3 Soft Rock Songs From 1973 That Had Baby Boomers Crying by the Radio

Some soft rock songs in 1973 had baby boomers on the verge of tears. Now that’s good songwriting. Let’s look at just a couple of tracks from that year that had listeners crying by the radio.

“Daniel” by Elton John from ‘Don’t Shoot Me I’m Only The Piano Player’

“Oh, Daniel, my brother, you are older than me / Do you still feel the pain of the scars that won’t heal? / Your eyes have died, but you see more than I / Daniel, you’re a star in the face of the sky.”

Elton John decided to give the world his take on the Vietnam War with the heartwrenching soft rock song “Daniel”. In this song, John croons about a war veteran’s trauma and reluctance to return home to fanfare. It’s sung from the perspective of his younger brother who has seen how his brother has changed.

“Daniel” by Elton John was a No. 2 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

“Loving Arms” by Kris Kristofferson and Rita Coolidge from ‘Full Moon’

“I’ve been too long in the wind, too long in the rain / Takin’ any comfort that I can / Lookin’ back and longin’ for the freedom of my chains / Lyin’ in your lovin’ arms again.”

Were you going through a bad breakup in 1973? If so, this country-meets-soft-rock song from Kris Kristofferson and Rita Coolidge probably left you in shambles. “Loving Arms” is your typical estranged lover song, and songwriter Tom Jans managed to make it especially heartbreaking.

“Loving Arms” by Kris Kristofferson and Rita Coolidge was a minor hit for the pair. It peaked at No. 86 on the Hot 100 chart.

“Time In A Bottle” by Jim Croce from ‘You Don’t Mess Around With Jim’

“If I could make days last forever / If words could make wishes come true, I’d save every day like a treasure and then / Again, I would spend them with you.”

The sweet yet ever-existential “Time In A Bottle” is tear-inducing enough on its own. However, it was released as a single shortly after Jim Croce‘s life was tragically cut short by a plane accident earlier in 1973. With that context, it becomes even more devastating. This entry on our list of soft rock songs from 1973 was written after Croce found out he was going to become a father.

“Time In A Bottle” by Jim Croce topped the Hot 100, Easy Listening, and Cash Box Top 100 charts upon its release as a single in 1973.

Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images

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