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“Blitzkrieg Bop” – The Ramones
(Words/music: The Ramones, available on Ramones, Sire 1976)

Admittedly, a lot of things come to mind about the Ramones before I think about how many excellent songs they wrote together.  If it were possible to monitor my brain while asking me about the Ramones, I’d imagine that my synapses would jump to all of the trivia associated with the band.  That fine, and at some point in my past I’m sure I would be thrilled with the way I could fluidly talk about their place in history and owning Rocket to Russia on vinyl or even making the argument that the Ramones version of punk owes more to Phil Spector than Iggy Pop.  However, there’s a marginal amount of joy I find in those facts; perhaps it’s from being in a job surrounded by facts, or perhaps it’s the burden of having so much information available that I feel like I can’t possibly absorb it all.

My point is this – the reason I care about Joey Ramone’s real name or the garage rock bands the Ramones covered ultimately goes back to the music.  While historical context can enrich music, it shouldn’t eclipse the song.  Ultimately, “Blitzkrieg Bop” isn’t great because the band played it on stage at CBGBs in the late 70s, or because someone puts it in their top five list.  “Blitzkrieg Bop” is great because of the way it makes a pulse quicken as soon as the first power chord strikes.  In the right moments, “hey, ho, let’s go” stirs my soul like nothing else, and for 2:11, the reason why so many of us know so much about the Ramones takes center stage.  It’s easy to get lost in the trivia (especially now with all of the listmaking going on), and that’s part of the fun of music.  Let’s just remember the reason why we care about any of it in the first place.

More on The Ramones: Allmusic | Amazon MP3 | Emusic | Last.fm