Smith was born in Chicago, Illinois, USA. Her mother, Beverly, was a jazz singer, and father, Grant, worked at the Honeywell plant. She spent her entire childhood in Deptford, New Jersey. Raised the daughter of a Jehovah's Witness mother, she claims she had a strong religious, Bible-based education but left organized religion as a teenager because she felt it was too confining. (She later wrote the opening line of her cover version of Them's Gloria in response to this experience.) After graduating from Deptford Township High School in 1964, Smith went to work in a factory.
In 1967 she left Glassboro State Teachers College (now Rowan University) and moved to New York City. She met photographer Robert Mapplethorpe there while working at a book store with friend, poet Janet Hamill. Mapplethorpe's photographs of her became the covers for the Patti Smith Group LPs, and they remained friends until Mapplethorpe's death in 1989. In 1969 she went to Paris with her sister and started busking and doing performance art. When Smith returned to New York City, she lived in the Hotel Chelsea with Mapplethorpe. The two frequented the fashionable Max's Kansas City and CBGB nightclubs. The same year Smith appeared with Wayne County in Jackie Curtis's play "Femme Fatale". As a member of the St. Mark's Poetry Project, she spent the early '70s painting, writing, and performing. In 1971 she performed – for one night only – in Sam Shepard's "Cowboy Mouth". (The published play's notes call for "a man who looks like a coyote and a woman who looks like a crow".) She collaborated with Allen Lanier of Blue Öyster Cult, who recorded several of the songs to which Smith had contributed, including Debbie Denise (after her poem "In Remembrance of Debbie Denise"), Career of Evil, Fire of Unknown Origin, The Revenge of Vera Gemini, and Shooting Shark. During these years, Smith also wrote rock journalism, some of which was published in Creem magazine.
By 1974 Patti Smith was performing rock music herself, initially with guitarist and rock archivist Lenny Kaye, and later with a full band comprising Kaye, Ivan Kral on bass, Jay Dee Daugherty on drums and Richard Sohl, on piano. Financed by Robert Mapplethorpe, the band recorded a first single, "Hey Joe/Piss Factory", in 1974. The A-side was a version of the rock standard with the addition of a spoken word piece about fugitive heiress Patty Hearst ("Patty Hearst, you're standing there in front of the Symbionese Liberation Army flag with your legs spread, I was wondering were you gettin' it every night from a black revolutionary man and his women..."). The B-side describes the helpless anger Smith had felt while working on a factory assembly line and the salvation she discovered in the form of a shoplifted book, the 19th century French poet Arthur Rimbaud's Illuminations.
Patti Smith Group was signed by Clive Davis of Arista Records, and 1975 saw the release of Smith's first album, Horses, produced by John Cale amidst some tension. The album fused punk rock and spoken poetry and begins with a cover of Van Morrison's Gloria, and Smith's opening words: "Jesus died for somebody's sins but not mine."
As Patti Smith Group toured the United States and Europe, punk's popularity grew. The rawer sound of the group's second album, Radio Ethiopia, reflected this development. Considerably less accessible than Horses, Radio Ethiopia received poor reviews. However, several of its songs have stood the test of time, and Smith still performs them regularly in concert. On January 23, 1977, while touring in support of the record, Smith accidentally danced off a high stage in Tampa, Florida and fell 15 feet into a concrete orchestra pit, breaking several neck vertebrae. The injury required a period of rest and an intensive round of physical therapy, during which time she was able to reassess, re-energize and reorganize her life. Patti Smith Group produced two further albums before the end of the 1970s. Easter (1978) was her most commercially successful record, containing single Because the Night co-written with Bruce Springsteen. Wave (1979) was less successful, although songs Frederick and Dancing Barefoot both received commercial airplay.
Before the release of Wave, Smith, now separated from long-time partner Allen Lanier, met Fred Sonic Smith, former guitar player for Detroit rock band MC5 and his own Sonic's Rendezvous Band, who adored poetry as much as she did. ("Wave"'s "Dancing Barefoot" and "Frederick" were both dedicated to him.) The running joke at the time was that she only married Fred because she would not have to change her name. Patti and Fred had a son, Jackson, and later a daughter, Jesse. Through most of the 1980s Patti was in semi-retirement from music, living with her family north of Detroit in St. Clair Shores, Michigan. On June 1988 she released Dream Of Life, which included song People Have the Power. Fred Smith died on November 4, 1994. Shortly afterward, Patti faced the unexpected death of her brother, Todd, and original keyboard player, Richard Sohl. When her son Jackson turned 21, Smith decided to move back to New York. After the impact of these deaths, her friends Michael Stipe of R.E.M. and Allen Ginsberg (whom she had known since her early years in New York) urged her to go back out on the road. She toured briefly with Bob Dylan in December 1995 (chronicled in a book of photographs by Stipe).
In 1996, Smith worked with her long-time colleagues to record the haunting Gone Again, featuring About a Boy, a tribute to Kurt Cobain. Smith was a fan of Cobain, but was more angered than saddened by his suicide. That same year she collaborated with Stipe on E-Bow the Letter, a song on R.E.M.'s New Adventures in Hi-Fi, which she has also performed live with the band. After release of "Gone Again", Patti Smith has recorded two new albums: Peace and Noise in 1997 (with the single 1959, about the invasion of Tibet) and Gung Ho in 2000 (with songs about Ho Chi Minh and Smith's late father). A box set of her work up to that time, "The Patti Smith Masters", came out in 1996, and 2002 saw the release of "Land (1975–2002)", a two-CD compilation that includes a memorable cover of Prince's When Doves Cry. Smith's solo art exhibition, "Strange Messenger" was hosted at The Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh on September 28, 2002.
On April 27, 2004 Patti Smith released Trampin' which included several songs about motherhood, partly in tribute to Smith's mother who died two years before. Smith curated the Meltdown festival in London on June 25, 2005, the penultimate event being the first live performance of "Horses" in its entirety. Guitarist Tom Verlaine took Oliver Ray's place. This live performance was released later in the year as "Horses/Horses". In August 2005 Smith gave a literary lecture about the poems of Arthur Rimbaud and William Blake. On July 10, 2005, Smith was named a Commander of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French Ministry of Culture. In addition to her influence on rock music, Minister also noted Smith's appreciation of Arthur Rimbaud. On October 15, 2006, Patti Smith performed at CBGB nightclub, with a 3½-hour tour de force to close out Manhattan's music venue. She took the stage at 9:30 p.m. (EDT) and closed for the night (and forever for the venue) at a few minutes after 1:00 a.m., performing her song Elegie, and finally reading a list of punk rock musicians and advocates who had died in the previous years.
Smith was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame March 12, 2007. She dedicated her award to the memory of her late husband, Fred, and gave a performance of The Rolling Stones classic, Gimme Shelter. As the closing number of Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony, Smith's "People Have the Power" was used for the big celebrity jam that always ends the program.
From March 28 to June 22, 2008 the Fondation Cartier pour l'Art Contemporain in Paris hosted a major exhibition of the visual work of Patti Smith, "Land 250", drawn from pieces created between 1967 and 2007. At the 2008 Rowan Commencement ceremony, Smith received an honorary doctorate degree for her contributions to popular culture. Smith is the subject of a 2008 documentary film, "Patti Smith: Dream of Life". http://www.dreamoflifethemovie.com/
In June 2012, Smith released her 11th studio album, "Banga." In an interview on CBS News Sunday Morning on April 1, 2012, Smith explained the album's title: "for those who are curious, you can find what Banga is if you read The Master and Margarita by Bulgakov." In The Master and Margarita, Banga is Pontius Pilate's dog who Pilate could freely complain about the hemicrania that tortured him. Other songs on the album were also inspired by literature, particularly "April Fool," inspired by Nikolai Gogol.
www.pattismith.net
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Gloria In Excelsis Deo
Patti Smith Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Meltin' in a pot of thieves
Wild card up my sleeve
Thick heart of stone
My sins my own
They belong to me, me
People say 'beware!'
The words are just
Rules and regulations to me, me
I-I walk in a room, you know I look so proud
I'm movin' in this here atmosphere, well, anything's allowed
And I go to this here party and I just get bored
Until I look out the window, see a sweet young thing
Humpin' on the parking meter, leanin' on the parking meter
Oh, she looks so good, oh, she looks so fine
And I got this crazy feeling and then I'm gonna ah-ah make her mine
Ooh I'll put my spell on her
Here she comes
Walkin' down the street
Here she comes
Comin' through my door
Here she comes
Crawlin' up my stair
Here she comes
Waltzin' through the hall
In a pretty red dress
And oh, she looks so good, oh, she looks so fine
And I got this crazy feeling that I'm gonna ah-ah make her mine
And then I hear this knockin' on my door
Hear this knockin' on my door
And I look up into the big tower clock
And say, 'oh my God here's midnight!'
And my baby is walkin' through the door
Leanin' on my couch she whispers to me and I take the big plunge
And oh, she was so good and oh, she was so fine
And I'm gonna tell the world that I just ah-ah made her mine
And I said darling, tell me your name, she told me her name
She whispered to me, she told me her name
And her name is, and her name is, and her name is, and her name is g-l-o-are-I-a
G-l-o-are-I-a gloria g-l-o-are-I-a gloria
G-l-o-are-I-a gloria g-l-o-are-I-a gloria
I was at the stadium
There were twenty thousand girls called their names out to me
Marie and ruth but to tell you the truth
I didn't hear them I didn't see
I let my eyes rise to the big tower clock
And I heard those bells chimin' in my heart
Going ding dong ding dong ding dong ding dong.
Ding dong ding dong ding dong ding dong
Counting the time, then you came to my room
And you whispered to me and we took the big plunge
And oh. you were so good, oh, you were so fine
And I gotta tell the world that I make her mine make her mine
Make her mine make her mine make her mine make her mine
G-l-o-are-I-a gloria g-l-o-are-I-a gloria g-l-o-are-I-a gloria,
G-l-o-are-I-a gloria
And the tower bells chime, 'ding dong' they chime
They're singing, 'jesus died for somebody's sins but not mine.'
Gloria g-l-o-are-I-a gloria g-l-o-are-I-a gloria g-l-o-are-I-a,
Gloria g-l-o-are-I-a, g-l-o-are-I-a gloria g-l-o-are-I-a gloria
G-l-o-are-I-a gloria g-l-o-are-I-a gloria g-l-o-are-I-a gloria,
G-l-o-are-I-a gloria g-l-o-are-I-a gloria g-l-o-are-I-a gloria,
G-l-o-are-I-a gloria g-l-o-are-I-a gloria g-l-o-are-I-a gloria
The lyrics to Patti Smith's song Gloria: In Excelsis Deo are highly controversial and often considered to be one of the seminal works of punk rock. The song talks about personal freedom, sexuality and religious ideology, and Smith's rebellious nature. In the first verse, Smith declares that Jesus atoned for someone's sins, although it wasn't hers. She then exposes her defiance against establishment by stating that the rules and regulations don't apply to her.
In the next verse, Smith narrates how she went to a party and got bored until she spotted a woman outside dancing with the parking meter. The singer feels a sudden urge to possess the woman and puts a spell on her. In the final verse, Smith is in her room, and the bells of the tower clock chime reminding her of her mortality. She then begins to sing the chorus, which is an exaltation of the name Gloria while denouncing Jesus.
Overall, the lyrics of Gloria may seem irreverent and blasphemous, but they ultimately reflect Smith's fiercely independent character and desire to challenge the status quo.
Line by Line Meaning
Jesus died for somebody's sins but not mine
I will not be held accountable for the sins of others, but rather for my own
Meltin' in a pot of thieves
Being surrounded by corrupt individuals
Wild card up my sleeve
Having a hidden and unpredictable element to my personality
Thick heart of stone
Having an unfeeling and unyielding nature
My sins my own
Taking responsibility for my own wrongdoing
They belong to me, me
My mistakes and flaws are my own and do not reflect the actions or beliefs of others
People say 'beware!'
Others may warn me of potential dangers
But I don't care
I am not concerned with the warnings or opinions of others
The words are just rules and regulations to me, me
I view the warnings and rules of society as meaningless
I-I walk in a room, you know I look so proud
Confidently entering a room
I'm movin' in this here atmosphere, well, anything's allowed
Feeling free to behave in any way I choose
And I go to this here party and I just get bored
Feeling uninterested in social events
Until I look out the window, see a sweet young thing
Becoming attracted to a young woman outside
Humpin' on the parking meter, leanin' on the parking meter
Watching the woman dance provocatively on a parking meter
Oh, she looks so good, oh, she looks so fine
Finding the woman attractive
And I got this crazy feeling and then I'm gonna ah-ah make her mine
Feeling compelled to pursue the woman
Ooh I'll put my spell on her
Intending to seduce the woman
Here she comes
The woman approaches
Walkin' down the street
The woman is walking towards me
Comin' through my door
Entering my home
Crawlin' up my stair
Ascending the staircase in my home
Waltzin' through the hall
Walking confidently through my home
In a pretty red dress
Wearing an attractive red dress
And then I hear this knockin' on my door
Hearing a knock at the door
Hear this knockin' on my door
The knock is repeated
And I look up into the big tower clock
Checking the time on a clock in my home
And say, 'oh my God here's midnight!'
Realizing that it is very late
And my baby is walkin' through the door
The woman has arrived
Leanin' on my couch she whispers to me and I take the big plunge
Taking a risk and pursuing a physical relationship with the woman
And oh, she was so good and oh, she was so fine
Enjoying the experience with the woman
And I'm gonna tell the world that I just ah-ah made her mine
Boasting about my sexual conquest
And I said darling, tell me your name, she told me her name
Asking the woman's name
She whispered to me, she told me her name
Answering my question in a hushed tone
And her name is, and her name is, and her name is, and her name is, g-l-o-are-I-a
Revealing the woman's name is Gloria
I was at the stadium
Recalling a past experience at a sports arena
There were twenty thousand girls called their names out to me
Being called out to by many women
Marie and ruth but to tell you the truth
Hearing women call out various names, but not paying attention
I didn't hear them I didn't see
Choosing to ignore the other women
Counting the time, then you came to my room
Waiting for the arrival of Gloria
And you whispered to me and we took the big plunge
Engaging in a physical relationship with Gloria
And oh. you were so good, oh, you were so fine
Enjoying the experience with Gloria
And I gotta tell the world that I make her mine make her mine
Boasting about my sexual conquest of Gloria
And the tower bells chime, 'ding dong' they chime
Hearing the sound of bells ringing
They're singing, 'jesus died for somebody's sins but not mine.'
Reflecting on the religious imagery in the lyrics and rejecting any guilt or shame associated with his actions
Gloria g-l-o-are-I-a gloria g-l-o-are-I-a gloria g-l-o-are-I-a
Repeating the name Gloria
G-l-o-are-I-a gloria g-l-o-are-I-a
Repeating the name Gloria
G-l-o-are-I-a gloria g-l-o-are-I-a gloria g-l-o-are-I-a gloria
Repeating the name Gloria
G-l-o-are-I-a gloria g-l-o-are-I-a gloria g-l-o-are-I-a gloria
Repeating the name Gloria
G-l-o-are-I-a gloria g-l-o-are-I-a gloria g-l-o-are-I-a gloria
Repeating the name Gloria
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Royalty Network, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Written by: Van Morrison
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@Dutch_Engineer_Piff_Dahnk
Its iterally pc to hat on christians. Its seen as brave, heroic and standing up to the man.
Everyone who feels alone catches on to this and goes along with it to feel accepted.
Meanwhile christians are minding their own business they are villifies by everyone.
People would dream of insulting another religion like that, yet its open season to hate on christians. And people feel like they're doing something good by dissing christians.
What you realize is that there is another lost soul looking to calm the rage inside them. People are using chrisitans as a scapegoat for their problems. But if they did more research they wouldn't.
People hate what they don't understand and have a hard time admitting they are wrong. Until I realized that we have gone 50 years moving away from christian values. We got rid of decency laws and have things gotten better?
Since 67 culture has been moving away from christianity. Is culture heading in the right direction?
I realized I was fighting against good, we have been standing up against what right to promote what's wrong and say things like 'it's not my place to say' when people do wrong.
Thats what patti said about the sexualization in pop music 'oh it's not my place'. You know damn well you would want your daughter be a backup dancer in pop musice today.
Because you people are too scared to stand up for what's right and instead go the easy way, because you're too afraid to rock the boat and recive judgement. If standing for what's right will make people turn on you, you're feeling shallow acceptance currently. It will never be fulfilling, that rage inside you will still persist, you're only chasing temporary distractions.
They only way to remove it is it live right, but most Westerners don't want to hear it. That's how we went from Mj not being allowed to dance with no shirt on, to musice videos looking like porn today.
This is the culture our naivety is creating. We want to be down, we don't want to stand up for fear of being seen as 'the bad guy'.
@Dutch_Engineer_Piff_Dahnk
Have you noticed how it's cool to hate on Christians. To blame them for societies issues, while they do nothing.
But we wouldn't dream of insulting any other group because it would be ra*ist.
If you think about it these trends are using us as pawns to re establish the power structure of the US.
Every movement starts slow, but like any revolution eventually one powerful group is replaced by another and we are being used for that purpose.
Don't be naive to think people don't want to overthrow or destroy countries who have been imposing their morals from their first world status. People covet what other have
@gintaretrumpaite1138
Jesus died for somebody's sins but not mine
Meltin' in a pot of thieves
Wild card up my sleeve
Thick heart of stone
My sins my own
They belong to me, me
People say "beware!"
But I don't care
The words are just
Rules and regulations to me, me
I-I walk in a room, you know I look so proud
I'm movin' in this here atmosphere, well, anything's allowed
And I go to this here party and I just get bored
Until I look out the window, see a sweet young thing
Humpin' on the parking meter, leanin' on the parking meter
Oh, she looks so good, oh, she looks so fine
And I got this crazy feeling and then I'm gonna ah-ah make her mine
Ooh I'll put my spell on her
Here she comes
Walkin' down the street
Here she comes
Comin' through my door
Here she comes
Crawlin' up my stair
Here she comes
Waltzin' through the hall
In a pretty red dress
And oh, she looks so good, oh, she looks so fine
And I got this crazy feeling that I'm gonna ah-ah make her mine
And then I hear this knockin' on my door
Hear this knockin' on my door
And I look up into the big tower clock
And say, "oh my God here's midnight!"
And my baby is walkin' through the door
Leanin' on my couch she whispers to me and I take the big plunge
And oh, she was so good and oh, she was so fine
And I'm gonna tell the world that I just ah-ah made her mine
And I said darling, tell me your name, she told me her name
She whispered to me, she told me her name
And her name is, and her name is, and her name is, and her name is G-L-O-R-I-A
G-L-O-R-I-A Gloria G-L-O-R-I-A Gloria
G-L-O-R-I-A Gloria G-L-O-R-I-A Gloria
I was at the stadium
There were twenty thousand girls called their names out to me
Marie and Ruth but to tell you the truth
I didn't hear them I didn't see
I let my eyes rise to the big tower clock
And I heard those bells chimin' in my heart
Going ding dong ding dong ding dong ding dong.
Ding dong ding dong ding dong ding dong
Counting the time, then you came to my room
And you whispered to me and we took the big plunge
And oh. you were so good, oh, you were so fine
And I gotta tell the world that I make her mine make her mine
Make her mine make her mine make her mine make her mine
G-L-O-R-I-A Gloria G-L-O-R-I-A Gloria G-L-O-R-I-A Gloria,
G-L-O-R-I-A Gloria
And the tower bells chime, "ding dong" they chime
They're singing, "Jesus died for somebody's sins but not mine."
Gloria G-L-O-R-I-A Gloria G-L-O-R-I-A Gloria G-L-O-R-I-A,
Gloria G-L-O-R-I-A, G-L-O-R-I-A Gloria G-L-O-R-I-A Gloria
G-L-O-R-I-A Gloria G-L-O-R-I-A Gloria G-L-O-R-I-A Gloria,
G-L-O-R-I-A Gloria G-L-O-R-I-A Gloria G-L-O-R-I-A Gloria,
G-L-O-R-I-A Gloria G-L-O-R-I-A Gloria G-L-O-R-I-A
@danno698299
I see her sometimes at the Starbucks by my job in Soho. She’s a sweet older lady now. Always tips the workers according to the barista, who had no idea who she is hahaha.
@g59Maddi
that’s awesome!
@Laertes1962
just the way she was before, honey!
@kittenfuud
Perfect! Hey fellow Patti-ite (ha!)
from a person in Seattle that's witnessed the magic every show from 78 to 04 - ain't it grand!
@watchth1ngs
like you're gonna call Patti Smith a sweet old lady.... 8-) lol
@dvelasquez4174
Soho Tampa?
@estelamatta9179
This Is an underrated and undervalued MASTERPIECE OF 1970S rock/pop culture.Edgy yet smooth. Patti Smith at her best.
@davidconnor9978
Hello
@talyobirdsey
Not undervalued or underrated. It’s understood to be one of the peak moments of early punk
@johndegruchy5372
Yup. Back in the '70s we all owned this album, and Gloria was played over and over @@talyobirdsey