I want to be Lemmy
DARLINGS!
I watched a movie that wrecked my brain in the most phenomenal way!
Lemmy. The movie. Here it is:
Backstory: Lemmy Kilmister is the lead singer of the band Motörhead. Lemmy was metal before metal existed and has lived life the only way he knows how, as a goddamn renegade of rock. Without Lemmy, there would be no Motörhead. Without Motörhead there would be no Metallica, no Slayer, no Megadeath and god forbid, no Anthrax - let alone the legions of bands that they inspired.
Lemmy. The movie. It's 2 hours long and hit me hard.
One of the quotes that was most interesting to me was by Henry Rollins. Rollins said he once was talking to Lemmy and Lemmy said he "remembered
a time before rock 'n roll."
Whoa. Pause. Reflect.
Obviously, there was a time before rock 'n roll. Obviously. I'm not an idiot, but it is an odd history-to-human connection when you realize there are people, still living, like my own parents and Lemmy, who remember a time when all they could get was their mother's Rosemary Clooney albums. Yes, yes, and swing and jazz...and I'm not trying to downplay any of the music of the '40s or how wild it got. I love it. BUT..."The Time Before Rock 'N Roll"...it sounds like a story I have to write. And how...just how in the hell does one go from Rosemary Clooney records to being a leathered-up, heavy metal, cowboy hellion? How?
Little Richard.
Seriously. Lemmy's idols, his influences (still), were the early rock 'n rollers.
Little Richard.
Jerry Lee Lewis.
Elvis.
There are more, but that is his holy trinity. (And CHRIST! Two of them are still alive. HISTORY! Living history.) So you mix a gorgeous-howlin', gay, black Southerner with a piano-burning, cousin-kisser and a rockabilly hip shifter and you get an English, speedfreak, war historian, monster of rock, cowboy from Hell.
That's when I throw my arms up and say HOLY SHIT, IT IS A BEAUTIFUL WORLD!
And...GODDAMN RIGHT, ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE!
I mean, Lemmy was born in 1945 and HE IS STILL ROCKING THE HELL OUT! Even though he's seen bands inspired by him get bigger than him, he's kept going. He's doing his thing. He has never done a damn thing he didn't want to do. He doesn't have any regrets because life's too short. He doesn't have a wife, but he has his art. I'm just saying...
It is possible to make art on your own terms and MAKE ENOUGH TO LIVE ON! And yeah, sometimes it takes fucking years, decades, but hell, it is possible. I admire the fuck out of people who go their own way and keep at it, even when no one is looking.
I am, of course, listening to Motörhead while I write this. One thing I notice about Lemmy's lyric writing...it's a bit Hemingway, a bit Raymond Carver, a bit gutter, and a hella rage for life. Shit is sharp. Driving. To the point. Am I saying he's the finest lyricist I've ever heard? Eh, maybe not. If you listen to enough Motörhead in one sitting, it tends to blend, but I am saying man's got dirty poignancy down.
I want to write hard.
I want to write dirty.
I want to make my own goddamn way with my integrity and creative vision in tact, even if the climb is slow and the money scarce.
What has Lemmy taught me tonight?
Do what you love.
Do it with full effort.
Never surrender.
...now to get my hands on his autobiography, White Line Fever.
I watched a movie that wrecked my brain in the most phenomenal way!
Lemmy. The movie. Here it is:
Click to viewBackstory: Lemmy Kilmister is the lead singer of the band Motörhead. Lemmy was metal before metal existed and has lived life the only way he knows how, as a goddamn renegade of rock. Without Lemmy, there would be no Motörhead. Without Motörhead there would be no Metallica, no Slayer, no Megadeath and god forbid, no Anthrax - let alone the legions of bands that they inspired.
Lemmy. The movie. It's 2 hours long and hit me hard.
One of the quotes that was most interesting to me was by Henry Rollins. Rollins said he once was talking to Lemmy and Lemmy said he "remembered
a time before rock 'n roll."
Whoa. Pause. Reflect.
Obviously, there was a time before rock 'n roll. Obviously. I'm not an idiot, but it is an odd history-to-human connection when you realize there are people, still living, like my own parents and Lemmy, who remember a time when all they could get was their mother's Rosemary Clooney albums. Yes, yes, and swing and jazz...and I'm not trying to downplay any of the music of the '40s or how wild it got. I love it. BUT..."The Time Before Rock 'N Roll"...it sounds like a story I have to write. And how...just how in the hell does one go from Rosemary Clooney records to being a leathered-up, heavy metal, cowboy hellion? How?
Little Richard.
Seriously. Lemmy's idols, his influences (still), were the early rock 'n rollers.
Little Richard.
Jerry Lee Lewis.
Elvis.
There are more, but that is his holy trinity. (And CHRIST! Two of them are still alive. HISTORY! Living history.) So you mix a gorgeous-howlin', gay, black Southerner with a piano-burning, cousin-kisser and a rockabilly hip shifter and you get an English, speedfreak, war historian, monster of rock, cowboy from Hell.
That's when I throw my arms up and say HOLY SHIT, IT IS A BEAUTIFUL WORLD!
And...GODDAMN RIGHT, ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE!
I mean, Lemmy was born in 1945 and HE IS STILL ROCKING THE HELL OUT! Even though he's seen bands inspired by him get bigger than him, he's kept going. He's doing his thing. He has never done a damn thing he didn't want to do. He doesn't have any regrets because life's too short. He doesn't have a wife, but he has his art. I'm just saying...
It is possible to make art on your own terms and MAKE ENOUGH TO LIVE ON! And yeah, sometimes it takes fucking years, decades, but hell, it is possible. I admire the fuck out of people who go their own way and keep at it, even when no one is looking.
I am, of course, listening to Motörhead while I write this. One thing I notice about Lemmy's lyric writing...it's a bit Hemingway, a bit Raymond Carver, a bit gutter, and a hella rage for life. Shit is sharp. Driving. To the point. Am I saying he's the finest lyricist I've ever heard? Eh, maybe not. If you listen to enough Motörhead in one sitting, it tends to blend, but I am saying man's got dirty poignancy down.
I want to write hard.
I want to write dirty.
I want to make my own goddamn way with my integrity and creative vision in tact, even if the climb is slow and the money scarce.
What has Lemmy taught me tonight?
Do what you love.
Do it with full effort.
Never surrender.
...now to get my hands on his autobiography, White Line Fever.