Song Analysis: Sheena is a Punk Rocker By Ramones
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Sheena is a Punk Rocker by Ramones Song Analysis
Part I Artist Name: Ramones Song Title: Sheena is a Punk Rocker Composer Name: Joey Ramone, Thomas Cummings, Erdelyi, john Colvin, Jeffrey, and Douglas Album Title: Rocket To Russia Genre: Punk and Surf Rock Record Label: Sire Year of Release: August 1977 Personnel and Instrumentation: Joey Ramone- vocals Johnny Ramone- lead Guitarist Dee Dee Ramone- Bassist and Vocalist Marky Ramone- Chris Hillman – electric bass Michael Clarke – drums Part II Lyrics and Structure of the Song Sheena is a Punk Rocker Tempo: Mid Tempo Lyrics Verse 1 Well the kids are all hopped up and ready to go
They're ready to go now
They got their surfboards
And they're going to the Discotheque Au Go Go
But she just couldn't stay
She had to break away
Well New York City really has it all
Oh yeah, oh yeah Chorus
Sheena is a punk rocker
Sheena is a punk rocker
Sheena is a punk rocker now
Sheena is a punk rocker
Sheena is a punk rocker
Sheena is a punk rocker now

She's a punk punk, a punk rocker
Punk punk, a punk rocker
Punk punk, a punk rocker Verse 2
Well the kids are all hopped up and ready to go
They're ready to go now
They got their surfboards
And they're going to the Discotheque Au Go Go
But she just couldn't stay
She had to break away
Well New York City really has it all
Oh yeah, oh yeah Chorus
Sheena is a punk rocker
Sheena is a punk rocker
Sheena is a punk rocker now

Sheena is a punk rocker
Sheena is a punk rocker
Sheena is a punk rocker now

She's a punk punk, a punk rocker
Punk punk, a punk rocker
Punk punk, a punk rocker Part III The song is important to the punk rock subculture as its heading and lyrics refer to it a punk. The Sheena character in the song refers to Sheena: Queen of the jungle, the popular character in comic books. The idea behind the song lyrics lies on the opinion that the punk music would please the jungle girl who is brought to civilization. As such, the song mostly contains rebellious influence to young heroes brought up in modern day. Why the Song is Interesting The song is very interesting because unlike other music, the song promotes punk rock music openly. The song was the main contributing factor to the wide spread of punk rock music in the U.S. and U.K. In addition, the song is simple, straight forward, bouncy, and top volume, which makes other punk rock bands such as green day come to mind, although the latter came afterwards. The song marked dominated the period that witnessed popularity among punk rock and punk rock bands. The song and others in the album made most New York City bars, home to the band, grow in terms of bigger audiences who crowded to attend the live sessions. Popularity of the song also made most critics brand Ramones as new versions of The Beatles and Rolling Stones. Meanings of the Song Lyrics The lyrics are very straight forward in their meaning. The song primarily addresses about Sheena, a punk fan, who is also young and female. The song depicts Sheena as an outsider who abandons other popular styles of music such as surf and disco music, and visits local nightclubs to listen to punk rock. The story of Sheena abandoning all the other categories of music at the time to listen to punk suggests that the song composers were prophesying a period to come whereby the popularity of punk rock music would surpass other genres of music. Punk rock dominated the music stage for the entire 70s and 80s, as the prophesy finally came to be. Description of the Song The song is mid tempo and deviates from a pattern containing three cords. It starts as Joey Shouts “Go!” which is closely followed by guitar riffs that have a raucous texture. The band bumps the three cords in to each other until the end as the song fades out (Jim and Michael, 2003). How the song demonstrates the characteristics of the punk rock The song was released in 1977, a period that witnessed the rise of punk music, which received a lot of airplay. Like other punk music, the song is short, and expresses youthful rebellion with Sheena. The style promoted by the song at the 1970s era include specific styles of clothing that included offensive T-Shirts, leather jackets, and spiked jewelry. The song and the Rocket To Russia album was important to punk rock music as it laid the basis for other popular punk rock bands such as green day, blink 182, the offspring, and sublime.

How the song compares to others by the same or similar artists

The song compares to the other songs in the album in that it is influenced by surf rock and it contains minimal structuring. Most songs of the album are composed of three cords with minimal text compositions such as repetition and simple lyrics. For example, the song contains two similar verses and three similar choruses. However, the singles and other songs in the album showed the progress made by the band in terms of production value and the quality of their sound.

References
Michael, G.& Jim, F. (2003). The Story of the Ramones (DVD) (Motion Picture). United States. Sire Records