What does Beat On The Brat mean?

The Ramones: Beat On The Brat Meaning

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Album cover for Beat On The Brat album cover

Beat On The Brat Lyrics

Beat on the brat
Beat on the brat
Beat on the brat with a baseball bat
Oh yeah, oh yeah, uh-oh.

What can you do?
What can you do?
With a brat like that always on your back
What can you do? (lose?)

  1. anonymous
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    Jun 9th 2016 !⃝

    "Beat on the Brat" was said by Joey to have origins relating to the lower classes of New York City.

    When I lived in Birchwood Towers in Forest Hills with my mom and brother. It was a lower-class neighborhood, with a lot of trashy lower class women who had horrible brat kids who were obnoxious. There was a playground with women sitting around and a kid screaming, a horrible kid just running around rampant with no discipline whatsoever. The kind of kid you just want to kill. You know, 'beat on the brat with a baseball bat' just came out. I just wanted to kill him.

    — Joey Ramone[1]
    Dee Dee, however, explained that the song was about how "Joey saw some mother going after a kid with a bat in his lobby and wrote a song about it."[2]

  2. anonymous
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    Sep 2nd 2009 !⃝

    I believe this is Joey's song to Johnny. Johnny is a military brat, and Joey and Johnny clashed often to a point where Johnny got married to Joey's girlfriend.

  3. anonymous
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    Jul 6th 2009 !⃝

    you both may be right. it's right that they were inspired by seeing the mother and the misbehaving son. but batty 110s interpretation is right because: beat on the brat was on the first album and at that point they did not expect too many people to ask them what the song is supposed to be. they expected the vast majority to listen to it and have their own interpretation. but not to ask the (at that time) infamous ramones personally or even look for an interview. i guess the ramones wanted the song to be understood like it is understood by batty 110 or other people who don't know about the mother son story.

  4. anonymous
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    Apr 21st 2009 !⃝

    Haha good interpretation batty 11
    but I remember seeing an interview of the Ramones and they said they wrote the song after watching a mother chase down her misbehaving song with a baseball bat

  5. batty_110
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    Oct 31st 2007 !⃝

    I'd say that they're fed up with a brat and are trying to inspire standing up to the 2 foot tall bullies that seem to run rampant anywhere there are kids or teenagers. I like the idea of using the bat on them ^.^


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