Blitzkrieg Bop | Jeremy’s Ale House | Headless Widow | International Bar | YouTube Rabbithole
Okay @YouTheReader,
Blitzkrieg Bop by the Ramones was on in the background at one of the bars I had a nice pint of Guinness. When this song came out in 1976, the Ramones were merely looking for a radio hit like their own version of Saturday Night by Bay City Rollers. (Financial Times) While this song never made a Billboard Hot 100, it was listed as #92 on Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Songs of All-Time, and VH1 has it at #25 on their Greatest Hard Rock Song of All-Time.
The Intro is what makes this song famous. According to Tommy Ramone, “I wanted a rallying song. I was trying to think of a good rally when I remembered The Rolling Stones’ version of ‘Walking The Dog.’ Mick Jagger sings the line ‘High hose, tip to toes.’ We used to joke about that. Johnny (Ramone) would say, ‘He’s going “Hey ho, hey ho, hey ho.” (Hey Ho Let’s Go: The Story of the Ramones) From their Mick Jagger pronunciation joke, they turned it into their famous rally intro.
The song was originally named “Animal Hop”, but the band decided to go with the German WWII Blitzkrieg term which meant lightning war or fast attack. The band’s connection with Nazi Germany is that Tommy Ramone was the son of a Jewish photographer who survived the Holocaust while Dee Dee Ramone lived in Berlin as a child and had a fascination with Nazi relics. (Vice) The Ramones sort of draw a comparison between the WWII German youth to the Punk Rock Youth that was going on in NYC at this. Obviously, they are not the same but the fast-paced, lightning music that punk artists like the Ramones were playing at the time would get young people dancing out of their minds.
Tommy Ramone said, "I wrote 'Blitzkrieg Bop,' but Dee Dee contributed the title and he changed one line. There was a line that went, 'They're shouting in the back now.' He changed it to 'Shoot 'em in the back now,' which is a non sequitur. But to him it made sense." (SongFacts) Some say it could be a reference to shooting Hitler in the back, or it could be about Operation Barbarossa when Germany invaded the Soviet Union after they made an alliance. Not quite sure, I could just be reading way too much into the WWII references.
The song itself is only a little over 2 minutes long, they just repeat the Verse, sing the Chorus, and follow up with one last repeated Verse.
Nowadays you still hear this song from time to time at sporting events, especially at Yankee games after a big hit, because it’s a catchy and irresistible chant.
On to the pints…
#GuinnessChallengeSeason
@Kids don’t try this at home. Not just because you’re underage and will have plenty of pints to drink if that ends up being your thing when you’re older but also because Guinness is actually best served in a pint glass from a tap. A pint of Guinness varies depending on the drinking establishment. If the keg it sits in is rarely poured, it can lead to some underwhelming taste. Rather than stealing gimmicks, I’d like to start taking Notes while drinking Guinness. My grandfather from Connemara, who I never got the chance to meet, Thomas Davis, used to drink pints and by all accounts was a self-taught thinker. The one rule I’ve imposed on myself is that I will only have 1 pint per sitting from each establishment I review, so @AnyoneWorrying, don’t worry about my drinking habits. The Guinness Challenge is to “cut the G” on your first sip (more like a gulp and a half). If this is your first time hearing about it, I didn’t come up with the fun challenge @YouTheReader can try the next time you have a Guinness. The 0.0 to 10.0 scale will be extraordinarily nuanced but as a reference point, the only perfect 10.0 I plan ever to give out is at the Guinness Factory in Dublin one day.
Song On In The Background: The Thrill by Empire of the Sun and Wiz Khalifa
Notes if you can’t read my sloppy scribble: Bras off everywhere. “They started hanging them up a long, long time ago.” The boss of the Jeremy’s Ale House ain’t here so the bartender doesn’t want to talk to me. Real shame. I really love all the bras hanging from the ceiling so I don’t see the problem. I mean, the Guinness was served in a Cup and Can so it’s absolute rubbish, but I still had a nice bar experience otherwise. Damn, do I come across as one of those “gotcha” journalists looking to write a hit piece? Yankee Stadium street sign hanging up. I’m on a mission to find the original bra that was hung up but there are just too many. 1 of a kind spot.
Established in 1974 and located down by the South Street Seaport, Jeremy’s Ale House is still a great dive bar. Two wrongs don’t make a right, so I refuse to bad-mouth a bar with bras hanging from the ceiling. I look forward to maybe grabbing another pint of another drink at Jeremy’s Ale House since I’m still covert as an independent journalist, they’ll never know!
Headless Widow (@) 7/5 ‘23
Service & Staff: A+
Guinness: 8.9
Guinness Challenge: I Failed. X
Song On In The Background: Ashton Martin Music by Rick Ross & Drake
Notes if you can’t read my sloppy scribble: Wael is bartending, he’s been working at Headless Widow for 4 or 5 years. The name of the bar comes from a true story of a couple from a Village in Montenegro in the 70s. “Love and sacrifice” is the theme of the story. The pretzel here is very good. The Mary Poppins cocktail is recommended. They also do a high tea which is a refreshing summer drink served in a tea cup. The crowd is after-work regulars and neighborhood. Headless Widow does a Happy Hour from 4 to 7 p.m. every day. On the wall, they have cool artifacts they bought at auctions. One of the items is the NY Herald the day after Abe Lincoln was assassinated - not a cool event, but a cool piece of history. They play old-school hip-hop (‘90s to early ‘10s). Wael thinks New York “has its ups and downs.” He’s a Giants & Knicks fan, and he recently won a LeBron James jersey from a gambling app.
The Headless Widow is a creative cocktail bar with a nice pour of Guinness. They have a ton of cool antiques if you’re into history. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find much information on the web in regards to a headless widow from Montenegro in the 70s, but there is also a similar story of love and sacrifice that had to do with Marie Thérèse Louise of Savoy, Princesse de Lamballe during the French Revolution of the late 1700s. I look forward to grabbing another pint of Guinness at The Headless Widow again soon!
Song On In The Background: Blitzkrieg Bop by Ramones
Notes if you can’t read my sloppy scribble: CBGB picture hanging in the corner. They were the birthplace of punk and started the likes of The Ramones, Patti Smith, Blondie, and Talking Heads. They closed in ‘06. The International Bar is a renowned dive bar that pays homage to CBGB. They have an old-school jukebox that plays punk. Patio in the back. There is a Terrible Towel hanging up behind the bar. Dark setting but feels like a true dive bar. International Bar is a cool spot with great regulars. They have a New York Post newspaper headline poster saying that International Bar was going to close back in ‘17 but turns out they just moved down the block. Rob and some of the regulars were very nice, they offered me a shot of Jamo, which I passed on this go around, but was appreciated!
Located in the East Village, International Bar is an awesome old-school authentic dive bar. It is a fun spot with cool people. The outside of the original International Bar is actually featured in Rolling Stone’s music video for “Waiting on a Friend” which was shot in the early 1980s. Lastly, check out Rob’s podcast called Getting Lumped Up and he even got a chance to interview Richie Ramone, a drummer of the Ramones from 1983 to 1987. You can check it out right below, in the YouTube Rabbithole. Rob and his co-host really know their music, especially the punk rock era of New York so they’re a fun and knowledgeable listen. I look forward to grabbing another pint of Guinness at International Bar again soon!