The Replacements – I Will Dare

How young are you?
How old am I?
Let’s count the rings around my eyes

I Will Dare was released in 1984 as an independent single and then included on their Let It Be album. I loved this song in the 80s and after hearing it in the past weeks…it was like the first time I listened to it. Peter Buck from REM is playing the intro on this song.  Paul Westerberg wrote the song and plays mandolin.

Let It Be was the third full album by the band’s original lineup: lead singer and songwriter Paul Westerberg, guitarist Bob Stinson, bassist Tommy Stinson, and drummer Chris Mars.

This song should have cracked the top 40 but it didn’t…mostly because they were on a small  Minneapolis record label named Twin/Tone.

The song has been included in The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll.

Paul Westerberg: ”I Will Dare” [From Let It Be] might have been an answer to ”I Will Follow” [by U2]. Part of it has to do with the band. We’ll dare to flop, we’ll dare to do anything. ”I Will Dare” was a good slogan for a Replacements single. Every song title, if it doesn’t apply to the band in some way, we cannot use it. On the other hand, it was a kind of love song. ”Ditch the creep and I’ll meet you later. I don’t care, I will dare.” 

I Will Dare

How young are you?
How old am I?
Let’s count the rings around my eyes

How smart are you?
How dumb am I?
Don’t count any of my advice

Oh, meet me anyplace or anywhere or anytime
Now I don’t care, meet me tonight
If you will dare, I might dare

Call me on Thursday, if you will
Or call me on Wednesday, better still
Ain’t lost yet, so I gotta be a winner
Fingernails and a cigarette’s a lousy dinner
Young, are you? Wo oo

C’mon meet me anyplace or anywhere or anytime
Now, I don’t care, meet me tonight
If you will dare, I will dare
Meet me anyplace or anywhere or anytime
Now, I don’t care, meet me tonight
If you will dare, I will dare

How young are you?
How old am I?
Let’s count the rings around my eyes

How smart are you?
How smart are you?
How dumb am I?
Dumb am I

Meet me anyplace or anywhere or anytime
Now I don’t care, meet me tonight
If you would dare, I would dare
Meet me anyplace or anywhere or anytime
Now I don’t care, meet me tonight
If you will dare, I will dare

Author: badfinger20 (Max)

Power Pop fan, Baseball fan, old movie and tv show fan... and a songwriter, bass and guitar player.

32 thoughts on “The Replacements – I Will Dare”

  1. great song- Paul Westerberg one of the greatest songwriters of the 80s IMO. Love The Replacements. One of my Mount Rushmore concert- Replacements in 1988 or was it 89?

    Liked by 3 people

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    1. I would have loved to see them. I have some friends who saw them a few times and they said they could be great to terrible depending on their condition that paticular night.

      Liked by 1 person

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      1. That is what I’ve always heard too- I saw them right before they broke up too- they were ok that night but not brilliant like the first time. Oddly enough- my friend Helmet went with me to the one right before they broke up- and he said years later- how great that concert was- I didn’t think so- funny how two people at the same event come away with different views.

        Liked by 1 person

      2. I guess it depended on what you wanted to get out of it. In Nashville in 89 legend has it that they broke into the Heartbreakers dressing rooms…stole Petty’s then wife’s dresses….then…you guessed it… wore them onstage and only played a few songs and were promptly fired from the tour…That would have been a site.

        Liked by 1 person

      5. The day they were to come to Pittsburgh on the reunion tour- mid day I get a text from a friend- they broke up again- concert cancelled..

        Liked by 1 person

  2. Pretty catchy song. I didn’t know Peter Buck ever played with him but I knew they were mutual fans of each other. It’s weird – they had a huge reputation in the alt rock circles back then, were influential and around that time I mostly listened to an alternative rock station…but I heard very little by them, don’t know why they didn’t seem to appeal to that station’s personnel or listeners. Wish they had played them a bit more.

    Liked by 2 people

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    1. They didn’t push over like REM did which is a shame. I listened to them through friends and got some records. They had a self-destruct thing about them…sabatoging themselves.

      Liked by 1 person

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  3. Interesting opener of their 84er “Let It Be” album, but the song doesn’t has much to do with “Indie” anymore. A first-class guitar solo by REM’s Peter Buck and the mandolin is pretty nice too …

    Liked by 2 people

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      1. The Replacements were a drunk and unpredictable punk band but “Let It Be” was a classic in rock’n’roll. I still enjoy listening the album. Also Westerberg’s “14 Songs” is still here.

        Liked by 2 people

      2. I didn’t know the bands knew each other. Buck knew everyone I believe.

        The Replacements were a great band but they had a self desctruction thing about them…I like them though.

        Like

      4. No these guys go to a new extreme….read my comment to Hans about the Petty tour….and they got blacklisted on SNL

        Like

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