Turn On the News

"Turn On the News" is a song by American punk rock band Hüsker Dü. Written by Grant Hart, it is the 22nd track on their 1984 double album Zen Arcade. The song was never released as a single, but is considered one of their best songs. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame placed "Turn On the News" on its list of "500 songs that shaped rock and roll".[2][3]

"Turn On the News"
Song by Hüsker Dü
from the album Zen Arcade
ReleasedJuly 1984
RecordedOctober 1983
GenreHardcore punk[1]
Length4:21
LabelSST
Songwriter(s)Grant Hart
Producer(s)
  • Hüsker Dü
  • Spot

Background and composition

"Turn On the News" was written by Grant Hart and recorded in one take, as were the majority of songs on the album.[4] The song was one of the more conventional rock songs on the experimental Zen Arcade. It begins with a single piano note repeating while segments of random news stories play. The bass drum beat is added, with a distorted guitar starting the three-chord progression. Hart sings about the mass media's penchant for sensationalism and negative news headlines. The rest of the band shouts as he sings the ironic chorus of "Turn on/Turn on/Turn on the news!"[5]

Release and reception

The song was released to critical acclaim. Tom Maginnis of Allmusic called it "a weighty chunk of dense rock & roll."[5] The New York Times's Robert Palmer named it one of the three best songs on the album, along with "Standing by the Sea" and "Pink Turns to Blue", and said the three would be great cuts for any album.[6] David Fricke of Rolling Stone remarked that the harsh vocals "often obscure lyric bull's-eyes."[7] Slant magazine praised the song as "raise-your-fists anthemic".[8] The Chicago Tribune's Joshua Klein highlighted it as a superior album track and one of the "harbingers of Husker Du's melodic maturation."[1] Robert Christgau said "Turn On the News" was the best song of 1984.[9] The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame named the song one of the "500 songs that shaped rock and roll."[10]

Other versions

In 1993, "Turn On the News" was covered by Big Trouble House on Du Huskers: The Twin Cities Replays Zen Arcade.[11]

References
  1. Klein, Joshua (August 14, 1998). "Hart's at the Heart of Husker DU". Chicago Tribune. p. 2.
  2. "FAQ". The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum. Archived from the original on March 22, 2015. Retrieved March 24, 2015.
  3. "500 Songs That Shaped Rock". Infoplease.com. February 11, 2017. Retrieved October 24, 2016.
  4. Janovitz, Bill. "Pink Turns to Blue review". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved July 15, 2012.
  5. Maginnis, Tom. "Turn on the News review". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved July 16, 2012.
  6. Palmer, Robert (September 23, 1984). "New Rock from the Suburbs". The New York Times. Retrieved July 16, 2012.
  7. Fricke, David (February 14, 1985). "Hüsker Dü Zen Arcade > Album Review". Rolling Stone. No. 441. Archived from the original on October 1, 2007. Retrieved July 16, 2012.
  8. Christgau, Robert (March 5, 2012). "Best Albums of the 1980s". Slant. Retrieved July 16, 2012.
  9. Christgau, Robert (February 19, 1985). "The Rise of the Corporate Single". Village Voice. Retrieved October 21, 2013.
  10. "500 songs that shaped rock and roll". RockHall.com. Archived from the original on November 23, 2006. Retrieved July 16, 2012.
  11. "Big Trouble House/Arcwelder - Turn on the News". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved July 16, 2012.
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