‘Search and Destroy’: the classic Stooges song inspired by ‘The Catcher in the Rye’
There are no punk or alternative rock bands in existence that do not owe something to the pioneering sounds of The Stooges. The definitive proto-punk outfit, The Stooges created some truly groundbreaking records, inspiring the later punk explosion and countless future rock outfits. For their part, the Iggy Pop-fronted band were themselves inspired by a variety of different sources, ranging from early rockabilly to the literary world of J.D. Salinger.
Originally published in 1945, Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye is among the most popular and infamous novels in modern American literature. An ode to adolescent alienation, the novel has been the definitive progenitor of teenage angst for many generations. As such, it should come as no surprise that the angry young man at the helm of The Stooges found some inspiration in the novel’s revolutionary characteristics.
When you watch old performances by The Stooges, with Iggy Pop sweating profusely and darting around the stage like an unattended garden hose, you probably don’t think ‘there’s a man entrenched in literature’. However, even the amphetamine-addled maniac of Iggy Pop managed to find a bit of downtime to enjoy a nice, relaxing read every now and again. So much so that one of The Stooges’ biggest tracks found inspiration both in the work of J.D. Salinger and in the current affairs of Time Magazine.
Talking to Clash back in 2010, Pop opened up about the composition of ‘Search and Destroy’, an iconic Stooges track from 1973’s Raw Power. “The lyrics, I just sorta took out of Time Magazine, the concept of search and destroy,” he explained, “I used to read Time obsessively because they were the representatives of the ultimate establishment to me.” The Stooges were anti-authoritarian in every sense of the word, laying the foundations for the rebellion that would later mushroom into punk rock.
In addition to the influence of Time, Pop drew upon Salinger’s novel for the lyrical content of ‘Search and Destroy’, revealing: “The thing about ‘forgotten boy’ was basically a way to express my disgust. It’s kinda like the kid in Catcher In The Rye – once you find out how the people at the top of politics or at the top of the music industry or at the top of anything how they begin to overvalue things and think that they can push any shit down the throats of the youth, and they just don’t care if it’s something that kids would like or not,” concluding, “They just don’t fuckin’ care.”
That defiant anti-authoritarian angst would soon become the definitive sound of The Stooges, and of the proto-punk scene in general. The band built upon the distorted tones of the Detroit garage rock scene – a complete rejection of the ethereal, spaced out hippie sounds dominating the West Coast during the late 1960s – to create an entirely new sound, which captured the attention of a disenfranchised generation in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
‘Search and Destroy’, thanks to its staunch anti-authoritarian stance and innate feelings of angst, is one of The Stooges’ most recognisable songs. Speaking to the wide-reaching influence and timeless quality of the piece, it was later covered by everybody from Florence and the Machine to Soundgarden and The Red Hot Chili Peppers.
