Lust for Life

The one song most identified with former Stooge Iggy Pop's solo career, "Lust for Life" is also quite possibly the most upbeat, exuberant tune he ever cut. There's a heavy influence from co-writer David Bowie in the hip-shaking, glammed-up swing of the drumbeat, which dominates the song from start to finish and is doubled at one time or another by all the instruments. Really, it's the only hook the song needs; it's immediately memorable without being all that melodic. Pop bleats his hard lyrics with the ferocity of a survivor who's visited the absolute depths of life without having been consumed, and that's really what the song is about: making your way through everything life can throw at you, screwing up along the way but emerging stronger for it. Pop's persona gives the song a rougher edge than it would have otherwise, a harder-rocking grit that marks it as the product of an equal collaboration, not just Bowie's imagination. While the music definitely feels glammed up and a little bit campy -- not just the swinging rock & roll beat, but touches like the male falsetto voices echoing Pop on the chorus -- it's due to Pop's performance and lyrical contributions that the song never loses its strutting machismo. "Lust for Life" was originally released on the 1977 album of the same title, but remained a somewhat overlooked classic until it was used as the opening-credit theme for the 1996 film Trainspotting, after which it became a staple at college parties and radio stations.