Lemmy Kilmister Quotations

The only time I've seen any rebellion was in the fifties, sixties and early seventies. The rest of it you can keep.

My earliest memory is shouting. At what and for what reason, I don't know. Probably a tantrum; or I may have been rehearsing. I was always an early starter.

One thing I am very glad of is that I went through the sixties. People who didn't really don't know what they missed. We pushed a certain consciousness, a way of life and it was exciting - no AIDS, people weren't dying so much from drug abuse and it was truly a time of freedom and change.

I suppose I should have my say about the terrorist attacks. I don't suppose it'll be a popular view, but they need to be put into some sort of perspective. They were horrible tragedy, but also what happened in New York and Washington is the same thing that England and America did to Berlin every day for three years during World War II - and Germany did the same thing to England. But most Americans don't think about that. They think everything starts and finishes with America. It is the first time this has ever happened to America, so you would expect them to overreact a bit.

I suppose I should have my say about the terrorist attacks (9/11). I don't suppose it'll be a popular point of view, but they need to be put into some sort of perspective. They were a horrible tragedy, but also what happened in New York and Washington is the same thing that England and America did to Berlin every day for three years during WW2 - and Germany did the same thing to England. But most Americans don't think about that. They think everything starts and finishes with America.

My biological dad will always be an a**hole - he left a young girl on her own to bring up a child and she had her mother living with us as well.

F**k this "Don't speak ill of the dead" shit! People don't become better when they are dead; you just talk about them as if they are. But it's not true! People are still a**holes, they're just dead a**holes.

Apparently people don't like the truth , but I do like it; I like it because it upsets a lot of people. If you show them enough times that their arguments are bullshit, then maybe just once, one of them will say, "Oh! Wait a minute - I was wrong." I live for that happening. Rare, I assure you.

If you think that you are too old to rock 'n roll then you are.

I hate heroin. It killed off a lot of my generation. It killed off a lot of my friends. Now this generation is getting killed off again. I can't believe it. How many dead bodies do we need to have piled up?

We never nicked stuff from other bands because that was a no-no because we were all in the same boat. You don't steal from the poor because, let's face it, they're poor. There's no sense in that.

The Beatles had an influence on everybody. You have to realize what an incredible explosion the Beatles were.

They [The Beatles] were the first band to not have a lead singer in the band.

It became kind of a fad in the late '70s to try to help people wake up out of comas by hearing things that they liked. I remember we sent out about six tapes. We heard that we were this one kid's favorite band so we sent a tape that said, "Hey this is Motörhead. It's time to wake up."

Everybody [in The Beatles ] was singing at the same time and the harmonies were great.

I climbed down the outside of a Holiday Inn once just to surprise one of my crew by getting on his balcony and knocking on his window.

How many times can a rock star go over the top on drugs? How many times can a rock star be unfaithful to his old lady? It is really fu**ing boring, and that is what they do over and over and over. They just print the same sh*t.

Eric Clapton wrote "Layla" when he was coked out of his mind. Later on, it nearly killed him.

The first time The Runaways played in Britain, Joan Jett wore my bullet belt onstage. The Runaways were really the first all-girl band to really strut their stuff and say, "F**k you." "Cherry Bomb" was the best song for a girl band to sing. It was just outrageous at the time. There were American families sitting on the sofa watching television going, "F**k me." It was great fun.

If I hadn't been living here [in America], do you think we would have gotten a Grammy? No chance.

It was just a mercy f**k, as it was our 30th anniversary. They gave Grammy to us for a cover of somebody else's song. It would have a lot more meaning if it had been for one of our songs.

We were nominated [for Grammy] once before for our album 1916. We were up against Metallica at the time and they had just sold a quarter of a zillion albums.

We never played China, India or Africa. We also haven't played Russia enough. I would love to play those places.

It's just that I am too old now to chase all the woman involved; which just seems a shame.

I have done interviews in the past, and they cut everything out except for the outrageous line, and then they take it out of context.

We know what we are doing by now.We seem to make an album every 18 months or so and I think every band should do that. We're not writing "Sgt. Pepper" every time; we are writing straight ahead rock n' roll.

They [The Beatles ] were the first band to write their own songs in Britain because we always just covered American songs before that.

Daily papers in England used to have an entire page of the paper dedicated to what the Beatles had done the day before.

When George [Harrison] died the guards at Buckingham Palace played a medley of George's songs during the changing of the guard; that sort of thing never happens.

It is a well-known mystery that guitar players suddenly get better once they are dead. Buddy Holly was the first. Stevie Ray Vaughan is known by a lot more people than had ever heard of him when he was alive.

...what happened in New York and Washington is the same thing that England and America did to Berlin every day for three years during World War II -- and Germany did the same thing to England.

You haven't been soiling your soul in public for years like we have.

Music had been going on a long time before that. You have to remember that before rock n' roll there were a bunch of jazz musicians all doing heroin. That sh*t has been around a long time.

He [Randy Rhoads] was really a good guy. I never could get over how incredibly little he was.

You've got to try to figure out which is the bigger benefit and which is the bigger loser. It nearly killed him [Eric Clapton ]; he was in a very, very bad way for a long time, but he came through it. Most people don't come through it because they don't have the money to buy the people to look after them.

We sent out tapes to the others but they didn't wake up. It was worth it just to have one kid wake up. I got to meet him after he woke up.

[My favorite decade] probably the '60s, because there were hardly any rules and heroin hadn't shown up, so people hadn't started dying. It was incredibly upbeat, and we almost did change the world. I guess that was the best one .

Every generation thinks they are stronger than the generation before it. They think, "It can't happen to me." In the past people have died making that same mistake.

People changing because they think they should is not a good idea, because I just don't think they should, really.

I think that is just about as dishonest as a person giving a bad interview. I despise people like that; they don't get two tries. It's all just sensation. It is always bullshit.

Reading's the only thing that allows you to use your imagination.

Randy [ Rhoads] had small hands. Boy, could he play guitar. He became an even better guitar player after he died.

Sex, death and war. And justice. There's no shortage of lyrics there.

Inherited hatred (i.e. hatred your parents schooled you in) is not only stupid, it is destructive - why make your only driving force hate? Seems really f***ing dumb to me.

It will be funny in about 10 years.

People lose their lives in the drug wars and you don't have to prove it to yourself because others have proved it for you.

I don't understand people who believe that if you ignore something, it'll go away. That's completely wrong - if it's ignored it gathers strength. Europe ignored Hitler for twenty years. As a result he slaughtered a quarter of the world!

I have never been married, but that doesn't mean that I didn't mate. As you get older you get too many bad habits. Who is ever going to put up with me?

People don't want to see the guy next door on the stage, they want to see a being from another planet. You want to see somebody you'd never meet in ordinary life.

I guess when you're young you have tunnel vision.

Don't look to me. Don't ask for help. Don't ask for anything that you can do yourself

My entire social life is spent in bars, so I don't see giving up drinking as a viable option. Could you see me saying, 'Tomato juice please?'

It seems that our brave new world is becoming less tolerant, spiritual and educated than it ever was when I was young.

As you go through life's rich tapestry, you realize that most people you meet aren't fit to shine your shoes. It's a sad fact, but it's true. A good friend is someone who'd hide you if you were on the run for murder. How many of them do you know?

Born to lose. Live to win.

That was a great time, the summer of '71 - I can't remember it, but I'll never forget it!

Safe sex, safe music, safe clothing, safe hair spray, safe ozone layer. Too late! Everything that's been achieved in the history of mankind has been achieved by not being safe.

There are a lot of good books around. People don't read any more. It's a sad state of affairs. Reading's the only thing that allows you to use your imagination. When you watch films it's someone else's vision, isn't it?

If you think you are too old to rock 'n roll, then you are.

In my life so far, I have discovered that there are really only two kinds of people: those who are for you, and those who are against you. Learn to recognize them, for they are often and easily mistaken for each other.

Apparently people don't like the truth, but I do like it; I like it because it upsets a lot of people. If you show them enough times that their arguments are bullshit, then maybe just once, one of them will say, 'Oh! Wait a minute - I was wrong.' I live for that happening. Rare, I assure you

All you got in life is your honor, man, your own self-image, your own self-respect. If you lose that, or if you give it away or if you sell it, then you ain't got it no more.

I don't do regrets. Regrets are pointless. It's too late for regrets. You've already done it, haven't you? You've lived your life. No point wishing you could change it.

A kid once said to me "Do you get hangovers?" I said, "To get hangovers you have to stop drinking.