Here endeth the short trip down Australian music lane, prompted by the Top 30 Australian songs listing by the Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA). Being Aussie, my blog is choc-full of Australian songs, though most lean more towards the independent and lesser-known side than the commercial hits I’ve highlighted over the last few days — including today’s heavy-rock mega-hit from that APRA list.
Now, heavy rock or metal aren’t exactly my go-to genres, but every now and then something blows my musical senses — like Metallica’s One, or let’s just have at it — AC/DC’s It’s a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock ‘n’ Roll).
It’s a Long Way is about the grind and hardship of rock ’n’ roll bands trying to make it big. The irony, though, is that AC/DC make it sound so effortless — with fantastic writing, scorching instrumentals (featuring one of rock’s most iconic guitar riffs and a bagpipe solo to die for), and Bon Scott’s voice slicing through the air like a razor. He sings about bad conditions: poorly paid gigs in dodgy venues, endless time on the road in cheap transport, and dealing with everything from hostile crowds to plain hard living.
Unlike so many other heavy rock tracks, I never tire of this early masterpiece from the legendary group. It’s a Long Way to the Top sits as my joint favourite AC/DC song alongside their later smash-hit Thunderstruck — which, rest assured, won’t take long to turn up here.
Long Way is the first track of the group’s second album T.N.T., released only in Australia and New Zealand on 8 December 1975, and was written by Angus Young, Malcolm Young and Bon Scott. Despite being one of the band’s most popular songs, AC/DC chose to retire the song from live performance out of respect for Scott following his death.
ACDC were formed in Sydney in 1973 and became Australia’s most successful musical export selling over 200 million records worldwide, making them one of the best-selling artists of all time. They are cited as a formative influence on the new wave of British heavy metal bands and were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2003.
The music video below was filmed in 1976 for a budget of $380. It features the band and the members of the Rats of Tobruk Pipe band on the back of a flatbed truck travelling on Swanston Street in Melbourne. A street, by the way I’m more than familiar with, having worked just a block away.
[Intro]
Alright
[Verse 1]
Ridin’ down the highway
Goin’ to a show
Stoppin’ on the byways
Playin’ rock ‘n’ roll
[Pre-Chorus]
Gettin’ robbed, gettin’ stoned
Gettin’ beat up, broken-boned
Gettin’ had, gettin’ took
I tell you, folks, it’s harder than it looks
[Chorus]
It’s a long way to the top if you wanna rock ‘n’ roll
It’s a long way to the top if you wanna rock ‘n’ roll
If you think it’s easy doin’ one-night stands
Try playin’ in a rock-roll band
It’s a long way to the top if you wanna rock ‘n’ roll
[Verse 2]
Hotel, motel
Make you wanna cry
Ladies do the hard sell
Know the reason why
[Pre-Chorus]
Gettin’ old, gettin’ grey
Gettin’ ripped off, underpaid
Gettin’ sold, second-hand
That’s how it goes, playin’ in a band
[Chorus]
References:
1. It’s a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock ‘n’ Roll) – Wikipedia
“The more I live, the more I learn. The more I learn, the more I realize, the less I know.”- Michel Legrand
Observation Blogger 
I could not stand AC/DC when I first heard them back in the late 70s/early 80s. Now I like them. I mean ~ they’ll never make my top 10 or even top 20 ~ but they don’t make me “change the station” like they used to.
I used to work with a girl ~ a beautiful willowy blonde 6 ft tall ~ who stripped to “Back in Black”. Which goes to show you can make any tune work when you’re taking off your clothes.
I’m hardly a fan and very rarely listen to them, but I understand why they are so popular.
Their ‘school days’ song popped onto my player this morning. I thought to myself – ‘if I was smashed in a bar in my youth, I would have loved to hear this’, but now very few of their songs do anything for me.
Dancing to ‘back in black’ would have been fun to see.
I learned a lot from her.
She was like your mentor?
You’re truly on an Australian streak, Matt. From today’s perspective, it’s hard to believe AC/DC were an acquired taste for me. The first song I heard was “Highway to Hell”, and I wasn’t particularly impressed. I thought it was “primitive.” But I came around and now love it. “It’s a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock ‘n’ Roll) I heard much later. Nowadays, it’s among my top favorite AC/DC songs, together with “Back in Black”, “Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap” and “Whole Lotta Rosie.” Yes, with AC/DC there isn’t much variety. It’s balls out rock & roll, and I just love it!
It seems you are a much bigger fan of them than yours truly. Balls out rock n’ roll isn’t my thing mostly due to its repetitiveness and shallow melody. Heavy rock or metal is a bit like my fastidiousness of horror movies. I really have to like it A LOT, to want to hear / see it again.
That’s okay. I mean I can’t say AC/DC necessarily would be my pick anytime either, but I feel that’s true for pretty much any music. You have to be in the right mood!
The ‘best’ music more often than not puts you in the mood, I find. For example, I went walking this morning to go to a dental appointment and Rachmaninoff´s Piano Concerto No 3 came on my player and I thought, ‘I don’t think I’m in the mood for this’. His music can feel heavy handedness (excuse the pun) even on the classical front. But I let it go….By the end of my one hour journey, I felt I had been tripping such was the euforia listening to this music. I was scribbling down notes of my favourite parts in the waiting room. Hehe.
I guess it can work both ways. Hope your dental appointment was smooth!😀
Thanks mate. Just a filling – all good. Can’t afford a crown lol I hope you are having a good one. Cheers.
got this…
I wouldn’t say that but I observed every single dancer I worked with & I copied moves I like & made them into my own. She had a style I liked ~ since I was shorter & curvier, I couldn’t move in the willowy way she had ~ but I learned how to make myself seem taller & more slender than I was ~ it’s an skill ~ an illusion.
I congratulate you on transforming how you looked in light of your natural body shape / frame. I love that ‘illusion’ description!