“I don’t know what it is”: the songs Brian Johnson claims no one plays right
Behind most legendary frontmen like Brian Johnson lies a heady concoction of musical passion and intuitive know-how. While many regard AC/DC as the quintessential forerunners of hard rock with an easy sell, they also once faced the challenge most bands face when starting out, which mainly centred around creating something fresh and exciting that didn’t just regurgitate what every other rock band did before.
That said, the beauty of enjoying AC/DC and appreciating everything they achieved in hindsight is that, as strange as it seems, most of what makes them so great and timeless is their overwhelming simplicity. While this doesn’t necessarily concern their technicality, the beast of ACDC’s excellence has always been the power of the hard rock sound as the staple of artistic grandeur—something Angus and Malcolm Young realised very early on.
For instance, they could have taken the easy route and followed the path many were taking during the early reign of punk and new wave, but in their heart of hearts, they knew they longed to recalibrate the scene and re-establish the power of earlier hard rock. A large part of this decision didn’t require them to think particularly deeply about whether it was the right thing to do; they knew it was because, as Angus once said, “This is pure magic.”
Still, despite the clear direction from the outset and the straightforward nature of their appeal, many of AC/DC’s biggest hits are anything but simple. They might appear effortlessly direct in the way they immediately pull people in, but with many, there’s a deeper thread of innate musical excellence that runs through, preventing even the more proficient of players from ever coming close to imitation.
Most of the biggest rock bands in history have music that’s impossible to replicate, and while this makes sense, considering the often meticulous nature of some of the best and biggest riffs and rhythms of all time, something about AC/DC’s monolithic explosions feels particularly one of a kind. According to Brian Johnson, there are two songs in particular that others seem to struggle with: ‘You Shook Me All Night Long’ and ‘Highway To Hell’. Obviously.
“There’s no imitating it,” Johnson said in 2012. Adding, “I’ve seen people try to play ‘You Shook Me All Night Long’ or fucking ‘Highway to Hell’—and these are good players. But they do it wrong. I don’t know what it is—and obviously, neither do they!”
Clearly, there’s a reason why both have become immense AC/DC setlist staples, and it’s not just because they’re so widely played that anybody who is anybody will immediately want to start yelling the lyrics back. Another aspect is the inexplicable cultural smash they embody, whether the time or place they emerged from is known or not. Both of these tracks feel like broader moments in themselves, the unique kind that even the more skilled guitarists have difficulty tapping into.
At the same time, it’s clear that not even Johnson knows what makes this the case. After all, technical proficiency might be one thing, but adding a sprinkling of inexplicable allure is another, and, if for nothing else, AC/DC were no doubt the leaders in powering songs with something so few understood—a close rawness that felt electric and impossible to resist.
