Lust for Life
by Iggy Pop
- 103
- BPM
- A major
- Key
- 11B
- Camelot
- 39
- Danceability
- 3
- Acousticness
Iggy Pop and David Bowie wrote "Lust for Life" in 1977 on a ukulele. The opening drumbeat, played by Hunt Sales, came from the Armed Forces Network call signal. The two picked it up while waiting for a broadcast of Starsky & Hutch. Sales's rhythm was not original. It came from "You Can't Hurry Love" by the Supremes and "I'm Ready for Love" by Martha and the Vandellas, both written by Holland-Dozier-Holland.
The lyrics held several references to William S. Burroughs's novel The Ticket That Exploded, including "Johnny Yen" and hypnotizing chickens.
In October 1977 it came out as a single in the Netherlands and Belgium and reached No. 3 on the Dutch Top 40. Pop appeared on the Dutch TV show TopPop shirtless and wrecked part of the set, a couple of potted plants and some cardboard scenery. Viewers and newspapers complained, though the director later admitted they knew what he would do. In 1996 the film Trainspotting used the song heavily, and the reissue reached No. 26 on the UK chart. Pop said it took 20 years for America to rock to it.
Lust for Life runs at 103 BPM, the tempo of mid-tempo pop, dancehall and indie. In classical terms it sits in andante territory. A bar of 4/4 lasts 2.33 seconds, and a quarter-note delay is 583 ms. It is in A major, Camelot 11B, which shares its notes with F# minor and mixes cleanly with D major and E major.
We use multiple sources as part of our online research for the song story including Wikipedia.