The song “Kickstart My Heart” by Motley Crue tells the story of bassist Nikki Sixx’s overdose on heroin, which lead to his death and revival. Hitting their success at the height of the 1980s, Motley Crue are commonly nicknamed the “Bad Boys of Rock N’ Roll,” and are known for their excessive abuse of drugs, sex, and alcohol. While drummer Tommy Lee exemplified clear sex addiction issues, guitarist Mick Mars was tampering with pill addiction, and singer Vince Neil was fueling his alcoholism, bassist Nikki Sixx was meddling with heroin, the drug that would kill him, lead to his revival, and inspire him to write one of Motley Crue’s biggest songs. After over six years of heroin abuse and one previous overdose, Nikki was shooting up with Guns N’ Roses’ Steve Adler when he experienced his second and final heroin overdose. After passing out in his bathtub, Nikki was rushed to the hospital and pronounced dead in the ambulance that brought him there. Two minutes after being officially pronounced dead, doctors injected two shots of adrenaline right into Nikki’s heart. This not only revived Nikki, but also inspired him to write this song, which went on to be the first single of Motley Crue’s 1989 number #1 album Dr. Feelgood. I personally love the song for its instrumentals and catchy melodies, as well as Mick Mars’ guitar playing. Motley Crue happens to be my favorite band, and Mick was one of my biggest inspirations when I began learning how to play guitar. The lyrical themes aren’t necessarily my cup of tea, but they are fun lyrics, as they aren’t explicitly about drugs and are more about extreme activities that would “kickstart your heart.”
The instrumentals are very high wired and fast, as the lyrics they support discuss activities such as skydiving and drag racing. The song is very up-tempo, and the fast paced instrumentals are the driving force behind it. Mick uses an alternate picking technique in the verse and chorus of the song to allow him to play faster, and Tommy uses a double bass pedal on his drum set which allots him to create a pounding backbeat in the song. Being that the lyrics Vince sings are all about “high octane” activities, it is only appropriate that the instrumentals are powerful and fast. There’s one section of the song that is slowed down, and features lyrical themes that talk about the band and their past together years together. I see this section as a way for Nikki to reflect on his life and analyze all of the good things that have happened to the band. The song then picks back up after Vince delievers the lyric “We’re still kicking ass,” and closes out with a huge chorus and talk box guitar solo. This seems to be a way for Nikki to create a contrast in the song, which allows him to make the ending seem that much more vibrant. It also seems to be a way for Nikki to show optimism towards the future and leave his drug abuse in the past.
The song is a very typical Motley Crue song in structure, and it is in the same tuning as many of their other songs. The theme of drugs isn’t very different or out of the ordinary either, as many of Motley Crue’s songs discuss sex, drugs, and rock n’ roll. The song is special to Nikki because the experience allowed him to turn his life around and quit heroin for good, therefore it serves as a reminder of beating his drug habit. The band was actually required by their record label to get clean for the recording of the album Dr. Feelgood, which is ironically all about drugs and excess. However this did pay off, as it was their first number one album and their most successful album in record sales. The song is autobiographical because it is about Nikki’s overdose, and as I previously stated it serves as a reminder of the point in his life when he first beat his addictions.
This song fits well into any 1980s metal playlist or classic metal playlist, as it has all of the elements of those genres, ranging from guitar solos and high-pitched vocals to pounding double bass and aggressive attack. The song is great for getting pumped up for a big occasion and is commonly played at sporting events in between plays and during intermissions. I also think Mick is a very underrated guitar player and that learning this song can help a guitar player become better at his or her instrument. Anyone who is a guitar enthusiast or guitar solo enthusiast would also enjoy this song because of the talk box solo Mick performs in the final chorus.
Works Cited
Sixx, Nikki. “Kickstart My Heart Lyrics.” AZ Lyrics. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Mar. 2015.
Sixx, Nikki. Perf. Nikki Sixx, Robert “Mick Mars” Deal, Vincent Neil, and Tommy Lee
Bass. Kickstart My Heart. Motley Crue. Bob Rock, 1989. Vinyl recording.
Song Lyrics
http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/motleycrue/kickstartmyheart.html