‘Lust for Life’ is a 1977 song performed by American singer Iggy Pop and co-written by David Bowie, featured on the album of the same name. In 2021, Rolling Stone ranked it at No. 325 on their list of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time". Co-written by Iggy Pop and David Bowie (written on a ukulele), the song is known for its opening drumbeat (played by Hunt Sales). The rhythm was based on the Armed Forces Network call signal, which Pop and Bowie picked up on while waiting for a broadcast of Starsky & Hutch.
In 1977, the song reached No. 3 on the Dutch Top 40. Its success was credited to a performance in the Dutch pop TV show TopPop, where Iggy Pop, shirtless, wrecked part of the stage set (which consisted of a couple of potted plants and some cardboard scenery). 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 minimal.
Speaking with Entertainment Weekly, Pop explained how the song came together with David Bowie. "We were sitting around his digs on the floor, because it was a no-chairs kind of place. We had a production contract and a schedule and he had to get it out of the way, so he said, 'Let's get a song here.' He picked up a little ukulele he had - I think it might have been his son's - and just came up with that progression, which I thought was great."
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 a 1995 interview, Doors keyboardist Ray Manzarek and manager Danny Sugerman stated that the opening lyrics were about their deceased heroin dealer, nicknamed "Gypsy Johnny", arriving at Wonderland Avenue, with his heroin and his "motorized dildos".
‘Lust for Life’ gained renewed popularity in the late 1990s after being featured in the 1996 British film Trainspotting. The song was heavily featured in the film's marketing campaign and subsequent soundtrack album, resulting in a new UK chart peak of No. 26 after being reissued as a single. It also reached No. 39 on the US Radio & Records Alternative chart, No. 44 in Canada, and No. 2 in Iceland.
Label – RCA
Songwriters – Iggy Pop, David Bowie
Producer – David Bowie
SONG LYRICS
[Verse 1]Here comes Johnny Yen again
With the liquor and drugs and the flesh machine
He's gonna do another striptease
Hey man, where'd you get that lotion?
I been hurting since I bought the gimmick
About something called love
Yeah, something called love
Well, that's like hypnotizing chickens
[Chorus]
Well, I'm just a modern guy
Of course I've had it in the ear before
'Cause I've a lust for life
'Cause I've a lust for life
[Verse 2]
I'm worth a million in prizes
With my torture film, drive a GTO
Wear a uniform all on a government loan
I'm worth a million in prizes
Yeah, I'm through with sleeping on the sidewalk
No more beating my brains
No more beating my brains
With the liquor and drugs
With the liquor and drugs
[Chorus]
Well, I am just a modern guy
Of course, I've had it in the ear before
'Cause I've a lust for life (lust for life)
'Cause I've a lust for life
I got a lust for life
Got a lust for life
Oh a lust for life
Oh a lust for life
A lust for life
I got a lust for life
I got a lust for life
Well, I am just a modern guy
Of course I've had it in the ear before
Well I've a lust for life
'Cause I've a lust for life
[Verse 3]
Well, here comes Johnny Yen again
With the liquor and drugs, and the flesh machine
I know he's gonna do another striptease
Hey man, where'd you get that lotion?
Your skin starts itching once you buy the gimmick
About something called love
Oh, love, love, love
Well, that's like hypnotizing chickens
[Chorus]
Well, I am just a modern guy
Of course I've had it in the ear before
And I've a lust for life
(Lust for life)
'Cause I've a lust for life
(Lust for life)
Got a lust for life
Yeah a lust for life
I got a lust for life
Oh a lust for life
I got a lust for life
Yeah a lust for life
I got a lust for life
A lust for life
Lust for life
Lust for life
A lust for life
(Lust for life)
(Lust for life)