"Something to Believe In" is a song that was originally released as a single called the "Sire Single Version", and then re-recorded as a song on the

Ramones The Ramones were an American punk rock band formed in the New York City neighborhood Forest Hills, Queens in 1974. Known for helping establish the punk movement in the United States and elsewhere, the Ramones are often recognized as one of th ...

album '' Animal Boy'' released in May 1986. There are also live video versions of the song. It was written by

Dee Dee Ramone Douglas Glenn Colvin (September 18, 1951 – June 5, 2002), better known by his stage name Dee Dee Ramone, was an American musician. He was the bassist, occasional lead vocalist and a founding member of the punk rock band the Ramones. Throughou ...

and

Jean Beauvoir Jean Beauvoir is an American singer, bassist, guitarist, multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, producer and entertainment executive. He came to prominence in the early 1980s with the punk group the Plasmatics and went on to work with Little Stev ...

. The "Sire Single Version" was re-released as track 14 of the second disk of the Ramones Anthology. The song was re-released in 2005 by Rhino/Warner Bros, on the album '' Weird Tales of the Ramones''. The song is more gentle sounding than most Ramones songs, particularly the cover by

The Pretenders The Pretenders are a British rock band formed in March 1978. The original band consisted of founder and main songwriter Chrissie Hynde (lead vocals, rhythm guitar), James Honeyman-Scott (lead guitar, backing vocals, keyboards), Pete Farndon (ba ...

, which was produced by Johnny Ramone and is sung at an extremely slow tempo for a Ramones song.

Ramones Aid

"Something to Believe In" was also the background track for a

music video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...

called "Ramones Aid" which was frequently played on

MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...

. In the video, the Ramones are depicted in a group of people who give money to

charity Charity may refer to: Common meanings * Charitable organization or charity, a non-profit organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being of persons * Charity (practice), the practice of being benevolent, giving and sha ...

. This video parodies

Hands Across America Hands Across America was a public fundraising event held on Sunday, May 25, 1986, Memorial Day weekend, which attempted to create a continuous human chain of people holding hands across the contiguous United States. While approximately 5.5 mil ...

, by featuring T-shirts with the logo "Hands Across Your Face" and showing various hands holding each other in various settings. A large number of people appear in Ramones Aid, including Mark Holton (including a skeleton hand and a hook),

Animotion Animotion is an American synth-pop band from Los Angeles, California, best known for the songs "Obsession (Animotion song), Obsession", "Let Him Go (song), Let him go", "I Engineer, I engineer", and "Room to Move, Room to move". Formed in 1983 ...

Afrika Bambaataa Lance Taylor (born April 17, 1957), also known as Afrika Bambaataa (), is a retired American DJ, rapper, and record producer. He is notable for releasing a series of genre-defining electro tracks in the 1980s that influenced the development of ...

Circle Jerks Circle Jerks (stylized as Ciʀcle JƎʀᴋs) are an American hardcore punk band, formed in 1979 in Los Angeles, California. The group was founded by former Black Flag (band), Black Flag vocalist Keith Morris and Redd Kross guitarist Greg Hetso ...

John Doe John Doe (male) and Jane Doe (female) are multiple-use placeholder names that are used in the British, Canadian, and American legal systems, when the true name of a person is unknown or is being intentionally concealed. In the context of law ...

and

Exene Cervenka Exene Cervenka (born Christene Lee Cervenka; February 1, 1956) is an American singer, artist, and poet. She is best known for her work as a singer in the California punk rock band X. Music career The 21-year-old Cervenka met 23-year-old m ...

of X,

The B-52's The B-52s, originally presented as the B-52's (with an errant apostrophe; used until 2008), are an American band formed in Athens, Georgia, in 1976. The original lineup consisted of Fred Schneider (vocals, percussion), Kate Pierson (vocals, k ...

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

Fishbone Fishbone is an American rock band from Los Angeles, California. Formed in 1979, the band plays a fusion of ska, punk, funk, metal, reggae, and soul. AllMusic has described the group as "one of the most distinctive and eclectic alternative ...

Ron Mael Ronald David Mael (born August 12, 1945) is an American musician, songwriter, composer and record producer. He is the keyboard player and principal songwriter in the band Sparks (band), Sparks, which he founded with vocalist, occasional songwrit ...

and

Russell Mael Russell Craig Mael (born October 5, 1948) is an American singer best known as the lead singer for the band Sparks (band), Sparks, which he formed in 1971 with his elder brother Ron Mael. Mael is known for his wide vocal range, in particular his f ...

of Sparks,

Ted Nugent Theodore Anthony Nugent (; born December 13, 1948) is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, and political activist. He goes by several nicknames, including Uncle Ted, the Nuge, and Motor City Madman. Nugent initially gained fame as the le ...

, Spinal Tap, Weird Al Yankovic,

Penn and Teller Penn may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Penn'' (film), 1954 Tamil film starring Vyjayanthimala * ''Penn'' (TV series), a 1991 Tamil mini-series * ''Penn'' (TV series), a 2006 Tamil-language soap opera * '' The Penn'', or ''The Stylus'', ...

, and

The Untouchables Untouchable or Untouchables may refer to: People * Untouchability, the practice of socially ostracizing a minority group of very low social status * Untouchables, word for the Dalits or Scheduled Castes of India * Untouchables (law enforcement), ...

Toni Basil Antonia Christina Basilotta (born September 22, 1943), better known by her stage name Toni Basil, is an American singer, choreographer, dancer, actress, and director. Her cover of the song " Mickey" topped the charts in the US, Canada and Austral ...

Rodney Bingenheimer Rodney Bingenheimer (born December 15, 1946) is an American radio disc jockey who is best known as the host of ''Rodney on the ROQ'', a radio program that ran on the Los Angeles rock station KROQ-FM from 1976 to 2017. In the early 1970s, he als ...

The Bongos The Bongos are a power pop band from Hoboken, New Jersey, that emerged from the New York City arts scene, primarily active in the 1980s, led by Richard Barone. With their unique musical style, they were major progenitors of the Hoboken indie-pop ...

Tom Petersson Thomas John Peterson (born May 9, 1950), better known as Tom Petersson, is an American musician who is best known as the bass guitar player for the rock band Cheap Trick. Career Before joining Cheap Trick, Petersson played in a number of bands ...

, Fisher & Preachman, Holly Beth Vincent,

Richie Stotts Richard Eugene Stotts (born 27 October 1953) (better known as Richie Stotts) is a New York City born musician who began writing and performing in a fledgling 1970s NYC band named “The Numbers”. Richie’s songwriting skills and lead guitar ...

, The Cruzados, False Prophets,

The Pandoras The Pandoras were an American all-female Garage punk (fusion genre), garage punk band from Los Angeles, California, active from 1982 to 1991. The band is among the first handful of all-female rock bands to ever be signed to a major label. From t ...

Rudy Sarzo Rodolfo Maximiliano Sarzo Lavieille Grande Ruiz Payret y Chaumont (born November 18, 1950) is a Cuban-American musician. He remains best known as the bassist for Quiet Riot, Ozzy Osbourne, and Whitesnake, and has also played with several well k ...

, The Rattlers, Carla Olson, David Pahoa, Gary U.S. Bonds,

Mary Woronov Mary Woronov (born December 8, 1943) is an American actress, writer, and Figurative art, figurative painter. She is primarily known as a cult film star because of her work with Andy Warhol and her roles in Roger Corman's cult films. Woronov has ...

, Dangerzone, Elliot Hoffman. The video included lookalikes from the 1985

USA for Africa "We Are the World" is a charity record, charity single recorded by the charity supergroup, supergroup USA for Africa in 1985. It was written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie and produced by Quincy Jones for the album ''We Are the World (al ...

video titled "

We Are the World "We Are the World" is a charity single recorded by the supergroup USA for Africa in 1985. It was written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie and produced by Quincy Jones for the album '' We Are the World''. With sales in excess of 20 milli ...

" (Michael Jackson, Lionel Richie, and Cyndi Lauper). When juxtaposed with images in parody of other aid videos, the songs hook line, "I'm looking for something to believe in", is frequently interpreted as making fun of true believers whose identity is derived from embracing a cause.

Awards

"Something to Believe In" was nominated for the New York City Music Award, for best video clip, and was only surpassed by

Peter Gabriel Peter Brian Gabriel (born 13 February 1950) is an English singer, songwriter, musician, and human rights activist. He came to prominence as the original frontman of the rock band Genesis. He left the band in 1975 and launched a solo career wit ...

's "

Sledgehammer A sledgehammer is a tool with a large, flat, massive, often metal head, attached to a long wooden or solid handle. The long handle is combined with a heavy head which allows the sledgehammer to pick up momentum during a swing and applying a large ...

". The album the song was on took New York City Music Awards best album, the other single track on the album took best single.

Pretenders version

The final version which was one of the last production accomplishments of

Johnny Ramone John William Cummings (October 8, 1948 – September 15, 2004), better known by his stage name Johnny Ramone, was an American musician who was the guitarist and a founding member of the Ramones, a band that helped pioneer the punk movement. ...

, and was done shortly before his death, was a cover version by

. It was included on the album '' We're a Happy Family: A Tribute to Ramones''.

References

{{Ramones Ramones songs Songs written by Jean Beauvoir Songs written by Dee Dee Ramone 1986 songs American rock songs