The instantly recognizable guitar riff, the infectious energy, the lyrics that fueled countless nights of youthful rebellion in the 80s — Scorpions‘ “Rock You Like A Hurricane” is a timeless anthem of rock ‘n’ roll. However, behind its meteoric rise to fame lurked a title so controversial, that it was deemed too hot for the airwaves.
In a recent interview with Classic Rock magazine, former Scorpions drummer Herman Rarebell, who was responsible for co-writing the “Rock You Like A Hurricane”‘s lyrics with singer Klaus Meine, peeled back the curtain on the making of Love At First Sting, the album that catapulted the band to global stardom. Rarebell credited the band’s American tours with acts like Foreigner, Aerosmith, and Journey for influencing their sound. He explains how they “learned fast” from these iconic bands, resulting in the album’s slicker and more melodic approach.
“It was touring with bands like Foreigner and Aerosmith and Journey that taught us. We saw how they wrote, and we learned fast.”
“Klaus and Herman wrote the lyrics together,” shared guitarist Rudolf Schenker in the same interview, revealing that he wrote the now-famous riff during the previous album’s tour.
Schenker humorously described the contrasting styles of the two songwriters: “Klaus‘s very romantic, harmonic mind and Herman‘s very dirty mind.” This creative tension is evident in some of Rarebell‘s more suggestive lyrics, which he admits were autobiographical reflections of their hard-living rock and roll lifestyle.
“I would open the curtains in the morning after partying all night to let the sun come in,” Rarebell recalled. “The question was always, [to imaginary sexual partner] ‘And what is your name?’ For me it was a wild time, it really was sex and drugs and rock’n’roll.”
However, the biggest shocker comes when Rarebell confesses the song’s original title. “I thought we needed a rock song with lyrics that should be forbidden,” he said. “The original title, for me at least, was ‘Fuck You Like A Hurricane’.”
He revealed that the record company unsurprisingly rejected the idea, calling him “completely out of his mind.”
While the title “Fuck You Like A Hurricane” may have been deemed too risqué for mainstream consumption at the time, Rarebell muses that today, such explicit language would hardly raise an eyebrow.
“Looking back at it now, it makes you laugh. There are all these songs that go, ‘Motherfucker, asshole…’ They would never have been played in America back then. Now you could release it as ‘Fuck You Like A Hurricane’ and nobody would give a shit.”
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