| S.O.S. (Too Bad) | |
| Type: | single |
| Artist: | Aerosmith |
| Album: | Get Your Wings |
| B-Side: | Lord of the Thighs |
| Recorded: | December 17, 1973January 14, 1974 |
| Studio: | Record Plant, New York City |
| Length: | 2:51 |
| Label: | Columbia |
| Producer: | Jack Douglas |
| Prev Title: | Train Kept A-Rollin' |
| Prev Year: | 1974 |
| Next Title: | Sweet Emotion |
| Next Year: | 1975 |
"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.
Written by Steven Tyler, 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 song, with numerous elements presaging the punk rock explosion, including dark lyrical themes.[1]
Record World said "Here comes [Aerosmith's] hard rock supreme to the rescue."[2]
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.