"Teen Angel" is a teenage tragedy song written by Jean Dinning and her husband, Red Surrey, and performed by both Jean's brother, Mark Dinning, and Alex Murray in 1959. As a one-hit wonder for Dinning, it reached number one on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 (February 1960) and number thirty-seven in the UK Singles Chart (even though it was banned from being played by the BBC).
The song is about a girl who is out on a ride with her boyfriend. The car is stalled on a railroad track when he pulls her to safety. But when she runs back, a train hits the car, killing her. When they find her body, the narrator's high school class ring is in her hand, apparently the reason that she ran back.
Despite the gloomy subject matter, "Teen Angel" and its predecessor at the Hot 100's top spot, "Running Bear" by Johnny Preston, continued a string of pop tunes in which someone, usually a female teenage love interest, dies tragically.
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