Oh So Close: 4 Stellar Songs That Stalled at No. 2 in 1973

There’s no shame in being No. 2 sometimes. This is especially true when you’re talking about the pop charts. After all, song quality is far from the only important factor that decides which songs make it to the top.

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The calendar year 1973 hosted several wonderful songs that stalled out at No. 2. We’re guessing that some of these tracks are still No. 1s in your heart.

“Neither One Of Us (Wants To Be The First To Say Goodbye)” by Gladys Knight & The Pips

Gladys Knight managed to come out of the peak Motown era of the late 60s and still do damage on the charts in the early 70s. That’s a feat that many of their labelmates failed to match. “Neither One Of Us (Wants To Be The First To Say Goodbye)” captures that portion of a relationship when two people are running on fumes. Neither can quite find the strength to sever ties. Jim Weatherly, who also penned “Midnight Train To Georgia”, a No. 1 for Knight and The Pips, wrote the song. Knight gives it a stellar vocal effort, capturing all the pain and frustration of the narrator. She also subtly conveys the sorrowful resignation that this character has reached.

“Daniel” by Elton John

Elton John churned out hit singles with more regularity than just about anybody in the early 70s. And that feat becomes more remarkable when you think about how much the musical feel varies for those hits from song to song. “Daniel” mostly falls into the easy listening category in terms of its music, all pillowy synths and willowy Mellotron. But then you take a deeper dive into the lyrics, and something mysterious and mournful emerges. Bernie Taupin supposedly wrote another verse, omitted in the recording, that would have filled in some of the gaps in the story. But we wouldn’t change the song one iota. After all, we listeners can tease out the backstory however we want.

“Live And Let Die” by Paul McCartney

Paul McCartney & Wings still weren’t exactly wowing the critics in the middle of 1973. But they had at least established a beachhead in terms of pop success. In fact, earlier in the year, Wings scored their first US No. 1 hit with “My Love”. McCartney then took on the plum assignment of writing a James Bond theme. He did this via his favored technique of seamlessly uniting several different musical motifs. That includes the simple balladic opening, the movie score fanfare buildup, and, most surprisingly of all, a reggae breakdown. The song not only came up just shy of No. 1, but it also lost out on an Oscar as well for Best Song.

“Kodachrome” by Paul Simon

We actually had our choice of two Paul Simon songs from his wonderful 1975 album There Goes Rhymin’ Simon for this list. Late in the year, “Loves Me Like A Rock”, with its thrilling touches of gospel, peaked at No. 2. Prior to that, it was “Kodachrome” that made its mark and just missed the top spot in the US. Simon uses photography terminology to explain that the sepia-toned past isn’t nearly as romantic as it’s cracked up to be. He refers to both his wasted high school years and his romantic dalliances. In the refrain, he hot-foots his way through the unforgettable refrain: “Mama, don’t take my Kodachrome away.” Great stuff, but only No. 2 in the end.

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