"S.O.S. (Too Bad)" is a song by American hard rock band Aerosmith. It was released in 1975 as their third single from their second album ''

Get Your Wings ''Get Your Wings'' is the second studio album by American rock band Aerosmith, released on March 1, 1974. The album was their first to be produced by Jack Douglas, who also was responsible for the band's next three albums. Three singles were re ...

''.

Background

Written by

Steven Tyler Steven Victor Tallarico (born March 26, 1948), known professionally as Steven Tyler, is an American singer, best known as the lead singer of the Boston-based rock band Aerosmith, in which he also plays the harmonica, piano, and percussion. ...

, it is a hard rocking song focusing on sex and sleaze, with a chorus of "I'm a bad, lonely school boy, and I'm a rat, and it's too bad, can't get me none of that." The song starts off with a fast drum beat and basic guitar riff, then slows down, and builds up once again, with Steven Tyler's rapid-fire, fierce lyrics accompanying. The song's lyrical content and musical styles are in the vein of "blooze", a grittier hard rock version of blues music, often with lyrics focused on sex, drugs, and urban life. "S.O.S. (Too Bad") has been described as a

proto-punk Proto-punk (or protopunk) is rock music played mostly by garage bands from the 1960s to mid-1970s that foreshadowed the punk rock movement. The phrase is a retrospective label; the musicians involved were generally not originally associated wi ...

song, with numerous elements presaging the punk rock explosion, including dark lyrical themes. The song has remained a fan favorite and has been a staple in the setlists on Aerosmith's most recent tours, the Rockin' the Joint Tour and the

Route of All Evil Tour Route or routes may refer to: * Route (gridiron football), a path run by a wide receiver * route (command), a program used to configure the routing table * Route, County Antrim, an area in Northern Ireland * ''The Route'', a 2013 Ugandan film * Ro ...

References

External links

* {{Get Your Wings Aerosmith songs 1974 songs Songs written by Steven Tyler Song recordings produced by Jack Douglas (record producer) Columbia Records singles Protopunk songs