Lust for Life (song)

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“Lust for Life”
“Lust for Life” cover
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
Producer Bewlay Bros.
Lust for Life track listing
Lust for Life
(1)
Sixteen
(2)


"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.

Contents

[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