Spooky Single Stories: Ramones, “Pet Sematary”

Halloween is coming up quickly – it’s only a few days away now! – so Rhino is making the most of the limited time we have left to offer up some of the stories behind some of the spookiest singles within our catalog. Today we’re talking about the theme song to a film adaptation of a Stephen King novel, which also ended up being one of the most successful singles by the band that recorded it.

The lyrics to the Ramones’ “Pet Sematary” were penned by Dee Dee Ramone, and they were literally written in Stephen King’s basement...or so the story goes, anyway. It’s said that King was a big fan of the Ramones, and when he invited the band to his home in Bangor, Maine, he gave Dee Dee a copy of his novel Pet Sematary, after which Dee Dee headed for the basement. He returned about an hour later, having written the lyrics.

“Pet Sematary” ultimately ended up being a co-write, with Daniel Rey assisting with the structure of the song, and Rey got further assistance from co-producers Jean Beauvoir and Bill Laswell when it came time to finish it up. In the end, the combination of contributors led to a track that hit #4 on the Billboard Alternative Singles chart.