“Back on the Chain Gang”
Artist: Pretenders
Music / Lyrics by Chrissie Hynde
Label: Real Records, 1982
In addition to reinvigorating the world of independent music labels and fostering a “do-it-yourself”
aesthetic, punk rock also opened the doors of the rock and roll world to a much greater number of
women performers. Like Patti Smith, Chrissie Hynde, the literate and politically-outspoken leader
of the Pretenders, realized the most sardonic, sophisticated, and poetic possibilities of the rockcritic-turned-rock star, and delivered them with compelling vocal power and highly individual
phrasing.
“Back on the Chain Gang” is the best known among the Pretenders’ tough, witty, succinct radiofriendly singles. The song was inspired by several intense events – Hynde’s affair with Kinks cofounder Ray Davies; the death of guitarist James Honeyman-Scott; and the drug-related
dismissal of Pretenders’ bassist Pete Farndon, who died of an overdose a year later. Actually
recorded in 1982, it was included on the 1984 Pretenders’ LP Learning to Crawl.
Musical style notes
“Back on the Chain Gang” is a great illustration of several of the Pretenders’ musical influences. It
is a beautifully-crafted, sixties’ pop-song particularly reminiscent of the Kinks or the Who, and the
“ugh – ah” chain gang grunts are a direct reference back to Sam Cooke’s 1960 single “Chain
Gang.” The treble-heavy, Rickenbacker-like guitar sound (with some new phase-shifting effects)
can also be heard in 1960s songs by the Byrds, and in Beatles tunes such as “If I Needed
Someone.” That “jangly” Rickenbacker sound was favored by Pretenders’ guitarist James
Honeyman-Scott, although in this case it is being used as a direct tribute to him, since he died of
a cocaine-induced heart attack several months before it was recorded (The guitarist on “Back on
the Chain Gang” was Billy Bremner of the band Rockpile.)
The structure of “Back on the Chain Gang” appears at first glance to be a fairly straightforward
verse-chorus-verse-chorus-bridge-verse-chorus; however, within this framework it has
sophisticated key changes and a rather extended bridge. Hynde’s plaintive vocal phrasing,
Bremner’s lyrical melodic interludes, and the rhythmic backbone provided by drummer Martin
Chambers and bassist Tony Butler of the group Big Country beautifully frame the song’s heartwrenching lyrics.
Musical “Road Map”
Timings
0:00-0:11
0:11-0:25
Comments
Introduction – guitars
Drums, bass, lead guitar enter
0:25-0:50
Lead guitar plays a melody that will return
later in the song to introduce the bridge
section.
Verse 1 begins
0:50-1:06
Chorus
1:06-1:31
Background vocal chain-gang “grunts.”
Verse 2
Lyrics
I found a picture of you…
Woh—oh
What hijacked my world that night…
We’re back on the train –
(ugh – ah – ugh – ah)
Oh…back on the chain gang
A circumstance beyond our control,
Woh—oh
The phone, the TV, and the News of the
1:31-1:48
Chorus
1:48-2:03
The lead guitar melody passage from the
intro repeats here
Bridge
2:03-2:38
2:38-3:10
Starts with several rhythmic punches; the
mood changes as the key changes to a
minor key.
Guitar chords lead to Verse repeat of first
line
3:10-3:20
3:20-3:48
World…
Put us back on the train –
(ugh – ah – ugh – ah)
Oh…back on the chain gang
The powers that be
That force us to live like we do…
I found a picture of you…
Woh—oh
Those were the happiest days of my life
Now we’re back on the train –
(ugh – ah – ugh – ah)
Oh…back on the chain gang
Ending vamp, with two repeating
“arpeggiated” guitar chords, fading to the
end
Angela Mariani would like to thank Dr. Chris Smith of Texas Tech University for his
contribution to this Listening Guide.