LOST TRACK "YOU BETTER RUN"

I really like The Stooges cover of this song, the slower version is probably my favourite. There's alot of dark dark humour in it though, I used to feel uncomfortable listening to it till I realised that. I think its pretty obvious with the line "I aint fakin' a whole lotta rapin' going on", it's just ridiculous.

Nitebob wrote:

OOps that was the 1996 Iggy tour

nb

Yeah, in the " You See Me Laughing" documentary Iggy talks about the tour and he said that he wanted his support act to be something really cool, quote: " I didn't wanna go on tour with some metal-dwarfs on stage"

On the liner notes to "You Better Run - Essential Junior Kimbrough " Iggy talks about Junior Kimbrough's blues and he says that when he was making the movie "Crow 2 " and playing the character called "Curve", he would listen to Junior's music before every take on the set, cause Kimbrough's music helped him to relax and get in the mood for the part.
He felt that he needed to listen real badass music in order to get in the character of a real bad guy for the film. He says in the liner notes that " It's so laidback, it puts me in trance with it's sinister overtones"

Another quote from Bono about Junior Kimbrough:

" I wanted to meet him, so we were introduced like royalty, meaning ...He was royalty and I was nothing. He would greet us first like a gentleman, and then he just grunted and walked away and he would go through this every time..."

I guess Junior Kimbrough didn't give a fuck about rich white rockstars like Bono.

Iggy Pop got Junior Kimbrough,” Fat Possum founder Matthew Johnson told Billboard. “He invited him to go on the road and open his 1996 tour. Despite being in his 70s and having to walk with the aid of a cane, Junior Kimbrough had no problem holding his own with Iggy. Junior, in addition to fathering 36 kids, had way more fun than you or I ever will. When Iggy learned about the project he called us to say he had to have ‘You Better Run.’”

Sunday Nights: The Songs Of Junior Kimbrough

“You Better Run” (first version) - Iggy and the Stooges
“Sad Days Lonely Nights” - Spiritualized
“Meet Me In the City” - Blues Explosion with Elliott Smith
“Done Got Old” - Heartless Bastards
“My Mind Is Rambling” - the Black Keys
“I’m Leaving” - Fiery Furnaces
“I Feel Good Again” - Pete Yorn
“Do the Romp” - Cat Power & Entrance
“All Night Long” - Mark Lanegan
“Release Me” - Thee Shams
“Done Got Old” - Jim White
“Lord Have Mercy On Me” - Outrageous Cherry
“Pull Your Clothes Off” - Whitey Kirst
“Burn In Hell” - the Ponys
“You Better Run” (second version) - Iggy and the Stooges

Theres a difference between singing a song about fucking and a song about raping. If you cant see that, maybe its just a language barrier. I liked the guitars on the song, just felt like they were trying alittle too hard to be bad boys by covering that song.

Yeah in other languages sex is equal to rape.

Have you listened to the lyrics? There's a man with a knife chasing a chick in the park, he wants to rape her so she runs to Iggy. Quite shocking. Sounds more like a b-horror movie to me. I think it's a good riff and a silly, quite funny song. Far less horrible than 'my dick is turning into a tree', which I found more painful to hear from some old guy.

Hey maybe we should compile a list of lyrics we don't want Iggy to sing.

Nice track, period.

Haven't heard this track, so I will reserve judgement until I do. What I wanted to know is if the rest of the album is worth having. I like lots of the artists and love Mark Lanegan's work. Overall, an album worth buying?

I think that both versions are pretty interesting. I actually like the bluesier one best. It's nice to hear Ron stretching out in that style.

They might be meant as 'humorous' lyrics but they're not much fun to listen to.

I don't think Iggy wrote the lyrics to that song !!

I didn't say he did.

i first heard this last year and wasnt too impressed initially. I only started listening to it again in january after realising the prospect of hearing new Ron stuff was gonna be very slim.

i like the fast version (version 1) i think the riff is fantastic!
better than most of the weirdness stuff in my opinion.

as for the rape lyric - it still kinda makes me uncomfortable.
i aint heard the original - so maybe it works better in the ol' blues song, i dunno...

TED wrote:

I don't think Iggy wrote the lyrics to that song !!

Maybe not but he's written plenty of others just as bad.

i think the lyrics are funny, I dunno why people cant listen to them or dont like them, i think theyre funny, though i had been listening to junior kimbrough before i'd heard these, so maybe that has something to do with it, but, i wouldnt read too much into it, its a great song for Ron's work alone

'rape' isn't a funny lyric to me in any context, altho I'm not sure whether I'm truly uncomfortable with it in this case or whether it just sounds crass. It certainly ain't appealing.

i think the subject of rape in general, is the furthest thing from funny, but these lyrics arent meant to be a comment on it or anything, and like ive said, the main thing i listen to is Ron, thats what this song is about for me, and the rest of the band, they all sound great on these takes

Rape is a pretty powerful word and I think in the context of "You better run" it's usage makes me feel embarassed for Iggy.

That being said, it's just another new Stooges song that I don't need to hear more than once. Seeing their second reunion show was
incredible. The first two records will always hold up and the band was able to deliver. "The Weirdness" was sub-par, and this song just follows that trend.

The band sounds great, but Iggy doesn't really sell these lyrics. The original is more effortlessly menacing, whereas Iggy just sounds like he's trying too hard to appear deranged and scary.

I didn't find the rape lyrics as offensive as the 'Aisha' video, quite frankly. I'm sure that Death in Vegas themselves, or some bonehead 'visionary' director came up w/ that, but, regardless, it's Iggy doing the vocals.

(The absolute nadir for Iggy lyrics is still 'I like spaghetti in tomato sauce' from Boogie Boy on the Caesar record. Sheesh.)

Iggy has mentioned Fat Possum as his favourite label in a few interviews. Junior Kimbrough & R.L. Burnside are both worth checking out. Real gut-bucket blues of the type you didn't think they made anymore.

I've only listened to the "fast" version, but I think the band sounds
rushed, like they still don't have a handle on the song.

trailerborn wrote:

The band sounds great, but Iggy doesn't really sell these lyrics. ,Iggy just sounds like he's trying too hard to appear deranged and scary.

.

Agree. That's what I meant by those lyrics sounding kind of crass, quite apart from any connotations of the word 'rape'.

popmansam wrote:

Yeah, I think Its maybe one of their worst.

THat's the beauty of the creative arts. We all respond in different ways.

I love it. It appeals to me more than any track on The Weirdness except Idea Of Fun - and is better produced.

I should mention I'm a big Jr Kimbrough and RL Burnside fan. Went down to Jr Jukejoint several times... some of the best shows I've seen, period. Maybe the best. Seeing Jr was like a dream... yeah, gotta say better than the stones at SHepherds Bush Empire and on a par, at least, with the Stooges at the Hammersmith Apollo, or Sinatra, or Ella Fizgerald.

I might have to apologise for getting a little ugly earlier.

Allow me to share my point of view:

Iggy Pop to me is more than just an artist. He's the ultimate free man. A guy who takes his pants off in front of thousends of people even though he's sixty, who stage dives in an audience of ten people almost paralising himself and whatnot, you know the stories, just because. You can't really follow him because he ducks and jumps and dives into place you never even heard of. He's an idiot and a genius. I don't think this is a guy who's obliged to make an album that sounds just like Funhouse, I don't think anyone can say what he's supposed to write and what not, fuck if he suddenly decided to dump Scott and Mike I'd be sad but: it's Iggy. Most athletes only perform as intensively as Iggy does on every show a few times per year. I don't think he owes anything to anyone. I don't think he had to apologise at Glastonbury. He is above terms as embarassing or incorrect. Hell, maybe I'm insane but I even admire his guts for releasing 'cry for love'. I'm happy he's still around, doing whatever he feels like doing, whether I like it or not, as one of the last guys in the bizz.

Anyway I like the song, good riff from Ron, sounds like something that could've been on Skull Ring. Just in case - I have also heard the original, I think they threw it around nicely. I still don't see what's so offensive but I guess that differs from one person to another or one culture to another. Then again 40 years ago people found 'Dog' offensive.

For me it's not really a question of finding anything 'offensive', the more I think about it. It just sounds silly, a case of trying too hard as someone said. I think that quality afflicts a lot of the lyrics of The Weirdness too, altho the music is good.
or maybe I just don't want to sound prudish. I don't know any more.

....i like cry for love

The hell with the lyrics. It's RON and The Stooges! What more can you ask for?

I think both versions are smokin'. Definitely better than most of The Weirdness. These would have fit nicely on Skull Ring.

Iggy wasn't the one to write the lyrics to the song either, it was Jr Kimbrough. And as others has allready pointed out, it's ace!