Album: Ramones
Year: 1976
. . .
How much cleverness can you cram into 92 seconds?
A whole universe worth, as it turns out, as Joey’s song about the potential fate of a bunch of kids hanging out and drinking set up characters who would reoccur in future Ramones songs.
Jackie is a punk
Judy is a runt
They both went down to Berlin
Joined the Ice Capades
And while Jackie and Judy weren’t as recurring characters as say, Holly and Charlemagne in the Hold Steady songs, they eventually returned on End of The Century, which belied the pessimistic chorus.
And oh, I don’t know why
Oh, I don’t know why
Perhaps they’ll die, oh yeah
Perhaps they’ll die, oh yeah
Perhaps they’ll die, oh yeah
Perhaps they’ll die, oh yeah
After which, Joey gleefully shouts “Second verse / Same as the first” over handclaps (!) and while it seems like a throwaway, it’s also awesome, and topped later on when Joey gleefully exclaims — over more handclaps, natch — “Third verse / Different from the first”
Third verse, different from the first
Jackie is a punk
Judy is a runt
They both went down to Frisco
Joined the SLA
And by the way, that third verse happens after a quick bridge which features Tommy smashing his cymbals while Dee Dee goes “oooooooooooh oooooooooooooooh”. Oh and did I mention that all of this happens in a mere 92 seconds?
Why is this Ramones song different from all other Ramones songs?
Dee Dee’s vocals. While Dee Dee eventually sang lead on songs — shit, CJ eventually sang lead on songs — his little flourish to turn “Ice Capades” into “Ice Capaaaeaaaeeeds” is utter genius, as is “SLAaaaaa-aaeeeeeeeee” in the third verse.
Also, while the song is called “Judy is a Punk,” nowhere in the lyrics do they actually say that.
“Judy is a Punk”
“Judy is a Punk” live on Don Kirshner’s Rock Concert
“Judy is a Punk” Germany, 1978
The Certain Songs Database
A filterable, searchable & sortable somewhat up to date database with links to every “Certain Song” post I’ve ever written.
Certain Songs Spotify playlist
(It’s recommended that you listen to this on Spotify as their embed only has 200 songs.)
Support “Certain Songs” with a donation on Patreon
Go to my Patreon page
