Whether you’re more of a modern music fan or you love some oldies, it’s hard to deny the impact that 70s music has had on music as a whole, including the forgotten songs. Here are a few songs from the 70s that older generations should definitely remember.
“After The Gold Rush” by Neil Young
Singer-songwriter Neil Young told Nick Hasted: “When I look out the window, the first thing that comes to my mind is the way this place looked a hundred years ago.” That’s kind of what “After The Gold Rush” is about. Dolly Parton, Linda Ronstadt, and Emmylou Harris actually did a version of this song for their album Trio II. In my opinion, it’s just as beautiful as Young’s.
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“Year Of The Cat” by Al Stewart
The cat is one of the twelve signs in the Vietnamese zodiac, not to be confused with the Chinese zodiac. Al Stewart wrote the lyrics and came up with the title because his girlfriend had a book on astrology.
“I had a girlfriend at the time and she had a book on Vietnamese astrology, which was kind of obscure, and it was open at a chapter called ‘The Year Of The Cat,’” he explained at Royal Albert Hall, per Songfacts. “Now that’s, I think, the year of the rabbit in Chinese astrology. I’m not too sure. I don’t know a whole lot about a whole lot of things but I recognize a song title when I see one and that was a song title.”
“If You Leave Me Now” by Chicago
Written and sung by bass player Peter Cetera, “If You Leave Me Now” is a song where one partner warns the other. “If you leave me now / You’ll take away the very heart of me.” This one topped the charts in the US and the UK and became Chicago’s most successful song at the time. They also won a Grammy for this song in Best Pop Vocal Performance by a Duo, Group or Chorus.
“Dirty Work” by Steely Dan
“Dirty Work” by Steely Dan is about exactly what it sounds like. A guy is at the mercy of a woman who is just using him. The narrator even says before the first chorus: “When you need a bit of lovin’ cause your man is out of town / That’s the time you get me running / and you know I’ll be around.”
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Singer and musician Merle Haggard performs at the Poplar Creek Music Theater, Hoffman Estates, Illinois, August 16, 1983. (Photo by Paul Natkin/Getty Images) -
John Rzeznik of Goo Goo Dolls at event, New York, 1990s. (Photo by Steve Eichner/Getty Images) -
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NEW YORK, NY – CIRCA 1984: Michael Jackson performing circa 1984 in New York City. (Photo by Robin Platzer/Images/Getty Images) -
Musicians Peter Gabriel and Kate Bush attending the BPI Awards after winning in their categories, London, February 10th 1987. (Photo by Dave Hogan/Getty Images)
