There is some debate about who holds the title of the first punk rock band. Some say it was the Ramones who helped make CBGB in New York City a hub for the rising genre and the subculture that grew around it. Others point to earlier bands like The Stooges, the New York Dolls, and the Velvet Underground. The debate surrounding the origin point of the genre and the band, artist, or moment that constituted its “Big Bang” will likely rage forever. However, the band that popularized punk is all but chiseled in stone.
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Today, we’re going to look back at some songs that made the Ramones one of the genre’s most enduring bands. The songwriting, aggression, and middle finger to “the man” attitude contained in these tracks helped to inspire generations of artists, musicians, writers, and rebels.
[RELATED: 5 Little-Known Facts About The Ramones’ Debut, Released On This Day in 1976]
1. “Blitzkrieg Bop” (1976)
Penned by Dee Dee and Tommy Ramone, “Blitzkrieg Bop” was the band’s first single and the opening track on their self-titled debut album. “Blitzkrieg” is a reference to a style of attack done by the German air force in WWII. It was a quick, aggressive strike on a target, the word translates to “lightning war.” The track’s fast and aggressive arrangement fits the title like a glove. The lyrics, on the other hand, seem to paint the picture of an amped up crowd of young people filing into a concert venue.
This song didn’t just introduce the Ramones to the world. It also gave us the familiar chant, “Hey! Ho! Let’s go!”
2. “Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue” (1976)
The Ramones aren’t remembered for their complex lyrics. However, that doesn’t mean there weren’t deeper meanings to their songs. “Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue,” penned by Dee Dee Ramone for their debut album is a great example of this. Some say the song is about peer pressure. Others say that it was Dee Dee writing about abusing airplane glue out of boredom as a kid.
Those who list “clutching my pearls” among their favorite hobbies believe that this song is a call for listeners to sniff glue. That wasn’t the case, though. “We couldn’t write about love or cars, so we sang about this stuff, like sniffing glue,” Johnny Ramone said. “We thought we could get away with anything.”
Tommy Ramone believed that Dee Dee was writing about his childhood when he penned the simple lyrics. “I thought of it as a parody. He might have been a little more serious,” he added.
3. “Sheena Is a Punk Rocker” (1977)
“Sheena Is a Punk Rocker” appeared on two Ramones albums. It was on their third studio album, Rocket to Russia, and the United States reissues of their sophomore album Leave Home. It replaced the song “Carbona Not Glue” on Leave Home.
Joey Ramone wrote the song about the comic book character Sheena, Queen of the Jungle becoming a punk rocker. He believed that the raw nature of the music would appeal to the Queen of the Jungle. This track also has the distinction of being one of the first songs to refer to the punk rock subgenre by name.
4. “Teenage Lobotomy” (1977)
Appearing on Rocket to Russia, “Teenage Lobotomy” remains one of the Ramones’ most popular songs. It’s another example of how the band could take serious subject matter and wrap it in a fun musical package.
The song’s lyrics are about a teenager who suffers brain damage after overexposure to the pesticide DDT. To combat the damage, the narrator receives a frontal lobotomy. The now widely debunked medical treatment is something with which Joey Ramone would have been familiar. He spent time in a mental institution as a teenager where he was diagnosed with schizophrenia and obsessive compulsive disorder.
Featured Image by David Tan/Shinko Music/Getty Images
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