“Unbelievable hooks”: The three most perfect songs, according to Lemmy
Lemmy Kilmister would often address his devout fans at live shows with the statement: “We are Motörhead, and we play rock and roll.” As you can see, the charismatic Motörhead frontman had a knack for saying it like it is and is remembered by his friends in the business as a highly intelligent and caring individual who was never afraid to voice his opinion, especially when it came to rock ‘n’ roll.
When Motörhead surged to worldwide acclaim in the late 1970s, their distinctive brand of fast-paced rock music became associated with both the heavy metal and punk scenes. Lemmy and his hairy, leather-clad troupe were happy to be regarded as punks or metalheads so long as they were far from the festering pile of prog-rock and pop groups that alienated the 1970s youth culture.
Despite Lemmy’s forthright opinions on what constituted appealing rock music, he understood that there was a formula necessary for popular appeal. Speaking to Classic Rock in 2008, the Motörhead songwriter revealed the key to universal appeal. “Two verses, chorus, solo, verse, chorus, finish. I think all good rock songs should be three minutes at the outside,” he said.
Lemmy’s aversion to prog-rock bands like Genesis and Pink Floyd was rooted in the fact that such groups ignored several rules he saw as crucial to a successful rock song. Contrary to David Gilmour’s spacious lead style, Lemmy asserted, “You should do your best 20-second guitar solo and really make it count.” Adding, “You see, with singles, it was much more intense, much better than fucking concept albums – those things go on for fucking days.”
Although it is difficult to imagine Lemmy getting on with a record by a contemporary pop star like Ed Sheeran or Drake, he would perhaps have more respect for such artists than some prog-rockers simply because their songs took up less of his time with ostentatious solos and convoluted concepts.
When asked what songs he would deem “perfect”, Lemmy listed off the top of his head: ‘Twist And Shout’ and ‘Please Please Me’ by The Beatles and ABBA’s ‘Dancing Queen’. Lemmy and his heavy metal compadre Ozzy Osbourne frequently praised The Beatles as their favourite band, hailing them as a crucial milestone on the road to their associative genres. However, the inclusion of ABBA’s 1976 single, I dare say, raised a few eyebrows.
Before any devout Motörhead disciples go out and blindly purchase tickets to ABBA Voyage, though, it is important to add that Lemmy intended perfection as an objective criterion. Continuing, the late singer said the perfect song is “anything that sticks in your head.” He refrained from revealing his opinion on ABBA but suggestively explained: “Even if you hate ABBA, you’ll be singing that song walking down the road. They’ve got unbelievable hooks. They were obviously doing something right because their records sold all over the world.”
Lemmy then proceeded to name the songs in his catalogue that he deemed the best, based on objective perfection and subjective favour. After picking out his Ozzy Osbourne songwriting collaboration ‘Mama I’m Coming Home’, Lemmy mused: “Obviously ‘Ace Of Spades’ because it did so well. You never know what people are going to catch up on. There were a lot of songs as good as ‘Ace Of Spades’, which didn’t do so well. Also, ‘Bomber’. I love ‘Bomber’.”
In Lemmy’s discussion, he suggests that although Motörhead and ABBA pulled in vastly different fanbases in their shared heydays, they both struck similar successful formulae. Plenty of music lovers will have both ‘Ace of Spades’ and ‘Dancing Queen’ in their collections.
