Sometimes inspiration hits you fast – just ask Billy Idol.
The singer wrote one of his most iconic hits, “White Wedding”, in just 20 minutes.
Idol says he was in the studio with a guitar and drum machine, and wrote the title ‘White Wedding’ at the top of a blank page – thinking about his sister who had “recently gone to the altar pregnant.”
20 minutes later, the song was written, and the band recorded it the next day.
Describing the unusually fast writing process, Idol said:
“I stared at the blank piece of scrap paper in front of me. Taking the pen sitting alongside it in hand, I wrote ‘White Wedding’ at the top. What made me think of that? Well, my sister had recently gone to the altar pregnant. And while that fact was perfectly all right with everyone, seeing as how she loved the guy, I started thinking about how, in the more recent past, this would have been called a ‘shotgun wedding.’ I started to imagine an alternative reality, one in which I was pissed off at this violation of my sister, and I arrive at the wedding hellbent on revenge.”
“Is this guy in love with his sister in an incestuous way, hating the thought of anyone else having her?” Idol continued. “The lyrics imply it, but without spelling it out – they create an uneasy feel.”
What are some songs that seem disturbing when you look closely at the lyrics?
