Lust Me Do

I always thought that The Beatles would have had more of an edge if they’d written about lust, rather than love. Think of the title possibilities:

• “Lust Me Do”
• “She Lusts After You”
• “All You Need Is Lust”

Lust is a tough nut to crack in my music collection, mainly because I never really got into the stuff where a lot of lust plays out: misogynist metal and rap. But that made the challenge even more complex, so I dove in head-first and here’s what I came up with.

1. “Let’s Regret This In Advance” - Susan Werner
   An opening fit for lust: preparing for the eventual regret of a lustful relationship that leads to a hasty (or perhaps not-so-hasty) marriage. Why not cut to the chase and regret the whole thing up front? Couldn’t hurt any more, right?
2. “I Need You” - The Beatles
   Sure, this doesn’t seem to be a lustful song from the outset. I mean, it’s the squeaky clean Beatles, and even more so, it’s George Harrison, the quiet one! But this song does talk about an intense need for his girl. He needs her so very, very much, that it borders on a sociopath’s road to Bad Things™.
3. “Sexbomb” - Tom Jones with Mousse T
   I’ll cut this short: Tom Jones is Welsh for “lust.” I mean, he’s got the ladies throwing their pants on stage - still - and he is no spring chicken.
4. “Sex Farm” - Spinal Tap
   I can’t think of many Tap songs that aren’t related to lust of some kind - and this is the most blunt of ‘em all. I saw the movie (at least the first hour of it) on the return flight from California the other day and this song made its way into the list.
5. “Young Lust” - Pink Floyd
   Matt was right: Roger Waters is a lustful man. And while there are plenty of other songs that could fit the bill (including “Sexual Revolution” on The Pros & Cons of Hitchhiking), this one is nice and dirty - and aided by David Gilmour’s raw vocal and dirty guitar.
6. “Let’s Spend The Night Together” - The Rolling Stones
   This song oozes lust - as do many songs from The Glimmer Twins - but it was made even more lustful when they performed it on The Ed Sullivan Show and were forced to change the lyric to “let’s spend some time together.” The suggestive rolling of Mick’s eyes, or the licking of his lips, or the cocksure strut - all of them simply spilled lust over the CBS airwaves.
7. “Randy Scouse Git” - The Monkees
   The title translates out (roughly) to “horny Liverpudlian asshole,” which earned this song the rather bland name of “Alternate Title” in the UK. But the song talks about a rather dominating man who, while he has a “wonderful lady,” also berates her. So this inches toward wrath, but it also shows a guy whose lust has gone perhaps a wee bit overboard. And all writing credit goes to Micky Dolenz - who also played all of the drum parts on this one, recorded during the Headquarters sessions.
8. “Johnny’s Camaro” - David Wilcox
   A long tale of a woman whose boyfriend, Johnny, “loves his Camaro / even more than life itself.” So the lust appears mostly at the beginning and end of the song, but it’s a great tale of the comeuppance that results from being a bit too lustful toward the wrong things.

Download: “Let’s Regret This In Advance” - Susan Werner (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: “I Need You” - The Beatles (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: “Sexbomb” - Tom Jones with Mousse T (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: “Sex Farm” - Spinal Tap (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: “Young Lust” - Pink Floyd (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: “Let’s Spend The Night Together” - The Rolling Stones (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: “Randy Scouse Git” - The Monkees (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: “Johnny’s Camaro” - David Wilcox (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)