‘Save the Last Dance for Me’: Does The Drifters’ 1960 chart-topper have the most tragic backstory in pop?
Being cast aside on your own wedding day is heartbreaking, to say the least, but channelling that into a song that would top the charts for The Drifters symbolises a strength not many could manage.
By and large, although The Drifters were well-known and successful in their own capacity, writing a song for them didn’t necessarily mean it would instantly translate into a hit. They were, without question, one of the most tumultuous and unstable groups in history, having a run of defined hits, but at what cost?
Nevertheless, on what was meant to be the happiest day of his life, songwriter Doc Pomus faced a moment of true melancholy and despair at his own wedding. He had been struck down by polio, and while using a combination of a wheelchair and crutches to get around, he couldn’t help but feel a deep sense of despair at watching all his guests dance with his new wife.
Pomus’ bride, Willi Burke, was a Broadway actor and dancer, so although he very much encouraged her to go and make the most of her night, socialising and partying, like she did best. He still never wanted her to forget that he would always be there for her, even if his physical limitations meant he couldn’t line up and dance like all the other men.
There is something quite heart-rending in that image: Pomus sat in a corner of his own wedding venue, hurriedly scribbling down lyrics while watching his wife dance the night away, all in the hopes that he could win her heart back before it was too late. “But don’t forget who’s taking you home/ And in whose arms you’re gonna be/ So darlin’/ Save the last dance for me,” he yearned.
If Pomus was himself a singer, it might have been too vulnerable for him to commit his voice to. In this sense, though, just being the wordsmith possibly allowed him to open up his heart more than if he had the pressure of performing on top of that, and was all too happy to let that role fall to The Drifters.
Indeed, it was somewhat an act of serendipity that the 1960 song landed on their doorstep when it did. Ben E King was on the precipice of leaving his role as the frontman of the band, and subsequently ‘Save The Last Dance For Me’ became one of the last songs he ever recorded with The Drifters, subsequently being released four months after his departure.
Having said that, it also marked a moment of undisputed success for the band. Spending three non-consecutive weeks at number one in the US charts, as well as reaching number two in the UK, the song was one of their biggest hits. The conditions were just right: voices in their prime and a lyric so piercing that it would break your heart.
As it transpired, though, the most tragic thing about the whole affair was not the fact that Pomus was sitting at the outskirts of his own wedding. It was the fact that his marriage barely lasted, as he and Burke divorced after only six years. You can only hope, through all of it, that the last dance they shared was indeed his.
