Hells Bells (song)
| "Hells Bells" | |
|---|---|
| Song | |
| B-side | "What Do You Do for Money Honey" |
| "Hells Bells" | |
|---|---|
| Song |
"Hells Bells" [sic][1] is the first track of the album Back in Black of Australian hard rock band AC/DC. It is the first song on their comeback album after the death of vocalist Bon Scott, introducing his replacement Brian Johnson.
The song experienced renewed popularity when it was covered in 2000 by the Dandy Warhols on their album Tales from Slabtown.
The song starts off with the ominous slow tolling of a bell 4 times and an intro. After that, it goes for another 9 times. Eventually the bassist Cliff Williams and the drummer Phil Rudd start playing. The lyrics, sung by Brian Johnson, explain how the narrator will attack, comparing his actions with natural phenomena such as rain, thunders and hurricanes. The song invokes the feeling that the narrator has been sent to drag a soul into Hell. The lines "I got my bell/I'm gonna take you to hell," among others, appear to support this.
The song was written to commemorate the death of AC/DC's lead singer Bon Scott.
The song also appears on Who Made Who, AC/DC's 1986 soundtrack to the Stephen King movie Maximum Overdrive, and on both versions of 1992's AC/DC Live.
In popular culture
- The song's main riff is played while the main character in the movie The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift is at the airport.
- The song is played during the recap of the Season 3 premiere episode of the television series Supernatural.
- Major League Baseball pitcher Trevor Hoffman has entered all save situations in San Diego Padres home games since 1998 with "Hells Bells" playing over the public address system.[2]
- It is also played at the University of New Mexico Lobos Mens Basketball home games at University Arena also known as The Pit. While played in the arena, sirens are first heard along with an introduction which references the elevation of the arena (appox. 5,312 ft.) and the long standing tradition of intimidating fan support. The Pit at UNM is well known for being one of the loudest in-door sports facilities in the U.S.
- It is also played at opening kickoff at all New York Giants home games.
- It is also played at Youngstown State University and the University of Central Florida football home games to get the crowd pumped up on 3rd downs.
- Finnish boxer Amin Asikainen uses this song when he enters the ring.
- The German football club FC St. Pauli from Hamburg opens all its home matches with AC/DC's Hells Bells.
References
- ^ The title "Hells Bells" does not contain an apostrophe; it would need to be written "Hell's Bells" to conform to standard written English rules.
- ^ Anthony Tarantino, "For whom the bell tolls: Who'd have thought 'Trevor Time' would start a majorswide trend?" San Diego Union-Tribune, 19 April 2004 [1]