All of the band members adopted pseudonyms ending with the surname "Ramone", though none of them were related. They performed 2,263 concerts, touring virtually nonstop for 22 years. In 1996, after a tour with the Lollapalooza music festival, the band played a farewell concert and disbanded. By a little more than eight years after the breakup, the band's three founding members—lead singer Joey Ramone, guitarist Johnny Ramone, and bassist Dee Dee Ramone—had died. Drummer Tommy Ramone, the last surviving original member, died in 2014.
Their only record with enough U.S. sales to be certified gold was the compilation album Ramones Mania. However, recognition of the band's importance built over the years, and they are now cited in many assessments of all-time great rock music, such as the Rolling Stone list of the 50 Greatest Artists of All Time and VH1's 100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock. In 2002, the Ramones were ranked the second-greatest band of all time by Spin magazine, trailing only The Beatles. On March 18, 2002, the Ramones—including the three founders and drummers Marky and Tommy Ramone—were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In 2011, the group was awarded a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.
Formation: 1974–1975
Forest Hills High School, attended by the four original members of the Ramones
The original members of the band met in and around the middle-class neighborhood of Forest Hills in the New York City borough of Queens. John Cummings and Tamás Erdélyi had both been in a high-school garage band from 1966 to 1967 known as the Tangerine Puppets. They became friends with Douglas Colvin, who had recently moved to the area from Germany, and Jeffry Hyman, who was the initial lead singer of the glam rock band Sniper, founded in 1972.
The Ramones began taking shape in early 1974, when Cummings and Colvin invited Hyman to join them in a band. The initial lineup featured Colvin on lead vocals and rhythm guitar, Cummings on lead guitar, and Hyman on drums. Colvin, who soon switched from rhythm guitar to bass, was the first to adopt the name "Ramone", calling himself Dee Dee Ramone. He was inspired by Paul McCartney's use of the pseudonym Paul Ramon during his Silver Beatles days. Dee Dee convinced the other members to take on the name and came up with the idea of calling the band the Ramones. Hyman and Cummings became Joey Ramone and Johnny Ramone, respectively.
A friend of the band, Monte A. Melnick (later their tour manager), helped to arrange rehearsal time for them at Manhattan's Performance Studios, where he worked. Johnny's former bandmate Erdélyi was set to become their manager. Soon after the band was formed, Dee Dee realized that he could not sing and play his bass guitar simultaneously; with Erdélyi's encouragement, Joey became the band's new lead singer.
Dee Dee would continue, however, to count off each song's tempo with his signature rapid-fire shout of "1-2-3-4!" Joey soon similarly realized that he could not sing and play drums simultaneously and left the position of drummer. While auditioning prospective replacements, Erdélyi would often take to the drums and demonstrate how to play the songs. It became apparent that he was able to perform the group's music better than anyone else, and he joined the band as Tommy Ramone.
The Ramones played before an audience for the first time on March 30, 1974, at Performance Studios. The songs they played were very fast and very short; most clocked in at under two minutes. Around this time, a new music scene was emerging in New York centered around two clubs in downtown Manhattan—Max's Kansas City and, more famously, CBGB (usually referred to as CBGB's). The Ramones made their CBGB debut on August 16. Legs McNeil, who cofounded Punk magazine the following year, later described the impact of that performance: "They were all wearing these black leather jackets. And they counted off this song...and it was just this wall of noise.... They looked so striking. These guys were not hippies. This was something completely new."
The band swiftly became regulars at the club, playing there seventy-four times by the end of the year. After garnering considerable attention for their performances—which averaged about seventeen minutes from beginning to end—the group was signed to a recording contract in late 1975 by Seymour Stein of Sire Records. Stein's wife, Linda Stein, had seen the band play at CBGB; she would later co-manage them along with Danny Fields. By this time, the Ramones were recognized as leaders of the new scene that was increasingly being referred to as "punk". The group's unusual frontman had a lot to do with their impact. As Dee Dee explained, "All the other singers [in New York] were copying David Johansen [of The New York Dolls], who was copying Mick Jagger.... But Joey was unique, totally unique."
15. I Don't Want to Live This Life
Ramones Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
My heart trembles, I call your name
I miss your touch, your soft blonde hair
I keep searching for an answer...it just ain't there
And I don't want to live this life (x 3)
Anymore
You'll never understand, I'm in misery
'Cause baby without you, I have no one
Oh, my sweet darling, what have I done
And I don't want to live this life (x 3)
Anymore
She smiled at me as I held her carefully
Her last words were "I love you", thought it set me free
And I can't forget that look on her face
It looked like an angel as she died in my prayers
And I don't want to live this life
And I don't want to live this life
And I don't want to live this life
Anymore
(x 3)
The Ramones' "I Don't Want to Live This Life" is a heartbreakingly poignant song about lost love and the unbearable weight of guilt. The lyrics paint a picture of the singer's devastation at the loss of a blonde-haired lover, whose absence has left him feeling lost and searching for answers. The pain is palpable as the singer's heart trembles and the memory of the lover's touch lingers on, contrasting sharply with the unbearable weight of guilt that comes from feeling responsible for her death.
The song is built around a chorus that is both a plaintive cry for relief from the pain of memory and a declaration of the singer's desire to end his life. The verses describe the source of the singer's pain and the reasons why he feels he cannot go on living. Everywhere he turns he is blamed for his lover's death and feels alienated from the world around him. The final verse describes a touching moment of connection just before the lover's death, which is unforgettable and serves to intensify the singer's anguish.
Line by Line Meaning
Now that you're gone
With your absence, I am experiencing sorrow and grief.
I feel the pain
I am emotionally hurt by losing you.
My heart trembles
My heart is quivering with sadness and anxiety.
I call your name
I long for your presence and thus, I vocalize your name.
I miss your touch
I yearn for the sensation of feeling connected to you.
Your soft blond hair
I reminisce and recall fondly your blonde hair that was a part of your unique features.
I keep searching for an answer
I actively seek a resolution for my pain and confusion but it continues to elude me.
But it just ain't there
Although I desire answers, they are not forthcoming and remain unknown to me.
And I don't want to live this life
I wish to die to escape this distress and heartache.
Everywhere I turn
Regardless of where I go or what I do, there is an implication that I am at fault and experiencing guilt.
The finger points on me
I am being accused and shouldered with blame for something beyond my control.
You'll never understand
I feel dismissed and unheard because you lack the capacity to sympathize with my pain.
I'm in misery
The agony and despair seem unbearable to me.
Oh baby, without you
My existence seems hollow and empty since you've been gone.
I have no one
No one can make up for your absence or fill the void left by your departure.
Oh my sweet darling
I am addressing a term of endearment to you, conveying the depth of my affection for you.
What have I done?
I question my actions, wondering if my actions could have prevented or affected the event that led to your departure.
She smiled at me
Despite the tragedy that was to occur, she still was able to comfort me with a smile.
As I held her carefully
I am reminded of the love and warmth we shared physically when we were together.
The last words were I love you
The final words exchanged conveyed undying love for one another.
Thought it set me free
I believed that with those final words, I would be able to move on and find peace, but sadly this was not the case.
And I can't forget
I am unable to erase from my memory the moments that have brought me pain.
That look on your face
I vividly recall the expression on your face in the final moments as you passed on.
She looked like an angel
I describe you as an ethereal being due to your beauty and precious nature that I valued deeply and now have truly noticed.
As she died in my prayers
I recall praying for her to revive despite her condition, but unfortunately, things took a tragic turn.
And I don't want to live this life
My heart is entirely broken due to my loss and feeling that my life cannot go on without you beside me.
And I don't want to live this life
The sorrow and pain are insurmountable, conveying that death seems like an appealing option to escape the suffering.
And I don't want to live this life
Despite how much effort and time will pass, the pain of your loss remains everlastingly unbearable.
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Dian Carlo
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