Surrender (Cheap Trick song)

"Surrender" is a Cheap Trick song originally released on January 30 1978 on the album Heaven Tonight. It is also featured on the live album At Budokan. It is a late 1970s teen anthem, describing the relations between the baby boomer narrator and his G.I. generation parents. The narrator describes how his parents are weirder and hipper than many children would believe. For example, the narrator describes how he discovers his parents "rolling on the couch" and listening to his Kiss records late at night.

Cheap Trick still performs this song to this day, and Rick Nielsen often actually throws vinyl Kiss records to the audience in live performances at the moment Kiss is mentioned in the song.

The song has also been covered by many bands. Notable covers include those by The Get Up Kids, The Posies, Green Day, Less Than Jake, The Manges, The Misfit Toys, Dead Artist Syndrome, Zebrahead, Ghost of the Robot, Gluecifer, Camp Freddy, Velvet Revolver, Ten and Them, Big Drill Car, Marilyn Manson, Simple Plan, and The Tragically Hip. Rick Nielsen performed "Surrender" with Camp Freddy one night on Jay Leno.

Many movies feature this song, notably Over the Edge, Small Soldiers, Daddy Day Care, Fantastic Four, Employee of the Month, and Detroit Rock City. Daddy Day Care actually featured Rick Nielsen and Robin Zander (which were their only movie roles to date, excluding Rock and Rule.)

In 2004, "Surrender" was used in an ad campaign for the Universal Orlando Resort in Orlando, Florida.

Parts of the song are used in other songs.

• "Jimmy James" by the Beastie Boys is opened by Robin Zander's speech that opened the Budokan version of "Surrender".
• "Losers of the Year" by Pinhead Gunpowder is opened by the whole "whatever happened to all the season's" line.
• Cheap Trick's cover of "In the Street" by Big Star (aka "That 70's Song") has "We're All Alright" shouted twice after the chorus, a reference to this song.
• Me First and the Gimme Gimmes version of "Tomorrow" (from the musical Annie) has lyrics from Surrender during the last chorus. (Your mommy's alright, your daddy's alright,....)

This song was played in certain episodes of the shows Scrubs and Halfway Home. In film, it was featured in 1979's Over the Edge in the scene where Matt Dillon and his three teen friends were playing with a handgun in an abandoned home. It also figured into the iconic 80s high school classic, Fast Times at Ridgemont High, where it is mentioned by ticket scalper/teen impregnator Mike Damone while he is attempting to hustle a group of girls.

The song is featured in the PlayStation 2 and Xbox 360 video game Guitar Hero II, the Nintendo DS game Jam Sessions, and the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 game skate.

The song was also covered by Terrorvision on the B-side of one of their singles.