Listen Now
Buy the Album at Rhino.com

Written by: Ramones
Produced by: Tommy Erdelyi, Ed Stasium
Released: Oct. '78 on Sire
Charts: Did not chart

The greatest God-does-the-road-ever-suck song, "I Wanna Be Sedated" was written by Joey Ramone, who at the time was suffering from severe teakettle burns and had to fly to London for a gig. Plagued by obsessive-compulsive disorder and various other ailments, Joey always had a rough time touring. "Put me in a wheelchair/And get me to the show/Hurry hurry hurry/Before I go loco!" he rants. The sound is equally pissed-off: Johnny's guitar solo -- the same note, sixty-five times in a row -- is the ultimate expression of his anti-artifice philosophy; the bubblegum-pop key change that follows it, though, is pure Joey.

Appears on: Road to Ruin (Rhino)

Next: Everyday People

Back to RS 500 Albums!
Back to RS 500 Songs!