Replacements – Androgynous

The Replacements are a band that deserved to be heard. I always thought they should have been in the spotlight just as much as R.E.M. I always looked at them as the Stones to R.E.M’s Beatles. They didn’t help themselves though… as they tended to self-sabotage many breaks they received.

Paul Westerberg was one of the best songwriters of the 1980s. They had more of a timeless sound than many of their peers until their last albums. You could listen to this album Let It Be and think it comes from any decade and that is what Westerberg wanted.

This song was way ahead of the curve on the subject matter. It was released in 1984. Their manager Peter Jesperson for a brief time worked for R.E.M. and the two bands were friends. When he came back to the Replacements he had a couple of Peter Bucks (guitar player for R.E.M.) guitars. Buck came by to get them and used that as an excuse to hit the clubs with Westerberg.

Westerberg and Buck even talked about having Buck produce this album. As Buck and Westerberg were drunkenly hitting the bars they decided to have some fun and wear loud makeup and women’s clothes for a laugh. It nearly got them into a bar fight with some less-liberal locals.

A girl called them androgynous, which was the first time Westerberg heard the word. He looked it up and based the song around it. The song is about Dick and Jane who don’t stick to traditional gender norms.

An artist in the movement for transgender rights was Laura Jane Grace, who performed this song with Miley Cyrus and Joan Jett at a benefit for The Happy Hippie Foundation, which encourages young people to accept others without judgment.

The Crash Test Dummies and Joan Jett have covered this song.

Androgynous

Here come Dick, he’s wearing a skirt
Here comes Jane, you know she’s sporting a chain
Same hair, revolution
Same build, evolution
Tomorrow who’s gonna fuss

And they love each other so
Androgynous
Closer than you know, love each other so
Androgynous

Don’t get him wrong and don’t get him mad
He might be a father, but he sure ain’t a dad
And she don’t need advice that’ll center her
She’s happy with the way she looks
She’s happy with her gender

And they love each other so
Androgynous
Closer than you know, love each other so
Androgynous

Mirror image, see no damage
See no evil at all
Kewpie dolls and urine stalls
Will be laughed at
The way you’re laughed at now

Now, something meets boy, and something meets girl
They both look the same
They’re overjoyed in this world
Same hair, revolution
Unisex, evolution
Tomorrow who’s gonna fuss

And tomorrow Dick is wearing pants
Tomorrow Janie’s wearing a dress
Future outcasts and they don’t last
And, today, the people dress the way that they please
The way they tried to do in the last centuries

And they love each other so
Androgynous
Closer than we know, love each other so
Androgynous

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Author: Badfinger (Max)

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

41 thoughts on “Replacements – Androgynous”

    1. The Replacements are very interesting. They have a great catalog…they just shot themselves in the foot so many times and never were huge but their songs are great. Thanks for reading…

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    1. Their albums are really good…and this one is no exception. The ones I like the best are “Tim”, Let It Be, Please To Meet Me, and Don’t Tell A Soul.
      The most radio friendly that still has their style was Please To Meet Me….recorded in Memphis.

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      1. Thanks, Max. Basd on cover, I’m pretty sure I’ve listened to at least some tunes from “Pleased to Meet Me”. My problem is I listen to so much different music. At some point it feels everything is blending in my brain! 🙂

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      2. I know what you mean! They refused to make real videos…they hated videos during the mid-eighties and did finally make one…of a speaker pulsating to music….that was it! lol.
        Their last two albums…they did start to make videos…but it was too late by that point.

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      4. Oh it was over. They liked the radio and not videos.
        Plus letting the F word slip on SNL and getting them banned didn’t help either lol. Here is that “video”

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      7. I know, and I didn’t mean to pick on Duran Duran specifically, but I feel they were among the poster childs of the MTV era, which sometimes seemed to pay more attention to looks than to substance. That said, Duran Duran did have some songs I still reasonably enjoy.

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      8. Oh I DON’T like Duran Duran…I’ll pick on them…lol. No they just weren’t in my wheelhouse….no disrespect to them.
        These alternative bands went unheard except for REM…and I liked most of these artists much more than top 40 at the time.
        Paul Westerberg…I would put him up there with Petty and many more in writing…they just weren’t heard.

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      10. Yea they flat out detested videos. They came from the 70s generation and they were a punk band on their first two albums…so it fits.

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      12. No “Alex Chilton”? 🙂

        “Skyway” is a nice tune – and with it’s acoustic singer-songwriter feel a bit of a surprise to me!

        But, oh, I Don’t Know. Well, Never Mind – clearly I’m not well familiar with The Replacements!

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      13. I love that Alex Chilton as well…both the person and song lol.
        They did a mix of rock and acoustic…I will say this though….when they did use electric…they rocked!

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  5. Me too, re: androgynous & Bowie. Wouldn’t have guessed this was the Replacements – I didn’t know they did any ‘acoustic’ type songs. Quite a good one, the lyrics probably would be much more accepted now by Gen Z than by the public of the ’80s. I think I vaguely recall hearing the Crash Test Dummies version some years back but I wouldn’t have remembered had you not mentioned it.

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    1. They did quite a few acoustic type songs….this one Dave I covered so long ago that no one will remember…but this one should have done something…it’s called Skyway

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      1. not bad! I see Christian mentioned ‘Alex chilton’ – I think I’ve said before, that was the one and only song by them that got played quite a bit on the station I listened to in Toronto back then. Thought it was a pretty good tune.

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      2. Skyway…if released by someone more known at the time could have done something…so could Alex Chilton…

        Like

  7. Thats the key point Max. A lot of bands had a knack for self sabotage. Funny how we each featured two of them today except Guns did it as millionaires lol

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    1. Yea that was the difference! The Replacements FINALLY made some money while touring in 2013-2016 when they reunited… they were selling out huge places…so I’m glad they finally cashed in.

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  8. You say the Replacements deserve to be heard, and well I heard about them from you! You’re doing your job… I like this one, and the message behind it (especially in these times).

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    1. Yea I keep flying their flag. This is what I listened to in the 80s…as far as modern acts at that time… that I truly liked. This is a gorgeous song…like you said…the message is great. Thanks for reading!

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    1. I think they just wanted that live feel in the studio. They would try anything. It was odd at the time because they were known for loud electric guitars.

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