Single:
Poor Poor Pitiful Me entered the Australian singles chart* on 24 October 1977 and peaked at #29.
Album:
The song is on Simple Dreams which entered the Australian albums chart* on 19 September 1977. It reached #1 on 13 February 1978 and remained there for 5 weeks.
Songwriter:
Warren Zevon
Producer:
Jackson Browne
Record label of Australian release:
Asylum
*Kent Music Report / Australian Chart Book. See About.
Songfacts:
Written and originally recorded by Warren Zevon, Poor Poor Pitiful Me first appeared on his self-titled album in 1976. It became a hit when Linda Ronstadt covered it the next year.
Typical of Zevon’s songwriting, this is a pretty crude and risqué song. His character is such a disaster that he can’t even kill himself. He then meets a girl and engages in some sadomasochism.
Ronstadt’s cover was a cleaned-up version with the gender reversed. Her character still fails at suicide, but the S&M references are gone.
Read more: www.songfacts.com/facts/linda-ronstadt/poor-poor-pitiful-me
Lyrics:
Well I lay my head on the railroad track
Waiting on the Double E
But the train don′t run by here no more
Poor poor pitiful me
Click for full lyrics
This song is also on our Spotify playlist Bang a Gong – the 70s
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