Musical Snobbery at it’s finest

 On this day in 1971, “Bang a Gong” reached No. 1 in the UK. In January of 72, it reached its peak of #10 here in the states.

The Album “Electric Warrior” was the second album billed as “T Rex”, which continued their bold move into what is known now as glam rock. The song itself was a blend of crunchy guitar licks, lyrics that were wonderfully evasive, and a look that was somewhere between Little Richard and late 60’s hippie mystic.

I remember hearing it for the first time in 5th Grade. As you will soon note over the days and months, I have always been more of a melody guy then a lyric guy. It didn’t matter to me what he was saying, it was the sound and the look that drew me to the song. Given that, there was no way this post would be made without doing some investagative work about those lyrics…so…here they are.

Well you’re dirty and sweet
Clad in black don’t look back and I love you
you’re dirty and sweet, oh yeah
Well you’re slim and you’re weak
you’ve got the teeth of the hydra upon you
you’re dirty sweet and you’re my girl

Get it on, bang a gong, get it on
Get it on, bang a gong, get it on

Well you’re built like a car
You’ve got a hub cap diamond star halo
You’re built like a car, oh yeah
Well you’re an untamed youth
That’s the truth with your cloak full of eagles
You’re dirty sweet and you’re my girl

Get it on, bang a gong, get it on
Get it on, bang a gong, get it on

Well you’re windy and wild
You’ve got the blues in your shoes and your stockings
You’re windy and wild, oh yeah
Well you’re built like a car
You’ve got a hub cap diamond star halo
You’re dirty sweet and you’re my girl

Get it on, bang a gong, get it on
Get it on, bang a gong, get it on

Well you’re dirty and sweet
Clad in black, don’t look back and I love you
you’re dirty and sweet, oh yeah
Well you dance when you walk
so let’s dance, take a chance, understand me
you’re dirty sweet and you’re my girl

Get it on, bang a gong, get it on
Get it on, bang a gong, get it on
Get it on, bang a gong, get it on

Get it on, bang a gong, get it on
Get it on, bang a gong, get it on
Take me, for a meanwhile I’m still thinking ….

Now…I’m not going to try to read into the lyrics (although I encourage you to….there is actually some pretty cool imagery here, although the line about being built like a car doesn’t seem like much of a pick-up line), but what was important was the sound….and the look. There will be time later to look at all of this closer as there was a lot more to Marc Bolin then just this song. However feel free to search this on your own, as well as artists like early David Bowie, Sweet, New York Dolls, and Alice Cooper.