Way Cool Jr.

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"Way Cool Jr."

Single by Ratt
from the album Reach for the Sky
Released	1989
Format	Vinyl LP, Cassette, CD
Recorded	1988
Genre	Glam Metal
Length	04:27
Label	Atlantic
Producer(s)	Beau Hill
Chart positions
75 (Billboard top 100)
Ratt singles chronology
"I Want a Woman" (1988)	"Way Cool Jr." (1988)	"Shame Shame Shame" (1990)

Way Cool Jr. is one of the most famous songs by glam metal band Ratt. It is the third track of their 1988 album Reach for the Sky. It was named number 75 on the Billboard Hot 100.

The song's lyrics focus mainly on a handsome, charmistic young man leading the high life while dealing in illicit drugs. The song is drenched in the sort of irony the band became famous for, especially with their songwriting for "Reach for the Sky".

Though met with some criticism for seemingly glorifying criminal drug use, it actually exposes the seemingly flashy lifestyle as a facade. By this point in their career, Ratt had become disillusioned with the plastic nature of the rock n' roll lifestyle.

It was precisely this, the contrived and fake nature of the lifestyle, that formed the basis of their focus during the making of the album. Many go as far as to suggest that the song was actually addressed to guitarist Robbin "The King" Crosby who was entrenched within the depths of a crippling heroin addiction.

This is supported by the character's affinity for the blues, which was the element in Ratt's music to which he contributed more than any other member of the band. Crosby's 2002 death came as a result of his drug use, which only served to further add credence to this sort of speculation.

The song today is considered by many in music cirlces to be a blues rock classic and a definitive point in the career of the band. The band's popularity would waiver greatly shortly afterwards and Crosby would exit the band two years later. It was co-written by album producer Beau Hill, guitarist Warren DeMartini and vocalist Stephen Pearcy. The song is 4:27 long.