1. That'll Be The Day (2:16) - Buddy's first hit has a moderate tempo. The narrator gets hugs, kisses, and money from his girlfriend. He knows she's lying when she says that one day she will leave him because that is the day he will die.
2. I'm Looking For Someone To Love (1:57) - This fast song was the B-side of the previous song. Now that the girl to whom the narrator is singing has left him, he is seeking a new girlfriend. Good luck, pal, I hope you find someone.
3. Words Of Love (1:53) - The tempo is moderate. Buddy sings low and softly as his character tells his lady he loves her and asks her to tell him she loves him too; this is the lowest I've ever heard Buddy sing.
4. Not Fade Away (2:21) - The narrator's love for his girlfriend may never fade away, but this fast song is one of only two on this disc that does fade out. The "bop bop bop bop" background vocals are the highlight.
5. Everyday (2:07) - This song has a moderate tempo, chimes, and finger-snapping in eighth beats. The narrator believes that as every day comes and goes, he gets closer to receiving love like that of the girl to whom he is singing.
6. Oh Boy (2:07) - My favorite song by Buddy is this fast one, for the lines "All my life I've been a-waitin' / Tonight there'll be no hesitatin'." Now that he's found a girlfriend, he's gonna give her "All of [his] love, all of [his] kissin'." This song was the flip of "Not Fade Away."
7. Peggy Sue (2:29) - Another double-sided hit. The flip side of "Everyday" has a moderately fast tempo, with drums beating rapidly. In the verse just before the instrumental, Buddy sings in a slightly higher voice than in the rest of the song. This song was written for a Peggy Sue who was a friend of Buddy's and the girlfriend of Jerry Allison of the Crickets.
8. I'm Gonna Love You Too (2:13) - The tempo is fast. I like the opening guitar lick and the "Ah ah ah's." The girl currently belongs to another man, but that doesn't quell the narrator's attraction to her. The girl is really the one who will love HIM too (if his predictions come true), for he already loves her. After all, he's telling her that someday she will tell him she loves him, she'll kiss him, etc., i.e., reciprocate his romantic feelings.
9. Maybe Baby (2:01) - The tempo is somewhat faster than moderate. As in the previous song, the narrator hopes that one day the narrator can win the heart of the lady to whom he is singing--except here he is less confident. Besides the title, I find one pair of rhyming words where one comes right after the other--in the line "It's funny, honey."
10. Rave On (1:48) - The narrator of this fast song appreciates his girlfriend's enthusiasm for him so much that he tells her to keep it up. A piano plays lead during the instrumental. Now, decades after Buddy's death, many people "rave on" about him.
11. Think It Over (1:45) - The tempo is moderate. The girl's feelings for the narrator are what he's asking her to think over. He wants to know whether she really loves him or she's just playing with his heart. The middle instrumental here features lower piano keys than in the previous song. This song is the other one that fades out.
12. Fool's Paradise (2:29) - Cymbals are used heavily in the moderately fast B-side of the previous song. This time a piano is audible not just in the middle instrumental, but throughout the song. At one time the girl loved the narrator, or at least led him to believe so. Though she has left him, he is still lost in the false heaven to which she had taken him.
13. Early In The Morning (2:06) - Cymbals are also prominent in this very fast song. A sax plays lead during the middle instrumental. The narrator warns his girlfriend that if she doesn't stop mistreating him, one day she will wake up to find herself alone.
14. It's So Easy (To Fall In Love) (2:09) - Very true, but it's so hard to persuade the other person to love you back! The guitar licks are the best feature of this moderately fast song.
15. Heartbeat (2:08) - The tempo is fast. The higher-pitched guitar licks are accompanied by the clanging of pans; another kind of drums, which more closely resembles the sound of a heartbeat, accompanies the lower licks and Buddy's voice. The narrator wonders why his heart skips a beat whenever he and his girlfriend kiss.
16. True Love Ways (2:50) - Orchestral string instruments play on this and the final two songs. "Sometimes we'll sigh, sometimes we'll cry," the narrator of this slow song tells his woman. According to him, they are the only two people in the world who know the ways of genuine affection.
17. It Doesn't Matter Anymore (2:03) - The narrator of this fast song looks back on the September nights when the girl used to love him. Realizing that crying won't solve anything, he resolves to find a new girl to love so that the one to whom he's singing will no longer matter to him. To symbolize his resolve to move on, the orchestral strings loudly and proudly end this song, which Paul Anka had written for Buddy.
18. Raining In My Heart (2:49) - This song, slightly slower than moderate, features chimes; plucked strings represent the falling of raindrops. Although the geographic weather is sunny, rain pours in the narrator's heart now that his girlfriend has left him. How fitting that this song was one of Buddy's last hits, for it rained in his fans' hearts when they received word of the plane crash.