Punk Rock Countdown: No. 25 "Today Your Love, Tomorrow the World," by the Ramones Yes, another song from the Ramones' great debut record. Joey, Johnny, Dee Dee and Tommy caught flack for the lyrics, which resonated with neo-Nazis. Calling themselves "shock trooper[s] in a stupor" and "Nazi schatzi[s]" who "fight for fatherland." But it was all a joke. The Ramones were famous for appropriating symbols from the culture and putting them into a new context. Kind of like the Christians did with the Roman symbol of execution: the cross.
Okay, it's a stretch, I know. But I like this song. I love Johnny's furious machine-gun guitaring and Joey's nasaly, I-took-too-much-Sudafed vocals. I can imaging the impact it had on those British lads when the Ramones stormed London in '76, bringing New York punk to the disenchanted youth. Alas for me, I was still a couple of years away from discovering this important band.
You'll hear more from the Ramones later in the countdown. But you won't see any of the usual suspects. No "Blitzkreig Bop," "Rock and Roll High School" or "Teenage Lobotomy" here, folks. But stay tuned.