| "The Zoo" | |
|---|---|
| Single by Scorpions | |
| from the album Animal Magnetism | |
| Released | March 1980 |
| Recorded | December 1979 - February 1980 |
| Genre | Heavy metal |
| Length | 5:28 |
| Label | Harvest/EMI (Europe) Mercury (US) |
| Writer(s) | Schenker-Meine |
| Producer | Dieter Dierks |
"The Zoo" is a song by the German heavy metal band Scorpions, written by band members Rudolf Schenker (guitar) and Klaus Meine (vocals). It first appeared on the band's 1980 album Animal Magnetism.The song has been featured on a few of Scorpions "Best-Of" compilations, including Deadly Sting: The Mercury Years, Bad for Good: The Very Best of Scorpions and the box set Box of Scorpions. The song was released as a single in 1980 but had limited chart success, peaking at #75 in the UK.
Although the song performed poorly on the charts, it is a critically acclaimed heavy metal song. One critic notes "The Zoo" is both "ominously slow and melodically accessible," with a key element being the "Berlin burlesque vocal melody."[1] Schenker wrote much of the song's music during the band's first tour of the United States in 1979. When Meine first heard Schenker's riff, it reminded him of the band's earlier visit to a street in New York City, which was humorously called a "zoo."[1] Meine later composed the song's lyrics, which contain references to city streets - most notably, New York's 42nd Street.