Friday, April 28, 2023

The Ramones are The Greatest

"Music fans" whose ears are apparently never connected to their brains love to dismiss The Ramones as lyricists, which of course is ridiculous - Rockaway Beach's "chewin' out a rhythm on my bubblegum, the sun is out & I want some" is easily the greatest opening line in rock & roll history, both in terms of catchiness & instantly dropping the listener into the singer's mindset and his actual setting. Glad to See You Go is a perfect example - while the lyrics are kinda funny/witty, they brilliantly tell a story in as few lines as possible:
Gonna take a chance on her, one bullet in the cylinder
And in a moment of passion, get the glory like Charles Manson.

Gonna smile I'm gonna laugh, you're gonna get a blood bath
And in a moment of passion, yet the glory like Charles Manson

You gotta go go go go, Goodbye
Glad to see you go go go go goodbye
Glad to see you go go go go goodbye

Now I know the score, I don't need you anymore
Don't want you 'cause you're a bore

I need somebody good, I need a miracle
Should I take a chance on her? One bullet in the cylinder
Gonna smile, I'm gonna laugh they're gonna want my autograph
And in a moment of passion get the glory like Charles Manson
In an instant we get that this guy's sick of being bored with his girlfriend, dreams of getting rid of her in a comically fame-achieving way like noted cult leader/murderer Charles Manson, engages with the audience to ask if he really should make a change and then BRILLIANTLY winks at us that if he did do all the crazy shit he dreams of doing to her, we'd love him so much for it we'd ask for his autograph. A whole story with characters and audience engagement in as beautifully succinct a collection of words as possible.

And if all that's not enough, these are some of the best rhymes ever sung, not just moon/June shit, such as 
passion/Manson
gonna laugh/bloodbath
somebody good/miracle
chance on her/cylinder
Anyone who tells you think think The Ramones are "brainless punks" are just fucking idiots and you need newer, better friends.

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