By AmyLee
What, or who, do you fancy? If lust can be defined as very strong sexual desire, felt in the body as opposed to the mind or heart, and differentiated from love by a selfish desire to get rather than give, then lust can give an individual some valuable information as to exactly what he or she indeed does fancy, and if not, then why. One theory says that who or what one lusts after comes from something specific imprint in one's own history and /or subconscious. Discovering who or what one lusts after can be seen as an important step in what makes one unique as a human being, and as a valuable step towards self-actualisation as an adult. Inklings may begin to appear in the childhood and pre-teen years. But adolescence is the time where the hormones start to rage and the (possibly shameful) uncontrollable lusting rears its head.
For The Cramps, it's a “leopard skin and chain tote” that makes Lux so aroused and Want to Get Into Your Pants. Don't ask why, just accept it.
We've all been there, done that, got the T-shirt and outgrew it, hallelujah. The skinny girl whose first time adventure is chronicled in JAMC's Teenage Lust finds that the sins she's been told about are irrelevant, and she likes it just fine, thanks very much.
But maybe there's more to it than that? Lust makes you put up with a lot when obsessed. James tries whatever she wants, and throws it all against the wall to see what sticks in Laid.
But what if whom or what you lust for is unattainable, inappropriate, or isn't at this particular moment available to you? What to do about it? According to Psychology Today, “Lust provides a rare window through which you can view your vulnerabilities as you are swept away by your imagination. And if you are able to face and endure the shame and disappointment that are often the outcome of such attraction and subsequent disconnection, you will have ample opportunity to learn about yourself.”
Chrissy Amphlett of The Divinyls lusts for a man who is apparently either oblivious or uninterested. Until he comes around, she takes time to learn about herself the usual way in I Touch Myself.
QOTSA are wrestling with something in Quick and to the Pointless, as they're aware that he's old, and she's too young. Says yes, then ultimately no and takes a pass. Maybe.
It must be torture if the person you lust after is one of your best mate's partners. Eric Clapton lusted after Patti Boyd, who was married to George Harrison (who couldn't exactly keep it in his own pants either) at the time. Duane Allman's guitar in Derek and the Dominoes' Layla brings home the desperate longing for Boyd by Clapton. Clapton was initially rebuffed by Boyd, sending him into a heroin addiction for three years. Boyd eventually left Harrison, after his affair with Ringo's wife Maureen, for Ronnie Wood, but eventually married Clapton. Who she eventually split from, citing Clapton's numerous affairs. Got that straight?
Lust for your mate's partner can make you a creepy stalker too, Crawlin' like John Lee Hooker's King Snake through the grass and peeping in windows and doors.
Religion can give a sense of shame to lustful desires, and an all too convenient cover and sanction for Nick Cave to feel justified in taking the object of his desire in Hard On in the Name of Love.
Sometimes one at a time just isn't enough for Femme en Fourrure in Bronco.
So is there an end game here, and does all of this lust and desire end up anywhere? If so, where?
For Akua Naru, lust and love for a departed lover gets comingled with and transmutated into poetry and music in Poetry, How Does It Feel.
For Trent Reznor and Nine Inch Nails, lust is the vehicle for attainment of the desire to be closer to his partner and to god.
For Patti Smith, lust is a disguise for and manifestation of the angel that is love in the gorgeous Because the Night.
For Jane Birkin and Serge Gainsbourg in Je t' Aime ... Moi Non Plus, lust is a wave that comes and goes, over and over again. Birkin finally left Gainsbourg when she was pregnant by Jacques Doillon. She and Doillon finally separated as he couldn't compete with her grief over the death of Gainsbourg. Moi Non Plus indeed.
We're all gonna die, but lust never dies:
Alice Cooper – I Love The Dead.
A-lust playlist:
The Cramps – I Want to Get in Your Pants
Jesus and Mary Chain – Teenage Lust
James – Laid
Divinyls – I Touch Myself
Queens of the Stone Age – Quick and to the Pointless
Derek and the Dominoes – Layla
John Lee Hooker – Crawlin' King Snake Blues
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds – Hard On for Love
Femme en Fourrure – Bronco
Akua Naru – Poetry, How Does it Feel
Nine Inch Nails – Closer
Patti Smith Group – Because the Night
Jane Birkin & Serge Gainsbourg - Je T'Aime...Mon Non Plus
Alice Cooper – I Love the Dead
B-lust playlist:
Alice Cooper – Feed My Frankenstein
Plasmatics – Sex Junkie
Rammstein - Führe mich
Stranglers – Bring On the Nubiles
Wade Flemons – Jeanette
Sam and Dave – I Thank You
Andre Williams – Sweet Little Pussycat
Morphine – Super Sex
Happy Mondays – Bob's Yer Uncle
New Model Army – Lust For Power
The Stems – At First Sight
Bruce Springsteen – I'm On Fire
The Temperance Movement – Smouldering
Millie Jackson – Summer (The First Time)
Steeleye Span – Drink Down the Moon
Lusty double-shot of guru's own picks:
Rolling Stones – Bitch, and Led Zeppelin – Black Dog.
These playlists were inspired by readers' song nominations from last week's topic: Songs about lust: what do you fancy? The next topic will launch on Thursday at 1pm UK time.
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