"Durango 95" is a short

instrumental An instrumental is a recording normally without any vocals, although it might include some inarticulate vocals, such as shouted backup vocals in a big band setting. Through semantic widening, a broader sense of the word song may refer to inst ...

by the punk rock band

The Ramones The Ramones were an American punk rock band that formed in the New York City neighborhood of Forest Hills, Queens, in 1974. They are often cited as the first true punk rock group. Despite achieving a limited commercial appeal in the United S ...

. It is the fourth track on their eighth studio album ''

Too Tough to Die ''Too Tough to Die'' is the eighth studio album by the American punk rock band the Ramones. It was released on October 1, 1984, and is the first Ramones record to feature Richie Ramone on drums. With ex-member Tommy Ramone producing (credited ...

''. The song is a cultural reference to the car driven by

Malcolm McDowell Malcolm McDowell (born Malcolm John Taylor; 13 June 1943) is a British actor, producer, and television presenter. He is best known for portraying Alex DeLarge in ''A Clockwork Orange.'' He was born in the Horsforth suburb of Leeds and raised i ...

's character in the 1971 film ''

A Clockwork Orange ''A Clockwork Orange'' may refer to: * ''A Clockwork Orange'' (novel), a 1962 novel by Anthony Burgess ** ''A Clockwork Orange'' (film), a 1971 film directed by Stanley Kubrick based on the novel *** ''A Clockwork Orange'' (soundtrack), the film ...

''. The cover of the ''

'' LP recalled a scene in the film. The track is also the only instrumental piece that the band ever recorded.

Composition

"Durango 95" is a

three-chord song A three-chord song is a song whose music is built around three chords that are played in a certain sequence. A common type of three-chord song is the simple twelve-bar blues used in blues and rock and roll. Typically, the three chords used are t ...

with the bass playing the

root In vascular plants, the roots are the organs of a plant that are modified to provide anchorage for the plant and take in water and nutrients into the plant body, which allows plants to grow taller and faster. They are most often below the su ...

notes. The drum style is quite complicated for a punk rock song due to the cymbal crashes and 7/4 time signature used in the tune's second section. The song is the shortest of all of the album's tracks. It was made an instrumental essentially to fulfill the cultural reference that Johnny Ramone wanted to give it.

Live shows

After releasing ''Too Tough To Die'', the Ramones started most of their shows with "The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly"

theme song Theme music is a musical composition that is often written specifically for radio programming, television shows, video games, or films and is usually played during the title sequence, opening credits, closing credits, and in some instances at ...

in a slow crescendo. At its climax, they would start playing "Durango 95". This is shown in the ''

Loco Live ''Loco Live'' is the second live album by American punk band the Ramones. There are two different versions of ''Loco Live'' available. The 1991 Chrysalis version contains 33 songs, including "Too Tough to Die", "Don't Bust My Chops", "Palisades ...

'', '' Greatest Hits Live'' and ''

We're Outta Here! ''We're Outta Here!'' is the fourth live album by the American punk band the Ramones. It was released on November 18, 1997, through Eagle Rock Records. Background The album was recorded for Billboard Live at The Palace in Los Angeles, Californ ...

'' live albums, released respectively in 1991, in 1996 and in 1997.We're Outta Here! - The Ramones

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

Retrieved on 12-26-2010 "Durango 95" was replaced as a set opener only occasionally in the late '80s with a nearly instrumental version of "Eat That Rat".

References

{{authority control 1984 songs Ramones songs Song recordings produced by Ed Stasium Song recordings produced by Tommy Ramone Songs written by Johnny Ramone