I Wanna Be Your Dog

"I Wanna Be Your Dog"
Cover of the 1969 Italian single
Single by the Stooges
from the album The Stooges
B-side"1969"
ReleasedJuly 1969 (1969-07)
Recorded1969
StudioThe Hit Factory, New York City
Genre
Length3:09
LabelElektra
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)John Cale
The Stooges singles chronology
"I Wanna Be Your Dog"
(1969)
"1969"
(1969)
Audio
"I Wanna Be Your Dog" on YouTube

"I Wanna Be Your Dog" is a song by American rock band the Stooges, released as the group's debut single from the band's 1969 self-titled debut album. The riff is composed of only three chords (G, F♯ and E), is played continuously throughout the song (excepting two brief 4-bar bridges). The 3-minute-and-9-second-long song, with its distortion-heavy guitar intro, single-note piano riff played by producer John Cale of the Velvet Underground, and steady, driving beat, gave the cutting edge of the early heavy metal and punk sound.[4]

In 2004, the song was ranked number 438 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the "500 Greatest Songs of All Time",[5] but it was dropped to number 445 on its 2010 revision, then was re-ranked at number 314 on its 2021 list.[6] Pitchfork Media placed it at number 16 on its list of "The 200 Greatest Songs of the 1960s".[7]

  1. ^ Stiernberg, Bonnie. "The 50 Best Garage Rock Songs of All Time". Paste. Archived from the original on August 1, 2017. Retrieved May 15, 2016.
  2. ^ Martin Charles Strong; Brendon Griffin (2008). Lights, camera, sound tracks. Canongate. p. 269. ISBN 978-1-84767-003-8. Retrieved October 6, 2015.
  3. ^ Britannica Educational Publishing (December 1, 2012). Disco, Punk, New Wave, Heavy Metal, and More: Music in the 1970s and 1980s. Britannica Educational Publishing. p. 171. ISBN 978-1-61530-912-2. Retrieved October 6, 2015.
  4. ^ Trynka, Paul (2007). Iggy Pop: open up and bleed. New York: Broadway Books. pp. 95. ISBN 978-0-7679-2319-4.
  5. ^ "Rolling Stone : The RS 500 Greatest Songs of All Time". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on December 17, 2006. Retrieved August 31, 2017.
  6. ^ Rolling Stone (September 15, 2021). "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time". Rolling Stone.
  7. ^ "The 200 Best Songs of the 1960s | Pitchfork". Pitchfork.