3 Famous 1970s Songs That Were Shockingly Written in Less Than an Hour

Some of your favorite songs from the 1970s didn’t take much time to write at all; in fact, many of them were written in less than an hour. Sometimes, songwriters really don’t need a lot of time to pen a masterpiece. Sometimes, the perfect song just comes to them like a vision. Let’s look at a few surprising examples, shall we?

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“My Sharona” by The Knack (1979)

Remember this famous power pop one-hit wonder? “My Sharona” was The Knack’s only major hit, peaking at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, as well as the Australian and Canadian charts. The band wouldn’t hit the Top 10 again, and would eventually break up for the first time in 1982. It’s a great little pop-oriented song, one that apparently took only 15 minutes to write, according to songwriter Doug Fieger. Just as well, the song allegedly only took another 15 minutes to mix.

“Paranoid” by Black Sabbath (1970)

This one always surprises me. “Paranoid” is one of heavy metal group Black Sabbath’s most well-known songs. And, originally, it was a bit of a throwaway. The story goes that the band was tasked with putting together a song on the fly that would be ready for radio by their label. In what could only be described as a drunken flurry, Ozzy Osbourne and company came up with “Paranoid” during a jam session. Geezer Butler penned the lyrics. In total, the whole thing was written in about 20 minutes and recorded in “about two or three days, live in the studio.” “Paranoid” would later hit No. 4 in the UK.

“Jolene” by Dolly Parton (1973)

It’s alleged that Dolly Parton wrote the iconic song “Jolene” in less than an hour. It’s a bit difficult to find a direct quote from the queen of country that says as much, but I think this song is worth noting on our list of 1970s songs that were written in less than an hour regardless, namely because “Jolene” was written on the same day as “I Will Always Love You”, according to Parton. She claimed it was a “good writing day,” and I’m inclined to agree with her on that one. Writing two legendary songs in just one day is crazy.

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