| "I Wanna Be Your Dog" | |
|---|---|
| Single by The Stooges | |
| from the album The Stooges | |
| B-side | We Will Fall |
| Released | 1969 |
| Genre | Garage rock, heavy metal, protopunk |
| Label | Elektra, Warner |
| Writer(s) | Dave Alexander, Ron Asheton, Scott Asheton, Iggy Pop |
| Producer | John Cale |
"I Wanna Be Your Dog" is a 1969 song by the American rock band The Stooges. The song is featured on their self-titled debut album. Its memorable riff, composed of only three chords (G, F♯ and E), is played continuously throughout the song (excepting a brief 4-bar bridge). The 3-minute-and-9-second long song, with its raucous, distortion-heavy guitar intro, pounding, single-note piano riff played by producer John Cale and steady, driving beat, established The Stooges at the cutting edge example of the heavy metal and punk sound.[1] The lyrics have been described as evoking a sense of lubricity and self-loathing, a monument to a state of blue-collar tedium and alienation of their era, late 1960s industrial Michigan. This sense of working class disenfranchisement was widely echoed later by the Sex Pistols and Public Image Limited.[2] In 2004, the song was ranked number 438 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.[3] Pitchfork Media placed it at number 16 on its list of "The 200 Greatest Songs of the 1960s".[4]
The song has been covered by many artists, including Nirvana, Misfits, Slayer, GG Allin, Frankenstein Drag Queens From Planet 13, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, Vicious White Kids, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Sonic Youth, Cage the Elephant, Mission of Burma, Chris Whitley, Swans, Uncle Tupelo, Alejandro Escovedo, Emilie Simon, Styles of Beyond, Forgotten Tomb, The House of Love, Breathing Fire, Ida Maria, Stereophonics, Las Ultrasónicas, Pat MacDonald, David Bowie, The White Stripes, Mephisto Walz, Atari Teenage Riot, Krieg and many others.
A parody version by a group purporting to be "The Seven Stooges" performed the song in the style of The Three Stooges; this recording is featured on the 1983 compilation album The Rhino Brothers Present the World's Worst Records.
Slayer recorded a tribute parody called "I'm Gonna Be Your God" for their Undisputed Attitude album.
In 1983, all-female Spanish punk-rock band Las Vulpes performed a highly controversial free cover of the song (named "Me gusta ser una zorra", which means "I like being a bitch") in the show Caja de ritmos. The huge impact of the song provoked the cancellation of the program.
Mexican garage rock band Ultrasónicas released a tribute parody called "Quiero Ser tu Perra" (I Wanna Be Your Bitch) for their debut album "Yo Fuí Una Adolescente Terrosatánica" (I Was a Satan-Terrorist Teenager!) in 1997. [5]
"Weird Al" Yankovic's song "Let Me Be Your Hog" is a parody of the garage-punk genre and contains obvious elements of the song.
In 2007, R.E.M. performed this song with Patti Smith in their induction to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
The song is featured in Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, Transporter 3, Friday Night Lights, The Crow: City of Angels (in which Iggy Pop played the role of Curve, one of the villains), Crimson Rivers II: Angels of the Apocalypse, the skateboard video by Flip entitled "Sorry", an episode of TV show Skins (Episode 2.9: "Cassie"), an episode of the TV sitcom How I Met Your Mother (Episode 2.16: "Stuff"), in the 2010 film The Runaways, and in the film Sid and Nancy.
It was also used in the games Vietcong and Grand Theft Auto IV, the latter of which features Iggy Pop as a DJ. The song was released as part of "The Stooges 01" pack DLC from the Rock Band series. However, the "shaker" sound at the end of the song in GTA IV is cut off, leaving the guitar solo as the last bit of the song.