1975: 20 songs released in 1975 you must hear

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Songs You Must Hear (by year)

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The Year 1975 summary

Pol Pot and Khmer Rouge take over Cambodia (April).
The city of Saigon is surrendered and remaining Americans are evacuated, ending the Vietnam War (April 30).
American merchant ship Mayaguez, seized by Cambodian forces, is rescued in operation by US Navy and Marines, 38 of whom are killed (May 15).
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Movies: One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Jaws, Nashville, Dog Day Afternoon, Barry Lyndon

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My rules:

Only one song per artist/group
The song must be released that specific year
Songs from live albums not allowed
Restricted to only 20 songs

Tangled Up In Blue – Bob Dylan

Released on Blood on the Tracks in 1975, and as a single, it reached #31 on the Billboard Hot 100. Rolling Stone ranked it #68 on their list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
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Early one morning the sun was shining
I was laying in bed
Wond’ring if she’d changed it all
If her hair was still red
Her folks they said our lives together
Sure was gonna be rough
They never did like Mama’s homemade dress
Papa’s bankbook wasn’t big enough
And I was standing on the side of the road
Rain falling on my shoes
Heading out for the East Coast
Lord knows I’ve paid some dues getting through
Tangled up in blue.
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Thunder Road – Bruce Springsteen

The opening track on his 1975 breakthrough album Born to Run. It is one of Springsteen’s best songs, and often appears on lists of the top rock songs of all time. Rolling Stone magazine placed it as #86 on its “500 Greatest Songs of All Time.”
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The screen door slams, Mary’s dress sways
Like a vision she dances across the porch
As the radio plays, Roy Orbison singing for the lonely
Hey that’s me and I want you only
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Cortez the Killer – Neil Young

A song from his 1975 album, Zuma. It was recorded with Young’s band Crazy Horse and ranked #39 on Guitar World’s 100 Greatest Guitar Solos and #321 on Rolling Stone’s list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
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He came dancing across the water
With his galleons and guns
Looking for the new world
In that palace in the sun
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Check out:
- 1976: 20 Songs you Must hear from 1976
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Gloria – Patti Smith

From her 1975 album Horses. This version is based on Van Morrison’s song, but its lyrics are reinvented for the nascent punk rock movement, retaining only the chorus, and adding possibly ironic allusions to the sacred allusions of the title. It memorably begins, “Jesus died for somebody’s sins / But not mine”.
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Jesus died for somebody’;s sins but not mine
Meltin’ in a pot of thieves
Wild card up my sleeve
Thick heart of stone
My sins my own
They belong to me, me
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Blue Eyes Crying In the Rain – Willie Nelson

Written by songwriter Fred Rose. Originally performed by Roy Acuff, the song was later recorded by Willie Nelson as part of his 1975 album Red Headed Stranger.
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In the twilight glow I see them
Blue eyes cryin’ in the rain
When we kissed goodbye and parted
I knew we’d never meet again
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Boulder to Birmingham – Emmylou Harris

Written by Emmylou Harris and Bill Danoff & released on her 1975 album Pieces of The Sky. It has served as something of a signature tune for the artist and recounts her feelings of grief in the years following the death of country rock star and mentor Gram Parsons
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I don’t want to hear a love song
I got on this airplane just to fly
And I know there’s life below
But all that it can show me
Is the prairie and the sky
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Fame – David Bowie

Released as a single 25 July 1975. It reached Number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 during the week of 20 September 1975.
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Fame, makes a man take things over
Fame, lets him loose, hard to swallow
Fame, puts you there where things are hollow
Fame
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My Boy – Elvis Presley

The music was composed by Jean-Pierre Bourtayre and Claude François, and the lyrics were translated from the original version “Parce que je t’aime, mon enfant” (Because I Love You My Child) into English by Phil Coulter and Bill Martin.
Elvis released his cover version as a single in 1975.
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You’re sleeping son, I know
But, really, this can’t wait
I wanted to explain
Before it gets too late
For your mother and me
Love has finally died
This is no happy home
But God knows how I’ve tried
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Check out:
- 1972: 21 Songs Released in 1972 You Must Hear
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The Pill – Loretta Lynn

Single released in 1975. It is one of her best known songs as well as maybe the most controversial record of her career.
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You wined me and denied me when I was you girl
Told me if I’d be your wife you’d show me the world
But all I’ve seen of this old world is a bed and a doctor bill
I’m tearin’ down your brooder house because now I’ve got the pill
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In France They Kiss on Main Street – Joni Mitchell

Released on Mitchell’s Nov 1975 album The Hissing of Summer Lawns.
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Downtown
My darling dime store thief
In the War of Independence
Rock ‘n Roll rang sweet as victory
Under neon signs
A girl was in bloom
And a woman was fading
In a suburban room
I said, “Take me to the dance”
“Do you want to dance?”
“I love to dance”
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Saturday Night Special – Lynyrd Skynyrd

The song is the opening track on their 1975 album Nuthin’ Fancy. The song addresses the issue of gun control.
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Two feets they come a creepin’
Like a black cat do
And two bodies are lyin’ naked
Creeper think he got nothin’ to lose
So he creeps into this house, yeah
And unlocks the door
And while a man reaching for his trousers
Shoots him full of .38 holes
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Check out:
- 1969: 20 Songs Released in 1969 You Must Hear
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Wish You Were Here – Pink Floyd

The song is the title track on Pink Floyd’s 1975 album Wish You Were Here. Its lyrics encompass Roger Waters’ feelings of alienation from other people. Like most of the album, it refers to former Pink Floyd member Syd Barrett and his breakdown.
In 2011, the song was ranked No. 324 on Rolling Stone’s list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
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So, so you think you can tell Heaven from Hell, blue skies from pain.
Can you tell a green field from a cold steel rail?
A smile from a veil?
Do you think you can tell?
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She’s Actin’ Single (I’m Drinkin’ Doubles) – Gary Stewart

Written by Wayne Carson and recorded by American country music singer Gary Stewart. It was released in March 1975 as the third and final single from the album, Out of Hand.
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I’ve seen men look at her before
And they think, I don’t see them
I’d like to think it makes me proud
But, I’m only.. fooling me
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Squeeze Box – The Who

Written (“as a dirty little joke”) by Pete Townshend and released as a single in 1975.
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Mama’s got a squeeze box
She wears on her chest
And when Daddy comes home
He never gets no rest
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Marcus Garvey – Burning Spear

Title cut from Burning Spear’s 1975 album.
Marcus Mosiah Garvey, Jr., ONH (17 August 1887 – 10 June 1940), was a Jamaican political leader, publisher, journalist, entrepreneur, and orator who was a staunch proponent of the Black nationalism and Pan-Africanism movements, to which end he founded the Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League (UNIA-ACL).
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Marcus Garvey’s words come to pass,-
Marcus Garvey’s words come to pass,Can’t get no food to eat,
Can’t get no money to spend, Wo-oo-oo
Can’t get no food to eat,
Can’t get no money to spend, Woo -oo- oo
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Walk This Way -Aerosmith
Written by Steven Tyler and Joe Perry, the song was originally released as the second single from the 1975 album Toys in the Attic.
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backstroke lover always hidin’ ‘neath the covers
till I talked to your daddy, he say
he said “you ain’t seen nothin’ till you’re down on a muffin
then you’re sure to be a-changin’ your ways”
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Bohemian Rhapsody – Queen

A song by the British rock band Queen. It was written by Freddie Mercury for the band’s 1975 album A Night at the Opera.
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Is this the real life?
Is this just fantasy?
Caught in a landslide,
No escape from reality.
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Wake Up Everybody – Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes

Written by John Whitehead, Gene McFadden, and Victor Carstarphen. Released as a single & on their 1975 album “Wake Up Everybody”
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Wake up everybody no more sleepin’ in bed
No more backward thinkin’ time for thinkin’ ahead
The world has changed so very much from what it used to be
There’s so much hatred war and poverty
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Legalize It – Peter Tosh

From the album Legalize It.It was Tosh’s debut album as a solo artist after leaving The Wailers. It was recorded at Treasure Isle and Randy’s, Kingston, Jamaica in 1975 and released in Jamaica in the same year.
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Legalize it don’t criticize it,
Legalize it yea-ah-yea-ah,
And I will advertise it
Some call it tamjee,
Some call it the weed,
Some call it marijuana,
Some of them call it ganja,
Never mind, got to.
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Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way – Waylon Jennings

Written by Jennings & released as in August 1975 as the first single from the album Dreaming My Dreams. The song became Waylon Jennings’ fourth number one on the country chart as a solo artist.
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It’s the same old tune, fiddle and guitar
Where do we take it from here
Rhinestone suits and new shiny cars
We’ve been the same way for years
We need to change
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