Blitzkrieg Bop

"Blitzkrieg Bop"
Single by Ramones
from the album Ramones
Released	February 1976
Format	7"
Recorded	January 1976
Genre	Punk rock
Length	2:12
Label	Sire/ABC
Writer(s)	Tommy Ramone, Dee Dee Ramone[1]
Producer(s)	Craig Leon
Ramones singles chronology
"Blitzkrieg Bop" (1976) "I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend" (1976)
Music sample "Blitzkrieg Bop"

"Blitzkrieg Bop" is a song by the American punk rock band Ramones. It was released as the band's debut single in February 1976 in the United States. It appeared as the opening track on the band's debut album, Ramones, that was released April 23, 1976. ^[2]

The song, whose composition was credited to the band as a whole, was written by drummer Tommy Ramone (music and lyrics) and bassist Dee Dee Ramone (lyrics).^[3] Based on a simple three-chord pattern, "Blitzkrieg Bop" opens with the chant "Hey! Ho! Let's go!" The song is popular at sporting events where "Hey! Ho! Let's go!" is sometimes shouted as a rallying cry, particularly in the city of Glasgow where fans chant "Hey! Ho! Glasgow!"

"Blitzkrieg Bop" is number 92 on the Rolling Stone list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.^[4] In March 2005, Q magazine placed it at number 31 in its list of the 100 Greatest Guitar Tracks, and in 2008 Rolling Stone placed it number 18 of the top 100 Greatest Guitar Songs of All Time.^[5] In 2009 it was named the 25th greatest hard rock song of all time by VH1.^[6]

Origin and meaning

"Blitzkrieg Bop" was named after the German World War II tactic blitzkrieg, which means "lightning war". The song was mainly written by drummer Tommy Ramone, while 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' other early compositions, somewhat vague and obscure. Tommy Ramone tells about the chant in Ramones: Soundtrack Of Our Lives, written by Jari-Pekka Laitio-Ramone: "I came up with the chant walking home from the grocery store carrying a bag of groceries. It was based on the line: 'High Hose nipped her toes' from the song, "Walking The Dog" by Rufus Thomas."^[7]

Composition

"Blitzkrieg Bop" is a 4/4 time song written in the key of A. It contains four chords; A major (I), B minor (ii), D major (IV), and E major (V).^[8][9] The song relies heavily on the I, IV, and V chords, most notably used in the intro and verses in the form of the I–IV–V chord progression. The ii chord appears only briefly towards the end of the refrain.^[8][9] The guitarist played the entire song with barre chord shapes, as these were signature to his playing style.^{[8][10][11][12]} The bassist simply played the root note of whatever chord the guitarist was playing.^[10] Both the rhythm guitar and bass parts, played using downstrokes exclusively,^[10] utilize almost constant eighth notes to generate a "wall of sound". The singer's vocal melody relies on five of the seven notes found in the A major scale; A, B, C♯, D, and E. The drummer maintains a steady backbeat on the kick and snare throughout the entire song. Constant eighth notes are played on the hi hat cymbals during the verses, and on the floor tom whilst the singer shouts "Hey, Ho, Let's Go!", whereas quarter notes are used on the ride cymbal during the refrain. Occasional crashes are used to accentuate certain beats.

The song was originally played at a very fast tempo (Allegrissimo), or roughly 177 bpm. When the band performed the song live, they started to play it at even faster tempos, gradually increasing the speed throughout their career. At the band's final show, they played the song at an extremely fast tempo (Prestissimo), well above 200 bpm.

Dedications

• The punk rock band Blitzkrieg Bop took their name after the song title.
• A monthly club night at the Arches in Glasgow is named after the song.

Notable cover versions

• The song has been covered by various artists including studio versions by Rob Zombie (for his 2003 released album Past, Present & Future), The Beautiful South, Jason Mraz, Screeching Weasel, The Hanson Brothers, New Found Glory and Agnostic Front.
• The Clash played it during their 1978 tour. Joe Strummer also played the song live with his later band, the Mescaleros.^[13]
• The Misfits covered the song on a live performance.
• Die Toten Hosen covered the song for the 1991 cover album Learning English, Lesson One. It features Joey Ramone as a guest musician.
• Alvin and the Chipmunks covered this song for their 2007 video game Alvin and the Chipmunks.
• Dee Dee Ramone performed bass and backing vocals for the Youth Gone Mad version, included on the Ramones Maniacs tribute album and the posthumous Youth Gone Mad featuring Dee Dee Ramone album.
• Green Day covered this song along with "Teenage Lobotomy" and "Rockaway Beach" at the 2002 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony for the remaining member of the Ramones, and regularly play the song live, sometimes getting kids out of the audience to play the song on Green Day's instruments (usually this audience participation is reserved for their cover of Operation Ivy's song "Knowledge").
• Pennywise recorded a cover version dedicated to Joey Ramone. On the Warped Tour, on July 26, 2008 at Nassau Colosseum, C. J. Ramone came on stage during Pennywise's set and played "Blitzkrieg Bop" with the band.
• Shonen Knife recorded the song on their 2011 album of Ramones covers, Osaka Ramones.^[14]
• New Found Glory recorded the song for the deluxe version of their seventh album, Radiosurgery, which was released on October 4, 2011.
• The Beautiful South covered the song in their 2004 album Golddiggas, Headnodders and Pholk Songs.^[15]
• Yo La Tengo cover the song live and released a radically rearranged instrumental version on their 1996 compilation album Genius + Love = Yo La Tengo.^[16]
• The Offspring covered the song at two live performances in October 2004 in South America.
• Aly Michalka performed it in an episode of CSI: NY in 2011.
• In 2012, the song was reworked for the NFL Network Thursday Night Football opening theme (as performed by Cee Lo Green), with new lyrics for the chorus, as well as lyrics altered weekly, depending on what teams are playing.
• Andy Scott's Sweet covered the song on their album, New York Connection, in 2012.
• Babyshambles covered the song on the French TV show, Taratata, in October 2013.^[17]
• All Time Low covered the song in a medley of hits to open up the 2015 Alternative Press Music Awards

Uses in popular culture

• The song appeared in the films National Lampoon's Vacation, Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius and Zootopia in addition to the video games MLB 08: The Show, Rock Band, Rocksmith 2014, NHL Slapshot, NHL 11 and NBA 2K16.^[18]
• The song was used as a battle hymn in the first episode of the sci-fi/action TV series, Space: Above and Beyond.
• The song was used in the ESPN series The Bronx is Burning.
• "Blitzkrieg Bop" has been heard in numeorus TV advertisements including The Amazing Race, Coppertone, AT&T, ao.com, BIGBON, Cartoon Network, and Taco Bell.^[19]
• A remastered version of "Blitzkrieg Bop" appears on the soundtrack to the PlayStation 2 version of Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3.
• Green Day regularly plays the song over the loud speakers before going on stage.
• The song is regularly played before home games at St. James' Park, home of Newcastle United F.C.
• Frequent references to the song are made in the novel Pet Sematary and the film Final Destination 3.
• A rendition of the song is chanted in Pan by Blackbeard's crew of pirates.

Bibliography

References

External links

• Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics