Everyone thinks they know the words. You're at a wedding or a dive bar, the fuzzy guitar riff kicks in, and suddenly everyone is shouting. But if you actually look at the get it on get it on lyrics, most people are just making noise. It’s one of those tracks. Marc Bolan, the glitter-drenched mastermind of T. Rex, wasn’t exactly writing a technical manual here. He was writing a vibe.
The song is officially titled "Get It On," though in the States, it’s often called "Bang a Gong (Get It On)" because a group called Chase already had a hit with the same name. Confusing? Kinda. But the lyrical confusion is where the real magic lives. It’s a swampy, sexy, nonsensical masterpiece that defined the glam rock era of 1971.
What Marc Bolan Was Actually Saying
Let’s get real about the opening. "You're dirty and sweet, clad in black, don't look back and I love you." It’s simple. It’s direct. But then Bolan pivots into the surreal. He talks about having the "teeth of the hydra" and being "built like a car." You’ve got to love the 70s. Rock stars weren't trying to be relatable back then; they were trying to be gods or aliens. Maybe both.
The chorus—the part everyone screams—is basically a hypnotic loop. "Get it on, bang a gong, get it on."
People argue about the "bang a gong" line constantly. Is it a sexual metaphor? Is it about the literal percussion in the song? Honestly, it’s probably both. Bolan loved the way words sounded more than what they technically meant. He was a poet of the surface. If it sounded cool and felt dangerous, it stayed in the song.
The Mystery of the Hubcap Diamond Star Halo
One of the most famous lines in the get it on get it on lyrics is "You've got a hubcap diamond star halo."
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What does that even mean?
If you ask a musicologist, they’ll tell you it’s a classic Bolanism. He took industrial, everyday objects like hubcaps and mashed them together with celestial, sparkly imagery. It creates this mental picture of a girl who is both street-tough and angelic. It’s pure glam. It’s also a line that almost didn't happen. The legend goes that Bolan was just riffing in the studio at Trident in London, throwing words at the wall until the rhythm felt right.
The song features backing vocals from Flo & Eddie (Mark Volman and Howard Kaylan of The Turtles). Their high-pitched harmonies are what give the chorus that "big" feeling. Without them, the "get it on, get it on" refrain would feel a bit thin. They added the campy, theatrical weight that made the track a global phenomenon.
Why the Lyrics Trip People Up
- The Slur: Bolan didn't enunciate. He purred. When he says "You're slim and you're weak," some people swear he’s saying "slick."
- The Tempo: The groove is "behind the beat." It’s lazy in a professional way. This makes people sing the lyrics slightly ahead of the music, which ruins the effect.
- The Imagery: Unless you were deep into the 1971 London scene, references to "windy-grind" sounds might feel like a foreign language.
The Power of Nonsense in Rock History
We live in an era where people over-analyze every single line of a song on Genius. We want to know exactly who the "subject" is. We want a "lore" breakdown. But "Get It On" resists that. It’s a song about the feeling of being young and hot in a leather jacket.
Tony Visconti, the legendary producer who worked on this and much of David Bowie’s best stuff, once noted that Bolan's lyrics were often influenced by his interest in fairy tales and mythology. But he filtered that through a Chuck Berry lens. If you look at the structure, it’s a 12-bar blues on steroids.
The line "You're dirty, sweet and you're my girl" is a direct nod to that old-school rock and roll simplicity. But then he hits you with "You're an untamed youth / That's the truth with your teeth of the hydra." It’s jarring. It’s weird. It’s why we’re still talking about it fifty years later.
Cultural Impact and the American Re-brand
When the song hit the US, it peaked at number 10 on the Billboard Hot 100. But the "Bang a Gong" addition to the title always felt a bit clunky to Bolan. He felt the song was a singular statement.
You can hear the influence of these lyrics in everything from Prince to The Power Station (who did a very 80s, very loud cover of it). When Michael Des Barres sang it with The Power Station at Live Aid, he leaned into the "get it on get it on" repetition, turning it into a stadium anthem. But even then, the nuance of Bolan's original delivery—that whispery, vibrating vocal—was lost.
How to Actually Sing It Without Looking Silly
If you’re going to tackle this at karaoke, stop trying to be precise.
Precision is the enemy of glam rock.
The trick to the get it on get it on lyrics is the breathiness. You need to sound like you’re sharing a secret. When you hit the line "You're built like a car, you've got a hubcap diamond star halo," don't over-emphasize the words. Let them slide into each other.
Also, pay attention to the saxophones. Toward the end of the track, the baritone and tenor saxes (played by Ian McDonald) start to mimic the vocal lines. If you're listening closely, the instruments are actually "singing" the lyrics back to Bolan. It’s a call-and-response that makes the final two minutes of the song feel like a fever dream.
Correcting the Common Misconceptions
A lot of lyric websites get the middle section wrong. They’ll list "You're windy-grind" as "You're winding grind." It matters. "Windy-grind" is a specific bit of British slang-infused imagery that Bolan favored.
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Another one? "You've got the teeth of the hydra upon you." Many people hear "teeth of the hideout" or "teeth of the tiger." Nope. It’s the Hydra. The multi-headed monster from Greek mythology. It’s Bolan’s way of saying his muse is dangerous and impossible to kill.
Key Takeaways for the Music Obsessed
- The song is about a feeling, not a narrative. Don't look for a "plot."
- Bolan's "vocal fry" was intentional. It adds to the "dirty and sweet" aesthetic.
- The piano part was played by Rick Wakeman (of Yes fame). He was paid a pittance for it at the time, but his glissandos are iconic.
- If you use the title "Bang a Gong" in the UK, people will know what you mean, but they’ll think you’re a tourist. It's "Get It On."
The brilliance of the get it on get it on lyrics is that they don't demand your intellectual respect. They demand your hips move. It’s a visceral, lizard-brain reaction to sound. Marc Bolan knew that rock and roll was 10% poetry and 90% attitude. By the time he gets to the "Meanwhile, I'm still thinking" outro, you realize he hasn't actually said much of anything—and yet, he’s said everything.
To truly appreciate the track, you have to listen to the 2003 remaster or the original fly-on-the-wall studio outtakes. You can hear Bolan laughing between takes. He knew the lyrics were ridiculous. He knew that "hubcap diamond star halo" was nonsense. But he also knew it was the coolest thing anyone had ever said.
Next time this song comes on, don't worry about the "hydra" or the "car" metaphors. Just lean into the "get it on" refrain. It’s the most honest part of the song. It’s a command to live in the moment, to be "dirty and sweet," and to stop worrying about whether the words make sense. They don't have to.
Actionable Next Steps:
Listen to the original 1971 studio version followed immediately by The Power Station’s 1985 cover. Notice how the lyric "Bang a gong" changes from a playful whisper to a heavy metal shout. If you want to dive deeper into the Bolan style, look up the lyrics to "Telegram Sam" or "Metal Guru." You'll see a pattern: industrial nouns mixed with high-fashion adjectives. To master the Bolan vocal style for your own performances, practice singing through your nose while slightly smiling; it’s the only way to get that specific T. Rex "twang."