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In-Depth Information
Dee Dee Ramone: Writer
Writing a good pop song isn't as easy as you might think. The best songs are simple and
filled with feeling, and that kind of deceptively simple writing actually takes skill. Dee Dee
had little trouble infusing his songs with feeling—punk rock was a perfect medium for ex-
pressinghisfrustrationandrageinwords.Andlikemanywriters,hehadhisownoddrituals.
ROBERT CAMPBELL
One thing that was really cool about Dee Dee was that when he would write
songs—I only saw him write once or twice—he would lie down on the floor like
he was trying to crawl into the floor or something. He was like one of those dead
guys after he's jumped out of a building, all sprawled out with arms akimbo. He'd
puthischeekrightdownonthefloor,andthepiece ofpaperonthefloor,andhe'd
write the lyrics right there. Dee Dee never said why he did that.
He
did
used to say, “All you need for a good punk rock song is three chords
and a grudge.”
TIM SULLIVAN
Dee Dee wrote all their best songs, all the lyrics for them. He wanted me to work
on some song lyrics with him, but I knew better. I didn't want to get involved in
that Ramones circle. Dee Dee was really weird about writing music, which was
why I didn't want to write any music with him. He got very possessive. He had a
hard time with his emotions anyway, and he thought people were always going to
rip him off!
So I thought, “Okay, write your
own
songs.” I wouldn't deal with him.
ROBERT CAMPBELL
OneofthethingsthatreallysurprisedmeaboutDeeDeewasthathehadthisbook
he had written. And here I was, a wheeler dealer type, always trying to say, “Well,
I know this guy and that guy, and I'll try to hook you up. Let me help you out try-
ing to get your book published.” And I gave him a fictional idea—why don't you
write a fictional story where some event happens, and every character in the story
reacts tothe same event intheir ownway,the waythey normally react tothings in
any given real situation?
Sohecameupwiththisstoryinwhichtheband'svanwrecks,andMonteMel-
nick's[theRamones'manager]headgoesthroughthewindshieldandgetscutoff.
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