NEWS: Joey Ramone was a Republican

Who knew?

I think Ted Nugent's "Stranglehold" is one of the best rock riffs ever, I also think he's a fucking whack job. My taste in music has nothing to do with my taste in politics, so I couldn't care less what they believe in as long as they rock.

Let's not forget the Ramones "Bonzo goes to Bitburg", or whatever that was about Reagan visiting the Nazi cemetary.

I'm not sure what Joey was talking about there, but there's always been a right-wing element in the punk world, in the form of neo-Nazi skinhead bands and the like.

Yes, punk was a revolt against, among other things, hippies - but not hippie politics so much as an outdated dreamy wishy washy mindset (nothing against hippies - I suppose I'm a hippie).

Punk was always explicitly anti-political - it was for anarchy if anything (but tongue-in-cheek dada anarchy). The hippies too, for that matter -- Pete Townsend threw Abbie Hoffman off the stage at Woodstock for spewing politics.

But the republican party today is certainly no friend of people who embrace a punk ethos or lifestyle. That's for sure.

I knew Johnny was incredibly conservative. This was stolen from allmusic.com referring to the album Animal Boy.

Of note, the album does contain one of the band's most clearly political statements in first single "Bonzo Goes to Bitburg," written about President Ronald Reagan's ill-advised visit to Germany's Bitburg cemetery, the site of many Nazi graves. Interestingly, the song was later re-titled "My Brain Is Hanging Upside Down" prior to the album's release after vehement protests from guitarist Johnny Ramone, a fervid conservative.


Anyhow...
RIP Joey and Dee Dee.

"I don't give a fuck about Nicaragua!" Totally a right leaning song. Not supporting regean and co, but definitely anti-commie.

Makes sense, and I like how punk can be both right and left, but for me, it's all aboput the left. I like Joey and Ben no less for this.

Added: Pennywise is a great example of a punk bridge between left and right. They are all about liberal politics. They are proud to be bleeding heart liberals and social welfare is always in their lyrics. At the same time they are also pushing the personal responsibility line that is a hallmark of the right. They constantly preach that it's up to you to take action to change your life.

[Edited on Feb 18, 2004 by Pip]

Joey Ramone was rich, so I can't blame him for being Republican. Hell I was one years ago...when I was loaded.

Wow.

Gives me hope that we're not all shut-brained.

"I don't like communists"

I remember reading something where Joey was praising Rancid's self titled album they released in 2000. It said something along the lines of:

My favorite song is Radio Havana. Even though I hate Commies.

Ummmm, Joey didn't say that. Johnny said that. Johnny is, in fact, a Republican and always was, and used to fight with Joey and Dee Dee about it all the time.

Joey in fact said things like "I wanna steal from the rich and give to the poor."

Oh. So there you go...

Yeah, in a song about being a modern Robin Hood. Besides, not all Republican are rich. Not all Democrats are poor.

maybe this is the natural evolution of a society. maybe one day, decades down the road, the right wing school of thought will be the new youth vanguard.

Ok, I can't resist. But I must say it:
Joey Ramone passed away
ahey ahey

Yeah. Or maybe not.



(they've got to lose the social control business. and they've got to drop the idea that unlimited corporate power is benign)

Ummm, yes. Would you like fifty other examples?

The facts remain, Joey was not a Republican and redistribution of wealth is antithetical to the Republican party platform.

In a true punk manner:
Fuck the system.

Democrats and Republicans both have their fair share of those commiting douche-baggery.

I've never been into "punk" as one might try to define it. I've always been into the post-punk and proto-industrial bands (particularly the British ones) that came out of the near apocalyptic wastelands of capitalism run amok.

Then again, I'm also a left (or as I prefer to say, there just aren't enough spatial dimensions in existence to orthogonally translate my beliefs into that of my opposition).

But I do have respect for my libertarian friends, because they are least on the same par as I am about most civil liberties (drugs, rights, etc) and our differences are practically on an economical level. And in real life, I can be great friends with people who respect my personal civil liberties. However, I can't be friends with someone who hates me for who I am and who I love.

If we are going by lyrics alone, their are TONS of Ramones lyrics that contradict that.

What you refer to, Howling at the Moon (Sha La La)
says:
"I want to steal from the rich and
Give to the poor"

along with:

"Conservatives can cry"

conversely, things can be interpreted as anti-left as well.

From " This Ain't Havana"

"I had no advantage over you
There was troubles and I had'em too"

and

"You say you're poor and uneducated
You ain't gotta chance 'cause you're hated"

From "Im Against It"

"I don't like politics"
"I don't care about poverty" (Which certainly means he isn't Democratic, right? They care about that stuff..)
-------------------------

Bottom line you cant judge the Ramones political standing by their lyrics.
Dee Dee wasn't a Nazi either. But, he certainly wrote about being one.

hell yeah he was...

nothing wrong with wanting to make your money, and keep it as well.

just because you look like a rose and sound like a rose doesn't mean you're a rose. especially if you talk like a elephant.

It's always been interesting to me how the political extremes turn into their opposites -- the right become anarchist (libertarianism) , the left becomes repressive (stalinism, etc.)

Id go with "Joey Ramone is a god" myself.