"I Wanna Be Your Dog" is a 1969 song by the American rock band The Stooges

The Stooges

The Stooges are an American rock band from Ann Arbor, Michigan first active from 1967 to 1974, and later reformed in 2003...

. The song is featured on their self-titled debut album

The Stooges (album)

The Stooges is the self-titled debut of the rock band The Stooges. It was released in August 1969 and peaked at number 106 on the Billboard album charts. Two songs, "I Wanna Be Your Dog" and "1969", were released as singles. It is widely considered as one of the best proto punk albums...

. Its memorable riff, composed of only three chords (G, F♯ and E), is played continuously throughout the song (excepting a brief 4-bar bridge). The 3-minute-and-9-second long song, with its raucous, distortion-heavy guitar intro, pounding, single-note piano riff played by producer John Cale

John Cale

John Davies Cale, OBE is a Welsh musician, composer, singer-songwriter and record producer who was a founding member of the experimental rock band The Velvet Underground....

 and steady, driving beat, established The Stooges at the cutting edge example of the heavy metal

Heavy metal music

Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...

 and punk

Punk rock

Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...

 sound. The lyrics have been described as evoking a sense of lubricity and self-loathing, a monument to a state of blue-collar tedium and alienation of their era, late 1960s industrial Michigan. This sense of working class disenfranchisement was widely echoed later by the Sex Pistols

Sex Pistols

The Sex Pistols were an English punk rock band that formed in London in 1975. They were responsible for initiating the punk movement in the United Kingdom and inspiring many later punk and alternative rock musicians...

 and Public Image Limited. In 2004, the song was ranked number 438 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. Pitchfork Media

Pitchfork Media

Pitchfork Media, usually known simply as Pitchfork or P4k, is a Chicago-based daily Internet publication established in 1995 that is devoted to music criticism and commentary, music news, and artist interviews. Its focus is on underground and independent music, especially indie rock...

 placed it at number 16 on its list of "The 200 Greatest Songs of the 1960s".

Cover versions

The song has been covered by many artists, including Nirvana

Nirvana (band)

Nirvana was an American rock band that was formed by singer/guitarist Kurt Cobain and bassist Krist Novoselic in Aberdeen, Washington in 1987...

, Misfits, Slayer

Slayer

Slayer is an American thrash metal band formed in Huntington Park, California, in 1981 by guitarists Jeff Hanneman and Kerry King. Slayer rose to fame with their 1986 release, Reign in Blood, and is credited as one of the "Big Four" thrash metal acts, along with Metallica, Megadeth and...

, GG Allin

GG Allin

Kevin Michael "GG" Allin was an American punk rock singer-songwriter, who performed and recorded with many groups during his career. GG Allin is perhaps best remembered for his notorious live performances, which often featured transgressive acts, including coprophagia, self-mutilation, and...

, Frankenstein Drag Queens From Planet 13

Frankenstein Drag Queens From Planet 13

Frankenstein Drag Queens from Planet 13 are a horror punk band from North Carolina. The band was formed in 1996 by Wednesday 13, who recruited friends and former Maniac Spider Trash bandmates Seaweed and Sicko Zero...

, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts

Joan Jett

Joan Jett is an American rock guitarist, singer, songwriter, producer and actress.She is best known for her work with Joan Jett & the Blackhearts including their hit cover "I Love Rock 'n' Roll", which was #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 from March 20 to May 1, 1982, as well as for their other popular...

, Vicious White Kids

Vicious White Kids

The Vicious White Kids were a punk rock band from London that formed for one concert on August 15, 1978, at the Electric Ballroom in London. Sex Pistols bassist Sid Vicious was the lead singer...

, Red Hot Chili Peppers

Red Hot Chili Peppers

Red Hot Chili Peppers is an American rock band, formed in Los Angeles in 1983. The group's musical style primarily consists of rock with an emphasis on funk, as well as elements from other genres such as punk, hip hop and psychedelic rock...

, Sonic Youth

Sonic Youth

Sonic Youth is an American alternative rock band from New York City, formed in 1981. The current lineup consists of Thurston Moore , Kim Gordon , Lee Ranaldo , Steve Shelley , and Mark Ibold .In their early career, Sonic Youth was associated with the No Wave art and music scene in New York City...

, Cage the Elephant

Cage the Elephant

Cage the Elephant is an American rock band from Bowling Green, Kentucky, that formed in mid-2006. Since their formation, the band has gained a large following in the US as well as the UK and Canada for their sound and their high-energy live performances. The band released their self-titled debut...

, Mission of Burma

Mission of Burma

Mission of Burma is an American post-punk band formed in Boston, Massachusetts in 1979. The band was formed by Roger Miller , Clint Conley , Peter Prescott and Martin Swope...

, Chris Whitley

Chris Whitley

Christopher Becker Whitley was an American blues singer-songwriter and guitarist.Whitley changed his sound frequently, and achieved modest mainstream success while maintaining a small but devoted following...

, Swans

Swans (band)

Swans are an influential American post-punk band initially active from 1982 to 1997, led by singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Michael Gira. The band was one of the few groups to emerge from the early 1980s New York No Wave scene and stay intact into the next decade. Formed by Gira in...

, Uncle Tupelo

Uncle Tupelo

Uncle Tupelo was an alternative country music group from Belleville, Illinois, active between 1987 and 1994. Jay Farrar, Jeff Tweedy, and Mike Heidorn formed the band after the lead singer of their previous band, The Primitives, left to attend college. The trio recorded three albums for Rockville...

, Alejandro Escovedo

Alejandro Escovedo

Alejandro Escovedo is an American singer-songwriter.-Biography:The son of Mexican immigrants to Texas, Escovedo is from a family that boasts several professional musicians, including brothers Coke Escovedo and Pete Escovedo, and Sheila E...

, Emilie Simon

Émilie Simon

Émilie Simon is a French singer and composer of electronic music.-Émilie Simon:In May 2003, she released her debut album Émilie Simon. The electronic album was critically acclaimed and went on to become a commercial success. To promote her album, she did numerous live performances and TV...

, Styles of Beyond

Styles of Beyond

Styles of Beyond is an underground rap group from the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles, California. The group consists of MCs Ryan Patrick Maginn and Takbir Bashir , Colton Raisin Fisher , and producer Jason Rabinowitz . They have released two LPs, one mixtape and were heavily featured on Mike...

, Forgotten Tomb

Forgotten Tomb

Forgotten Tomb is an Italian blackened doom metal band, formed in Piacenza in 1999 by Ferdinando "Herr Morbid" Marchisio. The lyrical themes of the band's early albums revolve mostly around depression and suicide, while the recent albums lyrics deal with negativity and nihilism.Forgotten Tomb's...

, The House of Love

The House of Love

The House of Love is an English alternative rock band. Formed in 1986, the band rose to prominence in the UK as a leading indie rock band in 1988 and split up in 1993, eventually reforming a decade later in 2003. The band is best known for its detailed psychedelic guitar sound and for the...

, Breathing Fire

Breathing Fire

Breathing Fire is a 1991 martial arts movie starring Jonathan Quan, Eddie Saavedra, Ed Neal, Jerry Trimble, and Bolo Yeung which was filmed on location in the San Gabriel valley in California. The movie also features famed 1997 Canadian TMOV kick-boxing champion Jason Li.Michael, a Vietnam vet,...

, Ida Maria

Ida Maria

Ida Maria Børli Sivertsen is a Norwegian rock musician known primarily by the stage name Ida Maria. Her first album; Fortress Round My Heart was released in 2008...

, Stereophonics

Stereophonics

The Stereophonics are a Welsh rock band now living in turners x that formed in 1992 in the village of Cwmaman in Cynon Valley, Wales. The band currently comprises lead vocalist and guitarist Kelly Jones, bassist and backing vocalist Richard Jones, drummer Javier Weyler, guitarist and backing...

, Las Ultrasónicas, Pat MacDonald, David Bowie

David Bowie

David Bowie is an English musician, actor, record producer and arranger. A major figure for over four decades in the world of popular music, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s...

, The White Stripes

The White Stripes

The White Stripes was an American rock band, formed in 1997 in Detroit, Michigan. The group consisted of the songwriter Jack White and drummer Meg White . Jack and Meg White were previously married to each other, but are now divorced...

, Mephisto Walz

Mephisto Walz

Mephisto Walz are a gothic rock group formed in 1985. They have an accomplished discography behind them, having released many full-length albums over the course of their career, through Cleopatra Records and other labels...

, Atari Teenage Riot

Atari Teenage Riot

'Atari Teenage Riot' is a German digital hardcore group formed in Berlin in 1992. The name was taken from a Portuguese Joe song 'Teenage Riot' from the 'Teen-age Riot' album, with the word 'Atari' added as an Atari ST computer was used to create compositions...

, Krieg

Krieg

Krieg is a black metal band from Somers Point, New Jersey in the United States of America. They play a low-fi, "raw" style, drawing influence from the Darkthrone-esque style of black metal and did not use synthesizers or folk instruments, in their recordings. The band formed in 1995, initially as...

 and many others.

A parody version by a group purporting to be "The Seven Stooges" performed the song in the style of The Three Stooges; this recording is featured on the 1983 compilation album The Rhino Brothers Present the World's Worst Records

The Rhino Brothers Present the World's Worst Records

The Rhino Brothers Present the World's Worst Records is a compilation album released by Rhino Records in 1983. It features mostly novelty songs, parodies and cover versions of popular songs, performed very poorly...

.

Slayer

Slayer

Slayer is an American thrash metal band formed in Huntington Park, California, in 1981 by guitarists Jeff Hanneman and Kerry King. Slayer rose to fame with their 1986 release, Reign in Blood, and is credited as one of the "Big Four" thrash metal acts, along with Metallica, Megadeth and...

 recorded a tribute parody called "I'm Gonna Be Your God" for their Undisputed Attitude

Undisputed Attitude

Undisputed Attitude is the seventh studio album by American thrash metal band Slayer. The album is a collection of punk covers of bands like Minor Threat, T.S.O.L., D.R.I and The Stooges...

album.

In 1983, all-female Spanish

Spain

Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

 punk-rock band Las Vulpes

Vulpes (band)

Vulpes was the first Spanish all-female punk rock which was formed in Barakaldo in the summer of 1982. They became famous when the in 1983 appeared in a TV program, called Caja de Ritmos, performing the song «Me gusta ser una zorra» .They dissolved the same year after editing a single.- Members...

 performed a highly controversial free cover of the song (named "Me gusta ser una zorra", which means "I like being a bitch") in the show Caja de ritmos. The huge impact of the song provoked the cancellation of the program.

Mexican garage rock band Ultrasónicas released a tribute parody called "Quiero Ser tu Perra" (I Wanna Be Your Bitch) for their debut album "Yo Fuí Una Adolescente Terrosatánica" (I Was a Satan-Terrorist Teenager!) in 1997.

"Weird Al" Yankovic

"Weird Al" Yankovic

Alfred Matthew "Weird Al" Yankovic is an American singer-songwriter, music producer, accordionist, actor, comedian, writer, satirist, and parodist. Yankovic is known for his humorous songs that make light of popular culture and that often parody specific songs by contemporary musical acts...

's song "Let Me Be Your Hog" is a parody of the garage-punk genre and contains obvious elements of the song.

In 2007, R.E.M.

R.E.M.

R.E.M. was an American rock band formed in Athens, Georgia, in 1980 by singer Michael Stipe, guitarist Peter Buck, bassist Mike Mills and drummer Bill Berry. One of the first popular alternative rock bands, R.E.M. gained early attention due to Buck's ringing, arpeggiated guitar style and Stipe's...

 performed this song with Patti Smith

Patti Smith

Patricia Lee "Patti" Smith is an American singer-songwriter, poet and visual artist, who became a highly influential component of the New York City punk rock movement with her 1975 debut album Horses....

 in their induction to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum is a museum located on the shore of Lake Erie in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States. It is dedicated to archiving the history of some of the best-known and most influential artists, producers, engineers and others who have, in some major way,...

.

Use in popular culture

The song is featured in Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels

Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels

Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels is a 1998 British crime film directed and written by Guy Ritchie. The story is a heist film involving a self-confident young card sharp who loses £500,000 to a powerful crime lord in a rigged game of three card brag...

, Transporter 3

Transporter 3

Transporter 3 is a 2008 French-English action film, and is the third installment in the Transporter film series, as well as the first not to be distributed by 20th Century Fox in the United States. Both Jason Statham and François Berléand reprised their roles, as Frank Martin and Tarconi,...

, Friday Night Lights, The Crow: City of Angels

The Crow: City of Angels

The Crow: City of Angels is a 1996 action film directed by Tim Pope. It is a sequel to the 1994 cult film The Crow.-Plot:The film is set in Los Angeles, where drug king Judah Earl controls it all...

(in which Iggy Pop played the role of Curve, one of the villains), Crimson Rivers II: Angels of the Apocalypse

Crimson Rivers II: Angels of the Apocalypse

Crimson Rivers II: Angels of the Apocalypse, known as Les Rivières pourpres II: Les anges de l'apocalypse in the French release, is a 2004 thriller-action movie starring Jean Reno, Benoit Magimel and Christopher Lee. It is directed by Olivier Dahan and produced by Ilan Goldman...

, the skateboard video by Flip

Flip Skateboards

Flip Skateboards is a US-based international skateboard company, owned by Jeremy Fox, Ian Deacon, and Geoff Rowley. The company produces skateboard decks, wheels, and clothing. Flip is distributed by NHS Distribution in the US.- History :...

 entitled "Sorry", an episode of TV show Skins

Skins (TV series)

Skins is a BAFTA award-winning British teen drama that follows a group of teenagers in Bristol, South West England, through the two years of college. The controversial plot line explores issues such as dysfunctional families, mental illness , adolescent sexuality, substance abuse and death...

(Episode 2.9: "Cassie"), an episode of the TV sitcom How I Met Your Mother

How I Met Your Mother

How I Met Your Mother is an American sitcom that premiered on CBS on September 19, 2005, created by Craig Thomas and Carter Bays.As a framing device, the main character, Ted Mosby with narration by Bob Saget, in the year 2030 recounts to his son and daughter the events that led to his meeting...

(Episode 2.16: "Stuff"), in the 2010 film The Runaways

The Runaways (film)

The Runaways is a 2010 American biographical film about the 1970s all-girl rock band of the same name. The film was written and directed by Floria Sigismondi, who based the screenplay on the book Neon Angel: A Memoir of a Runaway by the band's original lead vocalist Cherie Currie...

, and in the film Sid and Nancy

Sid and Nancy

Sid and Nancy is a 1986 British biopic directed by Alex Cox. The film portrays the life of Sid Vicious , bassist of the seminal punk rock band the Sex Pistols, and his relationship with girlfriend Nancy Spungen .-Plot:The film opens with several police officers dragging Sid Vicious out of the Hotel...

.

It was also used in the games Vietcong

Vietcong (computer game)

Vietcong is a 2003 tactical first-person shooter video game developed by Pterodon and 2K Czech, published by Gathering of Developers. It is set during the Vietnam War in 1967....

and Grand Theft Auto IV

Grand Theft Auto IV

Grand Theft Auto IV is a 2008 open world action video game published by Rockstar Games, and developed by British games developer Rockstar North. It has been released for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 video game consoles, and for the Windows operating system...

, the latter of which features Iggy Pop as a DJ

Disc jockey

A disc jockey, also known as DJ, is a person who selects and plays recorded music for an audience. Originally, "disc" referred to phonograph records, not the later Compact Discs. Today, the term includes all forms of music playback, no matter the medium.There are several types of disc jockeys...

. The song was released as part of "The Stooges 01" pack DLC from the Rock Band

Rock Band

Rock Band is a music video game developed by Harmonix Music Systems, published by MTV Games and Electronic Arts. It is the first title in the Rock Band series. The PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions were released in the United States on November 20, 2007, while the PlayStation 2 version was...

series. However, the "shaker" sound at the end of the song in GTA IV is cut off, leaving the guitar solo as the last bit of the song.