630 CHED, the local AM rock station. Around the early 70s, they used to play this song. It may or may not have been by a Canadian band or singer, but I'm mentioning where I heard it in case it's important.

Here's what I do have:
- I remember the song was pretty lively, right up until the last 30 seconds or so.
- At that point, the mood and tempo suddenly change, with the lead singer and a couple of backups singing, "Ohhhh, ohhhh, ohhhh; ohhhh, ohhh, ohhh"
- The music gets quiet, and the lead singer returns, singing about his current condition (i.e. near death).
- The singer's vocal quality is subdued, and his voice is rough, reminiscent of David Clayton Thomas (or maybe it even WAS him, but I'm not sure. The singer I remember seemed more mumbly than DCT).
- The last line of the song is repeated, but the repeat is left incomplete, as the singer doesn't sing the entire line, i.e. he dies, or at least it's implied.

I can tell you what this song ISN'T:
- "Seasons in the Sun" by Terry Jacks - no tempo change near the end, and it's all one deathbed scene.
- "Dying to Live" by David Clayton-Thomas - I just listened to it again, and that's definitely not it.

Okay folks, the floor is yours - any suggestions?

I Did What I Did For Maria was the first thing to come to my mind. Paper Lace does the version I am familiar with
but Tony Christie also does the song.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jcoXnXKOr10

Thanks, loki 13. Sadly, it doesn't sound like the song I'm looking for, but I did enjoy it - there seem to be so many songs out there that are about terrible situations, but with bouncy fun melodies and arrangements!

DOA by Bloodrock?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3e0e-JFio2s

has the "oohs" you mention about a minute and a half from the end, he sings about dying, rough/raspy voice, and its from 1970

Ant

Cool song, Red Ant! Unfortunately it didn't sound like my mystery song. Thanks.

If it is any help, here is a list of songs about death:

http://www.songfacts.com/category-songs_about_death.php

Thanks, Philip, looks very useful. I'll check it out.

Thanks, Philip, looks very useful. I'll check it out.
O0

To put it in other words, I am curious myself.

Okay Philip, I finally had a chance to go through the list you linked to. (Took a while, as there didn't seem to be any way to filter it by release date - maybe I missed it.) Anyhoo, I didn't hear anything on the list that sounded like the song I'm thinking of. Thanks for the help anyway.

I'm beginning to think this song was by some local one-hit-wonder, which is why it's so difficult to find. I'm going to try and find someone who worked as a jock at 630 CHED around that time, see if they recognize it.

In the meantime, please keep the suggestions coming!

Tell Laura I love her?

Dead Man's Curve by Jan and Dean?

I used to have an LP (back when those were in vogue) that every tune was a song about teenage death.lol Maybe that was the reason I grew up the way I did? Lol
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teenage_tragedy_song

Sorry, bookmistress4ever, nope and nope. Thanks for the Wikipedia link though, maybe it'll help.

All day in work I was thinking maybe it was something as simple as....Father And Son...Cat Stevens.
Then I came and read the post again and it doesn't quite fit the criteria.

You're right loki 13, that's not it. I just listened to it again just to be sure. Thanks though.

When you said voices going "oooooh" at the end, the first thing I thought of was one from 1973 called Gypsy by Abraham's Children.  The lyrics don't seem to fit death though, so it's probably not the one you are looking for, but it's worth a shot.

lHVSwWQY1gA

Great tune, whistledog! You're right though, that isn't it.  :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HepkOOM3aok

Thanks for a great pop classic, heinz57, but I'm afraid that isn't it either.  :-[

Long shot - a group called "Wednesday" did a version of "Last Kiss" in 1973 that got airplay here...

A great pop tune! Hadn't heard that version before. And you're right, it was a long shot - that wasn't it.  :-[