Bloodrock

Bloodrock was a Fort Worth, Texas-based (hard) rock & roll band in the 1970s.

Bloodrock was best known for the song "D.O.A." (Dead On Arrival). D.O.A. was a graphic and mournful first person account of a mortally injured crash survivor and his dead girlfriend. Some think that the song refers to a car crash, and others think that the song refers to a plane crash. Both meanings are possible, because of nuances and phrasings in the lyrics, as well as the meaning of the lyrics themselves. The lyrics "we were flying along" may refer to kids joyriding because "flying low" is a metaphor for speeding. However given the era that the song was written in, and the popularity of drug use amongst rock musicians at that time, most people assumed the words "we were flying along and hit something in the air" refer to the car's occupants as being on drugs and barely aware of where they were and what happened to them. Another possibility is that the lyrics really mean, literally, flying in an airplane, presumably in the fog or bad weather or similar. Another lyric, "Then I looked straight at the attendant. His face is pale as it can be. He bends and whispers something softly. He says there's no chance for me." could refer to an ambulance attendant after a car crash, or a flight attendant after a plane crash. Only Bloodrock knows for sure. (Although there were very, very few male flight attendants in 1971 and they were still referred to as stewardesses at that time. The term "paramedics" was relatively unknown in 1971 and "attendant" was the most common noun applied to ambulance.)

This became their only hit single, reaching #36 on the music charts on March 6, 1971. They were only marginally popular in the United States and were essentially a cult band, but reportedly became a favorite among troops in Vietnam.



D.O.A.