Released March 1980 Length 5:28 | Genre Hard rock | |
Recorded December 1979 - February 1980 Label Harvest/EMI (Europe)
Mercury (US) Writer(s) Rudolf Schenker, Klaus Meine | ||
"The Zoo" is a song by the German hard rock band Scorpions. It was written by group members Rudolf Schenker (guitar) and Klaus Meine (vocals). The song also features a talkbox later on in the song.
Contents
Background
Schenker wrote much of the music during the band's first tour of the United States in 1979. When Meine first heard Schenker's riff, it reminded him of the band's earlier visit to a street in New York City humorously referred to as a "zoo". Meine later composed the song's lyrics, which contain references to city streets, especially New York's 42nd Street.
The song has been featured on a few Scorpions "Best-Of" compilations, including Deadly Sting, Bad for Good: The Very Best of Scorpions, the box set Box of Scorpions, and a re-recorded version for the Comeblack album.
Reception
Although the song was released as a single in 1980, it commercially underperformed with limited chart success, peaking at #75 in the UK. Even so, it is a critically acclaimed heavy metal song, one critic noting that "The Zoo" is both "ominously slow and melodically accessible" with a key element being the "Berlin burlesque vocal melody".