100 GREAT SONGS FROM THE BRITISH INVASION: ‘ WE GOTTA GET OUT OF THIS PLACE’- THE ANIMALS

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100 Great Songs From The British Invasion: 1963-1966-‘ We Gotta Get Out Of This Place’- The Animals. Of the great Animals singles of the 1960’s- I think I’d rank this as my favorite. I don’t know how many times I have sat in long, boring, pointless meetings and had this song run through my head. It was one of the most requested songs in a much more dangerous place- among American G.I’s in Vietnam. Said one Vietnam Veteran- “We had absolute unanimity is this song being the touchstone. This was the Vietnam anthem. Every bad band that ever played in an armed forces club had to play this song.”

Written by the Rock and Roll husband-wife team of Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil- ‘We Gotta Get Out Of This Place’ was originally intended for The Righteous Brothers- who had a monster smash with the Mann/Weil -‘You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin”- but in the meantime Mann landed a record contract himself and decided he would record and release the song. But before Mann could do that- record executive [and future manager of The Beatles] Allen Klein came across the song- and gave the demo to The Animals producer Mickie Most. The Animals beat Mann to the punch- and released it first. The Animals did a little reordering of the original lyrics to fit their working class origins. There were also two versions of the song- in the US released version the line goes ‘see my daddy in bed a-dyin’—in the UK version the line goes ‘watch my daddy in bed a-dyin.’ In 2004 Rolling Stone Magazine ranked ‘We Gotta Get Out Of This Place’ at #233 in their 500 Greatest Songs Ever list. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame lists it among the 500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll.

Single: ‘We Gotta Get Out Of This Place’- The Animals/ Written by Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil/ Record Company- MGM/ Time: 3:17/ Produced by Mickie Most/ Recorded June 15, 1965- Released July 16, 1965 in UK -August 1965 in US/ Peaked at #13 in US Billboard Hot 100- #2 in UK Singles Chart.

9 responses to “100 GREAT SONGS FROM THE BRITISH INVASION: ‘ WE GOTTA GET OUT OF THIS PLACE’- THE ANIMALS”

  2. Not sure what movie that’s from but really brings the fear and anxiety out for the soldiers getting dropped into a place they may never leave alive from. I can see where soldiers would gravitate towards the song 😦

  4. Hands down my favorite Animals cut. Yep, utterly identifiable with Vietnam, almost an anthem. My rock band, The American Classics, played this song from 2000 until 2019. It didn’t matter where we played; there was always a vet who requested it; of course, we gave it our best. First, Chandler’s bass line, eight beats by itself, the organ and guitar joining in, then Burdens low growl. It had as much impact as Morrisons “The End.” Our lead guitar played some keyboards, and he was damn sure to learn this one spot on or not at all. The last four chords when the guitar switched on the fuzz were pure magic. It almost brings a tear to an old man’s eye. Thanks for sharing this one.

    • The Animals sure did have a unique sound- compared to other acts from that era- which I loved from the first time I heard them.

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