Song Name: That's Pep!
Artist: DEVO
Appears On: Freedom Of Choice
Run Time: 2:17
Year Recorded: 1979
Year Released: 1980
Writing Credits: Mark Mothersbaugh [Grace G. Bostwick, uncredited*]
Years Performed: [1] 2009 (Freedom of Choice shows only)
Sung By: Mark Mothersbaugh
Alternate Versions: None
Demo Versions: Freedom of Choice Home Version Demo
Song Connections: None
Trivia / Info:[]
- ♦Lyrics from the poem "Pep" by Grace G. Bostwick. First published in The American Magazine (1919, October).[2][3]
- This poem was widely reprinted in the early 1920s. Some reprintings title the poem "That's Pep!" [4]
Onstage Behavior:[]
- Josh holds one arm out and one arm across his forehead after some cymbal crashes
- Bob1 stomps his foot throughout the song and raises his arm straight up to some cymbal crashes
- Jerry marches in place with his fists pumping and motions with his arms to some cymbal crashes
- Mark marches in place with his fists pumping, and at the start of the second verse, takes off his energy dome and holds it to his chest
- Bob2 dances side to side with his fists pumping YouTube
Lyrics:
- Vigor vim vitality and punch
- The ability to act on a sudden hunch
- Nerve to tackle the hardest thing
- Feet that climb and hands that cling
- A heart that never forgets to sing
- That's pep
- That's pep
- That's pep
- Sand and grit in a concrete base
- A friendly smile on an honest face
- A spirit that helps when another's down
- Knows how to scatter the blackest frown
- Love's it's neighbor love's it's town
- That's pep
- That's pep
- That's pep
- That's pep
- Say "I will" for you know you can
- Look for the best in every man
- Meet each thundering knockout blow
- Come back with a smile 'cause you know
- You get the best of the whole damn show
- That's pep
- That's pep
- That's pep
- That's pep
- That's pep
- That's pep
- You know that's pep
Original Poem:[]
- Vigor, Vitality, Vim and Punch —
- That's Pep!
- The courage to act on a sudden hunch —
- That's Pep!
- The nerve to tackle the hardest thing
- With feet that climb and hands that cling,
- And a heart that never forgets to sing —
- That's Pep!
- Sand and grit on a concrete base —
- That's Pep!
- Friendly smile on an honest face —
- That's Pep!
- The spirit that helps when another's down,
- That knows how to scatter the darkest frown,
- That loves its neighbor and loves its town —
- That's Pep!
- To say "I will" - for you know you can —
- That's Pep!
- To look for the best in every man —
- That's Pep!
- To meet each thundering knockout blow
- And come back with a laugh, for well you know
- You'll get the best of the whole darn show —
- That's Pep!
References:[]
- ↑ DEVO Live Guide. Website keyword search for "that's pep".
- ↑ https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015037072462&seq=604
- ↑ "1919-10 The American Magazine Contents for October 1919"
magawiki.com/6522/american-magazine/1919-10/ (https://archive.ph/KBcnc#selection-515.0-515.36)
- ↑ Grace G. Bostwick. "That's Pep!" Ohio State University. Ohio State Engineer, vol. 7, no. 4 (May, 1924), 14-15. (PDF, page 3).
External Links:[]
- That's Pep (recording) MusicBrainz
- "That's Pep! (Remastered)" Provided to YouTube by Warner Music Group.
- “ ‘That’s Pep!’: The Story Behind Devo’s ‘Freedom of Choice’ Outlier.” Music. Rolling Stone. Photo by Elisa Leoneli(sic, Leonelli)/Rex.
rollingstone.com/music/music-news/thats-pep-the-story-behind-devos-freedom-of-choice-outlier-59337/ (From archive.org).
[Chapter 10 reprinted from Nagy, Evie. “That’s Pep”. Devo’s Freedom of Choice. (33 ⅓ Volume 104, Bloomsbury Publishing USA, 2015), 117-130.]
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