"Goodbye Cruel World" is a song written by Gloria Shayne Regney who, with her collaborator/husband, Noel Regney, also wrote the well-known Christmas carol, "Do You Hear What I Hear?"[1] and several songs for singer Lesley Gore. The most famous recording of this song is by James Darren. With its release as a single in 1961,[2]
| "Goodbye Cruel World" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by James Darren | ||||
| from the album Sings for All Sizes | ||||
| B-side | "Valerie" | |||
| Released | October 1961 | |||
| Length | 2:20 | |||
| Label | Colpix | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Gloria Shayne | |||
| James Darren singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
Background
The song is about a man whose heart was broken by a "mean fickle woman", and his plan to join the circus as a brokenhearted clown. He does not mind being shot out of a cannon, and plans to tell the world that she "made a crying clown" out of him. According to disc jockeys at the time the song was released, the calliope-like riff used in the song based on the "Entrance of the Gladiators" theme, was a synthesized recording of a woman's voice rather than a musical instrument.
Chart history
Darren scored his first top ten hit on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, at number three. On the Cash Box Top 100, it spent two weeks at number two.[3] It would prove the biggest hit of his career on this chart, as well as on the UK Singles Chart (no. 28).
| Chart (1961–62) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Canada (CHUM)[4] | 1 |
| New Zealand (Lever)[5] | 3 |
| UK (OCC) [6] | 28 |
| US Billboard Hot 100[7] | 3 |
| US Cash Box Top 100[8] | 2 |
Popular culture
- Darren, playing pop idol "Kip Dennis", performed the song on a late 1961 episode of The Donna Reed Show. (He had previously played a different character in a 1959 episode of the sitcom). The song's lyrics were changed to "join the Army" instead of "join the circus" to reflect his character's reason to exit the show as Shelley Fabare's "love interest" ala Elvis' zeitgeist Army stint.[9]
- The song was also used in a film on Pop Art directed by Ken Russell for the BBC TV series Monitor which was aired in March 1962; its context here was the escape from the dying culture of the British Empire.
References
- ^ Fox, Margalit (2008-03-11). "Gloria Shayne Baker, Composer and Lyricist, Dies at 84". The New York Times. Retrieved 2008-03-23.
- ^ Noland, Claire (2008-03-15). "Gloria Shayne Baker, 84; helped write 'Do You Hear What I Hear?'". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 2008-03-27. Retrieved 2008-03-23.
- ^ Cash Box Top 100 Singles, December 16, 1961
- ^ http://chumtribute.com/61-12-04-chart.jpg CHUM charts, December 4, 1961
- ^ Lever Hit Parade, 22 February 1962
- ^ "officialcharts.com". Retrieved June 8, 2021.
- ^ Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955-1990 - ISBN 0-89820-089-X
- ^ Cash Box Top 100 Singles, December 16, 1961
- ^ verycoolsound (2015-03-02), JAMES DARREN - Goodbye Cruel World (Rare ARMY Version) (1961), retrieved 2017-06-05
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