![]() ![]() ![]() Despite its completely uncompromising nature, “Ace of Spades” spent twelve weeks on the UK Top Singles chart, reaching number 15. It’s easy to see why, since the track from the band’s 1980 album has it all: a vulgar groove driven by Lemmy’s roaring bass, an indelible four-note riff, and cocky lyrics that sum up pretty much Lemmy’s personal philosophy (“ You know I’m born to lose/And gambling’s for fools/But that’s they way I like it, baby/I don’t want to live forever “). Lemmy often complained that he had written better songs, but that his fans refused to let him remove “Ace of Spades” from the setlist. It’s a metal classic, both caustic and warning. Instead, it’s lively with attitude and boasts one of Lemmy’s most insistent vocal performances. But the song that starts the album Bomber from 1979 never sleeps. The allusions are numerous: in just one verse, he sings about getting “pricked”, “heroin”, “white girl” and “rails” with the weary experience of someone who has watched friends become addicted to needlework. ![]() Yes, it’s Lemmy who warns the children not to touch drugs. Opening with probably Lemmy’s most provocative aside (“This is it!”), “Dead Men Tell No Tales” is the notoriously violent pochtron’s indictment of heroin. It’s easy, when you allow yourself to be blinded by all his behind-the-scenes debauchery, to forget that Lemmy was a man of principle, but “Stay Clean” is a strict, classic reminder. While many of the band’s songs are drenched in the band’s admittedly childish desire for hard drink and young girls, this kinetic track from the album Overkill from 1979 focuses on the integrity behind the outlaw mindset, the rejection of fear, the understanding of the injustice of the world, the trust in oneself more than anyone else. “Stay Clean” is a declaration of Motörhead’s loftier aspirations. But more importantly for Kilmister, “Damage Case” also exposed just how capable he is of playing bass as a lead instrument, when he pulls off a wild, barely controlled turnaround between his typically snappy attack in the middle of the song, just in time for more lyrics like “ I don’t care what you think your game is/I don’t care even what your name is “. It’s a lively, messy, dirty piece of rock & roll, the sort of lascivious mauling that Little Richard or Jerry Lee Lewis would have recorded if they weren’t expected to be good, upstanding youth. Lemmy, a proud seducer, seems to be as obscene as possible on “Damage Case”, the highlight of Overkillwhen he sings lyrics written by his friend Mick Farren: “ I ain’t looking to victimize you/All I want to do is tantalize you “. “ And yes, I’m the only person who puts the word “parallelogram” in a rock & roll song.”, Lemmy later thought about the song. “ I can’t get enough/And you know it’s righteous stuff “, Lemmy sang about the amphetamines that got him started Hawkwind, the most psychedelic album, but the same sentiments could certainly apply to Motörhead’s brand of hammering hard rock so addictively. Written on the balcony of the infamous “Riot House” hotel in West Hollywood during the 1974 Hawkwind Tour, Lemmy’s fast-paced anthem gave his next band its name, mission statement and role model. And even if Lemmy died at the age of 70 from an aggressive form of cancer on Monday, December 28, 2015, he left behind lifetimes of the most iconic rock songs ever roared. Its influence extended from hard rock to heavy metal to punk. ![]() From the perilous, born-to-lose anthem “Ace of Spades” and the rumbling praise song “Overkill” to stinging, headbanging tracks like “Hellraiser” and “Sake Your Blood”, his contribution to the album Probot, he wrote the soundtrack to his life. Gloomy, dangerous, raw, Lemmy Kilmister’s songs, both with and without Motörhead, perfectly embodied the spirit of rock & roll. By Dan Epstein, Richard Bienstock, Hank Shteamer, Christopher Krovatin, Kory Grow, Joseph Hudak / Translated by Mélanie Geffroy From Hawkwind to Probot, via decades of Motörhead madness, this is the late metal icon at his best. ![]()
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