"Grip", or "(Get A) Grip (On Yourself)", is a single by

the Stranglers The Stranglers are an English rock band who emerged via the punk rock scene. Scoring 23 UK top 40 singles and 19 UK top 40 albums to date in a career spanning five decades, the Stranglers are one of the longest-surviving bands to have origina ...

from the album ''

Rattus Norvegicus ''Rattus'' is a genus of muroid rodents, all typically called rats. However, the term rat can also be applied to rodent species outside of this genus. Species and description The best-known ''Rattus'' species are the black rat (''R. rattus'') ...

''. The Stranglers' first single, it reached number 44 in the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

. The song was written by

Hugh Cornwell Hugh Alan Cornwell (born 28 August 1949) is an English musician, singer-songwriter and writer, best known for being the lead vocalist and lead guitarist for the punk rock and new wave band the Stranglers from 1974 to 1990. Since leaving the ...

, and featured steel mill worker Eric Clarke on

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to pr ...

.Cornwell and Drury 2001, pp. 33–34. The first line of the lyrics references a "Morry Thou" or Morris 1000.

References

1977 debut singles 1977 songs The Stranglers songs Song recordings produced by Martin Rushent Songs written by Hugh Cornwell Songs written by Dave Greenfield Songs written by Jet Black Songs written by Jean-Jacques Burnel United Artists Records singles {{1970s-rock-song-stub