The British Humor Behind “Killed by Death” by Motörhead

In 1984, British heavy rock icons Motörhead faced a crossroads. A lineup shakeup had been brewing that caused a notable period of transition. Original guitarist “Fast” Eddie Clarke was gone, and original drummer Phil “Philthy Animal” Taylor had later followed suit. But the group came out strong in the end and a classic new song was born—”Killed by Death.” In retrospect, the song feels like an anthem to empower the band against all of the problems they came up against.

An Inevitable Change

Whether Clarke left or was pushed was a point of contention between the two sides. Clarke once said Taylor made it difficult for him to stay, but also that he was pushed out.

“He was always leaving anyway, Eddie,” bassist/frontman Lemmy Kilmister, the group’s perennial core member, told me in 2001. “He left about every two months, so this time we just got fed up with it.” He was referring to the 1982 sessions for the cover of “Stand by Your Man” with Wendy O. Williams and the Plasmatics. Clarke argued sharply with Lemmy over their execution of the cover.

“The atmosphere in the band wasn’t great at the time,” Lemmy recalled to me. “We’d been together and got all that success, gone straight to No. 1 [in the UK] with our live album [No Sleep ’til Hammersmith]. You can’t follow that, you can’t make another live album. So it was a bit tricky. That just fell to bits, and Phil left after that, after Brian Robertson, which was another f–kin’ disaster.”

To back up: After Clarke departed Motörhead following the seminal 1982 album Iron Fist, former Thin Lizzy guitarist Brian “Robbo” Robertson replaced him on the subsequent album Another Perfect Day, a more melodic turn which irritated some fans. Robertson didn’t dress very rock ‘n’ roll either, reportedly did not want to play a lot of their classic songs, and according to Lemmy, drank a lot and couldn’t function well when inebriated.

Lemmy decided another guitar change was needed, so he recruited Phil Campbell and Michael “Würzel” Burston. This marked the first and only period when Motörhead was a quartet, which lasted until 1995. Around the same time, Taylor departed and former Saxon drummer Pete Gill came onboard. (Fun fact: Taylor returned in ‘87 for five more years, then Mikkey Dee arrived to ride out the remainder of their career. They became a trio again after Wurzel left in 1995.)

End of an Era, Start of a New One

Although the new lineup meant Motörhead could charge forward, Bronze Records, their label since their 1977 debut, decided the new version of the band was not promising. So they decided to put out a double-vinyl compilation to cash in on their catalog. Thus, the No Remorse collection, bound in leather, was released. Lemmy made sure six songs—four album cuts and two single B-sides (both, oddly, called “Under the Knife”), were recorded to showcase the new lineup.

The music was as heavy as ever, and the single being used to promote the new release was “Killed by Death.”  Although it was delivered with Lemmy’s usual deadpan style, anyone who knew him was aware there was humor lurking underneath the surface of that track.

If you squeeze my lizard / I’ll put my snake on you / I’m a romantic adventure / And I’m a reptile too / But it don’t make no difference / Cause I ain’t gonna be easy, easy / The only time I’m easy’s when I’m / Killed by death

In an interview with Spin in 2009, journalist Matt Diehl noted that some people missed the humor inherent in songs and titles like “Killed by Death.” Lemmy explained, “That’s from [British comedian] Spike Milligan: ‘How’d you die?’ ‘Oh, you know, killed by death.’ It’s an English thing.”

It certainly sounds like a humorous play off the British “stiff upper lip” cliché about dealing with hardships in life. The song was likely a statement of intent about persevering and pushing forward. Lemmy was always going to live life his way and on his terms, and part of his legendary status came from being a rocker through and through until the end with no apologies.

Banned by MTV

While the video for “Killed by Death” got shown in the UK and across Europe, it did not fare well in the States. The clips shows Lemmy riding his a motorcycle through the wall of a house, stealing a hot babe away from her parents, being chased by police, getting electrocuted, then rising from the grave on his bike during his funeral. It was a tongue-in-cheek promo, but MTV did not get the joke and banned it for being too violent, which it really wasn’t. But those were different times.

No Remorse sold decently but did not break the bank. The anthology, regarded by some people as their best greatest hits collection, made it to No. 14 in the UK while the song got to No. 51 on the singles chart there. But it did not chart in America, although many metal fans knew about it.

A Prophetic Title

Lemmy and Motörhead soldiered on following their split from Bronze. The band’s management founded GWR Records and released two albums before the group signed with Epic Records, which put out two of their albums in the early 1990s, only one of which charted. Motörhead continued making and releasing music through the XYZ, Steamhammer, and UDR labels. Their final album Bad Magic was released in August 2015, four months before Lemmy passed away. Taylor died in November 2015, and Clarke in January 2018, so none of the original trio is alive now.

Naturally, the song title “Killed by Death” was referenced in many obituaries and career retrospectives written about the famed bassist and frontman. Lemmy really did live the rock ‘n’ roll lifestyle. He enjoyed women, smoking, drinking Jack Daniel’s and Coke, doing speed, and playing gambling machines. He lived in the same two-bedroom apartment in West Hollywood close to his favorite L.A. haunt the Rainbow Bar and Grill—a statue of him now resides there. And he was uncompromising both in his personal and political views and never commercialized in order to be successful.

While they originally made a splash back in the day, the group’s stature only grew over time. He was the subject of the 2010 documentary Lemmy: 49% Motherf–ker. 51% Son of a Bitch. Their last two albums, Aftershock and Bad Magic, even hit No. 22 and 35, respectively, on the Billboard Top 200 chart.

Lemmy and Motörhead were revered by legions of headbangers, as well as icons like Metallica, Dave Grohl, Slash, and Ozzy Osbourne, for whom Lemmy wrote the lyrics for six songs on the 1991 album No More Tears; four of those tracks were released, including “Hellraiser.” Lemmy once quipped he made more money on those songs than his band’s own catalog.

Osbourne told Metal Hammer the last time the saw Lemmy he was touring South America while riddled with cancer and not faring too well. Osbourne recalled, “He turned round to me and said ‘I’m probably going to die, I suppose. Never thought I’d make 70, so I did good.’ His exact words were, ‘I could have lived a lot longer and taken care of myself, but I lived my life the way I want to live and I ain’t got no regrets.’ Fair enough!”

No remorse.

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Photo by Gaye Gerard/Getty Images