Politics & Power Quote by Dee Dee Ramone

It lands like a throwaway, but it’s a small flare of punk realism: Dee Dee Ramone admitting that even the most mythic “American band” can feel unwelcome at home. The grammar is bruised, the thought half-stumbled ("because it I know"), which only sharpens the honesty. He’s not polishing a legend; he’s letting you hear the calculation underneath it.

The intent is pragmatic, almost managerial: don’t book dates you can’t win. Yet the subtext is heavier. “Wouldn’t go down well” isn’t just about ticket sales; it’s about vibe, backlash, and the painful mismatch between reputation and reception. By the time the Ramones became global shorthand for punk purity, they also carried the baggage of being an institution - and punk audiences can smell institutionality like cigarette smoke in clean clothes. Dee Dee is acknowledging the most punk contradiction of all: success turns you into the thing the scene wants to reject.

Context matters, because the Ramones were famously better received abroad than in the U.S., especially as UK and European crowds treated them like royalty while America often treated them like a cult act with yesterday’s haircut. The line captures that inverted patriotism: the export is revered, the local product is discounted. He’s also deflating the macho rock narrative of “we’ll take it anywhere.” Sometimes you don’t storm the barricades; you avoid the room where people have already decided what you represent.