Lots of girl group songs from the 1960s had darker lyrics than you might have remembered. In fact, you might have missed the touchy subject matter of the following three songs. Those bright and sunshiney vocal harmonies overshadowed the words quite a bit. Let’s take a look at a few girl group songs from the 1960s that have darker lyrics than you might have remembered.
“I Can Never Go Home Anymore” by The Shangri-Las from ‘Shangri-Las-65!’ (1965)
“Don’t do to your mom / What I did to mine / She grew so lonely in the end / Angels picked her for their friend.”
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Those gorgeous harmonies can’t be beat. But in “I Can Never Go Home Anymore” by The Shangri-Las, the story those stunning voices tell is quite dark. This pop classic from 1965 is about a girl who runs away from home after an argument with her mother. She sadly returns to find that her mother has died from heartbreak. Talk about bleak. But “I Can Never Go Home Anymore” by The Shangri-Las was a hit, peaking at No. 6 on the US pop charts.
“He Hit Me (And It Felt Like A Kiss)” by The Crystals (1962)
“He hit me and it felt like a kiss / He hit me and I knew he loved me / If he didn’t care for me / I could have never made him mad.”
The title alone is a red flag. But when you get into the meat of this Brill Building pop tune from The Crystals, the lyrics get even darker. “He Hit Me (And It Felt Like A Kiss)” was inspired by a babysitter that songwriters Carole King and Gerry Goffin knew. She was allegedly being abused by her boyfriend. And she refused to leave because she believed his actions were motivated by love. The song was controversial, without a doubt, and it didn’t really chart as a result.
“Love Child” by Diana Ross & The Supremes from ‘Love Child’ (1968)
“Love child, never meant to be / Love child, born in poverty.”
This bright and pretty Motown hit showcases a narrator describing an extremely difficult life. “Love Child” by Diana Ross & The Supremes is about a girl born into poverty who is completely abandoned by her own father. She faces a lot of stigma in her life because she was born out of wedlock. It was a controversial subject, but one that listeners resonated with. “Love Child” ended up becoming a No. 1 hit on numerous charts, including the Hot 100.
Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
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