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."
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 powerful song about heartbreak and loss. The opening lines delve into the raw emotion of missing someone who has gone away, and the desperate search for answers that ultimately never come. The lyrics evoke a feeling of longing and emptiness as the singer reflects on his pain and how nothing can fill the void left behind by his departed love.
As the song progresses, the lyrics paint a picture of a man plagued by guilt and self-doubt. He feels isolated and alone despite being surrounded by people who don't understand his pain. The words express a sense of hopelessness and despair as the singer grapples with the realization that life without his love is a fate worse than death.
The final verse is particularly poignant as it describes the heart-wrenching moment when the singer's beloved passes away. The memories of her last words and final gesture haunt him, reminding him of what he has lost and how he will never be able to recover from it.
Overall, "I Don't Want to Live This Life" is a gut-wrenching exploration of grief and loss. It taps into the deep sadness that many of us feel when we lose someone we love and lays bare the pain that can be so hard to articulate.
Line by Line Meaning
Now that you're gone, I feel the pain
I am experiencing an emotional pain after losing you
My heart trembles, I call your name
My heart is aching and I long for your presence
I miss your touch, your soft blonde hair
I am yearning for the physical affection and comfort you provided
I keep searching for an answer...it just ain't there
I am searching for an explanation or solution to my pain, but cannot find any
And I don't want to live this life (x 3)
I do not wish to continue living with this emotional pain
Everywhere I turn, the finger points to me
I feel blamed or judged by those around me
You'll never understand, I'm in misery
You cannot understand the extent of my suffering
'Cause baby without you, I have no one
I feel alone and lost without your presence in my life
Oh, my sweet darling, what have I done
I am questioning my actions that led to the loss of our relationship
She smiled at me as I held her carefully
I held her closely and tenderly in a moment of intimacy
Her last words were "I love you", thought it set me free
Though her proclamation of love was comforting, it did not alleviate my pain
And I can't forget that look on her face
A particular expression on her face is imprinted on my mind
It looked like an angel as she died in my prayers
She appeared peaceful and heavenly as she passed away in my thoughts
And I don't want to live this life (x 3)
I do not wish to continue living with the burden of my emotions
Anymore
I no longer want to endure this pain
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Racheal Plymale
on I Wanna Be Sedated (Live)
My Alltime favorite band!!!!!!!!! Joey Ramone was yummmy!!!!!