Iggy Pop’s Lust for Life and the Paradox of Existence

The start of a new year is a time filled with optimism and possibility. The time away from work offers us a chance to reflect on the year that has passed and decide what we wish to improve on in the next year. In South Africa we are doubly blessed that this time comes during our summer season, as the sunshine and warmth seems to renew our spirits from the outside.

However, this contentment can be undercut by the fact that South Africa is also a country filled with needless tragedy and immense suffering. That is why I implore you, dear reader, to begin this year to the sounds of Iggy Pop’s masterpiece of an album: Lust for Life.

This is because this album captures the paradox of existence: in an album filled with soaring, energetic guitar and drum lines, Iggy reflects on themes of drug abuse, alienation, and pain, while seeming to always arrive at the same place. Despite all the pain, being alive is an inherently good thing.

Lust for Life was written and recorded in 1977. That year was a significant turning point for Iggy. In the early 1970s Iggy (born as James Osterberg Junior in 1947 in Muskegon in Michigan in the United States) had burst onto the scene as the frontman of the legendary punk group The Stooges. However, the fame also brought with it the typical litany of temptations. And so, by 1976 Iggy was in the clutches of serious drug addiction and alcoholism and he had fallen into a nihilistic and depressed vision of the world.

At the end of 1976, the legendary David Bowie, who had also had his own struggles with addiction, took Iggy Pop on tour with him to offer him a chance to break from his self-destructive cycle. And he succeeded.

Scarred but Alive

As Iggy entered 1977 he was starting to turn the corner on his habits, and he was ready to embrace living with a renewed energy. He is scarred, but he is also alive, and that is what is important.

Lust for Life is an anthem to this change. Iggy joined forces with Bowie to produce the album and the combination of these two musical giants produced a masterpiece. Recorded in only eight days and produced in just over three months, it still stands up as a singular achievement nearly 50 years after it was released.

The album begins with the titular song: Lust for Life is an anthem to Iggy’s renewed vigour and the song perfectly translates this feeling. The combination of a thumping drum beat with the rhythmic guitar line is so infectious that I dare you, dear reader, to not nod along to it. The lyrics focus on Iggy and paint a picture of his newfound perspective. It explains how he had fallen into the trap of booze and drugs, how destructive how this had been, and how he is trying to move on.

From there the album continues with its irresistible energy as we move through the raunchy (and somewhat scandalous) song Sixteen, an ode to the temptation of young and beautiful women. Next up is Some Weird Sin, a song about how Iggy feels like he stands on the outside looking in at those who are just able to embrace life in all its facets. The groovy melody stands at a juxtaposition to Iggy’s reflection on how drug use puts up a barrier between the user and the world.

Iconic

Iggy’s (arguably) most iconic song follows this: The Passenger. There are few openings to songs as iconic as this. Rick Gardiner’s lead guitar line carries through the entire song as Iggy reflects on being a passenger on the beautiful journey that is life. The lyrics tell the story of him seeing all the beauty in the world and him revelling in the joy he finds in existence: “I see the stars come out tonight/ I see the bright and hollow sky/ Over the city’s ripped-back sky/ And everything looks good tonight/ Singing la-la-la-la-la-la-la." 

From there the album slows down in the song Tonight, where we are greeted by Iggy and David Bowie’s soaring harmonies. As the cries fade out Iggy begins a song about a love that he thinks will never end. He promises his lover that everything will be alright and that he will stand by her side until he dies.

Iggy follows Tonight with Success, his sardonic take on materialism. The song is filled with soaring guitar riffs and stomping drums, while Iggy waxes lyrical about how success seemed to be measured by the stuff that you can accumulate.

The next song introduces a shift in tone of the album with the nearly seven-minute-long Turn Blue. All of the song is filled with melancholy. Iggy’s lyrics and delivery are punctuated with a sense of loss, accompanied by slow-paced guitar, soft drum fills, and heartbreaking backing vocals. This is the most obviously reflective song on the album and it serves as a wonderful change of pace that draws the listener in to Iggy’s internal struggles.

The last two songs of the album return to the pace of the rest of the album. Neighbourhood Threat combines a pitched back guitar with a forceful drum line as Iggy tells the story of an outsider trying to survive in a society that does not want him.

The album ends with another nearly seven-minute-long song: Fall in Love with Me. Allegedly written about his then-girlfriend Esther Friedman, Iggy sings over swaggering guitars and drums about how wonderful he thinks she is and how he wishes that she would fall in love with him. At points he seems to beg as we are given the refrain: “I wish you’d fall in love with me/ I wish you’d fall in love with me.” 

Emotions

The album leaves the listener with a mix of emotions. On the one hand all the groove lines provide a sense of optimism and never-ending vitality, but on the other, Iggy’s lyrics reflect on his struggle to embrace living with the scars that he carries. There is something beautifully human about this juxtaposition. It speaks to something that every person can understand.

Life is neither all good nor all bad, it is a constant mix of beauty and pain. However, the core the album reflects what I think to be an ultimate truth. Despite the suffering, the pain, the alienation, there is something inherently good about being alive. So, dear reader, please listen to Lust for Life and revel in the beautiful paradox that is existence. Life is too short for you not to.