“Lay Down” by Strawbs

"Lay Down" gave the Strawbs their first hit in October 1972, climbing to 12 on the UK singles chart, and later turned up on Bursting at the Seams, their 1973 album. Dave Cousins wrote it, drawing its words loosely from the 23rd Psalm, and it was widely heard as his most commercial, radio-ready song yet; A&M's press release billed it as the band's first real run at the singles market. New guitarist Dave Lambert hammers out the rock riffs, a Mellotron choir hangs in the air behind them, and the album cut adds a guitar solo that stretches it by about 30 seconds.

Some old fans accused Cousins and company of selling out, and a Top of the Pops spot in glittery glam gear and make-up, with drummer Richard Hudson parked out front, didn't help. In 2007 it resurfaced on the BBC series Life on Mars.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.