Today’s classic long-forgotten ’70s song of the day is “Last Song” by Edward Bear. Released at the very end of 1972, it rose to #3 on the Billboard Hot 100, #1 on Billboard’s Adult Contemporary chart, and #1 on both of Canada’s major charts (RPM Top Singles and RPM Adult Contemporary). The stronger performance north of the border is undoubtedly due to the fact that Edward Bear was a Canadian group.
That’s right, Edward Bear was the name of a group, not a person. The group consisted of singer/drummer Larry Envoy, guitarist Danny Marks, and keyboardist Paul Weldon. The name came from A.A Milne’s Winnie the Pooh books; in the books, the bear’s formal name is Edward Bear.
“Last Song” is about an individual who’s broken up with a girl but hasn’t really gotten over her. It’s all there in the lyrics:
Did you know I’d go to sleep and leave the lights on?
Hopin’ you’d come by and know that I was home, still awake
But two years go by and still my light’s on
This is hard for me to say, but this is all that I can take
It’s the last song I’ll ever write for you
It’s the last time that I’ll tell you just how much I really care
This is the last song I’ll ever sing for you
You come looking for the light and it won’t be there
But I love you
Oh yes, I do
The song’s writer, Larry Envoy, said that “Last Song” was pretty much autobiographical, written about “that one girl.” Here’s what he recalls:
“It was written over a period of time and was literal. I would actually go to sleep with my light on, hoping that she’d think I was still awake and would drop by, and she did. There is also the analogy of one’s own light and not just the physical one in the lyric ‘two years go by and still my light’s on.'”
Edward Bear, the group, had a second minor hit in the U.S. with 1973’s “Walk on Back,” which peaked at #37 on the Billboard chart. They had a few other Canadian-only hits (including “You, Me and Mexico” and “Masquerade”) but broke up in 1974.
