They're
piling in the back seat
They're
generating steam heat
Pulsating
to the back beat
The
Blitzkrieg Bop
That
back beat – Tommy Ramone. Stark, simple drumming that perfectly
complimented the magic of the music. Fast, direct and flourish-free.
The fourth and final “original” Ramone was taken from us
yesterday. Sixty-two or sixty-five years young (no one seems to
know), he outlived his band-mates by years. They gave us so much that
they wore themselves out, used it all up. Nothing left to live on.
It
seems odd for a middle-aged man like me to be upset by the death of a
rocker thirty-five years after his prime, but I feel it. Like a pit
in my stomach. Perhaps because he was only eleven or fourteen years
older than me. Because I identified so much with the music when I was
a teen. Regardless, I hope his life was rewarding, peaceful. I hope
he felt like a king. I hope he saw himself as the visionary that he
will one day be considered.
Months
ago, I wrote a tribute to the original Ramones line-up. I was just
starting my blog and not many people have read it. I would like to
think that Tommy read it and smiled.
The
Ramones were PERFECTION. ← Please take a minute to read about it. For
Tommy.
