"Animal" is a song by Def Leppard. It is the third track on their 1987 album Hysteria, and was also released as the second single from that album. "Animal" became the band's first Top 10 hit in their native UK, reaching No. 6 on the UK Singles Chart.
Recording[]
"Animal" is usually noted by the band as having been the most difficult track to record for Hysteria. Although it was one of the first songs developed in early 1984, neither the band nor the producers who came and went (Jim Steinman, Nigel Green, & Robert John "Mutt" Lange) were able to produce the desired sound until two and a half painstaking years later. Due to its early beginnings, it was the only Hysteria track demoed by Rick Allen on an acoustic drum kit prior to his car accident, Allen having recorded a drum beat for the song onto a four track tape during early sessions.
However, the effort paid off when "Animal" was released as the lead single off the album in July 1987. In the UK, where the band was all but ignored during the Pyromania era, the song hit #6 on the singles chart and broke Def Leppard into the pop mainstream across Europe.
Over in America, the lead single "Women" performed poorly on the pop charts, which didn't give the band much momentum when "Animal" was released afterwards in October 1987. It did reach a respectable #19, though, starting their run of ten consecutive U. S. Billboard Top 40 singles, and is still one of the most popular numbers at Def Leppard concerts today.
The single's UK B-side, "Tear It Down", was written during a recording session following the completion of the Hysteria album, where the band laid down several tracks intended as B-sides for the Hysteria singles. Subsequently, the song itself received radio airplay. The line in the song, "Like the restless rust, I never sleep", is a reference to Neil Young's album Rust Never Sleeps.
Track Listing[]
7": Bludgeon Riffola / LEP1 (UK)[]
- "Animal"
- "Tear It Down"
7": Mercury / PolyGram / 888-832-7 (US)[]
- "Animal"
- "I Wanna Be Your Hero"
Lyrics[]
"Animal"
Def Leppard
A wild ride
Over stony ground
Such a lust for a life
The circus comes to town
We are the hungry ones
On a lighting raid
Just like a river runs
Like a fire needs flame
Oh, I burn for you
I gotta feel it in my blood
Woah oh
I need your touch
Don't need your love
Woah oh
And I want
And I need
And I lust
Animal
And I want
And I need
And I lust
Animal
Cry wolf
Given mouth to mouth
Like a movin' heartbeat
In the witching hour
I'm runnin' with the wind
A shadow in the dust
And like the drivin' rain, yeah
Like the restless rust
I never sleep
I gotta feel it in my blood
Woah oh
I need your touch
Don't need your love
Woah oh
And I want
And I need
And I lust
Animal
And I want
And I need
And I lust
Animal
Huh, ah
Cry wolf baby, cry tough
Gunna hunt you like an
An an animal
Gonna take your love and run
I gotta feel it in my blood
Woah oh
I need your touch
Don't need your love
Woah oh
And I want
And I need
And I lust
Animal
And I want
And I need
And I lust
Animal
And I want (and I want)
And I need (and I need)
And I lust (and I lust)
Animal (animal)
And I want (take me)
And I need (tame me)
And I lust (make me your)
Animal (animal)
And I want (show me)
And I need (stroke me)
And I lust (let me be your)
Animal
And I want (I want)
And I need (ooh ooh ooh)
And I lust (animal)
Animal
Heh heh
Length[]
- Album version: 4:02
- Live: 4:52
- Extended version: 4:53
Personnel[]
- Joe Elliott – lead vocals
- Steve Clark – rhythm guitars, backing vocals
- Phil Collen – lead guitar, backing vocals
- Rick Savage – bass guitar, backing vocals
- Rick Allen – drums
| Hysteria |
|---|
| Women, Rocket, Animal, Love Bites, Pour Some Sugar on Me, Armageddon It, Gods of War, Don't Shoot Shotgun, Run Riot, Hysteria, Excitable, Love and Affection |