The Songs of 1970-- Part 2: It Was a Very Trying Time and the Songs Helped Get Us By

 By Jim Farber.

You can learn a lot about any given year by listening to its most popular songs.

In 1970, the No. 1-selling single was Simon & Garfunkel's "Bridge Over Troubled Water," an ode t everlasting hope and unwavering faith.  Nearly as possible was the Beatles' "Let It Be, "O-o-h Child" by Chicago's Five Stairste4ps and B.J. Thomas' "Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head," all  meant to soothe and uplift.

These singles wound up defining American life in 1970, a turbulent year indeed.  "It was a time of the Vietnam War, riots in cities and [following] the assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr. and Bobby Kennedy," says Keni Burke, who crooned the Five Stairsteps calming anthem "O-o-h Child," which assured us that "things are gonna get easier."

"Given as much unrest, everyone was exhausted," says David Browne, author of 'Fire and Rain: The Beatles, Simon & Garfunkel, James Taylor, CSNY and the Lost Story of 1970.'  "It's no coincidence that the top songs of the year were as much hymns as pop songs.

--RoadDog

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