This is undeniably one of the very best of the Ramones, this is really the kind of punk rock song that only a more experienced band could pull off. From lyrics right on down to musicianship and singing.
I love this song a lot. I think its a lot about Dee Dee's life. When he's a child, he's been counted out. Forgotten. He's a drum beat behind. Locked in a dream, never let you go, is about how your parents can hold you too close, so that some days you can't breath. You don't have any personal space. And you're the one who has to go through all of this. You can't smile. You can't laugh. Its not anyone else. Its just you.
When he meets the homeless person, its about being the outsider, and the experience of being an outsider. And when you try and talk or empathize, its like all you can get is a homeless man that just kind of smiles. And it does shake you up. Its like you're like the homeless man, and yet even he's so far gone that even you can't reach him. Maybe you're even looking at a worse version of what you could be.
But through it all, when life does take its toll, we poets and artists ultimately do what comes naturally, we song the song of our lives, or a song about our lives. Because there's nothing else you really can do. And in spite of the confusion or interference or whatever, there is the expression that we create as artists, and that's what gives us hope and life. And in spite of all of the bullshit, we still embrace life, and in spite of being one step behind, and everything else, we still survive.
This is undeniably one of the very best of the Ramones, this is really the kind of punk rock song that only a more experienced band could pull off. From lyrics right on down to musicianship and singing.
I love this song a lot. I think its a lot about Dee Dee's life. When he's a child, he's been counted out. Forgotten. He's a drum beat behind. Locked in a dream, never let you go, is about how your parents can hold you too close, so that some days you can't breath. You don't have any personal space. And you're the one who has to go through all of this. You can't smile. You can't laugh. Its not anyone else. Its just you.
When he meets the homeless person, its about being the outsider, and the experience of being an outsider. And when you try and talk or empathize, its like all you can get is a homeless man that just kind of smiles. And it does shake you up. Its like you're like the homeless man, and yet even he's so far gone that even you can't reach him. Maybe you're even looking at a worse version of what you could be.
But through it all, when life does take its toll, we poets and artists ultimately do what comes naturally, we song the song of our lives, or a song about our lives. Because there's nothing else you really can do. And in spite of the confusion or interference or whatever, there is the expression that we create as artists, and that's what gives us hope and life. And in spite of all of the bullshit, we still embrace life, and in spite of being one step behind, and everything else, we still survive.