I Wanna Be Sedated - The Ramones Meaning

Ramones lead singer Joey Ramone was said by his pals to hate touring, which is not surprising for a man whose mental and physical health was far from ideal.

On endless tours, he composed the song I Wanna Be Sedated, which became one of the most famous compositions of the Ramones and even entered the history of modern music, earning a place in the list of the 500 greatest songs of all time according to Rolling Stone.

The history of creation and the meaning of the song I Wanna Be Sedated

In the lyrics of the song, Joey describes his condition during long trips.

In one of the interviews, he said the following about the track:

This is a road song. I wrote it in 1977 and throughout 1978. Well, Danny Fields was our first manager, and he beat us to death. We were on the road three hundred and sixty days a year, and we went to England and ended up there at Christmas, and London closes on Christmas. Nothing to do, nowhere to go. And so we got to London for the first time in our lives, and Dee Dee Ramone and I lived together in a hotel room, and we watched The Guns of Navarone. There was so much to do there. I mean, we’re finally in London, and that’s what we’re doing, watching American movies in a hotel room.

I Wanna Be Sedated, like most others by the Ramones, has simple lyrics and an even simpler melody. Suffice it to say that in the guitar solo, Johnny Ramone hits one note sixty-five times in a row. In general, punk music in all its glory.

Release and achievements

The song was included on the album Road to Ruin (1978) and later released as the B-side of the She’s the One single in the UK.

Rolling Stone ranked I Wanna Be Sedated at number 145 on its Top 500 Songs list, and National Public Radio included the song on the NPR 100, which is the 100 most significant American musical compositions of the twentieth century.

Clip I Wanna Be Sedated

The music video for the Ramones song was directed by Bill Fishman. This funny video was presented to the public in 1988 as part of an advertising campaign for the Ramones Mania collection.

Interesting Facts

There is an unconfirmed version that Joey Ramone got the idea for the song in the hospital, where he ended up after blowing his nose over a boiling kettle and getting burned by inhaling too hot steam.
I Wanna Be Sedated is featured on the Times Square movie soundtrack. The collection of compositions included in the picture was officially published on two long-playing records.
A young Courtney Love can be seen in the music video for the song.

I Wanna Be Sedated Lyrics

chorus:
Twenty-twenty-twenty-four hours to go
I wanna be sedated
Nothing to do, nowhere to go-ho
I wanna be sedated

Just get me to the airport, and put me on a plane
Hurry, hurry, hurry, before I go insane
I can’t control my fingers, I can’t control my brain
Oh, no, oh, oh, oh, ho

Just put me in a wheelchair, and get me on a plane
Hurry, hurry, hurry, before I go insane
I can’t control my fingers, I can’t control my brain
Oh, no, oh, oh, oh, ho