"Rocky" is a song written by Ronald Johnson (under the moniker Jay Stevens, a.k.a. Woody P. Snow) and performed by American singer Austin Roberts. It was released in May 1975 as the lead single and title track from his studio album of the same name. It was an international sucess, reaching Number 1 in Germany and South Africa, as well as being a moderate hit in the UK, reaching Number 22 on the UK Singles chart, his only chart appearance in the UK.[1] The song has also spawned multiple successful cover versions, including a Country version by Dickey Lee three months later as the fifth single from his album of the same name, which was a North American Top 10 country hit, where it peaked at Number 1 on the US Country Chart,[2] as well as two successful foreign-language adaptions in Europe the following year, in German by Frank Farian (which was again Number 1 in West Germany and a crossover hit in Dutchophone markets, where it was a Top 10 hit in the Netherlands and a moderate hit in Dutch Belgium), and in Dutch by Don Mercedes (based on Farian's German adaption, where in both the Netherlands and Dutch-speaking Belgium out-charted Farian's version at Number 1).
In a paradoxically upbeat melody in a major key, Rocky, the title protagonist, tells the tragic story of his young wife in first person. He first recalls the day four years earlier where, as an 18-year-old college student, he met his wife-to-be (unnamed in the song) and recalls how well they hit it off. She accepts Rocky's marriage proposal, and they spend the next several months fixing up an old house to make their home. The two soon learn they are expecting their first child, a girl.
Although the family has its usual problems, the happy memories outweigh the bad. One example is a particularly rambunctious first birthday party for the couple's daughter. With things going well and the family settling in on a content life, Rocky soon gets devastating news: his wife has been diagnosed with an apparently inoperable illness — the specific illness is unidentified in the song — and that she has only a short time to live.
All of this is told in flashback, as in the final verse, his young wife has died. Rocky is now a widower and raising his daughter alone. He feels a sense of sadness every time he looks at his daughter, who strongly resembles her mother, and now doing the same things alone that he once did with his wife. However, he feels a sense of hope, with his wife looking down on him and the couple's daughter and reassures that his love for her will always remain safe.
Each of the first three verses — telling one of the chapters in the couple's life — ends with the woman having a sense of fear of the unknown, expressed through the refrain's statement, "Rocky, I've never…," followed by the appropriate follow-up ("been in love before," "had a baby before," "had to die before") and the unassured, "Don't know if I can do it." However, both he and she realize that the strength they have in each other can help them meet each challenge head on. At the end, Rocky says that "if the world would end, your love is safe with me." The fourth refrain has Rocky envisioning hearing his deceased wife reassure, "Rocky, you know that you've been alone before, you know that you can do it," and that in her own way, she can still advise him in his time of need.
Two months after Roberts' original, on July 11, 1975, country singer Dickey Lee recorded a version of the song, where it would be released as a single the following month, the fifth overall single and title track from his album of the same name which was released that September, where it was a Top 10 country hit, peaking at Number 1 on the US Country Chart[14] and Number 9 on the Canadian Country charts. Lee also performed his version on the American country music television program Pop! Goes the Country on February 7, 1976.[15]
In early 1976, the song was covered by West German schlager singer and record producer Frank Farian, and adapted into the German language by Hans-Ulrich Weigel, now featuring uncredited female vocals in the chorus for quoting the wife and daughter (both Roberts' and Lee's recordings feature them singing from all perspectives despite being male), with Farian singing from the titular protagonist's perspective, and was released as the third single and title track from Farian's 1976 studio album of the same name, and was a success, mainly in German-speaking markets and a crossover hit in Dutch-speaking markets, where it was again Number 1 in West Germany (after Roberts' original English version was earlier), Number 2 in Austria, Number 3 in Switzerland, Number 6 in the Netherlands, and a moderate hit at Number 28 in Dutch Belgium. Farian mimed his version on the West German television program Disco on March 27, 1976[17] and on the Dutch program TopPop on May 14, 1976.[18]
In early 1976,Dutch record executives Peter Koelewijn and Will Hoebee heard Farian's then-newly-released German adaption of "Rocky" and decided to create adapt the song into the Dutch language. The Dutch lyrics were written by John Eshuis[23] under the pseudonym C.A.R. Pano.[24] They decided to have the choruses of their version sung by a female vocalist as well;like Farian's German adaption that was a crossover hit in the Dutch-speaking world,and was performed by Dutch singer Robert Bommel,known professionally as Don Mercedes(nl). They chose Bonnie St. Claire for the female vocals (of whom was uncredited on the original release),[25] while the male vocals were sung by Mercedes,in the key of Lee's version. This version would be released as a non-album single by Mercedes that April. Mercedes' version peaked at Number 1 in both the Netherlands[26][27] and Dutch Belgium (Flanders)[28] that year,out-charting Farian's German adaption that served as the basis for Mercedes' version. Mercedes mimed his version of the song on the Dutch music program TopPop on May 22,1976.[29]
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