Blitzkrieg Bop
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| "Blitzkrieg Bop" | ||
|---|---|---|
 |
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| Single by Ramones | ||
| Released | November 1975 | |
| Recorded | 1975 | |
| Genre | Punk | |
| Length | 2:10 | |
| Label | Sire | |
| Producer(s) | Craig Leon | |
| Ramones singles chronology | ||
| Blitzkrieg Bop (1975) |
53rd & 3rd (1976) |
|
"Blitzkrieg Bop" was the first single ever released by the punk rock group the Ramones. It was released as a single in November 1975 in the U.S. and July 1976 in the U.K., and a different version (which eventually became the most popular one) appeared on their first album.
Based on a simple three-chord pattern, "Blitzkrieg Bop" opens with the chant that became a Ramones catch-phrase, "Hey! Ho! Let's go!". The song is popular at sporting events, especially baseball games, where "Hey! Ho! Let's go!" is sometimes shouted as a rallying cry, usually for the home team.
"Blitzkrieg Bop" is number 92 on the Rolling Stone list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. In March 2005, Q magazine placed it at number 31 in its list of the 100 Greatest Guitar Tracks.
The song has been covered by various artists including studio versions by Rob Zombie and Screeching Weasel.
This song has been featured in numerous venues across the spectrum of popular culture, including--but not limited to--the following:
- The video game Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3
- Television ads for the "Cingular" Go-Phone
- The movies National Lampoon's Vacation (1983), Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius (film) (2001) and Accepted (2006).
- The TV Series Space: Above and Beyond (Space:2068 Outside the US) [1995]
[edit] Origin and meaning
"Blitzkrieg Bop" was named after the German World War II tactic blitzkrieg, which literally means "lightning war". The song was mainly written by drummer Tommy Ramone, and bassist Dee Dee Ramone came up with the title (the song was originally called "Animal Hop"). Dee Dee also changed one line. The original third verse had the line "shouting in the back now", but Dee Dee changed it to "shoot 'em in the back now". The precise meaning and subject matter of the song are, unlike many of The Ramones' earlier compositions, somewhat vague and obscure. Some fans contend that due to lines like "Shoot 'em in the back now", the song tells of gang violence, which would seem to be more in line with the bands' other songs of that era. But it is more likely that the song is simply about having a good time at a concert, perhaps an ode to early punk fans. If the third verse line was not changed the song meaning would be the latter. The band members all later explained that the song was inspired by the Bay City Rollers' 1976 song "Saturday Night", whose catchy chorus of "S-A-T-U-R-D-A-Y night" lent inspiration to the line "Hey ho, let's go". The chorus of "hey ho/let's go" was reportedly inspired by the Rolling Stones version of Rufus Thomas's "Walkin' the Dog", specifically the line "Hi Ho's nipped her toes".
Adamanta Chubb, a UK based rock band, changed their name to Blitzkrieg Bop in February 1977, inspired by the Ramones song.
