Born to a working-class family, Ferry studied fine art and taught at a secondary school before pursuing a career in music. In 1970 he began to assemble the rock band Roxy Music with a group of friends and acquaintances in London, and took the role of lead singer and main songwriter. The band achieved immediate international success with the release of their eponymous debut album in 1972, containing a rich multitude of sounds, which reflected Ferry's interest in exploring different genres of music. Their second album, For Your Pleasure (1973), further cultivated the band's unique sound and visual image that would establish Ferry as a leading cultural icon over the next decade.
Ferry began a parallel solo career in 1973 by releasing These Foolish Things, which popularized for the first time the concept of a contemporary musician releasing an album covering standard songs and was a drastic departure from his ongoing work with Roxy Music. His second album, Another Time, Another Place (1974), featured as its cover image Ferry posing by a pool in a white dinner jacket and represented one of his most impactful fashion statements. Over the next two years, Roxy Music released a trilogy of albums, Stranded (1973), Country Life (1974) and Siren (1975), which broadened the band's appeal internationally and saw Ferry take greater interest in the role of a live performer, reinventing himself in stage costumes ranging from gaucho to military uniforms.
Ferry disbanded Roxy Music following the release of their best-selling album Avalon in 1982 to concentrate on his solo career, releasing further singles such as "Slave to Love" and "Don't Stop the Dance" and the UK no. 1 album Boys and Girls in 1985. Including his work with Roxy Music, Ferry has sold over 30 million albums worldwide.
As well as being a prolific songwriter, Ferry has recorded many cover versions, including standards from the Great American Songbook, in albums such as These Foolish Things (1973), Another Time, Another Place (1974), Let's Stick Together (1976), Taxi (1993) and As Time Goes By (1999), as well as Dylanesque (2007), an album of Bob Dylan covers. In 2019, Ferry was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Roxy Music.
Full Wikipedia article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bryan_Ferry
Studio albums
These Foolish Things (1973)
Another Time, Another Place (1974)
Let's Stick Together (1976)
In Your Mind (1977)
The Bride Stripped Bare (1978)
Boys and Girls (1985)
Bรชte Noire (1987)
Taxi (1993)
Mamouna (1994)
As Time Goes By (1999)
Frantic (2002)
Dylanesque (2007)
Olympia (2010)
The Jazz Age (2012)
Avonmore (2014)
Bitter-Sweet (2018)
Love Is The Drug
Bryan Ferry Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
To wait for the bell to ring
T'ain't no big t'ing
The toll of the bell
Aggravated - spare for days
I troll downtown the red light place
Jump up bubble up - what's in store
Showing out, showing out, hit and run
Boys meet girl, where the beat goes on
Stitched up tight, can't shake free
Love is the drug, got a hook on me
Oh oh catch that buzz
Love is the drug I'm thinking of
Oh oh can't you see
Love is the drug for me
Late that night I park my car
Stake my place in the singles bar
Face to face, toe to toe
Heart to heart as we hit the floor
Lumber up limbo down
The locked embrace, the stumble round
I say go, she say yes
Dim the lights, you can guess the rest
Oh oh catch that buzz
Love is the drug I'm thinking of
Oh oh can't you see
Love is the drug got a hook in me
Oh oh catch that buzz
Love is the drug I'm thinking of
Oh oh can't you see
Love is the drug for me
Oh
Oh
Love is, love is, love is the drug
In Bryan Ferry's "Love Is the Drug," the singer highlights love's addictive nature. He describes waiting for love just as eagerly as waiting for the bell to ring. He sings about how love is the drug he needs to score, indicating that love is an addictive substance he can't get enough of. He finds himself continuously trolling the red light districts to find that love fix. Even though the aggressive fits spare him for days, the singer still goes back to the red light districts.
In the second stanza, the singer notes that love controls him. He is stitched up tight and cannot shake free of it. The boys meet the girls where the beat goes on, and love always finds a way to hook onto him. The love drug is buzzing in his system, and he can't seem to stop it. The last stanza finds him in the singles bar where he finally finds his love drug. He describes their locked embrace and how they stumble around together in a state of ecstasy. He asks her to dim the lights, and the song ends there, leaving us to guess what happens next.
Line by Line Meaning
T'ain't no big t'ing
It's not a big deal
To wait for the bell to ring
To wait for something to happen
The toll of the bell
The event signaling something has happened
Aggravated - spare for days
Anxious and restless for days
I troll downtown the red light place
I wander around the seedy part of town
Jump up bubble up - what's in store
Get excited and wonder what might happen
Love is the drug and I need to score
Love is addictive and I want to experience it
Showing out, showing out, hit and run
Exhibiting oneself, then quickly moving on
Boys meet girl, where the beat goes on
Standard love story
Stitched up tight, can't shake free
Caught in the grip of love and unable to let go
Love is the drug, got a hook on me
Love is irresistible and controlling
Oh oh catch that buzz
Get excited
Love is the drug I'm thinking of
Love is all I can think about
Oh oh can't you see
Don't you understand
Love is the drug for me
I am addicted to love
Late that night I park my car
Late at night, I park my car
Stake my place in the singles bar
I go to the bar alone
Face to face, toe to toe
Standing close together
Heart to heart as we hit the floor
We dance closely and intimately
Lumber up limbo down
Dancing and moving around
The locked embrace, the stumble round
Hugging and stumbling around
I say go, she say yes
I ask her to leave with me, and she agrees
Dim the lights, you can guess the rest
We become more intimate
Love is, love is, love is the drug
Love is addictive
Lyrics ยฉ BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing Group, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Andrew McKay, Bryan Ferry
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@Gunners_Mate_Guns
John Gustafson's bass on this is simply iconic.
@taffyterrier
I think he may have influenced Bernard Edwards.
@michaeljames998
AGREED! I know this one fat guy that can fart 4 notes of this in a row!
@suzannji
When I was having my daily radiation treatments for throat cancer, I hummed this to my self while I was strapped into the mask. Ten years later, I'm alive and well, thanks to my great doctors. But I do believe love was the drug and it will always be my mantra.
@stockmanager7417
+Suzanne Delaney that's a nice sentiment :)
@vincebevis2277
love and luck to you.You have come through a remarkable battle.
@suzannji
+Vince Bevis Thanks, Vince! As battles go, it wasn't so bad, and because of a month on morphine, I can't remember the really hard part! So many others have had far more dreadful difficulties to deal with. I consider myself fortunate and happy.
@vincebevis2277
+Suzanne Delaney You are far too humble Suzanne, my family has been decimated by cancer,so understand your fight.
@kestrel571
Suzanne Delaney wow live life xxxx
@cowboysfan782008
Life's a trip. Always old for my age my mom used to drop me off by myself at the Plano skating rink outside of Dallas when I was 7/8 1975/76. They'd play this song, Thin Lizzy Jailbreak, ZZ Top Tush, Dream Weaver, and some funky stuff from Parliament and Hot Chocolate. Disco, the best rocknroll, and the beginning of punk all in the same era. Damn glad to have been a kid in the 70's!