Poor Poor Pitiful Me Song – Linda Ronstadt | Top 40 Chart Performance, Story and Song Meaning
Chart Performance: Pop (#31); 1978
Story Behind The Song By Ed Osborne
In 1977 Linda Ronstadt was the biggest female artist in rock ‘n’ roll. On December 3rd her Simple Dreams album slid into the #1 spot. One week later It’s So Easy, the second single drawn from Simple Dreams, reached #5, and one week after that the lead-off single, Blue Bayou, peaked at #3.
Linda now had the #1 album and two of the Top 5 singles in America. The third Simple Dreams single, unlike the first two, wasn’t a vintage song by a vintage rock star. In fact, its writer – Warren Zevon – had labored in obscurity for years.
To date his one chart single had come in 1966 when he was one half of Lyme & Cybelle, and his lone chart album had stayed around for just two weeks.. Despite that, Linda liked what she heard and included two Zevon songs on Simple Dreams: Carmelita and Poor Poor Pitiful Me.
Released as the third single, Pitiful – with some slight lyric changes – was anything but. It kept Linda’s streak going and introduced Zevon to the general public.
This content and all Song Meaning articles were created and written by Top 40 Contributing Editor Ed Osborne. © 2024 Ed Osborne. All Rights Reserved. In addition to these song meaning articles, Ed has written our “Year in Music 1960s-1990s” articles.
Produced by:
- Peter Asher
Lyrics Written by:
- Warren Zevon
Ed Osborne
Hi. I got my first record at age two and never looked back, spending a decades-long career in radio and the music business. Even after years of reading about and listening to all types of music, I am still fascinated by it. Apart from that, I’m endlessly intrigued by art, nature, and the inner lives of people (and dogs).