Danny Says

Album: End Of The Century (1980)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • Joey Ramone wrote this poignant love song at the Tropicana Hotel in Los Angeles when the Ramones were staying there for the recording of End of the Century. The vocalist penned the tune about Linda Danielle, his girlfriend at the time. She later begun a relationship with and eventually married guitarist Johnny Ramone, resulting in Joey refusing to speak to him for the rest of their lives.
  • The title of this ballad pertains to the band's former tour manager Danny Fields. "That song isn't really about me," Fields told Uncut magazine February 2014. "It's a love song Joe wrote to Linda. It's a poisoned song and I get introduced as the person it is about. Well, it's not about me, I had nothing to do with the album and it's about a love affair that turned into a tragedy."
  • This song, along with the rest of End of The Century, was produced by Phil Spector. Johnny later commented in Rolling Stone, "It really worked when he got to a slower song like 'Danny Says' - the production really worked tremendously. For the harder stuff, it didn't work as well."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Tim Butler of The Psychedelic Furs

Tim Butler of The Psychedelic FursSongwriter Interviews

Tim and his brother Richard are the Furs' foundation; Tim explains how they write and tells the story of "Pretty In Pink."

Lace the Music: How LSD Changed Popular Music

Lace the Music: How LSD Changed Popular MusicSong Writing

Starting in Virginia City, Nevada and rippling out to the Haight-Ashbury, LSD reshaped popular music.

Five Rockers Who Rolled With The Devil

Five Rockers Who Rolled With The DevilSong Writing

Just how much did these monsters of rock dabble in the occult?

Sugarland

SugarlandSongwriter Interviews

Meet the "sassy basket" with the biggest voice in country music.

Jules Shear - "All Through The Night"

Jules Shear - "All Through The Night"They're Playing My Song

Shears does very little promotion, which has kept him secluded from the spotlight. What changed when Cyndi Lauper had a hit with his song? Not much, really.

Roger McGuinn of The Byrds

Roger McGuinn of The ByrdsSongwriter Interviews

Roger reveals the songwriting formula Clive Davis told him, and if "Eight Miles High" is really about drugs.