Rock N Roll Nigger
"Rock N Roll Nigger" is a rock song written by Patti Smith and Lenny Kaye, and released on the Patti Smith Group's 1978 album Easter. The song has since been covered by several artists, including Marilyn Manson, and a remix was included on the soundtrack of the 1994 film Natural Born Killers.[1][2][3][4][5]
| "Rock N Roll Nigger" | |
|---|---|
| Song by Patti Smith Group | |
| from the album Easter | |
| Released | March 3, 1978 |
| Studio | Record Plant Studios |
| Genre | Punk rock |
| Length | 3:13 |
| Label | Arista |
| Songwriter(s) | Patti Smith, Lenny Kaye |
| Producer(s) | Jimmy Iovine |
| Audio sample | |
| |
Use of the word "nigger"
In the song, Smith self-identifies as a "nigger," meaning a rebellious and honorable outsider.[6] Duncombe and Tremblay suggest in White Riot that Smith is continuing Norman Mailer's tradition of The White Negro, adopting black culture to express things she believes her own culture will not allow, and rejecting the oppression white culture has historically imposed on others.[7]
In an interview with Rolling Stone that same year Smith had the following exchange with a reporter:
Reporter: The other day you said that if anyone was qualified to be a nigger, it was Mick Jagger. How is Mick Jagger qualified to be a nigger?
Smith: On our liner notes I redefined the word nigger as being an artist-mutant that was going beyond gender.
Reporter: I didn't understand how Mick Jagger has suffered like anyone who grew up in Harlem.
Smith: Suffering don't make you a nigger. I mean, I grew up poor too. Stylistically, I believe he qualifies. I think Mick Jagger has suffered plenty. He also has a great heart, and I believe, ya know, even in his most cynical moments, a great love for his children. He's got a lot of soul. I mean, like, I don't understand the question. Ya think black people are better than white people or sumpthin'? I was raised with black people. It's like, I can walk down the street and say to a kid, “Hey nigger.” I don't have any kind of super-respect or fear of that kind of stuff. When I say statements like that, they're not supposed to be analyzed, 'cause they're more like off-the- cuff humorous statements. I do have a sense of humor, ya know, which is sumpthin' that most people completely wash over when they deal with me. I never read anything where anybody talked about my sense of humor. It's like, a lot of the stuff I say is true, but it's supposed to be funny.[8][9]
Marilyn Manson cover
Marilyn Manson covered the song for their 1995 EP Smells Like Children. In his decision to cover the song Manson explained,
I thought "Rock N Roll Nigger" was a song that I could really relate to, and our fans could relate to, about being an outsider. I also thought that nobody else really, in our era of music, had the courage to do a cover of a song like that because, you know, they would get in trouble for the title but this song isn't about racism. It's about standing up for yourself.[10]
Reception
Because of its title and repetition of a racial epithet, which in 1978 was already considered extremely offensive, "Rock N Roll Nigger" received no mainstream radio airplay.[7]
In 2008, the song was listed in The Pitchfork 500, a music guide published by Pitchfork that lists the top 500 songs between 1977 and 2006.[11]
References
- Ruhlmann, William. "Rock N Roll Nigger". Allmusic. Retrieved November 13, 2012.
- Murphy, Peter (August 20, 1997). "Nigger with attitude". Dublin, Ireland: Hot Press. Retrieved November 13, 2012.
- Huey, Steve. "Patti Smith Biography". Allmusic. Retrieved November 13, 2012.
- Villepique, Greg (November 9, 1999). "Patti Smith: A punk icon in jeans and leather jacket, she added ecstasy and spiritual exaltation to the poet-songwriter equation". Salon.com. Retrieved November 13, 2012.
- Sinagra, Laura (December 2, 2005). "ROCK REVIEW; Celebrating 'Horses' and Everything After". New York Times. Retrieved November 13, 2012.
- Mahon, Maureen (2004). Right to Rock: The Black Rock Coalition and the Cultural Politics of Race. Duke University Press. pp. 204–205. ISBN 9780822333173.
- Duncombe, Stephen & Tremblay, Maxwell (2011). White Riot: Punk Rock and the Politics of Race. Verso Books. pp. 18–23. ISBN 9781844676880.
- "A few observations on Patti Smith's "Rock n Roll Nigger"". www.greatwhatsit.com. Retrieved 2017-07-10.
- "Patell and Waterman's History of New York · Patti Smith Catches Fire: 1978". ahistoryofnewyork.com. Retrieved 2017-07-10.
- Ayugai, Ken (host) (1997-03-12). "Marilyn Manson Special". Vibe. MTV Japan.
- Plagenhoef, Scott; Schreiber, Ryan, eds. (November 2008). The Pitchfork 500. Simon & Schuster. pp. 15–16. ISBN 978-1-4165-6202-3.