We Gotta Get Out of This Place

Last updated

"We've Gotta Get Out of This Place"
AnimalsWeGotta.jpg
Single by the Animals
B-side "I Can't Believe It"
Released16 July 1965
Recorded15 June 1965
Genre Blues rock
Length3:17
Label Columbia Graphophone (UK), MGM (US)
Songwriter(s) Barry Mann, Cynthia Weil
Producer(s) Mickie Most
The Animals singles chronology
"Bring It On Home to Me"
(1965)		"We've Gotta Get Out of This Place"
(1965)		"It's My Life"
(1965)

"We Gotta Get Out of This Place", occasionally written "We've Gotta Get Out of This Place", [1] is a rock song written by American songwriters Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil and recorded as a 1965 hit single by English band the Animals. It has become an iconic song of its type and was immensely popular with United States Armed Forces G.I.s during the Vietnam War. [2]

Contents

In 2004 it was ranked number 233 on Rolling Stone 's "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time" list; it is also in The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll list.

In 2011, the song was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. [3]

History

Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil were husband and wife (and future Hall of Fame) songwriters associated with the 1960s Brill Building scene in New York City. [4]

Mann and Weil wrote and recorded "We Gotta Get Out of This Place" as a demo, with Mann singing and playing piano. It was intended for the Righteous Brothers, for whom they had written the number one hit "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'" [5] but then Mann gained a recording contract for himself, and his label Red Bird Records wanted him to release it instead. Meanwhile, record executive Allen Klein had heard it and gave the demo to Mickie Most, the Animals' producer. Most already had a call out to Brill Building songwriters for material for the group's next recording session (the Animals hits "It's My Life" and "Don't Bring Me Down" came from the same call [6] ), and the Animals recorded it before Mann could. [5]

In the Animals' rendition, the lyrics were slightly reordered and reworded from the demo and opened with a locational allusion – although different from that in the songwriters' minds – that was often taken as fitting the group's industrial, working class Newcastle-upon-Tyne origins: [7] [8] [9]

In this dirty old part of the city
Where the sun refused to shine
People tell me, there ain't no use in tryin'

Next came a verse about the singer's father in his deathbed after a lifetime of working his life away, followed by a call-and-response buildup, leading to the start of the chorus:

We gotta get out of this place!
If it's the last thing we ever do…

The arrangement featured a distinctive bass lead by group member Chas Chandler. [10] This was the first single not to be recorded by the original line-up, following as it did the departure of keyboard player Alan Price and his replacement by Dave Rowberry. It featured one of singer Eric Burdon's typically raw, fierce vocals. [11] [12] Rolling Stone described the overall effect as a "harsh white-blues treatment from The Animals. As [Burdon] put it, 'Whatever suited our attitude, we just bent to our own shape.'" [13]

The song reached number 2 on the UK Singles Chart on 14 August 1965 (held out of the top slot by the Beatles' "Help!"). [14] The following month, it reached number 13 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, its highest placement there. [15] In Canada, the song also reached number 2, on 20 September 1965.[ citation needed ]

The two versions

The UK and US single releases were different versions from the same recording sessions. The take that EMI, the Animals' parent record company, sent to MGM Records, the group's American label, was mistakenly one that had not been selected for release elsewhere. The two versions are most easily differentiated by the lyric at the beginning of the second verse: in the US version the lyric is, "See my daddy in bed a-dyin'", while the UK version uses, "Watch my daddy in bed a-dyin'" (as a result of an error by the music labels, certain online retailers sell the UK version but incorrectly identify it as the US version).

In the US the song (in its "mistaken" take) was included on the album Animal Tracks , released in the autumn of 1965, and again on the popular compilation The Best of The Animals released in 1966 and re-released with an expanded track list on the ABKCO label in 1973. The song was not on any British Animals album during the group's lifetime. Cash Box described the US version as a "laconic, blues-drenched romancer about a duosome who feel hemmed-in living in the city." [16] Record World said that "the Animals wail for 3:17 worth...about the pressures of the city on young lovers" and considered it as a counterexample to the proposition that "rock and roll lyrics don't mean anything." [17]

Once Animals' reissues began occurring during the compact disc era, Allen Klein, by then owner of ABKCO and the rights to this material, dictated that the "correct" British version be used on all reissues and compilations everywhere. Thus, as US radio stations converted from vinyl records to CDs, gradually only the British version became heard. Some collectors and fans in the US wrote letters of complaint to Goldmine magazine, saying they believed the US version featured an angrier and more powerful vocal from Burdon, and in any case wanted to hear the song in the form they had grown up with. The 2004 remastered SACD Retrospective compilation from ABKCO included the US version, as did the budget-priced compilation The Very Best of The Animals.

Impact

At the time, the title and simple emotional appeal of "We Gotta Get Out of This Place" lent itself to some obvious self-identifications—for instance, it was a very popular number to be played at high school senior proms and graduation parties. In music writer Dave Marsh's view, it was one of a wave of songs in 1965, by artists such as the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, and Bob Dylan, that ushered in a new role for rock music as a vehicle for common perspective and as a force for social consciousness. [18] Writer Craig Werner sees the song as reflecting the desire of people to take a hard look at their own lives and the community from where they come. [12] Burdon later said, "The song became an anthem for different people – everybody at some time wants to get out of the situation they're in." [7]

The song was very popular with United States Armed Forces members stationed in South Vietnam during the Vietnam War. [9] It was frequently requested of, and played by, American Forces Vietnam Network disc jockeys. [19] During 2006 two University of Wisconsin–Madison employees, one a Vietnam veteran, began an in-depth survey of hundreds of Vietnam veterans, and found that "We Gotta Get Out of This Place" had resonated the strongest among all the music popular then: "We had absolute unanimity is this song being the touchstone. This was the Vietnam anthem. Every bad band that ever played in an armed forces club had to play this song." [20] Just such a band played the song in an episode ("USO Down", by Vietnam veteran Jim Beaver) of the American television series about the war, Tour of Duty , and the song is reprised in the episode's final scene.

"We Gotta Get Out of This Place" was also used in Dennis Potter's 1965 television play Stand Up, Nigel Barton and the BBC's 1996 Newcastle-set Our Friends in the North , which partially took place in the 1960s. In America it was used as the title credits song in some episodes of the Vietnam War-set television series China Beach . It was then applied to the Bin Laden family, having to leave the United States in the aftermath of the 11 September terrorist attacks, in Michael Moore's 2004 Fahrenheit 9/11 . It also was featured in the soundtrack to the 1987 movie Hamburger Hill . It was used in a third-season episode of the 2000s television series Heroes . It was used as the theme song for 2002 BBC comedy TLC and the 2013 BBC series Privates . The song was also featured humorously in the Kong: Skull Island trailer. [21]

In a 2012 keynote speech to an audience at the South by Southwest music festival, Bruce Springsteen performed an abbreviated version of the Animals' version on acoustic guitar and then said, "That's every song I've ever written. That's all of them. I'm not kidding, either. That's 'Born to Run', 'Born in the U.S.A. '" [22]

The song's title and theme have become a common cultural phrase over the years.

It formed the basis for the title of academician Lawrence Grossberg's We Gotta Get Out of This Place: Popular Conservatism and Postmodern Culture (1992), detailing the conflict between American conservatism and rock culture. Similarly, it formed the title basis for Gerri Hirshey's 2002 account, We Gotta Get Out of This Place: The True, Tough Story of Women in Rock.

It has also been used as the title of editorials by American Journalism Review [23] and other publications. The title was even used to name an art exhibit, curated by Stefan Kalmár at the Cubitt Gallery in London in 1997.

It has featured in the soundtrack of Bob Carlton's Jukebox Musical Return to the Forbidden Planet .

The Angels version

"We Gotta Get Out of This Place"
The Angels - We Gotta Get Out Of This Place.jpg
Single by the Angels
from the album Howling
ReleasedDecember 1986
Genre Hard rock
Length4:43
Label Mushroom Records
Songwriter(s) Barry Mann, Cynthia Weil
Producer(s) Steve Brown
The Angels singles chronology
"Don't Waste My Time"
(1986)		"We Gotta Get Out of This Place"
(1986)		"Can't Take Any More"
(1987)

"We Gotta Get Out of This Place" was covered by Australian hard rock band the Angels and released in December 1986 [24] as third single to be released from The Angels eighth studio album Howling . The song peaked at number 7 on the Kent Music Report and number 13 on the Recorded Music NZ. [25]

Track listing

7" single (Mushroom K210)
  1. We Gotta Get Out of This Place (Barry Mann, Cynthia Weil) - 4:43
  2. I Just Wanna Be With You (New Version) (Doc Neeson, John Brewster, Richard Brewster) - 3:54

Personnel

Production

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart (1986/87)Peak
position
Australian (Kent Music Report) [26] 7
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ) [27] 13

Year-end charts

Chart (1987)Position
Australia (Kent Music Report) [28] 35
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ) [29] 40

Other versions

"We Gotta Get Out of This Place" has been recorded or performed in concert by numerous artists, including the Savages (1966), the Cryan' Shames (1966), the American Breed (1967), the Frost (1970), the Partridge Family (1972), Bruce Springsteen (performed only a handful of times in his career, but acknowledged by him as one of his primary influences in the 1970s [30] ), Udo Lindenberg (in a German language adaption in the 1970s for which commercial success was small), Blue Öyster Cult (1978), Steve Bender (1978), Gilla (1979), Angelic Upstarts (1980), Gardens & Villa, Grand Funk Railroad (1981), David Johansen (1982, and a hit on album oriented rock radio and MTV as part of an Animals medley), Fear (1982), Richard Thompson (1988), Jello Biafra and D.O.A. (1989), Randy Stonehill (1990), Bon Jovi (1992, again as part of an Animals medley for an MTV special), Midnight Oil (1993, for MTV Unplugged ), Space (1998), Southside Johnny (concerts in the 2000s), Overkill (2000), Widespread Panic (2005), Ann Wilson with Wynonna Judd (2007), Alice Cooper (2011), and many others.

In 1990 Eric Burdon joined Katrina and the Waves for a recording of it for use on China Beach. In 2000 Barry Mann revisited the song, performing it with Bryan Adams on Mann's retrospective solo album Soul & Inspiration. When Suzi Quatro was on a German tour in 2008 she came on stage and played bass on the song during an Eric Burdon concert at the Porsche Arena in Stuttgart. Burdon also performed it in 2010 at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony, when songwriters Mann and Weil were inducted. [31] Later in 2010, Mann and Weil were at The Grammy Museum in Los Angeles – to open a gallery for the Songwriter's Hall of Fame [32] – and performed their original version of the song, including previously unheard lyrics like "What are we waiting for?" (which was supposed to occur before the familiar lyrics in the chorus).

Charts

Chart (1965)Peak
position
Canada RPM Magazine [33] 2
Finnish Soumen Virallinen Singles Chart [34] 27
German Singles Chart [35] 31
UK Singles Chart [14] 2
US Billboard Hot 100 [15] 13

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Animals</span> English rock band

The Animals are an English rock band formed in Newcastle upon Tyne in 1963.

<i>The Partridge Family Notebook</i> 1972 studio album by The Partridge Family

The Partridge Family Notebook is the sixth studio album by The Partridge Family. Released in November 1972, the album entered Billboard's Top LP's chart in December, peaking at no. 41 in January 1973 – the same week in which its lead single, a cover of Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil's "Looking Through the Eyes of Love", peaked at 39 on Billboard's Hot 100. The album remained in the Top 200 for 16 weeks, and was the first by the Partridge Family not to reach the Top 40.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eric Burdon</span> English singer (born 1941)

Eric Victor Burdon is an English singer and songwriter. He was previously the lead vocalist of the R&B and rock band the Animals and the funk band War. He is regarded as one of the British Invasion's most distinctive singers with his deep, powerful blues-rock voice. Burdon is also known for his intense stage performances.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Barry Mann</span> American songwriter and musician

Barry Mann is an American songwriter and musician, and was part of a successful songwriting partnership with his wife, Cynthia Weil.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cynthia Weil</span> American songwriter (1940–2023)

Cynthia Weil was an American songwriter who wrote many songs together with her husband Barry Mann. Weil and Mann were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2010. In 1987, she was inducted with her husband into the Songwriters Hall of Fame, and in 2011, they jointly received the Johnny Mercer Award, the highest honor bestowed by that Hall of Fame.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">On Broadway (song)</span> 1963 single by The Drifters

"On Broadway" is a song written by Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil in collaboration with the team of Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'</span> 1964 single by The Righteous Brothers

"You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'" is a song by Phil Spector, Barry Mann, and Cynthia Weil, first recorded in 1964 by the American vocal duo the Righteous Brothers. This version, produced by Spector, is cited by some music critics as the ultimate expression and illustration of his Wall of Sound recording technique. The record was a critical and commercial success on its release, reaching number one in early February 1965 in both the United States and the United Kingdom. The single ranked No. 5 in Billboard's year-end Top 100 of 1965 Hot 100 hits – based on combined airplay and sales, and not including three charted weeks in December 1964 – and has entered the UK Top Ten on three occasions.

<i>Thirty Years of Funk: 1969–1999</i> 1999 box set by Grand Funk Railroad

Thirty Years of Funk: 1969–1999 is a 1999 box set by Grand Funk Railroad, containing three new songs and several previously unreleased songs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Animals discography</span> Cataloguing of published recordings by The Animals

The discography of the Animals, an English music group of the 1960s formed in Newcastle upon Tyne, contains 20 studio albums, six compilation albums, five EPs and 25 singles. Featuring a gritty, bluesy sound and a deep-voiced frontman in Eric Burdon, they are best known for their rendition of an American folk song "House of the Rising Sun", which is described by many as their signature song. This single had worldwide sales of nearly 5 million and became a Number One hit in both the UK and US in 1964. Overall, the group balanced tough, rock-edged pop singles such as "We Gotta Get Out of This Place" and "It's My Life" against rhythm and blues–oriented album material. The Animals released separate UK and US albums, a practice common to other British Invasion bands of the time such as the Beatles and the Rolling Stones.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">It's My Life (The Animals song)</span> 1965 single by the Animals

"It's My Life" is a song written by New York City songwriters Roger Atkins and Carl D'Errico. The song was originally performed by English R&B band The Animals, who released it as a single in October 1965.

<i>The Best of The Animals</i> 1966 greatest hits album by the Animals

The Best of The Animals is the first greatest hits collection by the British rock group the Animals. MGM Records released the album in February 1966 in the United States. It showcases the Animals' tough-edged pop hits combined with their more devoted blues and R&B workouts. The album has been reissued with some different tracks and a similar collection, The Most of Animals, was released in the United Kingdom in 1966.

David Eric Rowberry was an English pianist and organist, most known for being a member of the rock and R&B group The Animals in the 1960s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Don't Bring Me Down (The Animals song)</span> 1966 single by the Animals

"Don't Bring Me Down" is a song composed by Gerry Goffin and Carole King and recorded as a 1966 hit single by the Animals. It was the group's first release with drummer Barry Jenkins, who replaced founding member John Steel as he had left the band in February of that year.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">(You're My) Soul and Inspiration</span> 1966 single by the Righteous Brothers

"(You're My) Soul and Inspiration" is a song by American pop duo the Righteous Brothers. It was the group's first hit after leaving their long-time producer Phil Spector. The song was written by Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil, who also wrote the group's first hit "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'" along with Phil Spector. It is the title track of their album. The single peaked at No. 1 on the US Billboard Hot 100, and reached No. 15 on the UK Singles Chart. Billboard ranked the record as the No. 3 single for 1966.

<i>Eric Is Here</i> 1967 studio album by Eric Burdon & The Animals

Eric Is Here is a 1967 album billed to Eric Burdon & The Animals, although the actual bands with Burdon are the Benny Golson orchestra and the Horace Ott Orchestra.

<i>The Most of the Animals</i> 1966 compilation album by the Animals

The Most of the Animals is the title of a number of different compilation albums by the British blues rock group the Animals. Although track listing varies, all feature only songs from 1964 and 1965. The title is derived from the name of their then producer Mickie Most.

<i>Absolute Animals 1964–1968</i> 2003 compilation album by The Animals, Eric Burdon & The Animals

Absolute Animals 1964–1968 is a compilation album of The Animals, released in 2003 and which features many of their hits. It was also the first compilation to feature songs from their Columbia, Decca, and MGM albums.

"The House of the Rising Sun" is an American traditional folk song, sometimes called "Rising Sun Blues". It tells of a person's life gone wrong in the city of New Orleans. Many versions also urge a sibling or parents and children to avoid the same fate. The most successful commercial version, recorded in 1964 by the British rock band The Animals, was a number one hit on the UK Singles Chart and in the US and Canada. As a traditional folk song recorded by an electric rock band, it has been described as the "first folk rock hit".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kicks (song)</span> 1966 single by Paul Revere & the Raiders

"Kicks" is a song composed by Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil, best known as a 1966 hit for American rock band Paul Revere & the Raiders.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Home of the Brave (song)</span> 1965 single by Jody Miller

"Home of the Brave" is a song recorded and made successful by American singer Jody Miller. It was composed by songwriters Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil. Released as a single by Capitol Records in 1965, "Home of the Brave" reached the pop charts in the United States, Canada and Australia. It was characterized as a protest song for its discussion of social issues during the sixties decade. It was among Miller's most commercially successful recordings in her career despite being banned from radio stations. "Home of the Brave" was released on an album of the same name in 1965.

References

  1. ↑ Spelling on original Columbia Graphophone by single release label used the "We've" form; the sleeve left out the "Of". However, song publisher BMI registers it as "We" (see BMI searchable database [ permanent dead link ]) as do the large majority of music references sources and album labels.
  2. ↑ "Behind the Song Lyrics: 'We Gotta Get Out of This Place,' The Animals". American Songwriter . 9 March 2022. Retrieved 14 March 2022.
  3. ↑ "GRAMMY Hall Of Fame | Hall of Fame Artists | GRAMMY.com". grammy.com.
  4. ↑ "Barry Mann & Cynthia Weil". The Official Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil Web site. Archived from the original on 21 March 2007. Retrieved 18 February 2007.
  5. 1 2 Dale Kawashima. "Legendary Songwriting Duo Barry Mann & Cynthia Weil Talk About Their Classic Hits and New Projects". Songwriter Universe. Retrieved 18 February 2007. Demo audio stream at end of article.
  6. ↑ "Songwriter Carl D'Errico Interviewed by Mick Patrick". Spectropop. Retrieved 18 February 2007.
  7. 1 2 Terry Gross (2 July 2004) [2002]. "Former Animals Singer Eric Burdon". Fresh Air . NPR . Retrieved 1 July 2012.
  8. ↑ Gillett, Charlie (1996). The Sound of the City: The Rise of Rock and Roll (2nd ed.). New York: Da Capo Press. p. 271. ISBN   0-306-80683-5.
  9. 1 2 Perone, James E. (2009). Mods, Rockers, and the Music of the British Invasion. ABC-CLIO. p. 129. ISBN   978-0275998608.
  10. ↑ Michael Heatley (2009). Jimi Hendrix Gear: The Guitars, Amps & Effects That Revolutionized Rock 'n' Roll. Voyageur Press. p. 60. ISBN   978-0760336397.
  11. ↑ Dan Aykroyd; Ben Manilla (2004). Elwood's Blues: Interviews With The Blues Legends & Stars. Hal Leonard Corporation. p.  132. ISBN   0879308095.
  12. 1 2 Werner, Craig (1999). A Change Is Gonna Come: Music, Race, and the Soul of America . University of Michigan Press. pp.  87–88. ISBN   0-452-28065-6.
  13. ↑ "We Gotta Get Out of This Place". Rolling Stone . 9 December 2004. Archived from the original on 14 February 2007. Retrieved 18 February 2007.
  14. 1 2 "The Animals". Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. 1994. Archived from the original on 2 February 2007. Retrieved 18 February 2007.
  15. 1 2 The Animals USA chart history, Billboard.com. Retrieved 22 July 2012.
  16. ↑ "CashBox Record Reviews" (PDF). Cash Box. 7 August 1965. p. 12. Retrieved 12 January 2022.
  17. ↑ "Single Picks of the Week" (PDF). Record World. 7 August 1965. p. 1. Retrieved 19 July 2023.
  18. ↑ Marsh, Dave (1983). Before I Get Old: The Story of the Who. New York: St. Martin's Press. pp. 117–118. ISBN   0-312-07155-8.
  19. ↑ Will Higgins (29 April 2002). "'Nam deejays air their memories". The Indianapolis Star . Archived from the original on 29 July 2012. Retrieved 18 February 2007.
  20. ↑ Brian Mattmiller, "'We Gotta Get Out of This Place:' Music, memory and the Vietnam War" Archived 14 February 2007 at the Wayback Machine , University of Wisconsin–Madison, 16 February 2006. Retrieved 17 February 2007.
  21. ↑ gradepoint (27 February 2017). "Kong: Skull Island - Rise of the King [Official Final Trailer]". Archived from the original on 13 December 2021. Retrieved 2 February 2017– via YouTube.
  22. ↑ Todd Martens (15 March 2012). "SXSW: Bruce Springsteen hits a lot of notes in keynote address". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved 2 July 2012.
  23. ↑ Rem Rieder (March 1998). "We gotta get out of this place.(Editorial)". American Journalism Review . Archived from the original on 23 December 2007. Retrieved 18 February 2007.
  24. ↑ "The Angels [Australia] - We Gotta Get Out Of This Place". 45cat.com. Retrieved 1 June 2021.
  25. ↑ "australian-charts.com - The Angels - We Gotta Get Out Of This Place". Australian-charts.com. Retrieved 1 June 2021.
  26. ↑ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 . St Ives, NSW: Australian Chart Book Ltd. pp. 17–18. ISBN   0-646-11917-6. Note: Used for Australian Singles and Albums charting from 1974 until Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) created their own charts
  27. ↑ "The Angels – We Gotta Get Out of This Place". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved 15 July 2014.
  28. ↑ "Australian Music Report No 701 – 28 December 1987 > National Top 100 Singles for 1987". Australian Music Report . Retrieved 11 December 2019– via Imgur.
  29. ↑ "END OF YEAR CHARTS 1987". Official New Zealand Music Chart . Retrieved 22 April 2021.
  30. ↑ "Will Percy Interviews Bruce Springsteen". DoubleTake. Archived from the original on 26 November 2009. Retrieved 18 February 2007.
  31. ↑ Greene, Andy (16 March 2010). "The Stooges, Genesis, Abba Join the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame at Historic 25th Induction Ceremony". Rolling Stone . Archived from the original on 17 March 2010. Retrieved 10 April 2010.
  32. ↑ "Songwriters Hall of Fame Photo Archive". BMI . Retrieved 2 July 2012.
  33. ↑ "RPM Play Sheet - September 20, 1965" (PDF).
  34. ↑ Nyman, Jake (2005). Suomi soi 4: Suuri suomalainen listakirja (in Finnish) (1st ed.). Helsinki: Tammi. p. 105. ISBN   951-31-2503-3.
  35. ↑ "Chartverfolgung / The Animals / Single". Music Line (in German). Germany: Media Control Charts. Archived from the original on 11 February 2013. Retrieved 22 July 2012.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.