"It's a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock 'n' Roll)" is a song by Australianhard rock band AC/DC. It is the first track of the group's second album T.N.T., released only in Australia and New Zealand on 8 December 1975, and was written by Angus Young, Malcolm Young and Bon Scott. The song combines bagpipes with hard rock instrumentation; in the middle section of the song there is a call and response between the bagpipes and guitar.[2] The original recording is in B-flat major, but it was played live in A major.[3]
Record World said that it shows "a firm grasp on rock dynamics" and sounds "like a cross between the Stones and the Easybeats."[4]
The song is also the first track on the internationally released High Voltage (April 1976).
The full version of the song is also on the Volts CD of the Bonfire box set, released in 1997.
This was a signature song for Bon Scott. Brian Johnson, who replaced Scott as AC/DC's lead vocalist after Scott's death in 1980, does not perform it, out of respect for his predecessor.[5]
In January 2018, as part of Triple M's "Ozzest 100", the 'most Australian' songs of all time, "It's a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock 'n' Roll)" was ranked number 5.[6]
The second single of High Voltage demonstrates a combination of the bagpipes with more traditional rock instruments while the lyrics discuss the perils of being in a rock band.
The song chronicles the hardships endured by a rock band on tour, such as being robbed, assaulted, stoned and cheated by a greedy agent. However, the band accepts these hardships as natural on the path to stardom, saying that "It's a long way to the top/If you wanna rock 'n' roll".[7]
The title and chorus line is said to have originated with a Melbourne club manager who would warn the young bands he booked that it would be "a long bloody way to the top" if they wanted to make it in the business.[8]
Bagpipes
While jamming on new songs in the studio, co-producerGeorge Young (the older brother of Angus and Malcolm) recalled that Bon Scott had once been in a pipe band and encouraged the band to experiment with incorporating bagpipes into the song. Scott left the studio that day and returned with a set of bagpipes purchased at a Park Street music store at what was an extortionately high price (AU$479) at the time. Bassist Mark Evans would later muse that the amount "would have bought two Strats".[9] Simply putting the pipe-set together proved tricky, and it became apparent Scott had never played the instrument before, having in fact been a drummer in the aforementioned pipe band.[2] Nonetheless, Scott taught himself to play well enough to record and perform the song (initially with the help of tape loops).
However, playing the song live was made difficult by the fact that the whole band would have to tune to the drone pipe. Thus the song, though iconic of the band's early repertoire, was probably played live no more than 30 times.[9] The last occasion was in 1976, following an incident where Scott set down the pipe-set at the corner of a stage during a concert at St Albans High School in St Albans, Victoria, Australia, and they were destroyed by fans.[2][10] Subsequent (relatively rare) live performances employed a recording of the song's bagpipe track or an extended guitar solo by Angus Young.[3]
The music video for "It's a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock 'n' Roll)", was filmed on 23 February 1976 for the Australian music television program Countdown. It featured the band and the members of the Rats of Tobruk Pipe band on the back of a flatbed truck travelling on Swanston Street in Melbourne. The video was directed by Paul Drane.[12] David Olney was the cameraman.[13] and had a budget of $380.[14] The video was uploaded to YouTube on 24 May 2010, and it amassed over 38 million views.
Three other videos for the song exist. One version, filmed the same day as the truck version, features the group miming the song on a stage in Melbourne's City Square in front of an audience.[15] The pipers appear here as well. This version is available in the Backtracks box set, and was uploaded to YouTube on 11 June 2022. A third version features the group simply miming the song on a soundstage, making it appear as if it were being played live (This version is considered rare and as of 2022 has not been officially released). A fourth version of the video shows the group performing the song on Australian program Bandstand on Channel 9, filmed two days prior to the first 2 videos for Countdown. with Scott singing live over the studio track appears on the Plug Me In DVD set. This fourth version was uploaded to YouTube on 11 January 2021.
Alan Butterworth, Les Kenfield and Kevin Conlon play the bagpipes in the first 2 videos.
The song was also used in the comedy movie School of Rock (2003), both AC/DC's version and in a performance by the film's cast,[19] and during Only the Brave (2017).
Since 2023, the song has been used as an introduction to Metallica's live performances.[20]
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.
Connection to ACDC Lane
On 1 October 2004 Melbourne's Corporation Lane was officially renamed "ACDC Lane" in honour of the band (street names in the City of Melbourne cannot contain the "/" character or other punctuation marks). This change was made in part because the music video for "It's a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock 'n' Roll)" was filmed on Melbourne's Swanston Street, near ACDC Lane. The Melbourne City Council's vote to rename the street was unanimous.[27]Bagpipers played "It's a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock 'n' Roll)" at the official renaming ceremony.[5]
^Meldrum, Ian; Jenkins, Jeff (2014). The never, um, ever ending story: life, countdown and everything in between. Farnham, John (preface); Gudinski, Michael (introduction); Masterson, Lawrie (afterword). Crows Nest NSW Allen & Unwin. p. 45. ISBN978-1-76011-205-9.
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