bloggedy blog

:: Wednesday, September 29, 2004 ::

Punk Rock Countdown: No. 9
"Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue," by the Ramones
Disclaimer: bloggedy blog does not condone the practice of glue-sniffing. Kids, please don't try this at home.

Alright. Now that we've gotten that out of the way...

At first listen, "Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue," the briefest of tunes on the Ramones seminal first album, presents nothing of redeeming social value. It's catchy, to be sure, with Joey and company chanting out the lyrics in a sophomoric, sing-songy style. And the subject is bizarre, bordering on the taboo. Why would anyone write a song about sniffing glue? But this was the '70s, and in true punk fashion, the Ramones took the conventional wisdom of progressive rock, turned it inside out, and shoved it back into the rock establishment's faces.

While bands like the Eagles were glorifying abuse of more glamorous mind-altering substances like cocaine, the Ramones offered a powerful social commentary. They stripped the rock world's drug-glorification obsession of all pretense and presented it in a raw, shocking form. Go ahead, all you West Coast rock'n'roll cowboys, with your fancy vials of expensive white powder, the Ramones seemed to be saying. But here's how it really is: bored kids looking for a high need do nothing more than go to their local hobby store and purchase a tube of airplane glue.

The Ramones, in essence, democratized what had become an elitist practice. Cocaine is for rich kids, but anyone with a couple of bucks and a brown paper bag can huff glue.

"Sniff" also touches on that universal punk rock theme of teen boredom -- All the kids wanna sniff some glue/all the kids want something to do -- while poking fun at the celebrity drug culture. And artistically, it incorporates all the things that made the Ramones so fabulous: a moronic theme, a catchy, danceable beat, a solid rhythm section, and the famous 1-2-3-4... count.

:: Andrew 07:09 + ::
...

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