Rod Stewart - The Killing Of Georgie (Part I & II)

Rod Stewart's song about his gay friend Georgie is one of his most personal and also one of his best. It was featured on his 1976 album A Night On The Town and tells the story of a young man who's attacked by "a New Jersey gang with just one aim, to roll some innocent passer-by". Things go wrong during the stick-up and Georgie is killed. Although the song doesn't address gaybashing as such, it was perceived as a bold move by Stewart at the time to write a song about a homosexual friend. At the start of the song Georgie is denied by his father, before moving to New York and realizing himself, becoming the toast of the town, liked by everyone, and then sadly mugged and killed. It's a sad and very beautiful song.

Watch and listen