Thomas Wayne - Tragedy (1959)

Born in 1940 under the name Thomas Wayne Perkins, this singer is most famously remembered as a one-hit wonder for his ‘certified gold’ song heard below. Raised in Batesville, Mississippi, he was the brother of Johnny Cash’s guitarist, Luther Perkins. After the success of his release began to fade, he worked as a sound engineer up until his death, from a car accident, in 1971.

This song, Wayne’s most well-remembered work, was originally written and released by Gerald H. Nelson and Fred B. Burch. Wayne’s version of the song rose to number five on the Billboard Top 100. The background vocals, provided by the DeLons, were contributed by a trio of girls found at the local high school in Memphis, Tennessee, where the song was recorded.

In 1973, Paul McCartney & Wings recorded a version of this song intended to be released on their then-double album Red Rose Speedway. As it turned out, Red Rose Speedway was reduced to one record rather than two and this song was omitted from the track listing. The Wings version has never officially been released.



Thomas Wayne - Tragedy (1959)

Loading the ABLYAM player...(Might not work on mobile devices)

Lyrics:

Wind and storm
Gone's the Sun (the Sun)
From the stars
My dark has come
You've gone from me

Oh, oh tragedy

Oh, come back
Have me here
Hold me, love
Be sincere
You've gone from me

Oh, oh tragedy

Like smoke from a fire of love
Our dreams have all gone above

Blown by wind
Kissed by snow
All that's left
Is the dark below
You've gone from me

Oh, oh, tragedy

(Oh, oh, oh)
Tragedy