So many stunning songs from the 1970s have enough emotional depth to give even the most hardened listener goosebumps. That’s certainly the case for the following three emotional tunes, each of which likely had you in your feelings if you were young back in the 1970s. Let’s take a look!
“She’s Gone” by Hall & Oates (1973)
“I better learn how to face it / She’s gone, she’s gone.”
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“She’s Gone” is just one of many hits by soulful duo Hall & Oates, but there’s something about this 1973 song, specifically, that just gets under the listener’s skin. This ballad was written when both members of the duo were dealing with relationship problems, and the result is one of the saddest breakup songs of the era. “She’s Gone” peaked at No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100 upon its release.
“One Less Bell To Answer” by The 5th Dimension (1970)
“I end each day the way I start out / Crying my heart out.”
This pop-soul tune from the disco era is perfectly danceable but also pretty devastating when you really listen to the lyrics. “One Less Bell To Answer” by The 5th Dimension is about the fallout of a relationship and how all the things that once irritated you about that person suddenly don’t matter. You just want them back. This classic tune resonated with a lot of people back in the early 1970s, as it peaked at No. 2 on the Hot 100 chart.
“Landslide” by Fleetwood Mac (1975)
“But time makes you bolder / Even children get older / And I’m getting older too.”
There’s no way I’d leave this classic from Stevie Nicks off our list of 1970s songs that will give you goosebumps. This song touches on so many things, from one’s life revolving around another person to the existential acceptance of aging. Nicks said that she wrote this song about her music career, as she was contemplating returning to school during a rough patch in her professional relationship with Lindsey Buckingham. It’s not a breakup or lost-love tune like the other entries on our list. Rather, “Landslide” is incredibly relatable because it’s about, more or less, not knowing what direction to take in your life. Nicks captured that feeling beautifully.
Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
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These 1970s parody songs beat all the "real" music on the charts. They blurred the lines between fake song and true hit. -
AUSTRALIA – JANUARY 01: Photo of AC DC and Angus YOUNG and AC/DC and Mark EVANS and Bon SCOTT; Mark Evans, Angus Young (playing Gibson SG guitar), Bon Scott – performing live onstage, c.1975/1976 (Photo by Bob King/Redferns) -
UNSPECIFIED – CIRCA 1970: Photo of Don Gibson Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images -
SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE — Episode 2 — Pictured: Musical guest Boz Scaggs performs on September 25, 1976 — Photo by: NBCU Photo Bank -
Barry Manilow in concert at the Bottom Line, NYC during Barry Manilow Achive Images – 1975 in New York City, New York, United States. (Photo by Bobby Bank/WireImage) -
(Original Caption) Charlie Daniels (3rd from left), the entertainer who dedicated his last album to "gun-rotting whiskey and hellatious fights" says he will not play gentle music just to please "damn Yankees drinking martinis" 1/20 at Jimmy Carter's inaugural reception. Daniels said he plans to play the same brand of foot-stomping Southern music he and his band have always produced. They are (from left), Charlie Hayward, Tom Crain, Daniels, Joel Digregorio, Don Murray and Fred Edwards.
