Album: Let There Be Rock (1977)

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• In the beginning
  Back in nineteen fifty-five
  Man didn't know about a rock 'n' roll show
  And all that jive
  The white man had the schmaltz
  The black man had the blues
  No one knew what they was gonna do
  But Tchaikovsky had the news
  He said
  
  "Let there be sound," there was sound
  "Let there be light," there was light
  "Let there be drums," there was drums
  "Let there be guitar," there was guitar
  "Oh, let there be rock"
  
  Woo
  
  And it came to pass
  That rock 'n' roll was born
  And all across the land, every rockin' band
  Was blowing up a storm
  And the guitar man got famous
  The businessman got rich
  And in every bar there was a superstar
  With a seven-year itch
  There were fifteen-million fingers
  Learning how to play
  And you could hear the fingers picking
  And this is what they had to say
  
  "Let there be light
  Sound
  Drums
  Guitar
  Oh, let there be rock"
  
  One night in a club called The Shaking Hand
  There was a forty-two decibel rocking band
  And the music was good and the music was loud
  And the singer turned and he said to the crowd
  
  "Let there be rock" Writer/s: Angus Mckinnon Young, Malcolm Mitchell Young, Ronald Belford Scott
  Publisher: Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
  Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Comments: 21

• Luna Loud from Royal Woods, MichiganI just wanted to say that this is one of the most kick-ass rock songs of all time. It's the highlight of any AC/DC show when Angus gets on the riser, shreds the crap out of his guitar, and does the spasm! It's always played as the last song of the main set.
• Ebc1973 from Williamsburg, VirginiaI came here specifically to get info on Bon's jump at the end of the song. Was he hurt? It certainly looks like he overshot his target. I've always wanted information on the making of this video.
• Marco from GermanyThe german word "Schmalz" means exactly the same (fat or overly sentimental [love] songs). Probably 'shmaltz' has its origin in Germany.
• Ted Dennison from Tulsa, OklahomaFor those asking, I'm pretty sure the word is "shmaltz", which is a Yiddish word that literally means poultry fat, but informally means (according to Wikipedia) "excessively sentimental or florid music or art". Now what a kid from Australia is doing casually dropping Yiddish, I can't explain, although he was clearly immersed in enough American media to by a Little Richard fan.
• Rob R from Dundee, ScotlandWhy Tchaikovsky you may ask? Well, Tchaikovsky wrote the 1812 Overture, famously the loudest piece of music in the symphonic music cannon (get it, works with both meanings, as its about a war). So maybe Tchaikovsky would have appreciated a form of music that goes all the way to 11, volume wise.
• Valmiki from OntarioThe white man has the schmaltz (sound slike'smoltz' via australian accent? ) I always thought he said 'smarts' and could be a clever way of getting that in.
• Steve from PerthDoes anybody have a copy of Let There Be Rock with the original riff (behind the 2nd solo) before they changed it slightly?
• Barry from Sauquoit, NyPer: http://www.oldiesmusic.com/news.htm {10-23-2017}
  George Young, guitarist with the Easybeats and co-writer of their hit, “Friday On My Mind” (#16 in 1967), died Sunday (October 22nd, 2017) at the age of 70...
  George was the brother of Angus and Malcolm Young of AC/DC and produced the group’s early albums such as 'Let There Be Rock' and 'Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap'*...
  George also wrote the John Paul Young tune, “Love Is In The Air” (#7 in 1977)...
  May he R.I.P.
• Zero from Nowhere, NjOn Metallica's "Live At Grimey's" CD, after "Seek and Destroy" they burst into the main riff of this song before ending the set.
• Yasin from Marietta, Ganear the end of the song, are they talking about themselves when Bon sings about some band at a club
• Barry from Dublin, IrelandBuilding on a line from the Chuck Berry song "Roll Over Beethoven": "...tell Tchaikovsky the news", "Let There Be Rock" reveals that Tchaikovsky did in fact receive the message and subsequently shared it with the masses, resulting in the rise of rock 'n' roll. God bless Wiki!
• Homer from Springfield, KyI thought it was "The white man had the smokes/The black man had the booze." Whatever. Awesome song
• John from North Lauderdale, FlYeah, I signed up just for the purpose of correcting this lyric. "Smoltz" is a baseball player (John Smoltz). The word is "schmaltz", which means an overly-sentimental, sappy song. Like the crooners of the 40's such as Sinatra, etc. Why almost every lyric site says it's "smoltz" I have no idea.
• Greg from Waterford, CtThe line is "The white man had the schmaltz" Schmaltz means highly sentimental and banal music, or overly sentimental esp. in music.
• Austin from Bristow, VaLove in in studio and love it live. Psalm 3:16 said, "And the Lord said 'Let There Be Rock'".
• Nick from Vancouver, Wa"Anyone know what "smoltz" means, if that really is what Bon's saying? I also find it interesting that Bon used Tchaikovsky when the composer had nothing to do with rock at all. I wonder why he did that?
  - Bess, San Diego, CA"
  
  The "Smoltz" question is the same reason I came here. But as for Tchaikovsky, it would refer to the Chuck Berry Song "Roll over Beethoven" where he says: Roll over Beethoven, and tell Tchaikovsky the news. Instead of telling him the news, in this song he would already have gotten it.
• Bess from San Diego, CaAnyone know what "smoltz" means, if that really is what Bon's saying? I also find it interesting that Bon used Tchaikovsky when the composer had nothing to do with rock at all. I wonder why he did that?
• Mike from Ponoka, AbAngus Is The Greatest Guitarist That Ever Lived!!!!!!! This Song It Really Makes Me Want To Party! This Band Is My Favorite And Always Will Be Because They Never Stop Rockin' Out!!!!! Definetly One Of My Fav Songs By AC/DC!!!! :)
• Selina from Perth, AustraliaHe slices the ligaments in his ankle actually....... Such a great song, great idea using words from the opening of the Bible and shaping them into anthemic lyrics :) ! Great riff too, love the sound of Malcolm playing the A chord and then hitting it muted- gives it such a great rythmic sound
• Aussie from Fffff, Australiabertrand - Paris, France is correct Angus smoked the JTM 45 Marshall & was sh*tting bricks. It was his brother George Young of Easybeats fame who urged him on whilst the amp was smoking. In the film clip where Bon Leaps of the pulpit he actually badly damaged his leg. If you watch closely you will see him hit the pews in the front row
• Ev from Tuscaloosa, AlThis song is on the family jewels DVD with Bon Scott in Priests robes at an alter,and several times during the video it zooms in on his face smiling and he looks very creepy. About halfway thruogh the video he takes off the robes and jumps over the drums and falls off the stage

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