Teenage Lobotomy (Covered by The Hawkbirds)

Details

Description

The Hawkbirds covering the Ramones track, “Teenage Lobotomy”.

The song, composed with contributions from all members, Tommy, Joey, Johnny and Dee Dee, was released in 1977 on their album Rocket To Russia. “Teenage Lobotomy” is a song about a teenager forced to undergo a lobotomy due to brain injuries from overexposure to the chemical herbicide DDT. (A lobotomy is a medical procedure that intentionally damages the frontal lobe of the brain in order to treat severe mental illness.) Metaphorically, these lyrics can represent a teenager feeling powerless against societal and/or systematic institutional control. The complexity of the composition, coupled with the fast tempo, made it one of the Ramones most popular tracks.

Lyrics…

🎶 Lobotomy, lobotomy, lobotomy, lobotomy!

DDT did a job on me
Now I am a real sickie
Guess I'll have to break the news
That I got no mind to lose.
All the girls are in love with me
I'm a teenage lobotomy.

Slugs and snails are after me
DDT keeps me happy
Now I guess I'll have to tell ‘em
That I got no cerebellum.
Gonna get my Ph.D.
I'm a teenage lobotomy.

Lobotomy, lobotomy, lobotomy, lobotomy!

DDT did a job on me
Now I am a real sickie
Guess I'll have to break the news
That I got no mind to lose.
All the girls are in love with me
I'm a teenage lobotomy. 🎶

Brown Bear, although speechless and motionless on the shelf, has not had a lobotomy. The divisive issues of the outside world scare him, but the raw energy and rebellious attitude of Ramones’ music provide the perfect outlet for him to quietly contemplate his wild side, and allows him to channel his instincts into something creative. While appearing stoic, his mind is kept sharp and his spirit alive, by the catchy punk beats and uplifting lyrics, making any drastic brain surgery, in his case, unnecessary. 🧸🧠🧐👍🏼

With inspiration from our rockstar friends, Eddie and the Afterburners, we recorded this cover on 11/06/24 in our basement studio, on 6 separate tracks (vocals, lead guitar, bass guitar, bass drum, toms/snare, and cymbals) using a Zoom H6 audio interface, and mixed with GarageBand. Sennheiser HD-660S2 headphones, and an AudioEngine DAC3 amplifier, help to balance the sound in order to highlight each instrument during the mixing process. All of the different speakers out there, from phone and TVs to HiFi systems and monitors all sound unique, but with your help, we can smooth it all out. Thank you so much for all of your feedback which continues to help us reproduce better sound. Keep your comments coming!

The Hawkbirds members-
👩🏼 Sunflower Hawkbird - Lead vocals and bass guitar
👩🏻‍🦰 Mom Hawkbird - Lead guitar and back up vocals
🧑🏻 Dad Hawkbird - Drums
🧸 Brown Bear - Audio engineer

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