B-side "Round We Go" Label Albert, Mushroom | Format 7" vinyl | |
Released 1 March 1976 (1976-03-01) Length 3:12 (single version)
4:03 (album version) Writer(s) John Brewster
Rick Brewster
Doc Neeson | ||
"Am I Ever Gonna See Your Face Again" is an Australian rock song written by Doc Neeson, John Brewster and Rick Brewster, and performed by their group, the Angels. The song was initially recorded as a ballad in March 1976 but subsequently re-released as a rock song. The song is best known for the expletive-laden audience response, "No Way, Get Fucked, Fuck Off", to the live version, which was issued in March 1988. This chant has been described by The Guardian's Darryl Mason as "one of the most famous in Australian rock history".
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History
Neeson said that the song was originally written as an acoustic ballad about grief and loss. The girlfriend of Neeson's friend was killed in a motorcycle collision, and the two friends were discussing life after death. The conversation inspired Neeson to write the lyrics. References to subjects like Santa Fe and Renoir came from Neeson's own experiences.
Audience response
Live performances of the song inevitably provoke an audience response of "no way, get fucked, fuck off" to the question posed in the song title. Neeson recalled that he first heard the response at Mount Isa in 1983. Thinking it was a criticism of the band, he asked audience members about it. They responded that the chant had its origins at a disco in Sydney where the DJ would turn down the volume to encourage the audience response.
Neeson noted that "it's become the audience's song, it doesn't belong to the band anymore".
The audience response made for an "awkward moment" for Peter Cosgrove at an INTERFET concert in the company of Jose Ramos Horta and Bishop Belo.
Potential plagiarism
The Angels avoided an accusation of plagiarising Status Quo's 1974 song "Lonely Night" for "Am I Ever Gonna See Your Face Again". When producers Vanda & Young first heard the song in the studio, they urged the band to re-record it at a different speed and adding sound effects to avoid a potential lawsuit.