In 1976 at the age of 17 she became one of the founding members of the legendary teenage all-female hard rock band The Runaways. There she played lead guitar.
After the group folded in 1979, she began a solo career. Her guitar playing was well respected amongst her peers, both when she was a member of The Runaways and as a solo act. When she had the material to back her up, Ford was inarguably capable of rocking out aggressively and assertively, and more times than not, better than the best of her male counterparts. Her first two albums, Out for Blood and Dancin' on the Edge were relatively successful, and in 1985, Ford was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Female Rock Performance for "Gotta Let Go", along with Wendy O. Williams and Pia Zadora. However the musical genre of "arena metal rock" had already crested and was now beginning its decline in the second half of the 1980s.
Nothing was heard from Ford for the next four years; a follow-up to Dancin' on the Edge, titled The Bride Wore Black, was abandoned and never released, as Ford switched from Mercury Records to RCA Records. By the time Ford returned again, the lighter pop-metal she had long favored had broken through to mainstream audiences, which set the stage for her most commercially successful album, 1988's Lita. With Sharon Osbourne as her manager, and slickly produced by Mike Chapman, the album featured Ford's first commercial hit, the #12 "Kiss Me Deadly". Its follow-up ballad, a duet with Ozzy Osbourne entitled "Close My Eyes Forever", provided both artists with their first Top Ten single.
Lita Ford is back with a vengeance! Her new album Wicked Wonderland is due for release October 6th 2009. More information can be found on her My Space profile: Lita Ford Official My Space Profile
Asylum
Lita Ford Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Filled with anger
Screaming for my life
But no one answers
And in my head the voice are doomed
The walls are cold and I sit true
I'm forever lost, in the asylum
The scars of madness on your fist
I tried to save the ones I love
I prayed for love of god above
I'm forever lost, in the asylum
No one will believe, the story I tell
No one could imagine such a lonely hell
No one seems to help me now
As though my words were all blacked down
And reaching on the walls, of the asylum, yeah
Instead I turn those tables round
You knock me down on hallow ground
Our wedding vows we pronounce, into the asylum
The whispers of the ghosts of dreams
The way I hoped my life would be
One day I know you'll realize
Our love was meant to die
I don't wanna die, in the asylum
The writing on the wall, in the asylum.
The lyrics of Lita Ford's song Asylum paint a bleak and disturbing picture of a person trapped in a mental institution, with no one to turn to for help. The opening lines describe the character's surroundings as "halls filled with anger," indicating a hostile and potentially dangerous environment. They are screaming for their life, but no one answers, emphasizing their isolation and despair.
The voice in their head is "doomed," and they are imprisoned by the "cold" walls of the asylum. The scars on their wrist suggest a history of self-harm, while the scars of madness on someone else's fist indicate abuse or trauma. The singer has tried to save those they love and prayed for help, but to no avail. They are forever lost in the asylum.
The song is a powerful commentary on the struggles of people with mental illness, and the stigma and lack of support that they often face. The singer's story is one of isolation, fear, and hopelessness, but it also contains a note of defiance in the face of adversity.
Line by Line Meaning
Walking through these halls
I am trapped in a place that's functionally a prison.
Filled with anger
I am so angry at whoever or whatever put me here.
Screaming for my life
I am crying out for help, for release, for anyone to hear me and come to my rescue.
But no one answers
No one is listening or coming to help, and I feel so alone.
And in my head the voice are doomed
My thoughts are dark and hopeless and I feel crazy.
The walls are cold and I sit true
I am in a bleak, desolate place and there is nothing to comfort me.
I'm forever lost, in the asylum
I feel like I might be stuck here for the rest of my life.
The scars of your love on my wrist
I am hurting both physically and emotionally because of the love I had for you.
The scars of madness on your fist
You hurt me, and it was not just emotional, it was physical too.
I tried to save the ones I love
I tried to protect and defend the people I loved from the same fate I am suffering now.
I prayed for love of god above
I begged for divine intervention to help me and those I love to avoid this fate.
No one will believe, the story I tell
I can't get anyone to understand what happened and believe me.
No one could imagine such a lonely hell
This place is so terrible and isolating, no one could truly comprehend what it's like.
No one seems to help me now
No one is offering help or assistance, I am completely alone in this.
As though my words were all blacked down
It's like my pleas for help are being ignored or silenced entirely.
And reaching on the walls, of the asylum, yeah
I am grasping at anything within my reach, trying desperately to get out of here.
Instead I turn those tables round
I'm going to fight back and do what I can to get out of this situation.
You knock me down on hallow ground
You did everything you could to prevent me from escaping, but I will not give up.
Our wedding vows we pronounce, into the asylum
We entered into this relationship with love and hope, but it only led us to this terrible place called the asylum.
The whispers of the ghosts of dreams
The dreams and aspirations I once had are now just faint whispers that haunt me here in the asylum.
The way I hoped my life would be
The life I once imagined for myself is now completely out of reach and feels like a distant memory.
One day I know you'll realize
One day you will see the mistakes you made and how you contributed to putting us here in the first place.
Our love was meant to die
Our relationship was flawed from the start, and it was never going to end well.
I don't wanna die, in the asylum
I will do whatever it takes to get out of here and live the life I aspire to.
The writing on the wall, in the asylum.
There are signs of despair all around me that serve as a constant reminder of how terrible this place truly is.
Contributed by Evelyn T. Suggest a correction in the comments below.