No No Song

Ringo Starr's cover of Hoyt Axton and David Jackson's "The No No Song" was included on his 1974 album Goodnight Vienna. It was a number-one hit in Canada^[1] and a number-three hit in the US. The song describes progressive attempts to sell Colombian marijuana, Spanish cocaine and Tennessean moonshine to a recovered addict who refuses it all. Providing background harmony is the inimitable voice of Harry Nilsson.

Brazilian rock musician Raul Seixas recorded a Brazilian Portuguese version called "Não Quero Mais Andar na Contra-mão" ("Don't Want to Ride on the Wrong Way Anymore") adapting the drugs mentioned in the lyrics to the Brazilian culture (respectively, Colombian marijuana, Bolivian cocaine and Argentinian ether spray). Seixas also released an album (and hit single) called O Dia em que a Terra Parou ("The Day the Earth Stood Still") The song itself was not related to the movie of the same name; rather, it is likely a reference to the album Goodnight Vienna, the cover of which reproduces an iconic scene from the film, with Ringo Starr replacing Michael Rennie as the alien Klaatu standing alongside the robot Gort.

References

1. ^ Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada