Motörhead released 23 studio albums, 10 live recordings, 12 compilation albums and five EPs over a career spanning 40 years. Usually a power trio, they had particular success in the early 1980s with several successful singles in the UK Top 40 chart. The albums Overkill, Bomber, Ace of Spades and, particularly, the live album No Sleep 'til Hammersmith cemented Motörhead's reputation as a top-tier rock band. The band are ranked number 26 on VH1's 100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock. As of 2016, they have sold more than 15 million albums worldwide.
Most often classified as heavy metal, Motörhead has been credited with being part of and influencing numerous musical scenes, thrash metal and speed metal especially. Lemmy, however, always insisted that they were a rock and roll band. He said that they had more in common with punk bands, but with their own unique sound, Motörhead is embraced in both punk and metal scenes. Their lyrics typically covered such topics as war, good versus evil, abuse of power, promiscuous sex, substance abuse and, most famously, gambling, the latter theme being the focus of their hit song "Ace of Spades".
Lemmy died on 28 December 2015 from cardiac arrhythmia and congestive heart failure, after being diagnosed with prostate cancer. The day after his death, drummer Mikkey Dee and guitarist Phil Campbell both confirmed that Motörhead had disbanded. By 2018, all three members of Motörhead's best-known line-up (Lemmy, Taylor and Clarke) had died.
Full Wikipedia article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motörhead
Discography
Motörhead (1977)
Overkill (1979)
Bomber (1979)
On Parole (1979)
Ace of Spades (1980)
Iron Fist (1982)
Another Perfect Day (1983)
Orgasmatron (1986)
Rock 'n' Roll (1987)
1916 (1991)
March ör Die (1992)
Bastards (1993)
Sacrifice (1995)
Overnight Sensation (1996)
Snake Bite Love (1998)
We Are Motörhead (2000)
Hammered (2002)
Inferno (2004)
Kiss of Death (2006)
Motörizer (2008)
The Wörld Is Yours (2010)
Aftershock (2013)
Bad Magic (2015)
Knife
Motörhead Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
The desert sings of bones
You can wait forever
No one will pass you by
The snake has eyes of stone
His mouth is death
He takes your life, he fears no knife
There's no place like hell
Life in the fire, a funeral pyre for you
You can scream and cry
Nobody cares
The dead do what, they do
Your fate is death
You take your life, you fear the knife
It bites you too
Brothers of the snake
Sisters of the flame
We're not the same as you
We know you well
We wait in hell
We burn with lust for you
Our touch is death
You taste our breath,
We fear the knife
We take your life
It bites us too
It bites us too
You take a life, you feel the knife
It bites us too
It bites us too
The lyrics to Motörhead's "Knife" paint a vivid picture of a desolate, lonely existence in a barren desert. Lemmy, the lead singer of the band, croons about the futility of waiting and the inevitability of death. The snake, an age-old symbol of danger and temptation, is a central figure in the song, with eyes of stone and a mouth that brings death. Life, such as it is in this inhospitable wasteland, is compared to living in hell or on a funeral pyre. The brothers and sisters of the snake and the flame are set apart from the listener, and the lustful invitation they offer - a touch that brings death - is both alluring and terrifying.
At the core of "Knife" is the idea that death is an inescapable part of existence. The snake, the flames, the touch of death - each of these symbols represents a force that eventually claims everyone. Even the knife, which is typically seen as a weapon of mortality, is revealed to be a double-edged sword that bites everyone, even those who wield it. The lyrics suggest that one cannot avoid danger or temptation, and that the only way to confront these dark forces is to accept them and, in some cases, embrace them.
Throughout "Knife," Lemmy's voice is gritty and powerful, adding weight to the song's nihilistic themes. The pounding drums and electric guitar riffs further underscore the sense of danger and urgency. While the lyrics can be interpreted in a number of ways, they ultimately offer a bleak but compelling perspective on life and death.
Line by Line Meaning
Nothing for me here, life in the dust
There's nothing worthwhile for me here in this barren wasteland
The desert sings of bones
The dry and lonely desert constantly reminds me of death
You can wait forever, No one will pass you by
You can wait here for an eternity and nobody will ever come
The snake has eyes of stone
The snake is emotionless and deadly
His mouth is death
The snake's bite is lethal
He takes your life, he fears no knife
The snake kills without hesitation and is not afraid of any weapon
It bites him too
Even the snake is not immune to the deadly nature of life
There's no place like hell
Life can be so terrible that it feels like being in hell
Life in the fire, a funeral pyre for you
Living in constant pain and suffering is like being on a funeral pyre
You can scream and cry, Nobody cares
Even if you express your agony, nobody is going to show any concern
The dead do what, they do
Death is inevitable and the dead just continue to be dead
Your fate is death, You take your life, you fear the knife, It bites you too
Death is inevitable and even if you try to avoid it, you will eventually die
Brothers of the snake
We are part of the dangerous and sinister world
Sisters of the flame
We are the ones who inspire fear and danger
We're not the same as you
We are different and set apart from common people
We know you well
We know how to manipulate and control you
We wait in hell
We belong in a place of unending pain and suffering
We burn with lust for you
We have a passion for causing chaos and destruction
Our touch is death
Being in contact with us could be extremely dangerous
You taste our breath, We fear the knife, We take your life
We are equally scared of getting hurt, but we are not afraid of taking your life
It bites us too
The dangerous nature of life affects everyone, including us
You take a life, you feel the knife, It bites us too
Killing someone has its own consequences, and we are equally affected by it
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Ian Fraser Kilmister, Micael Kiriakos Delaoglou, Philip Anthony Campbell
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind