這是一首相當深情的歌曲，歌中的男主角湯米為了賺得一只給蘿拉的結婚戒指，參加了危險性極高的非法賽車，結果賠上了自己的性命，臨終前仍不忘說：告訴蘿拉我愛她……。但是對這首歌推出時的60年代，這種涉及死亡的歌詞，在美國當時保守的社會風氣，卻是相當引人爭議的，雖然歌中提及的死亡是十分含蓄而且微不足道，但在許多衛道人士對剛興起的搖滾樂還視為洪水猛獸的當時，這首語涉死亡的歌曲，簡直是道德的淪喪，對生命的褻瀆。　這首歌除了歌詞聳動，旋律動人也使得它一推出就造成轟動，並很快流傳到英國，但60年代的英國社會比美國還要封閉保守，對於流行音樂採取極為嚴密的監控，凡語涉死亡等反道德的歌曲，尤其是和年輕人有關的，一律被國家廣播電台( 即BBC )禁播，因此在宣傳無門的情形下，很多在美國走紅的歌曲，在英國卻沒沒無名。 　於是美國的RCA唱片公司決定放棄在英國發行這首歌，但當時的英國EMI唱片公司卻決定放手一搏，另外請來英國當地的歌手Ricky Valance重新翻唱。結果灌錄好以後的新版本，被一家影響力不大的廣播電台看中，不斷的播出這首歌，一傳十、十傳百，這首歌在英國排行榜節節上升，最後在冠軍寶座上坐了三個禮拜才功成身退。　——資料參考自吳正忠著”冠軍經典五十年”

“Tell Laura I Love Her”, a teenage tragedy song written by Jeff Barry and Ben Raleigh, was an American Top Ten popular music hit for singer Ray Peterson in 1960 on RCA Victor Records, reaching #7 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart. Later that same year, the song was recorded and released by Ricky Valance in the United Kingdom, where it went all the way to the #1 spot in the UK Singles Chart. “Tell Laura I Love Her” has been a hit in 14 countries, and has sold over seven million copies. The lyrics of “Tell Laura I Love Her” originally concerned a rodeo, not an automobile race, as composer Jeff Barry was an aficionado of cowboy culture. However, at RCA’s instigation Barry rewrote the song, in order to more closely resemble the #1 hit “Teen Angel.” Decca Records in England decided not to release Ray Peterson’s 1960 recording on the grounds that it was “too tasteless and vulgar,” and destroyed about twenty thousand copies that had already been pressed. A cover version by Ricky Valance, released by EMI on the Columbia label, was #1 on the British charts for three weeks. In 1962, the Smash Records released an album, The Tale of Patches by Dickey Lee, that included a cover of “Tell Laura I Love Her”. A cover version by J. Frank Wilson and The Cavaliers on the album Last Kiss was released on the Josie Records label in 1964. Another cover was recorded by singer Ricky Nelson. John Leyton attended a singing audition with producer Joe Meek and subsequently recorded the song, which was released on the Top Rank label. At that time, however, Top Rank was undergoing a takeover by EMI, which had already released Ricky Valance’s version of the same song. The John Leyton recording was withdrawn from sale. A decade later, Johnny T. Angel’s recording on Bell Records peaked at #94 on June 8, 1974 (US). The Swedish band The Boppers also released a version on their album Number 1 (1978) A Mexican singer, César Costa, sings the hit with the name in Spanish “La Historia de Tommy”, in 1963. There is also a version by Gustavo Quintero with a Colombian band named Los Teen Agers. A Chinese Mandarin version, “Tell Laura I Love Her”, recorded by Takeshi Kaneshiro in 1994 for his album “標準情人” Ideal Lover. A Spanish version, “Dile a Laura que la quiero”, was recorded by Chilean singer Ray Palavicino. The story of the song was adapted for stage and turned into “Tell Laura I Love Her (The Musical)” in 2007 By Richard C Hague. “Tell Laura I Love Her” is the tragic story of a teenage boy named Tommy who is desperately in love with a girl named Laura. Although they are only teenagers, he wants to marry her, so he enters a racing car championship, planning to use the prize money to buy Laura a wedding ring if he wins. The second verse tells the mysterious story of how the boy’s car overturned and burst into flames — though no-one knows why — and the boy was killed, his last words being “Tell Laura I love her . . . My love for her will never die.” In the final verse, Laura prays inside the chapel, where she can still hear Tommy’s voice exclaiming the title song one more time, before it fades out.

By Ray Peterson

Lyrics