You Can't Put Your Arms Around a Memory
| "You Can't Put Your Arms Around a Memory" | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Single by Johnny Thunders | |
| from the album So Alone | |
| B-side | "Hurtin'" |
| Released | 1978 |
| Genre | Punk rock |
| Length | 3:48 |
| Label | Real Records ARE3 |
| Songwriter(s) | Johnny Thunders |
"You Can’t Put Your Arms Around a Memory" is a song released in 1978 by Johnny Thunders. The title was taken from a line in the "Better Living Through TV" episode of the sitcom The Honeymooners.[1] It is considered by many to be his signature song.
The ballad has been interpreted to be about Thunders’ heroin addiction, and about his romance with Sable Starr. However, according to Nina Antonia's biography, Johnny Thunders...In Cold Blood, the song was written before he was even a member of the New York Dolls, and years before he ever tried heroin[citation needed].
Peter Perrett, from the English new wave band The Only Ones, supplied guitar and backing vocals.
Covers[]
- Guns N' Roses covered the song on their album, "The Spaghetti Incident?". All the instruments on this version were performed by Duff McKagan.[2]
- Giant Sand covered the song on the album Ballad of a Thin Line Man.
- Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day covered the song on the album No Fun Mondays.[3]
- The song appears in the documentary about Thunders's New York Dolls bandmate Arthur Kane, New York Doll.[4][5]
References[]
- ^ "Random Obscurities". fms-mag.com. May 2, 2016.
- ^ Banas, Erica (August 31, 2020). "Axl Rose Wanted This Famous Image to be the Cover of 'Appetite'". WMMR. Retrieved November 28, 2020.
- ^ Jones, Damian (March 30, 2020). "Listen to Green Day's Billie Joe Armstrong cover Johnny Thunders' 'You Can't Put Your Arms Around A Memory'". NME. Retrieved October 12, 2020.
- ^ "New York Doll" by Laura Cassidy. Seattle Weekly. October 9, 2006. Accessed February 22, 2021.
- ^ "Screen: New York Doll" by Richard Abowitz. November 10, 2005 (show date; post-date of review unclear). Accessed February 22, 2021.
External links[]
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Categories:
- 1978 singles
- Johnny Thunders songs
- Guns N' Roses songs
- Manic Street Preachers songs
- Songs written by Johnny Thunders
- 1978 songs