Continuing, in between an celebrity death, our mini-theme of 'love is' songs, a hot-to-trot stomper from Bryan Ferry and co from the band's fifth album Sirens in 1975. The song began as a instrumental by saxophonist Andy Mackay, before Ferry added the lyrics about seeking sex, while, as the story goes, taking a stroll through Hyde Park in London. The result is a classic piece of glam-rock pop, and a highly influential one at that. Footsteps, the sound of a starting car, that punchy, syncopated rhythms with Mackay's sax, chop guitars by Phil Manzanera, great drumming by Paul Thompson and most of all that bassline by John Gustafson, quoted by Nile Rodgers of Chic as being the inspiration for the very similar one on their song Good Times. The overall effect is like something from the postpunk era, influential on Talking Heads, but more than an year even before punk itself.
[Intro]
T'ain't no big thing, to wait for the bell to ring
T'ain't no big thing, the toll of the bell
[Verse 1]
Aggravated spare for days
I troll downtown, the red light place
I jump up, bubble up, what's in store?
Love is the drug and I need to score
Showing out, showing out, hit and run
Boy meets girl where the beat goes on
Stitched up tight can't shake free
Love is the drug got a hook on me
[Chorus]
Oh, catch that buzz
Love is the drug I'm thinking of
Oh, can't you see
Love is the drug for me
Oh, oh
Oh, oh
[Verse 2]
Late that night I parked my car
Staked my place in the singles bar
Face to face, toe to toe
Heart to heart as we hit the floor
Lumbered up limbo down
The locked embrace, stumble round
I say "go," she say "yes"
Dim the lights, you can guess the rest
[Chorus]
Oh, catch that buzz
Love is the drug I'm thinking of
Oh, can't you see
Love is the drug, got hookin' me
Oh, get that buzz
Love is the drug I'm thinking of
Oh, can't you see
Love is the drug for me
[Outro]
Oh, oh, oh, oh
Oh, oh, oh, oh
Oh, oh, oh, oh
Love is, love is, love is the drug
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