Lust for Life (song)
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| “Lust for Life” | |||||
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| Song by Iggy Pop | |||||
| Album | Lust for Life | ||||
| Released | 1977 | ||||
| Recorded | 1977 | ||||
| Genre | Rock, Punk | ||||
| Length | 5:13 | ||||
| Label | RCA | ||||
| Writer | Iggy Pop David Bowie |
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| Producer | Bewlay Bros. | ||||
| Lust for Life track listing | |||||
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"Lust for Life" is a 1977 song by Iggy Pop, featured on the album Lust for Life. In 2004, Rolling Stone ranked it #147 on their list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
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[edit] Music
Co-written by Iggy Pop and David Bowie, the song is known for its opening Motown drumbeat (played by Hunt Sales). The rhythm was originally used in the song "You Can't Hurry Love", written by the Holland-Dozier-Holland songwriting team and performed by The Supremes.
[edit] References
The song's lyrics contain a number of references to William S. Burroughs' experimental novel The Ticket That Exploded, most notably mentions of "Johnny Yen" (described by Burroughs as "The Boy-Girl Other Half strip tease God of sexual frustration") and "hypnotizing chickens".
In 1996, the song gained a new audience when it was used in the introduction of the film Trainspotting. Indeed, this usage made UGO's list of Top 11 Uses of Classic Rock in Cinema
[edit] In popular culture
The song is used during the opening sequence of the film Trainspotting (film) when Ewan McGregor and Ewen Bremner's characters Mark and Spud are on the run from the police.
The song is used as the theme to the U.S. radio program The Jim Rome Show, and the Chicago radio program The Roe Conn Show.
It has also been used in commercials for Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines, although the lyrics were heavily changed so that, for example, "with liquor and drugs" was replaced by "looks so fine".
The song appears on The Simpsons in the episode "The Regina Monologues" as Bart and Lisa visit a candy shop in London.
"Lust for Life" was used in a key early scene for the film Desperately Seeking Susan starring Madonna. Both Iggy Pop and Madonna are from Michigan; Iggy opened for Madonna on her Re-Invention Tour and performed during her 2008 induction to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
It was used in a music montage in an episode of The Drew Carey Show.
In 1977, the song reached number 3 in the Dutch Top 40. Its success was ignited by a legendary performance in the Dutch pop TV show "Toppop", where Iggy Pop wrecked part of the stage set. Although many viewers and newspapers complained about the apparent damage, the director of Toppop later admitted that they knew beforehand what Iggy was going to do and that the damage was less than a hundred guilders (approx. 50 US dollars).
[edit] Covers
- Tom Jones covered the song in 1999 on his album Reload.
- Mötley Crüe covered the song in 1997 on the B-Side on their single for "Afraid"
- Kay Hanley covered the song for the Just Like Heaven soundtrack.
