She Don't Know Why I'm Here / Bombing of London .(Backlash 001) - 11/7/77

Where the songs came from

by Joe Nolte

SHE DON'T KNOW WHY I'M HERE (lyrics)

Listen to a clip of this song: (MP3) Listen to a clip of the album version of this song: (Real Audio)

(written April 1977 by Joe) Most of the songs I wrote about girls were indeed about living, breathing, actual, specific girls. In most cases I'm going to identify said sirens by an initial, so as not to offend them. In this case, however, since the song is not specifically a torrid romantic diatribe but rather a socio-political observation, I'll name names. Brother Mike had known these three girls from his glitter days, and introduced me to them January 1977. We all hung out, I would occasionally drive them to the all-too-rare-in-those-days punk rock show, etc. etc. It was watching their reaction to and fondness for the early punk bands, while being in the unfortunate situation of not being able to gig yet, that I began to feel like a glorified chauffeur . . . the three girls were Helen, Mary and Trudi. Trudi was the "girl with the raven hair" - she became the only non-musician in the scene to have a fanzine devoted to her, and is currently married (with children) to K.K. - drummer for the late lamented Screamers. Mary was the "girl with the soft blue eyes" - she is better known to those who remember the glory days as Mary Rat. Helen is better remembered as Helen Killer - the girl who punched Sid Vicious in the mouth by accident in '78. Musically the song is an obvious homage to the Castaways' "Liar Liar".

BOMBING OF LONDON (lyrics)

Listen to this song during a 1978 radio interview - (Real Audio)

Listen to a clip of this song: (Real Audio)

(written March 1977) More Beatle obsession, word-wise. Musically, this one started out in the early '70's. In 1971 I saw a film (don't remember the title) which was either about the Olympics or Drag Racing. In one scene they cut to a nightclub, where this Japanese band was playing what we would now term "Classic Punk Rock" - i.e. Seeds, Music Machine type stuff. It was oddly moving and inspiring, and indeed was one of the primary primal influences leading to the formation of The Last. I had a cheap electric guitar and amp at the time, and tried desperately to reconjure the song they played at home. Never could quite finish it. (In retrospect, it's immediately obvious that, tune-wise, it owes a great deal to "The One Who Really Loves You", "Mother In Law" and "Did You Ever Have To Make Up Your Mind" - there was something about that 1-1-1-6 melody that obsessed me throughout my childhood.) Anyway, in 1977 I returned to it, and imagined the Ramones trying to do a Japanese band trying to do the Seeds, and Bombing resulted. Musically, it's pretty much what I wrote at the age of 15. Lyrically, I was thinking about how being born during the Nazi bombings of England could have potentially affected the outlook and psyche of the various Beatles, and after that it pretty much wrote itself.