It's a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock 'n' Roll)
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"It's a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock 'n' Roll)" is a song by
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
n
hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a loosely defined subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the garage, psychedelic and blues rock movements. Some of the earliest hard ...
band
AC/DC AC/DC (stylised as ACϟDC) are an Australian Rock music, rock band formed in Sydney in 1973 by Scottish-born brothers Malcolm Young, Malcolm and Angus Young. Their music has been variously described as hard rock, blues rock, and Heavy metal ...
. It is the first track of the group's second album ''
T.N.T. Trinitrotoluene (), more commonly known as TNT, more specifically 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene, and by its preferred IUPAC name 2-methyl-1,3,5-trinitrobenzene, is a chemical compound with the formula C6H2(NO2)3CH3. TNT is occasionally used as a reagen ...
'', released only in Australia and New Zealand on 8 December 1975, and was written by
Angus Young Angus McKinnon Young (born 31 March 1955) is an Australian musician, best known as the co-founder, lead guitarist, songwriter, and only remaining original member of the hard rock band AC/DC. He is known for his energetic performances, school ...
,
Malcolm Young Malcolm Mitchell Young (6 January 1953 – 18 November 2017) was an Australian musician who was the co-founder, rhythm guitarist, backing vocalist and songwriter of AC/DC. Except for a brief absence in 1988, he was with the band from its beginn ...
and
Bon Scott Ronald Belford "Bon" Scott (9 July 1946 – 19 February 1980) was an Australian singer and songwriter. He was the lead vocalist and lyricist of the hard rock band AC/DC from 1974 until his death in 1980. Born in Forfar in Angus, Scotlan ...
. The song combines
bagpipes Bagpipes are a woodwind instrument using enclosed reeds fed from a constant reservoir of air in the form of a bag. The Great Highland bagpipes are well known, but people have played bagpipes for centuries throughout large parts of Europe, No ...
with hard rock instrumentation; in the middle section of the song there is a
call and response Call and response is a form of interaction between a speaker and an audience in which the speaker's statements ("calls") are punctuated by responses from the listeners. This form is also used in music, where it falls under the general category of ...
between the bagpipes and guitar. The original recording is in B-flat major, but it was played live in A major.Evans, Mark, ''Dirty Deeds: My Life Inside/Outside of AC/DC'', Bazillion Points, 2011, p. 40. The song is also the first track on the internationally released ''
High Voltage High voltage electricity refers to electrical potential large enough to cause injury or damage. In certain industries, ''high voltage'' refers to voltage above a certain threshold. Equipment and conductors that carry high voltage warrant spec ...
'' (April 1976). The full version of the song is also on the ''
Volts The volt (symbol: V) is the unit of electric potential, electric potential difference (voltage), and electromotive force in the International System of Units (SI). It is named after the Italian physicist Alessandro Volta (1745–1827). Defini ...
'' CD of the ''
Bonfire A bonfire is a large and controlled outdoor fire, used either for informal disposal of burnable waste material or as part of a celebration. Etymology The earliest recorded uses of the word date back to the late 15th century, with the Catho ...
'' box set, released in 1997. This was a signature song for Bon Scott.
Brian Johnson Brian Johnson (born 5 October 1947) is an English singer and songwriter. In 1980, after the death of Bon Scott, he became the third lead singer of the Australian rock band AC/DC. He and the rest of the band were inducted into the Rock and Rol ...
, who replaced Scott as AC/DC's lead vocalist after Scott's death in 1980, does not perform it, out of respect for his predecessor."The legend lives on in a laneway to heaven"
''The Age'', 2005. Retrieved on 2007-02-15.
In January 2018, as part of
Triple M Triple M is an Australian commercial radio network owned and operated by Southern Cross Austereo. The network consists of 40 radio stations broadcasting a mainstream rock music format and 5 digital radio stations. The network dates back to th ...
's "Ozzest 100", the 'most Australian' songs of all time, "It's a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock 'n' Roll)" was ranked number 5.


Lyrics

The song chronicles the hardships endured by a rock band on tour, such as being
robbed Robbery is the crime of taking or attempting to take anything of value by force, threat of force, or by use of fear. According to common law, robbery is defined as taking the property of another, with the intent to permanently deprive the perso ...
,
assault An assault is the act of committing physical harm or unwanted physical contact upon a person or, in some specific legal definitions, a threat or attempt to commit such an action. It is both a crime and a tort and, therefore, may result in crim ...
ed, stoned and cheated by a greedy agent. However, the band accepts these hardships as natural on the path to stardom, saying that "It's a long way to the top/If you wanna rock 'n' roll".


Bagpipes

While jamming on new songs in the studio,
co-producer A film producer is a person who oversees film production. Either employed by a production company or working Independent film, independently, producers plan and coordinate various aspects of film production, such as selecting the script, coordina ...
George Young (the older brother of Angus and Malcolm) recalled that Bon Scott had once been in a
pipe band A pipe band is a musical ensemble consisting of Bagpipes, pipers and drummers. The term pipes and drums, used by military pipe bands is also common. The most common form of pipe band consists of a section of pipers playing the Great Highland b ...
and encouraged the band to experiment with incorporating bagpipes into the song. Scott left the studio that day and returned with a set of bagpipes purchased at a Park Street music store at what was an extortionately high price (AU$479) at the time. Bassist Mark Evans would later muse that the amount “would have bought two Strats”. Simply putting the pipe-set together proved tricky, and it became apparent Scott had never played the instrument before, having in fact been a drummer in the aforementioned pipe band. Nonetheless, Scott taught himself to play well enough to record and perform the song (initially with the help of tape loops). However, playing the song live was made difficult by the fact that the whole band would have to tune to the drone pipe. Thus the song, though iconic of the band's early repertoire, was probably played live no more than 30 times. The last occasion was in 1976, following an incident where Scott set down the pipe-set at the corner of a stage during a concert at St Albans High School in
St Albans, Victoria St Albans is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, north-west of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Brimbank local government area. St Albans recorded a population of 38,042 at the 2021 census. St Albans' ...
, Australia and they were destroyed by fans. Subsequent (relatively rare) live performances employed a recording of the song's bagpipe track or an extended guitar solo by Angus Young.


Personnel

*
Bon Scott Ronald Belford "Bon" Scott (9 July 1946 – 19 February 1980) was an Australian singer and songwriter. He was the lead vocalist and lyricist of the hard rock band AC/DC from 1974 until his death in 1980. Born in Forfar in Angus, Scotlan ...
– lead vocals, bagpipes *
Angus Young Angus McKinnon Young (born 31 March 1955) is an Australian musician, best known as the co-founder, lead guitarist, songwriter, and only remaining original member of the hard rock band AC/DC. He is known for his energetic performances, school ...
– lead guitar *
Malcolm Young Malcolm Mitchell Young (6 January 1953 – 18 November 2017) was an Australian musician who was the co-founder, rhythm guitarist, backing vocalist and songwriter of AC/DC. Except for a brief absence in 1988, he was with the band from its beginn ...
– rhythm guitar, backing vocals * Mark Evans – bass guitar *
Phil Rudd Phillip Hugh Norman Rudd (born Phillip Hugh Norman Witschke Rudzevecius, 19 May 1954) is an Australian drummer, best known as the drummer of AC/DC across three stints. On the 1977 departure of bass guitarist Mark Evans from AC/DC, Rudd became ...
– drums *
Harry Vanda Johannes Hendrikus Jacob van den Berg (born 22 March 1946), better known as his stage name Harry Vanda, is a Dutch Australian musician, songwriter and record producer. He is best known as lead guitarist of the 1960s Australian rock band the Easy ...
, George Young – producers


Music video

The music video for "It's a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock 'n' Roll)", was filmed on 23 February 1976 for the Australian music television program ''
Countdown A countdown is a sequence of backward counting to indicate the time remaining before an event is scheduled to occur. NASA commonly employs the terms "L-minus" and "T-minus" during the preparation for and anticipation of a rocket launch, and eve ...
''. It featured the band and the members of the Rats of Tobruk Pipe band on the back of a
flatbed truck A flatbed truck (or flatbed lorry in British English) is a type of truck which can be either articulated or rigid. As the name suggests, its bodywork is just an entirely flat, level 'bed' with no sides or roof. This allows for quick and easy load ...
travelling on
Swanston Street Swanston Street is a major thoroughfare in the centre of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It is one of the main streets of the Melbourne central business district and was laid out in 1837 as part of the original Hoddle Grid. The street vertically ...
in
Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...
. The video was directed by
Paul Drane Paul Drane is an Australian television producer-director. He was initially known as studio director of the Australian TV pop show ''Countdown'' from 1975 to 1977. During this period, he directed several music videos (promotional film clips) made e ...
. David Olney was the cameraman. and had a budget of $380. The video was uploaded to YouTube on May 24, 2010, and it amassed over 38 million views. Three other videos for the song exist. One version, filmed the same day as the truck version, features the group miming the song on a stage in Melbourne's
City Square A town square (or square, plaza, public square, city square, urban square, or ''piazza'') is an open public space, commonly found in the heart of a traditional town but not necessarily a true geometric square, used for community gatherings. ...
in front of an audience. The pipers appear here as well. This version is available in the '' Backtracks'' box set, and was uploaded to YouTube on June 11, 2022. A third version features the group simply miming the song on a soundstage, making it appear as if it were being played live (This version is considered rare and as of 2022 has not been officially released). A fourth version of the video shows the group performing the song on Australian program ''Bandstand'' on Channel 9, filmed two days prior to the first 2 videos for Countdown. with Scott singing live over the studio track appears on the '' Plug Me In'' DVD set. This fourth version was uploaded to YouTube on January 11, 2021. Alan Butterworth, Les Kenfield and Kevin Conlon play the bagpipes in the first 2 videos.


Popularity

In May 2001,
Australasian Performing Right Association APRA AMCOS consists of Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) and Australasian Mechanical Copyright Owners Society (AMCOS), both copyright management organisations or copyright collectives which jointly represent over 100,000 songwr ...
(APRA) celebrated its 75th anniversary by naming the Best Australian Songs of all time, as decided by a 100-member industry panel. "It's a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock 'n' Roll)" was ranked as the ninth song on the list. In 2010 it was ranked no. 3 in
Triple M Triple M is an Australian commercial radio network owned and operated by Southern Cross Austereo. The network consists of 40 radio stations broadcasting a mainstream rock music format and 5 digital radio stations. The network dates back to th ...
's Ultimate 500 Rock Countdown in
Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...
. The top five were all AC/DC songs. It was inducted into the
National Film and Sound Archive The National Film and Sound Archive of Australia (NFSA), known as ScreenSound Australia from 1999 to 2004, is Australia's audiovisual archive, responsible for developing, preserving, maintaining, promoting and providing access to a national co ...
's
Sounds of Australia The Sounds of Australia, formerly the National Registry of Recorded Sound, is the National Film and Sound Archive's selection of sound recordings which are deemed to have cultural, historical and aesthetic significance and relevance for Australi ...
in 2012. The song was also used in the comedy movie ''
School of Rock ''School of Rock'' (titled onscreen as ''The School of Rock'') is a 2003 comedy film directed by Richard Linklater, produced by Scott Rudin, and written by Mike White. The film stars Jack Black, Joan Cusack, Mike White, and Sarah Silverman. Bl ...
'' (2003), both AC/DC's version and in a performance by the film's cast, and during '' Only the Brave'' (2017).


Charts


Certifications


Connection to ACDC Lane

On October 1, 2004,
Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...
's Corporation Lane was officially renamed "
ACDC Lane AC/DC Lane is a laneway in the central business district of Melbourne, Australia. A short and narrow street running off Flinders Lane, it runs roughly north–south in between Exhibition Street and Russell Street. The lane is named as a tribu ...
" in honour of the band (street names in the City of Melbourne cannot contain the " /" character or other punctuation marks). This change was made in part because the music video for "It's a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock 'n' Roll)" was filmed on Melbourne's
Swanston Street Swanston Street is a major thoroughfare in the centre of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It is one of the main streets of the Melbourne central business district and was laid out in 1837 as part of the original Hoddle Grid. The street vertically ...
, near ACDC Lane. The
Melbourne City Council The City of Melbourne is a local government area in Victoria, Australia, located in the central city area of Melbourne. In 2018, the city has an area of and had a population of 169,961. Estimated resident population, 30 June 2018. The ci ...
's vote to rename the street was unanimous. Bagpipers played "It's a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock 'n' Roll)" at the official renaming ceremony.


Recorded cover versions

Performed by: *
Jack Black Thomas Jacob Black (born August 28, 1969) is an American actor, comedian, and musician. He is known for his acting roles in the films '' High Fidelity'' (2000), ''Shallow Hal'' (2001), ''Orange County'' (2002), '' School of Rock'' (2003), ''E ...
and the cast of ''
School of Rock ''School of Rock'' (titled onscreen as ''The School of Rock'') is a 2003 comedy film directed by Richard Linklater, produced by Scott Rudin, and written by Mike White. The film stars Jack Black, Joan Cusack, Mike White, and Sarah Silverman. Bl ...
'' -
Original soundtrack A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack of ...
(2003) *
Pat Boone Patrick Charles Eugene Boone (born June 1, 1934) is an American singer and actor. He was a successful pop singer in the United States during the 1950s and early 1960s. He sold more than 45 million records, had 38 Top 40 hits, and appeared in mo ...
- '' In a Metal Mood: No More Mr. Nice Guy'' (1997) *
Dead Moon Dead Moon was an American punk rock band active from 1987 to 2006, formed in Portland, Oregon. History Fronted by the singer/guitarist Fred Cole, the band also included the bass guitarist Toody Cole and the drummer Andrew Loomis. Veterans ...
- ''Destination X'' (1999) *
Die Krupps Die Krupps () ("The Krupps") is a German industrial metal/ EBM band, formed in 1980 by Jürgen Engler and Bernward Malaka in Düsseldorf. The band has had a diverse range of musical influences over time, including the percussive industrial '' ...
- ''Covered in Black: An Industrial Tribute to the Kings of High Voltage'' (tribute compilation) (1997) *
Dropkick Murphys Dropkick Murphys are an American Celtic punk band formed in Quincy, Massachusetts in 1996. Singer and bassist Ken Casey has been the band's only constant member. Other current members include drummer Matt Kelly (1997– ), singer Al Barr (199 ...
- ''The Singles Collection, Vol. 2'' (2005) * Electric - ''A Tribute to AC/DC'' (2006) *
John Farnham John Peter Farnham Officer of the Order of Australia, AO (born 1 July 1949) is a British born Australian singer. Farnham was a Teen idol, teen pop idol from 1967 until 1979, billed then as Johnny Farnham, but has since forged a career as an Adu ...
- b-side to "
Two Strong Hearts "Two Strong Hearts" is a song written by Andy Hill and Bruce Woolley. Australian singer John Farnham recorded the song and released it as the second single from his 13th studio album, '' Age of Reason'' (1988). The song peaked at number six on ...
" (1988) * John Farnham and Tom Jones - '' Together in Concert'' (2005) *
Iced Earth Iced Earth is an American heavy metal band formed in Tampa, Florida and currently based in Columbus, Indiana. They were formed in 1984 under the name the Rose, then Purgatory, by guitarist and main songwriter Jon Schaffer and original drummer ...
- ''
Tribute to the Gods ''Tribute to the Gods'' is a covers album by heavy metal band Iced Earth. It is notable as the last Iced Earth album featuring Larry Tarnowski on lead guitar, and the last featuring singer Matt Barlow on vocals until his 2007 return. It was al ...
'' (2002) *
Lemmy Ian Fraser Kilmister (24 December 1945 – 28 December 2015), better known as Lemmy Kilmister or simply Lemmy, was an English musician. He was the founder, lead singer, bassist and primary songwriter of the rock band Motörhead, of which he wa ...
- ''Cover Me in '80s Metal'' (Fantastic Price Records, 2006) *
Local H Local H is an American rock band originally formed by guitarist and vocalist Scott Lucas, bassist Matt Garcia, drummer Joe Daniels, and lead guitarist John Sparkman in Zion, Illinois in 1990. The members all met in high school in 1987 and found ...
- ''Pack Up the Cats B-Side''. Features
Brendan O'Brien Brendan O'Brien may refer to: *Brendan O'Brien (bishop) (born 1943), Roman Catholic archbishop of Kingston, Ontario, Canada *Brendan O'Brien (cricketer) (born 1942), Irish former cricketer *Brendan O'Brien (journalist), senior Irish journalist on R ...
playing the bagpipe parts on a
hurdy-gurdy The hurdy-gurdy is a string instrument that produces sound by a hand-crank-turned, rosined wheel rubbing against the strings. The wheel functions much like a violin bow, and single notes played on the instrument sound similar to those of a vio ...
. * The Meanies - ''
Fuse Box A distribution board (also known as panelboard, breaker panel, electric panel, DB board or DB box) is a component of an electricity supply system that divides an electrical power feed into subsidiary circuits while providing a protective fus ...
– An Alternative Tribute'' (1995) * The Melbourne Ukulele Kollective - ABC-TV's '' Spicks and Specks'' (2006) *
Motörhead Motörhead () were an English rock band formed in London in 1975 by Lemmy (lead vocals, bass), Larry Wallis (guitar) and Lucas Fox (drums). Lemmy was also the primary songwriter and only constant member. The band are often considered a precu ...
- ''Thunderbolt: A Tribute to AC/DC'' (1998) *
Nantucket Nantucket () is an island about south from Cape Cod. Together with the small islands of Tuckernuck and Muskeget, it constitutes the Town and County of Nantucket, a combined county/town government that is part of the U.S. state of Massachuse ...
- ''Long Way to the Top'' (1980) *
Scarlett Pomers Scarlett Pomers (born November 28, 1988) is a former American actress and singer-songwriter. Her most recognizable roles have been as Naomi Wildman on '' Star Trek: Voyager'' (1998–2001) and Kyra Hart on the television series '' Reba'' (2001 ...
- ''A Millennium Tribute to AC/DC'' (2010) * Rawkus - ''AC/DC: Hometown Tribute'' (2002) * Sandra Weckert - ''Bar Jazz'' (2003) *
Lucinda Williams Lucinda Gayle Williams (born January 26, 1953) is an American singer-songwriter and a solo guitarist. She recorded her first two albums: '' Ramblin' on My Mind'' (1979) and '' Happy Woman Blues'' (1980), in a traditional country and blues style ...
- ''
Little Honey ''Little Honey'' is the ninth studio album by American singer-songwriter Lucinda Williams, released on October 14, 2008, by Lost Highway Records. The album debuted at No. 9 on the ''Billboard'' 200, selling 35,000 copies that week, thereby becomi ...
'' (2008) *
Eric Fish Eric Fish (born Erik-Uwe Hecht; 28 May 1969), is the singer of German medieval metal band Subway to Sally. He performs also as a solo musical artist. History Eric's first musical merit was that of reaching the finale of a German Democratic Repu ...
- ''Gegen den Strom'' (2007, as ''Ein langer Weg'' in German) * W.A.S.P. * Billy Thorpe and the cast of Long Way to the Top - Long Way to the Top Live in Concert (2002) *
Eagles of Death Metal Eagles of Death Metal is an American rock band from Palm Desert, California, formed in 1998. Founded by Jesse Hughes (vocals, guitar) and Josh Homme (drums), the band also includes a wide range of other musicians who perform both on the band's ...
- High Voltage/ It's a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock 'n' Roll) (2019) The Nantucket's version was promoted with a music video starring
bodybuilding Bodybuilding is the use of progressive resistance exercise to control and develop one's muscles (muscle building) by muscle hypertrophy for aesthetic purposes. It is distinct from similar activities such as powerlifting because it focuses ...
champion
Mike Mentzer Mike Mentzer (November 15, 1951 – June 10, 2001) was an American IFBB professional bodybuilder, businessman and author. Early life and education Mike Mentzer was born on November 15, 1951, in the Germantown section of Philadelphia. In gramma ...
. The song was covered during the credit sequence of the comedy movie ''
School of Rock ''School of Rock'' (titled onscreen as ''The School of Rock'') is a 2003 comedy film directed by Richard Linklater, produced by Scott Rudin, and written by Mike White. The film stars Jack Black, Joan Cusack, Mike White, and Sarah Silverman. Bl ...
'', performed by
Jack Black Thomas Jacob Black (born August 28, 1969) is an American actor, comedian, and musician. He is known for his acting roles in the films '' High Fidelity'' (2000), ''Shallow Hal'' (2001), ''Orange County'' (2002), '' School of Rock'' (2003), ''E ...
and the class of children he taught while masquerading as a teacher. However, the children ad-libbed their own lyrics towards the ending of the song.
Billy Corgan William Patrick Corgan Jr. (born March 17, 1967) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and professional wrestling promoter. He is best known as the lead singer, primary songwriter, guitarist, and only permanent member of the rock band the ...
covered the song live as an encore on almost every show during his 2005 tour supporting his debut solo effort ''
TheFutureEmbrace ''TheFutureEmbrace'' is the debut solo album by American musician Billy Corgan, frontman of the alternative rock band The Smashing Pumpkins. Released in June 2005, the album's sound was markedly different from most of Corgan's earlier work, eschew ...
''. A dramatic re-interpretation was released by Norwegian duo Susanna and the Magical Orchestra (aka Susanna Wallumrød and Morten Qvenild) in late summer 2006 on their second album '' Melody Mountain'', which consists entirely of cover versions. Their style is slow and melancholic with only cembalo accompaniment to Wallumrød's pure vocal, and brings out the essential sadness of the song. The pop rock band
Hanson Hanson or Hansson may refer to: People * Hanson (surname) * Hansson (surname) * Hanson (wrestler), ringname of an American professional wrestler Musical groups * Hanson (band), an American pop rock band * Hanson (UK band), an English rock ...
performed this song during some of the shows on the "Walk around the World" tour, often inviting the opening acts back on stage to sing together. Melbourne Ukulele Kollective frequently play the song live, the most notable performances being during ABC-TV's '' Spicks and Specks'' in 2004; and during the Australia Day flag-raising ceremony and people's march in 2009. German medieval metal band
In Extremo In Extremo (Latin for ''At the Edge''; abbreviated InEx or IE) is a German Medieval metal band originating from Berlin. The band's musical style combines metal with Medieval traditional songs, blending the sound of the standard rock/metal instr ...
played the song on their ''Tranquilo''-Acoustic Tour in 2009 on German Bagpipes. On the 34th anniversary of the filming of the music video, it was recreated as part of the SLAM (Save Live Australian Music) rally, to protest liquor licensing laws which threaten live music. About ten thousand protesters marched down Swanston Street and up Bourke Street to the Victorian Parliament House, accompanied by the RocKwiz band on a flatbed truck playing the song.


References

{{authority control 1975 singles 1975 songs AC/DC songs Albert Productions singles APRA Award winners Atlantic Records singles Dropkick Murphys songs Song recordings produced by Harry Vanda Song recordings produced by George Young (rock musician) Songs about rock music Songs written by Bon Scott Songs written by Angus Young Songs written by Malcolm Young