Though his popularity has fluctuated through the years, many of Pop's songs have become well-known, including "Lust for Life", "The Passenger", "Real Wild Child", "Candy" (a duet with Kate Pierson of The B-52's), "China Girl", "Nightclubbing", "Search and Destroy" and "I Wanna Be Your Dog".
In 2010, The Stooges were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Pop was the lead singer of The Stooges, a late 1960s/early 1970s band that featured brothers Ron and Scott Asheton and Dave Alexander and was highly influential in the development of hard rock. The debut album was produced by the Velvet Underground's John Cale. The band's "I Wanna Be Your Dog" is a garage punk standard.
Raw Power was first released in1973, perhaps the first record that could truly be called punk. It was the confluence of The Stooges ages, hormones, creativity, ability, experience, tastes, lack of supervision, contempt for authority and ambition that has made Raw Power one of the most influential albums of all time.
The Stooges were infamous for performances in which Pop leapt off the stage (hence, the "stage dive"), smeared raw meat or peanut butter over his chest and cut himself with broken bottles. A glimpse of the vibrating intensity of Iggy live can be seen in the Ramones movie "End of the Century." Guitarist James Williamson became a key collaborator, a partnership documented on the 1978 album Kill City.
In 25 years as a solo artist, Pop's best-known songs have included the thumping Lust for Life, to be heard on the soundtrack of the find-a-vein, shoot-it-up movie Trainspotting, I'm Bored and The Passenger (the latter based on a poem written by Jim Morrison). David Bowie played a key role in reinvigorating Pop's post-Stooges career and was a collaborator on the albums Lust for Life and The Idiot. Iggy may be under-rated as a songwriter. Bowie and Tina Turner covered his "Tonight". Bowie also put out his own version of "China Girl," while Grace Jones covered the icey "Nightclubbing".
The Villagers
Iggy Pop Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Uptight and bored
They're pushing you
Underground
On wintry days they stand and gaze
Outlines in black and ignorant
villagers
Dark shadows house a sleepy malice
Of every body you meet
Man is the village animal
United by the glue
Of our loathsome qualities
We are sneaking peeping toms
In revolt against each other
The villagers are most insane
They live to die anonymous
And muted to
villagers
In revolt against the other
But not against the rules
So in the space age the village idiot rules
On TV for all to see while some good men
Walk the streets
The villagers
You can't get lost you can't get lost
In the village of space you can't get lost
The Villagers by Iggy Pop is a song that speaks about the monotony and the cyclical nature of the lives lived by people in small towns. The first verse describes how people in small towns can be uptight and easily bored, leading them to push others underground. The second verse goes on to describe how the people in the town have a sleepy malice that is always lurking in the background, and how they are united by their worst qualities.
In this song, Iggy Pop describes people in small towns as being sneaky and peeping, always revolting against each other, but never against the rules. The people in these towns are insane, living their lives to die anonymously and muted. Iggy Pop is essentially saying that people in small towns are confined to their mundane lives and can't escape their situation, as they cannot get lost in the village of space.
Line by Line Meaning
The villagers are out tonight
The people living in the village are outside at night.
Uptight and bored
The villagers are anxious and uninterested.
They're pushing you
The villagers are pressurizing you.
Underground
Covered in dirt or inhabiting a secret place.
On wintry days they stand and gaze
The villagers stare in complete emptiness during cold winter days.
Outlines in black and ignorant villagers
The villagers are unfriendly, dark and illiterate, and everything is dimmed.
Dark shadows house a sleepy malice
The shadows have a wicked intent covered in a lazy manner.
In the backbrain
Deep in the subconscious mind.
Of every body you meet
Of every person you come across.
Man is the village animal
Humans are just like domesticated animals in the village.
United by the glue
Brought together by something that holds them in one place.
Of our loathsome qualities
The disgusting traits that we possess.
We are sneaking peeping toms
Individuals who spy on others secretly.
In revolt against each other
In conflict with one another.
The villagers are most insane
The village people are highly disturbed.
They live to die anonymous
Their only purpose in life is to die unheard and unknown.
And muted to villagers
The villagers do not have any insights or opinions about themselves.
In revolt against the other
In rebellion against the others that are not like them.
But not against the rules
Their revolt is limited by the constraints of the community.
So in the space age the village idiot rules
Ironically, in the modern era, the most uneducated and foolish person leads.
On TV for all to see while some good men walk the streets
The village's idiot has a national platform while other knowledgeable individuals are ignored.
You can't get lost you can't get lost
It is impossible to wander because you will always be found in the village.
In the village of space you can't get lost
Even if you inhabit a broader community, you will always be part of the same mindset.
Lyrics © BMG RIGHTS MANAGEMENT US, LLC
Written by: IGGY POP, ROBERT DUPREY
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
David Lanfair
Was at a party and a friend said that he loved this album. So I listened to it that night and then bought it a the record store the following week. I still love it.
zincouzincou
Back in '82 :)
JohnnyM Fan
Not as tuneful as usual Iggy. I think Blondie's Chris Stein produced this album, which wasn't a success
Ancient Lighting 101
#Currancy