Ramones - The Kkk Took My Baby Away

About "The Kkk Took My Baby Away"

"The KKK Took My Baby Away" is a song by American punk rock band Ramones, released in 1981 through Sire Records. It was written by front man and lead vocalist Joey Ramone and appears on the band's sixth studio album Pleasant Dreams (1981).The protagonist sings that his girlfriend has been kidnapped by the Ku Klux Klan on her way to Los Angeles for the holidays and pleads with the listener to call federal authorities to find out where she is and whether she is still alive.

In End of the Century: The Story of the Ramones, a documentary film about the Ramones, Ramones tour manager Monte Melenick stated that it seemed clear to him that Joey must have been obliquely referring to Johnny Ramone (who used to tease Joey for being Jewish) "stealing" away his girlfriend, Linda.Joey's brother Mickey Leigh refuted this claim, saying that the song had been written before Joey learned of their affair. Leigh explained that the song was in response to Joey's relationship with an African-American woman named Wilna, whose parents disapproved of the interracial relationship. Leigh asked Joey what happened to the girl and Joey responded by saying "the KKK took my baby away."Former Drummer Marky Ramone supported Leigh's story in a 2015 interview, claiming that the song was inspired by Joey's experience at a mental institution, in which he befriended an African-American woman there. Wilna and Joey began to date in the early 1970s until her parents’ objections to Wilna dating a Jewish man tore them apart.Despite the controversy surrounding the song, Johnny Ramone wrote in his autobiography that "The KKK Took My Baby Away" was his favorite song in the Pleasant Dreams album. He also denied Joey being racist or that it was about him, saying Joey wrote the song much earlier.