When musicians meet with Success, it often introduces them to its good friend, Excess. But Excess is a bad influence that hangs out with shady characters like Alcoholism, Drunk Driving, Drugs, Overdose and Insanity. Many successful musicians have written music and lyrics about their misadventures with Excess and its gang. Or they've written music and lyrics about people they've known who've gotten a little too chummy with Excess and its buddies, and wound up regretting it, or getting in so deep, Excess and Co. wouldn't let them out. Here are some of those songs about overindulgence.
"Kickstart My Heart" - Motley Crue
This high-grade tune's lyrics, written by recovered heroin addict, Nikki Sixx, are about how he not only knocked on heaven's door, but briefly flung it wide open. In 1987, Sixx OD'd on heroin, and was declared legally dead, until a paramedic literally gave his heart a kickstart with two shots of adrenaline. Sixx even said that he was watching from above as the paramedic fought to bring him back to life. The song's lyrics celebrate the incident that led to his sobriety, and the new, drug-free ways he enjoys living on the edge: "When I get high/I get high on speed/Top fuel funny car's/A drug for me/My heart, my heart/Kickstart my heart."
"Ziggy Stardust" - Davie Bowie
The lyrics to this Bowie classic are about a rock star who believes -- and is destroyed by -- his own hype. Ziggy was, according to the lyrics, someone who "took it all too far/But, boy, could he play guitar." Becoming larger-than-life, he transforms into a self-absorbed, out-of-touch-with-reality superstar who treats his bandmates as little more than sidemen, and who feels vastly superior to his fans. The lyrics tell the tale of how the kids catch on to Ziggy's arrogance, and end up killing the monster they'd helped create: "Making love with his ego/Ziggy sucked up into his mind/Like a leper messiah/When the kids had killed the man/I had to break up the band."
"Rock Soldiers" - Ace Frehley
Original lead guitarist for KISS, and a recovered alcoholic, Ace Frehley wrote this song and its lyrics about a 1983 car crash that reminded him he wasn't an indestructible rock god, but a regular, old-fashioned mortal. The lyrics are about a drunken Frehley behind the wheel of his DeLorean, leading police on a high-speed chase the wrong way on the Bronx River Parkway. The chase ended with a wreck that nearly killed Frehley. Some of the lyrics about the infamous incident include, "With a trooper in the mirror/And Satan on my right/We went the wrong way down a one way road/Hitting everything in sight/I cried "I am invincible!"/Said I was high above the law/But my only high was just a lie/And now I'm glad I saw."
"Rockstar" - Nickelback
Canadian hard rockers Nickelback take playful jabs at the rockstar lifestyle in these lyrics, and aren't above satirizing themselves, as well, in the song. They poke fun at their own rock stardom in the lyrics, "I want a new tour bus full of old guitars/My own star on Hollywood Boulevard," referring to the collection of vintage guitars owned by Chad Kroeger, and the star they have on Canada's Walk of Fame. They also mock general rock star excesses throughout the song, including the lyrics, "We all just wanna be big rock stars/And live in hilltop boxes driving fifteen cars/The girls come easy and the drugs come cheap/We'll all stay skinny 'cause we just won't eat."
These lyrics show what happens when rockers lose sight of the music and focus on the seemingly limitless celebrity lifestyle. But they also show that when rockers look at that lifestyle in hindsight, it can inspire them to write some of their best songs!
To find more
lyrics about rockstar excess, check out Lyrics Bay and their
newest lyrics about rockers who have gone beyond the limit.
