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)
Poison
Motörhead Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
People tell me "You need to know better"
Give me sermons 'bout the things I do
You gotta love 'em, even wrote letters
You know I even answered a few, I said
I've been doing poison (poison)
I guess I poisoned my life
And I love poison (poison)
On the road, the pace is getting frantic
'Specially when your poisoned out your mind
A flight of stairs is like swimming the Atlantic
When you're poisoned, deaf, dumb and blind, I said
I'll take my poison (poison)
I guess I poisoned my life
I wish I was poisoned (poison)
I wish I'd poisoned my wife
My father, he used to be a preacher
Never taught me nothing but scorn
If I ever catch him on the street, yeah
I'll make him wish he'd never been born because
He was poison (poison)
And now he poisoned my life
Yeah, he was poison (poison)
I wish my mother wasn't his wife, no
Poison
in Motörhead's song is a metaphor for addiction. The lyrics describe how the singer has been warned by others about the dangers of his behavior, but chooses to continue down his path of self-destruction. The love for the "poison" is compared to the satisfaction of avoiding marriage. The song delves into the physical and mental toll addiction can take, the pace of life becomes frantic and everyday tasks become impossible chores.
The last verse of the song reveals the reason behind the singer's self-destructive behavior; his father, who was a preacher, never showed him love, only scorn. The resentment he feels towards his father is described as poison, which has now poisoned his life. The line "I wish my mother wasn't his wife" is a dark expression of how the character wished his parents had never come together to create his life.
Line by Line Meaning
Ah, watch out
Be cautious
People tell me "You need to know better"
People advise me to make better choices
Give me sermons 'bout the things I do
People preach to me about my actions
You gotta love 'em, even wrote letters
Even though they preach and criticize, their love is still appreciated
You know I even answered a few, I said
I did take the time to respond to some of the letters
I've been doing poison (poison)
I've been making bad choices and engaging in negative behavior
I guess I poisoned my life
I messed up my own life
And I love poison (poison)
I've grown attached to these negative behaviors
It's better than marrying a wife
Being addicted to negative behaviors is preferable to being in a bad marriage
On the road, the pace is getting frantic
Life on tour is becoming overwhelming
'Specially when your poisoned out your mind
Especially when you're indulging in negative behavior constantly
A flight of stairs is like swimming the Atlantic
Simple tasks are incredibly difficult when under the influence of poison
When you're poisoned, deaf, dumb and blind, I said
Being addicted to negative behavior makes you incapable of rational thought or action
I'll take my poison (poison)
I'll continue engaging in negative behavior
I guess I poisoned my life
I messed up my own life
I wish I was poisoned (poison)
I wish I had never begun these negative behaviors
I wish I'd poisoned my wife
The artist's negative feelings towards marriage are such that he wishes he had made his wife's life miserable instead of marrying her
My father, he used to be a preacher
The singer's father used to be a religious figure
Never taught me nothing but scorn
The father did not teach his son anything except contempt/disapproval
If I ever catch him on the street, yeah
If the artist sees his father in public
I'll make him wish he'd never been born because
The artist is filled with anger and resentment towards his father
He was poison (poison)
The father was a negative influence on the artist's life
And now he poisoned my life
The father's actions affected the singer's life negatively
Yeah, he was poison (poison)
The father continues to exert a negative influence on the artist's life
I wish my mother wasn't his wife, no
The singer wishes his parents had never gotten married
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: Edward Alan Clarke, Ian Kilmister, Philip John Taylor
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@josephsanchez5110
Ah, watch out
People tell me "You need to know better"
Give me sermons 'bout the things I do
You gotta love 'em, even wrote letters
You know I even answered a few, I said
I've been doing poison (poison)
I guess I poisoned my life
And I love poison (poison)
It's better than marrying a wife
On the road, the pace is getting frantic
'Specially when your poisoned out your mind
A flight of stairs is like swimming the Atlantic
When you're poisoned, deaf, dumb and blind, I said
I'll take my poison (poison)
I guess I poisoned my life
I wish I was poisoned (poison)
I wish I'd poisoned my wife
My father, he used to be a preacher
Never taught me nothing but scorn
If I ever catch him on the street, yeah
I'll make him wish he'd never been born because
He was poison (poison)
And now he poisoned my life
Yeah, he was poison (poison)
I wish my mother wasn't his wife, no
@ekakhimshiashvili387
Ah, watch out
People tell me "you need to know better"
Give me sermons 'bout the things I do
You gotta love 'em, even wrote letters
You know I even answered a few, I said
I've been doing poison (poison)
I guess I poisoned my life
And I love poison (poison)
It's better than marrying a wife
On the road, the pace is getting frantic
'Specially when your poisoned out your mind
A flight of stairs is like swimming the Atlantic
When you're poisoned, deaf, dumb and blind, I said
I'll take my poison (poison)
I guess I poisoned my life
I wish I was poisoned (poison)
I wish I'd poisoned my wife
My Father,…
@DmageCase
This riff fits perfectly with the scorn Lemmy had towards his father. It's insane.
@speedking7224
Why did they have beef with each other? I hope they reconciled
@dilloncrowe1018
I've heard this song was dedicated to one of Lemmy's sh*tty ex-girlfriends.
@henrygoleau
@@speedking7224 Lemmy's father, who served as a chaplain in the R.A.F, abandoned his family when Lemmy was little.
@darthultor6365
@@speedking7224and when he finally fame back, he wanted Lemmy to be an accountant or sum
@andygretz
I feel sorry for kids today because they will never know bands like this, hope something will come along.
@linkoftime131
Yes sometimes
@andygretz
@Harry Diaz it's not the only reason but yeah sad loss of raw skills.
@frfoljek68
I know Motörhead and I’m 15
@olafrozendaal5274
@@frfoljek68 same