| "D.O.A." | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Single by Bloodrock | |
| from the album Bloodrock 2 | |
| B-side | "Children's Heritage" |
| Released | 1971 |
| Recorded | 1970 |
| Genre | Psychedelic rock, hard rock |
| Length | 8:30 (album version) 4:32 (single version) |
| Label | Capitol |
| Songwriter(s) | Rutledge, Pickens, Grundy, Taylor, Hill, Cobb [1] |
| Producer(s) | Terry Knight |
"D.O.A." is a song by Texas hard-rock band Bloodrock released by Capitol Records in early 1971.
The song is sung from the perspective of a man who has, temporarily, survived a mid-air collision. In his last/dying words, the lyrics describes in graphic detail what he remembers of the collision ("we were flying along...and hit something in the air") and his current condition: he is "lying here, looking at the ceiling (in the critical care unit of an emergency hospital facility)," his arms have been battered (he has no feeling in them and can see blood running down them) and his eyes "see nothing there" as he feels great pain and an emergency room attendant "stops to toll the [profuse] bleeding" then bends to see that the pilot is gravely injured... and whispers to an associate that "there is no chance for [the pilot]." There are various extremely dark/ horror film-like chords and key changes with a particular focus on minor keys and flated 4th notes played on a Hammond organ through a Leslie speaker that combine to create an extremely creepy aura. Toward the end, the tempo eerily slows and fades to silent, simulating the pilot's loss of consciousness and death as a sheet is pulled over his head.
P.S. At odds with the story telling of the song, but adding to the overall creepy effect, the song title "D.O.A." is emergency room speak for "Dead on Arrival." The pilot wasn't quite dead yet, but he dies shortly after arrival.
The motivation for writing this song was explained in 2005 by guitarist Lee Pickens. “When I was 17, I wanted to be an airline pilot,” Pickens said. “I had just gotten out of this airplane with a friend of mine, at this little airport, and I watched him take off. He went about 200 feet in the air, rolled and crashed.” The band decided to write a song around the incident and include it on their second album. [2]
The single version of "D.O.A." is roughly half the length of the longer version found on the album Bloodrock 2 . Many US radio stations refused to play "D.O.A." and the song was banned at several high schools.[ citation needed ] Despite a lack of airplay, the single still reached number 36 on the Billboard chart. [3]
The song was later included in a compilation album entitled Death, Glory and Retribution in 1985 that consisted of death, protest and "answer" songs by various artists. [4]
