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)
Living in the Past
Motörhead Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
After all the deeds are done,
After all the smoking guns,
Don't speak to me of lies.
Don't you try to scold me now,
Don't you try to hold me now,
Don't start acting cold right now,
Don't you even try.
All the times are changed for us,
All things fault and blame for us,
Good times laid aside.
So now we are the lost,
And now we are the last,
Living in a nightmare,
Broken dreams, love turned mean,
Living in the past.
Don't you speak to me no more,
After what you said before,
After all the things you swore,
Don't speak to me no more.
Don't you know the way we are,
Black enough to hide the stars,
Made us take our rage too far,
Don't you know at all.
Nothing is what we have now,
Nothing is what we're allowed,
Nothing but an echo now,
Nothing like before.
So now we are the lost,
And now we are the last,
Living in a nightmare,
Broken dreams, love turned mean,
Living in the past.
Living in the past.
I will never take the blame,
Don't twist the truth, don't be a whore,
Tell the truth and shame the devil,
Don't you lie no more.
I will never understand,
How we came to this sad place,
Just to look at your sad face,
Castles made of sand.
Here we are, so we do,
What we had is now untrue,
What there was is lost and shamed,
Here we are again.
So now we are the lost,
And now we are the last,
Living in a nightmare,
Broken dreams, love turned mean,
Living in the past.
So now we are the lost,
And now we are the last,
Living in a nightmare,
Broken dreams, love turned mean,
Living in the past.
Living in the past.
The lyrics to Motörhead's Living In The Past deal with themes of betrayal and the feeling of being lost when someone you trusted turns out to be dishonest. The singer of the song is angry and hurt, refusing to accept the lies and false promises they were given. They warn their betrayer not to try to scold them, hold them, or act cold towards them after what they've done. The singer feels that everything has changed and faults and blame are laid on them unjustly.
The chorus of the song repeats the phrase "Living in the past," emphasizing the idea that the singer feels stuck and unable to move on from the hurt and betrayal. They feel like they are living in a nightmare, with broken dreams and love turned sour. The singer acknowledges that they may have taken their rage too far, but they refuse to take the blame for what happened. They call for honesty and the telling of the truth, feeling disillusioned and questioning how they arrived in this sad place.
Overall, Living In The Past is a powerful rock song that captures the emotions of betrayal and loss. It speaks to the pain of being let down by someone you trusted and feeling like you are unable to escape the hurt and betrayal.
Line by Line Meaning
Don't you speak of lies to me,
Do not deceive me with falsehoods
After all the deeds are done,
Once all actions have been taken
After all the smoking guns,
After all evidence points to the truth
Don't speak to me of lies.
Do not communicate deceitful information
Don't you try to scold me now,
Do not attempt to rebuke me now
Don't you try to hold me now,
Do not attempt to grasp hold of me now
Don't start acting cold right now,
Do not begin to exhibit a lack of warmth now
Don't you even try.
Do not even attempt
Nothing is the same for us,
We are no longer in a similar situation
All the times are changed for us,
All circumstances have undergone a transformation
All things fault and blame for us,
All elements are now responsible for the failures we experience
Good times laid aside.
Pleasant memories are now in the past
So now we are the lost,
We have become disheartened
And now we are the last,
We are the final few remaining
Living in a nightmare,
Enduring a difficult, unpleasant situation
Broken dreams, love turned mean,
Hopes and aspirations have failed to materialize, and love has become ill-intentioned
Living in the past.
Existing in memories of previous times
Don't you speak to me no more,
Do not communicate with me any further
After what you said before,
After you spoke earlier
After all the things you swore,
After all the promises you made
Don't speak to me no more.
Do not communicate with me any longer
Don't you know the way we are,
Do you not comprehend our current situation
Black enough to hide the stars,
Things are dark enough to obscure even the stars
Made us take our rage too far,
Induced us to act out of anger to an excessive extent
Don't you know at all.
You have no understanding
Nothing is what we have now,
We have nothing at present
Nothing is what we're allowed,
There is nothing we are permitted to do
Nothing but an echo now,
The only thing that remains is an empty repetition of sound
Nothing like before.
The present situation is markedly different from the past
I will never take the blame,
I refuse to accept responsibility for the situation
Don't twist the truth, don't be a whore,
Do not distort the facts deliberately in order to deceive others
Tell the truth and shame the devil,
Be honest and openly reveal the truth
Don't you lie no more.
Do not engage in dishonesty any longer
I will never understand,
I will never comprehend
How we came to this sad place,
How we arrived at this sorrowful situation
Just to look at your sad face,
Merely to see your sorrowful expression
Castles made of sand.
Our dreams and aspirations are precarious and easily destroyed
Here we are, so we do,
This is the reality we currently exist in
What we had is now untrue,
Our past reality is now false
What there was is lost and shamed,
Our former state is gone and degraded
Here we are again.
We find ourselves in a similar situation once more
Living in the past.
Existing in memories of previous times
So now we are the lost,
We have become disheartened
And now we are the last,
We are the final few remaining
Living in a nightmare,
Enduring a difficult, unpleasant situation
Broken dreams, love turned mean,
Hopes and aspirations have failed to materialize, and love has become ill-intentioned
Living in the past.
Existing in memories of previous times
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: IAN FRASER KILMISTER, PHILIP ANTHONY CAMPBELL, MICAEL KIRIAKOS DELAOGLOU
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind