You Can't Put Your Arms Around a Memory explained

You Can't Put Your Arms Around a Memory
Cover:	YouCan'tPutYourArmsAroundAMemory.jpg
Type:	single
Artist:	Johnny Thunders
Album:	So Alone
B-Side:	Hurtin'
Released:	September 22, 1978
Recorded:	1978
Studio:	Basing Street Studios
Genre:	Punk rock
Length:	3:48
Label:	Real Records ARE3

"You Can't Put Your Arms Around a Memory" is a song released in 1978 by Johnny Thunders, appearing on his debut solo album So Alone and as a single taken from the album. Both the song and album include the guitar work of Peter Perrett of the Only Ones. The title was taken from a line in the "Better Living Through TV" episode of the sitcom The Honeymooners.^[1] It is considered by many to be his signature song.

The ballad has been interpreted to be about Thunders' heroin addiction, or about his romance with Sable Starr. However, according to Nina Antonia's biography Johnny Thunders...In Cold Blood, the song was written years before he was a member of the New York Dolls and before he ever tried heroin.

Covers

• Guns N' Roses covered the song on their album, "The Spaghetti Incident?". All the instruments on this version were performed by Duff McKagan.^[2]
• Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day covered the song on the album No Fun Mondays.^[3]
• Ronnie Spector (featuring Joey Ramone) covered the song on her album The Last of the Rock Stars.^{[4] [5]}
• The song appears in the documentary about Thunders's New York Dolls bandmate Arthur Kane, New York Doll.^{[6] [7]}

Notes and References

1. Web site: Random Obscurities . fms-mag.com. May 2, 2016 .
2. Web site: Banas . Erica . August 31, 2020 . Axl Rose Wanted This Famous Image to be the Cover of 'Appetite' . November 28, 2020 . WMMR.
3. Web site: Jones . Damian . March 30, 2020 . Listen to Green Day's Billie Joe Armstrong cover Johnny Thunders' 'You Can't Put Your Arms Around A Memory' . October 12, 2020 . NME.
4. Web site: Hogan. Marc . June 6, 2006 . Ronnie Spector The Last of the Rock Stars . January 16, 2022 . Pitchfork_(website).
5. Web site: Review . The Paris . The Review's Review: You Can't Put Your Arms Around a Memory . . en . 13 January 2022.
6. "New York Doll" by Laura Cassidy. Seattle Weekly. October 9, 2006. Accessed February 22, 2021.
7. "Screen: New York Doll" by Richard Abowitz. November 10, 2005 (show date; post-date of review unclear). Accessed February 22, 2021.