Halfway To Sanity

Fortunately, in 1987 Halfway To Sanity came out, saving what was left of my own crippled self-image. This album was the first to feature Richie on drums, a harder metal edge in Johnny’s guitar, and Joey at the peak of his energy. The album was a thrill from the opening song, I Wanna Live, a driving anthem, of which a superb video is available on Lifestyles of the Ramones, featuring Joey unhesitatingly launching himself onto the packed crowd, his long, gawky legs flying free in space as a crowd of reverent arms receive him. On top of that crowd of sweating, tattooed, razorback punks, he was safe as a baby in his mother’s arms. Love is strange.

Songs like Bop ‘til You Drop were the reason why we loved the Ramones:

“Stick ‘em up,
Give me your money.
You act like a big shot but
You’re really a dummy.
They want your blood,
They want every drop,
Bop ‘til you drop,
Bop ‘til you drop.

Now that Joey, Johnny and Dee Dee have departed this earth, we can fully understand exactly what they were talking about. They bopped until they dropped in the service of their fans. They certainly didn’t let up the pace on Halfway to Sanity, apparently hoping that with enough drive, they might make it all the way there. Still, there are a few weak links in the chain. The Garden of Serenity lacks a single original lyric, and frankly sounds like an ironic makeover of most of the metalhead bands who inhabited the twilight of hard rock as it caved in under a relentless assault from the Big Three: Michael Jackson, Madonna and Bruce Springsteen. The Garden of Serenity has only two things to recommend it – the mad-horseback-ride-into-darkness beat and the pidgin-Latin chanting in the background. Thematically, this song is paired with I’m Not Jesus, an epic of self-flagellation that will make nearly any straight person wince and grimace simultaneously. Great stuff for getting rid of unwanted visitors, like pedophile priests and their apologists.

Weasel Face is a quick headbang against the brick wall of urban reality, here and gone quick, like modern life itself. Go Lil' Camaro Go can’t compare with Surfin’ Bird from Rocket to Russia, but it gives you a chance to catch your breath before you regress to age fourteen during I Know Better Now, a superb rant-along that can exorcise a full day of urban frustration in a few minutes.

“When I was your age
I heard it all
Like livin’ under
Your martial law.
I’m not a criminal
I’m not on drugs,
Don’t wait up for me
I’m out havin’ fun.
I’ll admit it was for my own good
I’ll agree it was true,
But no-body
Can tell me
I know
I know better now.”

Once you’ve achieved that release, slide into A Real Cool Time, a hip shaker with a rhythm that invites full frontal display, and lyrics that teach you cool pickup lines:

“When I saw you at the Cat Club
You looked really kind of cool now
Well come along with me 'cause
We got a lot of things to do now…”


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