The History and Popular Music of the ’60s class learned about Iggy Pop and the Stooges’ self-titled 1969 debut. Here are their reactions.
Lily Brooks:
I rewrote the lyrics of “1969” to fit my life. I chose this song because it’s my favorite from the album and it’s about reflecting, which is something I’ve done a lot over the past year and now heading off to college. It’s a little more positive than the original lyrics as well:
Well it’s the year 2021 okay
Never so much struggle that way
There’s a new light
For me and you
Another year
So much more to do
Last year i was immature
I still had a lot of fun
And now i’m gonna be 18
I say oh yay and woo hoo
And now I’m gonna be 18
It’s gonna alright okay
Moving across the USA
It’s another year
For me and you
Another year
With so much to do
Another year
Everything to do
Its 2021
Sam Swartley:
I did a drawing of the album cover in a more modern way. Trying to highlight the weirdness and intensity of the Stooges’ sound. I went for a more modern looking style of drawing, mixed with the grunge vibe of the stooges and it came out pretty cool.
I wanted to do something different, so I wrote a short poem in response to the Stooges’ “I Wanna Be Your Dog.” To me, this song is about someone who is so desperate to be close and vulnerable with someone that they’re willing to compromise who they are. This song is also about wanting to succumb completely to instinct and desire, and abandon all intelligent communication with someone and value them only for their body, and I wanted to write a poem about that. The line breaks are weird but so is the song.
I Wanna Be Your Dog
I wanna be the plate you eat off of.
I wanna be the fork too. I
wanna wake up tomorrow and be
someone else who knows you. I wanna
be the pebble stuck in your shoe. I wanna be
the thing you can’t find anywhere. I wanna be dead
just to see how sorry you’d be. I wanna live in your
laundry. I wanna love you until you’re ugly.
I wanna burn in a fire and watch you watch me scream.
Pritam Khalsa:
In 1969 The Stooges released their first album. It’s less of what you would consider ’60s music and a definite start to the type of music the ’70s would shift to. Singer Iggy Pop would dance, jump around and go crazy on stage as part of his performances. I think that he seemed to have a really crazy and bright energy so I decided to paint him as wavy bright lines. I decided to put him on the moon because some of the songs on the album sounded like they would be sung in space, specifically “We Will Fall.”