Parents

Album: Never Turn Your Back on a Friend (1973)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • Running to well over 10 minutes, this group composition is intensely personal, and described by one reviewer as "a near-perfect scene of romantic despair."

    Bass player Burke Shelley handles the vocals, while lead guitarist Tony Bourge takes a single riff and expands on it, playing on the octaves rising in intensity and finishing with some fascinating overdubbing. Or is that really a flock of seagulls and the sound of the sea as the track fades out? >>>
    Suggestion credit:
    Alexander Baron - London, England

Comments: 3

  • Marcin from SotonActually Budgie was very popular in Poland. I would say more popular than in the UK. My English and Welsh friends, who grew up in 70 never heard of Budgie.
    I strongly reccommend Bandolier album.
    Just to add Bands like i.e. Iron Maiden or Metallica covered some Budgie's song, although i.e. Nicko McBrain- Maiden's deummer never heard of them before.
  • Ken from Dublin Ireland One of the greatest songs ever written re growing up and the generation gap
  • Edward Pearce from Ashford, Kent, EnglandBudgie were one of the most underrated 70s hard bands & this epic number should be better known than it is. One of the greatest ever album closers. Its a shame that (at the time of writing) the only version on Soundflavor is a live version, which cuts out that classic ending with the seagulls.
see more comments

Editor's Picks

Have Mercy! It's Wolfman Jack

Have Mercy! It's Wolfman JackSong Writing

The story of the legendary lupine DJ through the songs he inspired.

Protest Songs

Protest SongsMusic Quiz

How well do you know your protest songs (including the one that went to #1)?

Sending Out An SOS - Distress Signals In Songs

Sending Out An SOS - Distress Signals In SongsSong Writing

Songs where something goes horribly wrong (literally or metaphorically), and help is needed right away.

Joe Elliott of Def Leppard

Joe Elliott of Def LeppardSongwriter Interviews

The Def Leppard frontman talks about their "lamentable" hit he never thought of as a single, and why he's juiced by his Mott The Hoople cover band.

Chris Frantz - "Genius of Love"

Chris Frantz - "Genius of Love"They're Playing My Song

Chris and his wife Tina were the rhythm section for Talking Heads when they formed The Tom Tom Club. "Genius of Love" was their blockbuster, but David Byrne only mentioned it once.

Modern A Cappella with Peder Karlsson of The Real Group

Modern A Cappella with Peder Karlsson of The Real GroupSong Writing

The leader of the Modern A Cappella movement talks about the genre.