Oh, we kid Mötley Crüe. Make no mistake, they are a killer metal band—arguably the best to come out of the ’80s L.A. glam metal scene. They’re primarily known for their dark-but-accessible guitar-driven sound and frenetic, pyrotechnics-laden live shows. If they are associated with their lyrics, though, it’s likely to be for their adherence to the “sex, drugs, and rock and roll” ethos of most of their hard rock brethren (and their version of that mix also includes a healthy dose of violence, as well).
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Yet these glam rockers have occasionally shown a more introspective or vulnerable side. Four of the five songs included here are typical Mötley Crüe rockers, but on each of the tracks, the lyrics come from a more open place. Bassist Nikki Sixx wrote or co-wrote the lyrics for each of these tunes, as he did for the bulk of the songs in the Crüe’s discography.
5. “Time for Change”
This mid-tempo album closer from Dr. Feelgood is an unusual song thematically for the band, as it deals with the need for society to create positive change for the younger generation. The message is clear from the first verse.
I heard some kids telling me
How they’ve lost all the faith in the way
They’ve been talking world peace
And the wars in the street
The lyrics are striking in their directness and lack of bravado, which is truly notable for a Sixx-penned song. (One of Mötley’s famed “Nasty Habits” backup singers, Donna McDaniel, is credited with co-writing the song’s music.) Vince Neil hammers home the urgency of the message by singing I’ll change / Not tomorrow, but today in the bridge.
4. “Poison Apples”
This track comes from Mötley Crüe’s 1994 self-titled album—the only one which doesn’t feature Neil on lead vocals. His replacement, John Corabi, co-wrote the lyrics with Sixx, so it’s not clear who deserves the credit for this uncharacteristically positive pre-chorus:
We love our Mott the Hoople, it kept us all enraged
And you loved us and you loved us and you loved us
We’re so fucking beautiful!
The Mott the Hoople reference gives us a peek into the band’s influences, underscores their defiant attitude, and demonstrates how they find joy in their “life of slime.” There’s also an unexpected twist in the second pre-chorus, when the lyrics change to, And you love us and you hate us and you love us.
3. “Use It or Lose It”
Sixx wrote frequently about drug addiction (“Write what you know,” say many wise writing teachers), and on this track from the Crüe’s third album, Theatre of Pain, he writes a cautionary tale about being too cavalier with one’s life. In the first verse, Sixx includes a reference to James Dean, who lived a fast but short life.
Ragtime fast lane, another overdose
You know James Dean wasn’t playing the role
I said hey, you, whatcha gonna do
When time runs out on you?
The song also includes references to John F. Kennedy, Marilyn Monroe and, strangely, Margaret Trudeau, who is still alive at the time of this writing (she is the ex-wife of former Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau and the mother of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau). While Sixx’s opening line mentions an overdose, he gets across his broader message about being careful not to throw one’s life away. A few years later, of course, he would briefly “die” of an overdose himself.
[RELATED: Mötley Crüe’s Nikki Sixx Celebrates 22 Years of Sobriety]
2. “Dr. Feelgood”
The title track from Mötley Crüe’s 1989 album, their biggest hit, is a story-song about an L.A. drug dealer, and like many of their songs about drugs and addiction, it’s hardly glamorous. In fact, Sixx included the line “He’s not what you’d call a glamorous man” in the song. Right away in the first verse, you get a clear sense of the setting:
Rat-tailed Jimmy is a second-hand hood
Deals out in Hollywood
Got a ‘65 Chevy, primered flames
Traded for some powdered goods
Sixx also gives the dealer’s story a dramatic arc, as he’s got a “cozy little job” at the start of the song, but by the end, he’s “going down.” Neil also adds to the song’s drama with his rapid-fire vocal delivery.
1. “Keep Your Eye on the Money”
While “Use It or Lose It” warns about getting caught up in the excesses of a fast life, this song, also from Theatre of Pain, sketches out the price to be paid even more clearly.
Queen of hearts
Or ace of spades
I’m dancing on the blade
Freak show, going broke
The crowd screams on for more
Electric shock won’t bring ya back
You’ve gone over the boards
Can’t beat the clock, the deck is stacked
The crowd looks on in horror
Especially notable is the role of the crowd in this verse. Sixx appears to indicate that there is pressure from the fans to maintain the rock lifestyle, as hazardous as it is to those living it. Yet when their rock and roll hero inevitably goes “over the boards,” they are scandalized. It’s a thought-provoking insight from a band that epitomized the fast lifestyle portrayed in their own lyrics.
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