Animal Boy and Brain Drain
Keeping Richie in harness, The Ramones cranked out another couple of kickass albums – Animal Boy and Brain Drain – both of which made it clear that they had answered the metal threat presented by Metallica, Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden, and their disciples. Joey started looking a bit more like a rock star, wearing leather pants like Jim Morrison, looking a bit less like a street urchin, a little more coiffed and styled at the photo shoots. But Joey’s smile stayed genuine, and the music got better and better, keeping up with the times, staying current with the issues that we were facing.
When I heard Bonzo Goes to Bitburg on Animal Boy, I was really happy, because it proved that the political edge we heard on “Too Tough To Die” was something that was there for good. This song recently got some bigscreen exposure when it served as the soundtrack for a montage of gonzo underage rocking in “School of Rock.” But the song is not at all cheery, and is actually a deep reflection on lying politicians and the excuses they make for the inexcusable. The song starts eerily with the puffing sound of a train pulling into a station as a rhythmic bell sounds out the departure for where, let me guess … then Johnny and DeeDee attack their instruments and that train takes off like a motherfucker headed straight for hell, and Joey jumps on at the last second, starting with an accusing shout straight at the Gipper:
You've got to pick up the pieces
C'mon, sort your trash
You better pull yourself back together
Maybe you've got too much cash
Better call, call the law
When you gonna turn yourself in? Yeah
You're a politician
Don't become one of Hitler's children
Bonzo goes to Bitburg then goes out for a cup of tea
As I watched it on TV somehow it really bothered me
Drank in all the bars in town for an extended foreign policy
Pick up the pieces
My brain is hanging upside down
I need something to slow me down
Shouldn't wish you happiness, wish her the very best
Fifty thousand dollar dress
Shaking hands with your highness
See through you like cellophane
You watch the world complain, but you do it anyway
Who am I, am I to say
Bonzo goes to Bitburg then goes out for a cup of tea
As I watched it on TV somehow it really bothered me
Drank in all the bars in town for an extended foreign policy
Pick up the pieces
My brain is hanging upside down
I need something to slow me down
If there's one thing that makes me sick
It's when someone tries to hide behind politics
I wish that time could go by fast
Somehow they manage to make it last
My brain is hanging upside down
I need something to slow me down
Home
When I heard Bonzo Goes to Bitburg on Animal Boy, I was really happy, because it proved that the political edge we heard on “Too Tough To Die” was something that was there for good. This song recently got some bigscreen exposure when it served as the soundtrack for a montage of gonzo underage rocking in “School of Rock.” But the song is not at all cheery, and is actually a deep reflection on lying politicians and the excuses they make for the inexcusable. The song starts eerily with the puffing sound of a train pulling into a station as a rhythmic bell sounds out the departure for where, let me guess … then Johnny and DeeDee attack their instruments and that train takes off like a motherfucker headed straight for hell, and Joey jumps on at the last second, starting with an accusing shout straight at the Gipper:
You've got to pick up the pieces
C'mon, sort your trash
You better pull yourself back together
Maybe you've got too much cash
Better call, call the law
When you gonna turn yourself in? Yeah
You're a politician
Don't become one of Hitler's children
Bonzo goes to Bitburg then goes out for a cup of tea
As I watched it on TV somehow it really bothered me
Drank in all the bars in town for an extended foreign policy
Pick up the pieces
My brain is hanging upside down
I need something to slow me down
Shouldn't wish you happiness, wish her the very best
Fifty thousand dollar dress
Shaking hands with your highness
See through you like cellophane
You watch the world complain, but you do it anyway
Who am I, am I to say
Bonzo goes to Bitburg then goes out for a cup of tea
As I watched it on TV somehow it really bothered me
Drank in all the bars in town for an extended foreign policy
Pick up the pieces
My brain is hanging upside down
I need something to slow me down
If there's one thing that makes me sick
It's when someone tries to hide behind politics
I wish that time could go by fast
Somehow they manage to make it last
My brain is hanging upside down
I need something to slow me down
Home