This song by the Strawbs came out in 1972.
I like to think I’m pretty knowledgeable about 1970s rock music, but I don’t remember hearing “Lay Down” until 2025. That is especially surprising because it wasn’t some completely forgotten album track—it reached No. 12 in the UK and became the Strawbs’ first major hit.
And that’s one of the reasons I’m making this list. You can miss a great song when it is released, even one that was fairly popular at the time. Once radio stations reduce an entire decade to the same familiar collection of songs, how are you supposed to discover everything they left behind?
I found “Lay Down” after choosing another 1970s song on Spotify and letting its recommendations take over. The enormous chorus and layered harmonies grabbed me immediately. It sounds like folk-rock transformed into a full-throated arena anthem—rousing, melodic and built to be sung by a roomful of people.
This song received a lot of play in my office during November and December 2025. I was more than 50 years late, but I was catching up quickly.