"Jet Boy" is the closing track and second

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

from the

New York Dolls New York Dolls were an American rock music, rock band formed in New York City in 1971. Along with the Velvet Underground, the MC5, and the Stooges, they were one of the first bands of the early punk rock scenes. Although the band never achieved ...

' self titled debut album. It was written by Dolls lead singer

David Johansen David Roger Johansen (January 9, 1950 – February 28, 2025) was an American singer, songwriter, and actor best known as lead singer of the seminal proto-punk band the New York Dolls. He is also known for his work under the pseudonym Buster Po ...

and

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

ist

Johnny Thunders John Anthony Genzale (July 15, 1952 – April 23, 1991), known professionally as Johnny Thunders, was an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He came to prominence in the early 1970s as a member of New York Dolls. He later formed the He ...

. The lyrics are simply about a jet boy who stole his baby. There is little explanation as to what a jet boy is other than to say that he flies around

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. Tony Glover of ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'' described the song as "

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is a New York City–based comic book publishing, publisher, a property of the Walt Disney Company since December 31, 2009, and a subsidiary of Disney Publishing Worldwide since March 2023. Marvel was founded in 1939 by Martin G ...

meets the

Lower East Side The Lower East Side, sometimes abbreviated as LES, is a historic neighborhood in the southeastern part of Manhattan in New York City. It is located roughly between the Bowery and the East River from Canal to Houston streets. Historically, it w ...

." The New York Dolls famously performed "Jet Boy" on ''

The Old Grey Whistle Test ''The Old Grey Whistle Test'' (sometimes abbreviated to ''Whistle Test'' or ''OGWT'') is a British television music series broadcast by the BBC. It was devised by producer Rowan Ayers, commissioned by David Attenborough, and aired on BBC2 from ...

'' on 27 November 1973. Shortly before hitting the stage, Johansen told "Whispering" Bob Harris, host of the programme, that he had "bunny teeth". After the performance, Harris laughingly referred to it as " mock rock." The original B-side to "Jet Boy" was the love song "Vietnamese Baby," written by David Johansen. According to journalist Steve Taylor, "Vietnamese Baby" dealt with the impact of the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

at the time on everyday activities for people, whose fun was undermined by thoughts of

collective guilt Collective responsibility or collective guilt is the responsibility of organizations, groups and societies. Collective responsibility in the form of collective punishment is often used as a disciplinary measure in closed institutions, e.g., boa ...

. (Sample lyrics: "Catch me your slaves, shot at/Every rifle on the way and I gotta/Show you more

mustard gas Mustard gas or sulfur mustard are names commonly used for the organosulfur compound, organosulfur chemical compound bis(2-chloroethyl) sulfide, which has the chemical structure S(CH2CH2Cl)2, as well as other Chemical species, species. In the wi ...

than any girl ever seen/Since I been blasted, I've been blown, I've been backing away/You've got to back it away/You've got to take a search of values/Yeah, But I've got a concert out to play") Album producer

Todd Rundgren Todd Harry Rundgren (born June 22, 1948) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer who has performed a diverse range of styles as a solo artist and as a member of the bands Nazz and Utopia. He is known for his sophistica ...

played synthesizers on the track. "Jet Boy" b/w "Babylon" and "Who Are the Mystery Girls" (both from '' Too Much Too Soon'') were released by

Mercury Records Mercury Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group. It had significant success as an independent operation in the 1940s and 1950s. Smash Records and Fontana Records were sub labels of Mercury. Mercury Records released ...

in the UK in 1977.

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

-based

hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a heavier subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and Distortion (music), distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the Garage rock, garage, Psychedelic rock, psychedelic and blues ...

band Jetboy is named after the song.

References

External links

*New York Dolls *
New York Dolls Jet Boy lyrics
1973 singles 1973 songs New York Dolls songs Songs written by Johnny Thunders Songs written by David Johansen Mercury Records singles Works about the Vietnam War {{1970s-rock-song-stub Song recordings produced by Todd Rundgren