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."
Pet Cemetary
Ramones Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Ancient goblins and warlords
Come out the ground, not making a sound
The smell of death is all around
And the night when the cold wind blows
No one cares, nobody knows
I don't want to be buried in a pet cemetary
I don't want to be buried in a pet cemetary
I don't want to live my life again
Follow victor to the sacred place
This ain't a dream, I can't escape
Molars and fangs, the clicking of bones
Spirits moaning among the tombstones
And the night when the moon is bright
Someone cries, something ain't right
I don't want to be buried in a pet cemetary
I don't want to live my life again
I don't want to be buried in a pet cemetary
I don't want to live my life again
The moon is full, the air is still
All of a sudden I feel a chill
Victor is grinning, flesh rotting away
Skeletons dance, I curse this day
And the night when the wolves cry out
Listen close and you can hear me shout
I don't want to be buried in a pet cemetary
I don't want to live my life again
I don't want to be buried in a pet cemetary
I don't want to live my life again, oh no, oh no
I don't want to live my life again, oh no, oh oh
I don't want to live my life again, oh no no no
I don't want to live my life again, oh oh
The lyrics of the song "Pet Cemetary" by the Ramones are about a sinister cemetery where the dead pets come back to life. The first verse describes the eerie atmosphere of the cemetery, populated by ancient goblins and warlords rising from the ground. The smell of death lingers in the air while the cold wind blows at night, and no one seems to care or know about the strange happenings.
The second verse follows the singer, Victor, as he leads the singer to the sacred pet cemetery. The scenery is haunting, with moaning spirits and clicking bones. Something is not right, and the singer wants to escape. The third verse takes a turn towards horror as Victor's flesh begins to rot away, and skeletons dance around him. The singer curses the day he came to the pet cemetery while the wolves cry out in the background.
The "Pet Cemetary" song has a dual interpretation. It can be seen as a cautionary tale against tampering with the natural order of things or trying to bring the dead back to life. It can also be viewed as a metaphor for how people should not dwell on the past and instead focus on living in the present.
Line by Line Meaning
Under the arc of a weather stain boards
Underneath the curved corner of weathered wooden planks
Ancient goblins and warlords
Long-gone creatures of myth and legend
Come out the ground, not making a sound
Rising quietly from their buried resting places
The smell of death is all around
The scent of death permeates the air
And the night when the cold wind blows
When the nighttime chill sets in
No one cares, nobody knows
No one is aware or concerned
Follow victor to the sacred place
Accompany Victor to a hallowed site
This ain't a dream, I can't escape
This is not a fantasy, I am unable to flee
Molars and fangs, the clicking of bones
Teeth and bones, clacking and grinding
Spirits moaning among the tombstones
Ghostly voices making mournful sounds by the headstones
And the night when the moon is bright
When the moon shines full and bright
Someone cries, something ain't right
A person weeps, sensing something is askew
The moon is full, the air is still
The moon is completely full, the atmosphere is calm
All of a sudden I feel a chill
Suddenly, a chill runs down my spine
Victor is grinning, flesh rotting away
Victor smiles, his decaying flesh falling off
Skeletons dance, I curse this day
Skeletons move in a macabre dance, causing me to swear
And the night when the wolves cry out
When the wolves howl in the night
Listen close and you can hear me shout
If you listen intently, you'll hear me screaming
I don't want to be buried in a pet cemetary
I have no desire to be interred in a graveyard for animals
I don't want to live my life again
I do not want to go through my existence anew
Contributed by Julia Y. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@NN11527
Under the arc of a weather stain boards
Ancient goblins and warlords
Come out of the ground, not making a sound
The smell of death is all around
And the night when the cold wind blows
No one cares, nobody knows
I don't want to be buried in a pet sematary
I don't want to live my life again
I don't want to be buried in a pet sematary
I don't want to live my life again
Follow Victor to the sacred place
This ain't a dream, I can't escape
Molars and fangs, the clicking of bones
Spirits moaning among the tombstones
And the night, when the moon is bright
Someone cries, something ain't right
I don't want to be buried in a pet sematary
I don't want to live my life again
I don't want to be buried in a pet sematary
I don't want to live my life again
The moon is full, the air is still
All of a sudden I feel a chill
Victor is grinning, flesh is rotting away
Skeletons dance, I curse this day
And the night when the wolves cry out
Listen close and you can hear me shout
I don't want to be buried in a pet sematary
I don't want to live my life again
I don't want to be buried in a pet sematary
I don't want to live my life again
Oh, no
Oh, no
I don't want to live my life again
Not again
Oh, no
Oh-oh
I don't want to live my life again
Not again
Oh, no-no-no
Don't want to live my life again
Not again
Oh-oh-oh
@lucassantoscosta7695
Lyrics:
Under the arc of a weather stain boards
Ancient goblins, and warlords
Come out of the ground, not making a sound
The smell of death is all around
And the night when the cold wind blows
No one cares, nobody knows
I don't wanna be buried in a Pet Sematary
I don't want to live my life again
I don't wanna be buried in a Pet Sematary
I don't want to live my life again
Follow Victor to the sacred place
This ain't a dream, I can't escape
Molars and fangs, the clicking of bones
Spirits moaning among the tombstones
And the night, when the moon is bright
Someone cries, something ain't right
I don't wanna be buried in a Pet Sematary
I don't want to live my life again
I don't wanna be buried in a Pet Sematary
I don't want to live my life again
The moon is full, the air is still
All of a sudden I feel a chill
Victor is grinning, flesh rotting away
Skeletons dance, I curse this day
And the night when the wolves cry out
Listen close and you can hear me shout
I don't wanna be buried in a Pet Sematary
I don't want to live my life again
I don't wanna be buried in a Pet Sematary
I don't want to live my life again, oh no, oh no
I don't want to live my life again, oh no, oh oh
I don't want to live my life again, oh no no no
I don't want to live my life again, oh oh
@sherife71
R.I.P
Joey Ramone ( ★1951 - † 2001)
Dee Dee Ramone (★1951 - † 2002)
Johnny Ramone (★1948 - † 2004)
Tommy Ramone (★1949 - † 2014)
@Love-qb8yk
The Ramones are now at the Pet Sematary
@SpongeBobbin34
Love but they don’t want to live their lives again
@larsivar8772
Tommy Ramone wasn't in the band when this song was made. The drummer was Marky Ramone.
@majidie5301
are those all original members?
@daniels5930
@@majidie5301 Yeah, those 4 are the original line up. Tommy left the band in '78 to work on studio projects and Marky took his place before being fired and re-hired later on.
@Abegoldhatch
Ramones haven’t been buried in Pet Sematary but they’re immortal as they live forever throughout their music. RIP Ramones 🖤❤️🎸🥁🎤⚰️🪦
@weldermartins2715
nice and great
@larryramone7400
😭😭😭😭🍻🍻🍻🍻
@larryramone7400
Don’t be sad they’re gone , be happy they ever existed. ( Still I’m crying 😢) ❤