You Can't Put Your Arms Around a Memory

"You Can't Put Your Arms Around a Memory"
"You Can't Put Your Arms Around a Memory"
Single by Johnny Thunders
from the album So Alone
B-side	"Hurtin'"
Released	September 22, 1978
Recorded	1978
Studio	Basing Street, London
Genre	Punk rock
Length	3:48
Label	Real Records ARE3
Songwriter	Johnny Thunders

"You Can't Put Your Arms Around a Memory" is a song released in 1978 by Johnny Thunders, appearing on his debut solo album So Alone and as a single taken from the album. Both the song and album include the guitar work of Peter Perrett of the Only Ones. The title was taken from a line in the "Better Living Through TV" episode of the sitcom The Honeymooners.^[2] It is considered by many to be his signature song.

The ballad has been interpreted to be about Thunders' heroin addiction, or about his romance with Sable Starr. However, according to Nina Antonia's biography Johnny Thunders...In Cold Blood, the song was written years before he was a member of the New York Dolls and before he ever tried heroin.^[2]

Covers

Giant Sand released an up-tempo version of the song on their 1986 album Ballad of a Thin Line Man.^[3]
Guns N' Roses covered the song on their 1993 album "The Spaghetti Incident?". All the instruments on this version were performed by Duff McKagan.^[4]
Ronnie Spector covered the song on her 1999 EP She Talks to Rainbows and her 2006 album The Last of the Rock Stars (featuring Joey Ramone).^[5]^[6]^[1]
In 2019, Hollywood Vampires released a version of the song on their album Rise.^[7]
Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day covered the song on his 2020 album No Fun Mondays.^[8]

Use in other media

The song appears in the 2005 documentary New York Doll, about Thunders's New York Dolls bandmate Arthur Kane.^[9]^[10]
A cover of the song played by show music director Michael Ruffino and Ariane Bourdain was used as the music for the closing montage of the final episode of Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown following host Anthony Bourdain's death.^[11]

References

^ ^a ^b Orr, Niela (January 13, 2022). "The Review's Review: You Can't Put Your Arms Around a Memory". The Paris Review. Archived from the original on January 16, 2022. Retrieved January 16, 2022.
^ ^a ^b "Random Obscurities". fms-mag.com. May 2, 2016. Archived from the original on May 11, 2017. Retrieved June 8, 2018.
^ Robbins, Ira; Sprague, Deborah. "Giant Sand". Trouser Press. Archived from the original on August 4, 2021. Retrieved August 11, 2020.
^ Banas, Erica (August 31, 2020). "Axl Rose Wanted This Famous Image to be the Cover of 'Appetite'". WMMR. Retrieved November 28, 2020.
^ Sheffield, Rob (October 28, 1999). "Ronnie Spector: She Talks to Rainbows [US]". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on October 13, 2007.
^ Hogan, Marc (June 6, 2006). "Ronnie Spector The Last of the Rock Stars". Pitchfork. Retrieved January 16, 2022.
^ Grow, Kory (June 21, 2019). "Hollywood Vampires Search for Fresh Blood on 'Rise'". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on January 9, 2023. Retrieved July 11, 2019.
^ Jones, Damian (March 30, 2020). "Listen to Green Day's Billie Joe Armstrong cover Johnny Thunders' 'You Can't Put Your Arms Around A Memory'". NME. Retrieved October 12, 2020.
^ Cassidy, Laura (October 9, 2006). "New York Doll". Seattle Weekly. Retrieved February 22, 2021.
^ Abowitz, Richard (November 10, 2005). "Screen: New York Doll". Las Vegas Weekly. Retrieved February 22, 2021.
^ Siegel, Alan (December 18, 2018). "Tony's Compass". The Ringer. Retrieved July 5, 2025. Michael Ruffino, the show's music director, said that the last email Bourdain sent him was about a song. It was the 1978 track 'You Can't Put Your Arms Around a Memory,' by the late punk singer Johnny Thunders. CNN had finally secured the rights to the song, and Bourdain wanted it for the LES episode. He asked Ruffino to record a version. [...] Ruffino didn't record the song until after Bourdain's death. When Ruffino finished, he said, 'I just felt like it needed something in there.' At the last minute, Bourdain's daughter, Ariane, recorded backing vocals into her iPhone and sent them to Ruffino. 'She was a trooper,' he said. The song plays over the episode's closing montage. And then the screen cuts to black.

[paris-1] Orr, Niela (January 13, 2022). "The Review's Review: You Can't Put Your Arms Around a Memory". The Paris Review. Archived from the original on January 16, 2022. Retrieved January 16, 2022.

[:0-2] "Random Obscurities". fms-mag.com. May 2, 2016. Archived from the original on May 11, 2017. Retrieved June 8, 2018.

[3] Robbins, Ira; Sprague, Deborah. "Giant Sand". Trouser Press. Archived from the original on August 4, 2021. Retrieved August 11, 2020.

[4] Banas, Erica (August 31, 2020). "Axl Rose Wanted This Famous Image to be the Cover of 'Appetite'". WMMR. Retrieved November 28, 2020.

[5] Sheffield, Rob (October 28, 1999). "Ronnie Spector: She Talks to Rainbows [US]". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on October 13, 2007.

[6] Hogan, Marc (June 6, 2006). "Ronnie Spector The Last of the Rock Stars". Pitchfork. Retrieved January 16, 2022.

[7] Grow, Kory (June 21, 2019). "Hollywood Vampires Search for Fresh Blood on 'Rise'". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on January 9, 2023. Retrieved July 11, 2019.

[8] Jones, Damian (March 30, 2020). "Listen to Green Day's Billie Joe Armstrong cover Johnny Thunders' 'You Can't Put Your Arms Around A Memory'". NME. Retrieved October 12, 2020.

[9] Cassidy, Laura (October 9, 2006). "New York Doll". Seattle Weekly. Retrieved February 22, 2021.

[10] Abowitz, Richard (November 10, 2005). "Screen: New York Doll". Las Vegas Weekly. Retrieved February 22, 2021.

[11] Siegel, Alan (December 18, 2018). "Tony's Compass". The Ringer. Retrieved July 5, 2025. Michael Ruffino, the show's music director, said that the last email Bourdain sent him was about a song. It was the 1978 track 'You Can't Put Your Arms Around a Memory,' by the late punk singer Johnny Thunders. CNN had finally secured the rights to the song, and Bourdain wanted it for the LES episode. He asked Ruffino to record a version. [...] Ruffino didn't record the song until after Bourdain's death. When Ruffino finished, he said, 'I just felt like it needed something in there.' At the last minute, Bourdain's daughter, Ariane, recorded backing vocals into her iPhone and sent them to Ruffino. 'She was a trooper,' he said. The song plays over the episode's closing montage. And then the screen cuts to black.

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"You Can't Put Your Arms Around a Memory"

Single by Johnny Thunders
from the album So Alone
B-side	"Hurtin'"
Released	September 22, 1978
Recorded	1978
Studio	Basing Street, London
Genre	Punk rock^[1]
Length	3:48
Label	Real Records ARE3
Songwriter	Johnny Thunders