History Music / PattiSmith

* RefrainFromAssuming: The "[[AlbumTitleDrop Horses! Horses! Horses! Horses!]]" song on ''Horses'' is actually called "Land." To further confuse matters, the song "Distant Fingers" on ''Music/RadioEthiopia'' has the chorus "Land, land, land." It's about being willingly KidnappedByAliens.

Patricia Lee "Patti" Smith (born December 30, 1946) is an American singer-songwriter and published poet who helped form a foundation for the American version of PunkRock with her ambitious 1975 album ''Music/{{Horses}}''. This distinction has to be made here, as on a tour to Britain in 1976, what might otherwise have been a [[DreamTeam fruitful collaboration]] was scuppered by [[Music/JohnLydon Johnny Rotten]] of the Music/SexPistols' sneering on-stage reference to ''[[NoTrueScotsman Horses, horses, fucking horses!]]'' It had been envisaged that the British and American versions of Punk be brought together with Patti fronting the Pistols in a few covers, but Rotten's clear disdain for what he saw as pretentious twaddle, combined with Smith's reciprocal criticism of the Pistols' lack of basic musical talent, killed that nice sentiment and entrenched the separation between the two schools of Punk.

[[NamesTheSame Not to be confused with '80s singer Patty Smyth]].

** Also her whole CoverAlbum ''Twelve'', which includes [[Music/TheRollingStones "Gimme Shelter"]], [[Music/{{Nirvana}} "Smells Like Teen Spirit"]], [[Music/JimiHendrix "Are You Experienced?"]], [[Music/TheDoors "Soul Kitchen"]], [[Music/BobDylan "Changing of the Guards"]], [[Music/TheBeatles "Within You Without You"]], [[Music/TearsForFears "Everybody Wants to Rule the World"]] (really), [[Music/{{REM}} "Everybody Hurts"]], [[Music/PaulSimon "The Boy in the Bubble"]], and so on.

* GriefSong: Much of her mid-90s material, after both her husband, her brother, and one of her band members died almost at the same time.

* LyricalDissonance: "Redondo Beach" sounds upbeat, but the lyrics are likely about a girl who drowned herself after a quarrel with the narrator.[[note]]In fact it was about one of Smith's own sisters; she and Patti had a blazing row about something and the sister then went out by herself for several hours, during which Smith heard a news report about a girl who'd drowned herself. She was distraught that it might be her sister. When her sister came back unharmed, Smith was so relieved that the row was forgotten, and she got a song out of it.[[/note]]

* TheLancer: Lenny Kaye, who's been her guitarist since her very first gig in 1971.

* RefrainFromAssuming: The "[[AlbumTitleDrop Horses! Horses! Horses! Horses!]]" song on ''Horses'' is actually called "Land." To further confuse matters, the song "Distant Fingers" on ''Music/RadioEthiopia'' has the chorus "Land, land, land."

* SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism: Way over there on the idealistic side. To give you an idea, one of her more famous songs is called "People Have the Power".

->''We created it. Let's take it over.''
->--'''Patti Smith''', ''[[Music/TheWho My Generation]]''

[[NamesTheSame Not to be confused with 80s singer Patty Smyth]].

Patricia Lee "Patti" Smith (December 30, 1946-) is an American singer-songwriter and published poet who helped form a foundation for the American version of PunkRock with her ambitious 1975 album ''Music/{{Horses}}''. This distinction has to be made here, as on a tour to Britain in 1976, what might otherwise have been a [[DreamTeam fruitful collaboration]] was scuppered by [[Music/JohnLydon Johnny Rotten]] of the Music/SexPistols' sneering on-stage reference to ''[[NoTrueScotsman Horses, horses, fucking horses!]]'' It had been envisaged that the British and American versions of Punk be brought together with Patti fronting the Pistols in a few covers, but Rotten's clear disdain for what he saw as pretentious twaddle, combined with Smith's reciprocal criticism of the Pistols' lack of basic musical talent, killed that nice sentiment and entrenched the separation between the two schools of Punk.

* OneOfUs: Her work has always been heavily influenced by her favourite writers and musicians ranging from {{Romanticism}} to Creator/TheBeatGeneration to PunkRock, but she also wrote a FilkSong based on ''Literature/TheHungerGames''. In ''M Train'', she spends several chapters gushing about various crime shows (and ''Series/DoctorWho''), and even briefly outlines a ''Series/TheKilling'' fanfic she'd like to write.

Patricia Lee "Patti" Smith (b. 1946) is an American singer-songwriter and published poet who helped form a foundation for the American version of PunkRock with her ambitious 1975 album ''Music/{{Horses}}''. This distinction has to be made here, as on a tour to Britain in 1976, what might otherwise have been a [[DreamTeam fruitful collaboration]] was scuppered by [[Music/JohnLydon Johnny Rotten]] of the Music/SexPistols' sneering on-stage reference to ''[[NoTrueScotsman Horses, horses, fucking horses!]]'' It had been envisaged that the British and American versions of Punk be brought together with Patti fronting the Pistols in a few covers, but Rotten's clear disdain for what he saw as pretentious twaddle, combined with Smith's reciprocal criticism of the Pistols' lack of basic musical talent, killed that nice sentiment and entrenched the separation between the two schools of Punk.

* OneOfUs: Her work has always been heavily influenced by her favourite writers and musicians ranging from {{Romanticism}} to TheBeatGeneration to PunkRock, but she also wrote a FilkSong based on ''Literature/TheHungerGames''. In ''M Train'', she spends several chapters gushing about various crime shows (and ''Series/DoctorWho''), and even briefly outlines a ''Series/TheKilling'' fanfic she'd like to write.

She has many popular songs, including but not limited to "Because the Night," "Dancing Barefoot," "Gloria," "Redondo Beach," and "Free Money." In 2010, she won the National Book Award for her latest book, a memoir entitled ''Just Kids''. "Dancing Barefoot" was covered by Music/{{U2}} and appeared as the [[{{BSide}} B-Side]] to "When Love Comes to Town", gaining almost as much radio airplay as the A-side.

Patricia Lee "Patti" Smith (b. 1946) is an American singer-songwriter and published poet who helped form a foundation for the American version of PunkRock with her ambitious 1975 album ''Music/{{Horses}}''. This distinction has to be made here, as on a tour to Britain in 1976, what might otherwise have been a [[DreamTeam fruitful collaboration]] was scuppered by [[Music/JohnLydon JohnnyRotten]] of the Music/SexPistols' sneering on-stage reference to ''[[NoTrueScotsman Horses, horses, fucking horses!]]'' It had been envisaged that the British and American versions of Punk be brought together with Patti fronting the Pistols in a few covers, but Rotten's clear disdain for what he saw as pretentious twaddle, combined with Smith's reciprocal criticism of the Pistols' lack of basic musical talent, killed that nice sentiment and entrenched the separation between the two schools of Punk.

* AmericansHaveWackyNames: in the song ''Citizen Ship'', about immigrants arriving in New York, Patti's spoken, or rather rudely shouted, interlude involves turning to the other band members and Americanising the more difficult to spell Slavonic names.

Patricia Lee "Patti" Smith (b. 1946) is an American singer-songwriter and published poet who helped form a foundation for the American version of PunkRock with her ambitious 1975 album ''Music/{{Horses}}''. This distinction has to be made here, as on a tour to Britain in 1976, what might otherwise have been a [[DreamTeam fruitful collaboration]] was scuppered by Johnny Rotten of the SexPistols' sneering on-stage reference to ''[[NoTrueScotsman Horses, horses, fucking horses!]]'' It had been envisaged that the British and American versions of Punk be brought together with Patti fronting the Pistols in a few covers, but Rotten's clear disdain for what he saw as pretentious twaddle, combined with Smith's reciprocal criticism of the Pistols' lack of basic musical talent, killed that nice sentiment and entrenched the separation between the two schools of Punk.

* ''Radio Ethiopia'' (1976)
* ''Easter'' (1978)
* ''Wave'' (1979)

* ''[[CoverAlbum Twelve]]'' (2007)

* AmbiguousGender: The cover of ''Horses'', photo by Creator/RobertMapplethorpe. Patti's relatively deep voice adds to this.
* [[AscendedFanboy Ascended Fangirl]]: Her autobiography mentions how she realised she wanted to be a singer when she saw one of the final concerts of TheDoors and thought she felt something passing from Jim Morrison to her. And then there's the whole infatuation with ArthurRimbaud...
* [[BadassGrandpa Badass Grandma]]

* ContinuityNod: "Radio Baghdad" (2004) to "Radio Ethiopia" (1976)

* EpicRocking: Most of her albums have at least one song pushing 10 minutes, frequently based around her poetry.

* HairyGirl: the cover of her ''Easter'' LP shows Patti flaunting natural armpits.

-->Jesus died for somebody's sins, but not mine/Meltin' in a pot of thieves/Wild card up my sleeve/Slick heart of stone/My sins my own/They belong to '''ME.''' '''ME.'''

* LadyLooksLikeADude

* NamesTheSame: Not to be confused with 80s singer Patty Smyth.
* NeoClassicalPunkZydecoRockabilly: She may ''technically'' be a PunkRock artist, but she's touched on and/or been influenced by Beat Poetry / Spoken Word, ProtoPunk, {{Reggae}}, Folk, CountryMusic, {{Funk}} and {{Soul}}-influenced Rock, borderline-[[NewWaveMusic New Wave Pop]], GarageRock and PsychedelicRock, among others.

* ProtoPunk and PunkRock: ''Horses'' was the first album released by a band from the New York Punk scene, and by extension one of the first PunkRock albums released, period. She was a huge influence on many later bands as well, though her sound is unconventional by Punk standards (see the above trope).
* RefrainFromAssuming: The "[[AlbumTitleDrop Horses! Horses! Horses! Horses!]]" song on ''Horses'' is actually called "Land." To further confuse matters, the song "Distant Fingers" on ''Radio Ethiopia'' has the chorus "Land, land, land."

* SurvivalMantra: her take on the 23rd Psalm in ''Privilege(Set Me Free)''

Patricia Lee "Patti" Smith (b. 1946) is an American singer-songwriter and published poet who helped form a foundation for the American version of PunkRock with her ambitious 1975 album ''Horses''. This distinction has to be made here, as on a tour to Britain in 1976, what might otherwise have been a [[DreamTeam fruitful collaboration]] was scuppered by Johnny Rotten of the SexPistols' sneering on-stage reference to ''[[NoTrueScotsman Horses, horses, fucking horses!]]'' It had been envisaged that the British and American versions of Punk be brought together with Patti fronting the Pistols in a few covers, but Rotten's clear disdain for what he saw as pretentious twaddle, combined with Smith's reciprocal criticism of the Pistols' lack of basic musical talent, killed that nice sentiment and entrenched the separation between the two schools of Punk.

* AmbiguousGender: The cover of ''Horses'', photo by Robert Mapplethorpe. Patti's relatively deep voice adds to this.

* NeoClassicalPunkZydecoRockabilly: She may ''technically'' be a PunkRock artist, but she's touched on and/or been influenced by Beat Poetry / Spoken Word, {{Reggae}}, Folk, CountryMusic, {{Funk}} and {{Soul}}-influenced Rock, borderline-[[NewWaveMusic New Wave Pop]], GarageRock and PsychedelicRock, among others.

* PunkRock: ''Horses'' was the first album released by a band from the New York Punk scene, and by extension one of the first PunkRock albums released, period. She was a huge influence on many later bands as well, though her sound is unconventional by Punk standards (see the above trope).

* NeoClassicalPunkZydecoRockabilly: She may ''technically'' be a PunkRock artist, but she's touched on and/or been influenced by Beat Poetry / Spoken Word, {{Reggae}}, Folk, CountryMusic, {{Funk}} and [[SoulMusic Soul]]-influenced Rock, borderline-[[NewWaveMusic New Wave Pop]], GarageRock and PsychedelicRock, among others.

She has many popular songs, including but not limited to "Because the Night," "Dancing Barefoot," "Gloria," "Redondo Beach," and "Free Money." In 2010, she won the National Book Award for her latest book, a memoir entitled ''Just Kids''. "Dancing Barefoot" was covered by {{U2}} and appeared as the [[{{BSide}} B-Side]] to "When Love Comes to Town", gaining almost as much radio airplay as the A-side.

* ''Agents of Fortune'' (BlueOysterCult, 1976) on which Patti was a guest artiste and provided or co-wrote four songs.

* CoverVersion: "[[Music/TheWho My Generation]]", "Hey Joe", "Gloria", "Land of a Thousand Dances" from "Land" (omitting the song's famous "na na na na" hook), "[[Music/TheByrds So You Want to Be (A Rock 'n' Roll Star)]]"

* IronicEcho: Patti's collaboration with the BlueOysterCult, ''Revenge of Vera Gemini'', is built around the ironic echo; Patti's lines, coming in slightly behind Albert Bouchard's, are sardonic echos that subtly twist the meaning.

* NeoClassicalPunkZydecoRockabilly: She may ''technically'' be a PunkRock artist, but she's touched on and/or been influenced by Beat Poetry / Spoken Word, {{Reggae}}, Folk, Country, {{Funk}} and [[SoulMusic Soul]]-influenced Rock, borderline-[[NewWaveMusic New Wave Pop]], GarageRock and PsychedelicRock, among others.

* ShoutOut: "Radio Ethiopia" supposedly refers to poet Arthur Rimbaud's dying wishes. "Piss Factory" mentions JamesBrown. "About a Boy"'s title references {{Nirvana}}'s "About a Girl".

* DrugsAreBad: ''Poppies'', ''Horse(s)''

* TheLancer: Lenny Kaye, who's been her guitarist since her very first gig in 1971.

* LyricalDissonance: "Redondo Beach" sounds upbeat, but the lyrics are likely about a girl who drowned herself after a quarrel with the narrator.

* IronicEcho: Patti's collaboration with the BlueOysterCult, ''Revenge of Vera Gemini'', is built around the ironic echo; Patti's lines, coming in slightly behind Eric Bloom's, are sardonic echos that subtly twist the meaning.

* ''Horses'' (1975)

* CreatorCouple: Smith's romantic relationship with Music/BlueOysterCult keyboardist Allen Lanier lead to her writing a number of songs for the group, and performing backing vocals on a few songs. Additionally, Lanier played keyboards on her songs "Elegie", "Kimberly", and "Space Monkey".

* FanNickname: "The Godmother of Punk".

* OneHitWonder: Like {{Devo}}, despite her long, acclaimed career, she's only had one real hit: "Because the Night". The fact that it was co-written with BruceSpringsteen might have something to do with it.

* hairyGirl: the cover of her ''Easter'' LP shows Patti flaunting natural armpits.

She has many popular songs, including but not limited to "Because the Night," "Dancing Barefoot," "Gloria," "Redondo Beach," and "Free Money." In 2010, she won the National Book Award for her latest book, a memoir entitled ''Just Kids''. "Dancing Barefoot" was covered by {{U2}} and appeared as the B-side to "When Love Comes to Town", gaining almost as much radio airplay as the A-side.