Throughout his 50-plus year career, Lemmy Kilmister started writing psychedelic rock while in the Sam Gopal band in the ’60s and spacier things in Hawkwind by the early 1970s before landing on his final turf with Motörhead. From the band’s eponymous 1977 debut through their 22nd and final album Bad Magic in 2015, Lemmy penned hundreds of songs throughout the band’s nearly 40-year run.
Outside of Motörhead, Kilmister also collaborated with everyone from The Ramones, The Damned, Slash, Lita Ford, and Foo Fighters, along with co-writing Ozzy Osbourne‘s No More Tears hit “Mama, I’m Coming Home” and “Hellraiser”—also recorded by Motörhead—and more tracks from the 1991 album, along with a collection of songs for other artists.
Though faithful and protective of Motörhead’s extensive catalog, Lemmy wasn’t always a fan of some of the band’s earlier songs or albums and even started detesting their biggest hit.
The title track of the band’s fifth album in 1980, “Ace of Spades” became the definitive Motörhead anthem, and a hit, spending 13 weeks on the UK Singles Chart, and peaking at No. 15. After “Ace of Spades,” no other Motörhead song matched its power, which led to Kilmister’s disdain for the song.
Videos by American Songwriter
“I’m sick to death of ‘Ace Of Spades’ now,” revealed Lemmy in his 2002 autobiography White Line Fever. “We didn’t become fossilized after that record, you know. We’ve had quite a few good releases since then. But the fans want to hear it, so we still play it every night. For myself, I’ve had enough of that song.”
In 2011, Kilmister also discussed his detachment from some of the band’s earlier releases, including their third album Bomber from 1979 and Ace of Spades.
[RELATED: 5 Songs You Didn’t Know Motörhead’s Lemmy Kilmister Wrote for Other Artists]
“The records are much better now than ‘Ace of Spades’ or ‘Bomber,’” said Lemmy, comparing Motörhead’s earlier music to their more recent releases. “They are not even good—primitive, bad sound, bad equipment, and in a lot of cases, played really badly. There is something good about it if you were 16, but the moment has passed.”
“Wild Bill” Hickok‘s Final Poker Hand
“Ace of Spades” is a song about gambling, its repercussions, and taking risks and was named after the poker hand, which consists of eights and aces—including the ace of spades—the same hand the 19th century Old West gunslinger “Wild Bill” Hickock was playing when he was shot in the back and killed by Jack McCall in 1876.
Lemmy was also a gambler but never played the blackjack, poker, or roulette tables. He was more of a slot machine man, and often spent hours playing the on-screen poker at his local hangout the famed Rainbow Room in West Hollywood. During Lemmy’s final days, the venue moved his favorite slot machine into his home so he could continue playing.
“I used gambling metaphors, mostly cards, and dice,” wrote Kilmister in White Line Fever. “When it comes to that sort of thing, I’m more into the one-arm bandit actually, but you can’t really sing about spinning fruit, and the wheels coming down. Most of the song’s just poker, really—‘I know you’ve got to see me, read ’em and weep, Dead man’s hand again, aces and eights.’ That was ‘Wild Bill’ Hickock’s hand when he got shot.”
The pleasure is to play
Makes no difference what you say
I don’t share your greed
The only card I need
Is the Ace of Spades
The Ace of Spades
Playing for the high one
Dancing with the devil
Going with the flow
It’s all a game to me
Seven or eleven
Snake eyes watching you
Double up or quit
Double stake or split
The Ace of Spades
The Ace of Spades
[RELATED: Motörhead’s Lemmy Kilmister Memorialized with Hellfest Statue in France]
Lemmy admitted that he never considered “Ace of Spades” a great song when he first wrote it, which he once claimed he penned in the back of a van going 90 mph. He got so sick of performing it that he intentionally sang the wrong lyrics for a few years.
“‘Ace of Spades’ is unbeatable, apparently, but I never knew it was such a good song,” said Kilmister. “Writing it was just a word exercise on gambling, all the clichés. I’m glad we got famous for that rather than for some turkey, but I sang ‘the eight of spades’ for two years and nobody noticed.”
Following Lemmy’s death on December 28, 2015, “Ace of Spades” reentered the UK chart and went to No. 13.
Photo: Fin Costello/Redferns/Getty Images
