LUST
(Words and Music by Rick Springfield)

Lust shows her pretty face
And cupid hits his mark
And I have no time to say
I'm not ready for this
Insipid smile on my face
And a dumb remark

I trip, slip, slide over the precipice
I got the right map baby
But the wrong direction
Staring at the TV set
Trying to right this wrong
I didn't cast my vote
It was a fixed election
Somebody tripped the switch
And the light came on

Now I can't make it stop
I can't make it stop
I can't make it stop

It's true and I can't explain
Just what makes her so different

I should feel wonderful
But I don't feel wonderful
And I don't want to carry this weight myself
You tell me I look bad
Hey what do you mean by that
'Cause I am addicted and I can't help myself

My wing and a prayer nose dive into the street
And they hang the 'disturbed' sign outside my door
I twist my fingers
I shuffle my feet
My friend Dr. Robert said there is no cure
I got the right rat baby
But the wrong dissection
I'm staring at the TV set
Trying to write this song
I didn't seek this mountain or this insurrection
I just entered somewhere beautiful I don't belong

I can't make it stop
No I can't make it stop
I can't make it stop

It's true and I can't explain
Just what makes her so different

I should feel wonderful
But I don't feel wonderful
And I don't want to carry this weight myself
You tell me I look bad
Hey what do you mean by that
'Cause I am addicted and I can't help myself

I don't want this
Fucked up pearl
I cannot take this
She, she must be the one

It's true and I can't explain
Just what makes her so different

I should feel wonderful

I should feel wonderful
But I don't feel wonderful
And I don't want to carry this weight myself
You tell me I look bad
Hey what do you mean by that
'Cause I am addicted and I can't help myself

(total playing time 3:31)

Song Facts:
Rick has attempted to perform this song a few times. In Arlington, VA on 5/13/00,  at Navy Pier in Chicago (2nd show) on May 28, 2000 and again in Harris, MI (2nd show) on June 17, 2000. 

 According to US

 Good things come to those who wait, and that especially rings true for the end of this album. This track makes this whole CD a keeper for me. This song ranks up in my top 5 favorite Rick songs, actually to be more specific, it's probably number 2 after my all time fave, "Souls". This song however, holds the award for the only Rick Springfield song to literally stop me in my tracks on my first listen through. I was blown away after the first sentence, actually I think Rick had me at "Lust".

His voice is so rough. I was strangely attracted to that. The music sounds so raw. That intrigued me also. "I trip, slip slide over the precipice" makes me just want to grin, the prose is so poetic. "I should feel wonderful, but I don't feel wonderful" basically sums up a lot of days for me. This is such a mundane statement, yet it speaks volumes. The way his voice sounds each time these words are repeated in the song makes your heart want to break. ESPECIALLY near the end, where Rick is just speaking these words, and there's that exhale of breath and then silence. A very dramatic effect which also just sounds so damn sexy it makes you want to squeal out loud. 

Funny thing is, now that I've started reading other's thoughts on this song - it never once occured to me that this is a man-woman-relationship song. I do believe that Rick is referring to Lust as a female presence, but I've always felt that the term Lust is being used to represent Rick's need to be a musician/songwriter. This song is detailing Rick's journey of living with depression and his need to express himself through his music. I feel that Rick has done a fine job of once again masking the lyrics into sounding like it's man-woman quite like some earlier works such as AOTH. 

"Lust shows her pretty face, then Cupid hits his mark and I have no time to say I am not ready for this"...I hear this as I've got this song in me dying to come out and be composed, but I've also got this depression thing going on which is making this too much to handle. "Somebody tripped the switch and the lights came on, now I can't make it stop. It's true and I can't explain just what makes her so different" Something happened somewhere which made him want to write again. The light came back on. This song will be good. "I should feel wonderful..." Of course, this should make him happy - the writers block has lifted, but somehow the depression is still holding him down so he is not happy. "Cause I'm addicted and I can't help myself" I love this line. This is why Rick is RICK SPRINGFIELD. This is why he does what he does. "My wing and a prayer nose dives into the street and they hang the disturbed sign outside my door..." More therapy jive. 

"I don't want this fucked up pearl" I remember thinking to myself, "Did he say Fuck?" Well I'll be damned. I can't pretend to know exactly what Rick is referring to here, but I bet it has something to do with his celebrity, because then he says, "I cannot take this" . However, "She" must be the one. Again, I think this is referring to lust as a female presence, and his lust being his need to be a songwriter. There is no other for him. I'm so fuckin' glad. :-)

I've never had the chance to hear this one live. It's on my list of things to accomplish before I die. You've all heard my story of me pestering Rick to death for about 2 years on this song before I finally decided to stop before it reached restraining order status. This is definitely one song that I'd love to have Rick tell us a little more background about, it just intrigues me so. I was really hoping to see it on the upcoming S/D/A/A, but alas I guess it's not going to be there. The only thing I've had Rick tell me about this song is that he thought it wasn't quite finished. So that piques my curiosity greatly. - Michelle P.

Before I got Sahara Snow, I kept hearing the buzz on this song. It was one that kept coming up as one people wanted Rick to sing. I kept hearing so much about it, I finally broke down and got the cd. But I have this thing with expectation, that if I allow it to build up in my mind, no matter how good something is, I'll be disappointed, because it never seems to live up to my expectation. So I think I kind of tricked myself on this one, but I think I had convinced myself that I was going to be disappointed. So when the cd came in, I exercised a tremendous amount of self control and I listened to the whole cd instead of jumping ahead to this one. The song played. I was NOT disappointed. I loved this song the very first time I heard it. The thing I liked most. Ricky said the "f" word. I don't think I had ever heard him talk "dirty" at that point and I was still caught up the image that had been  projected on him of being a rather "good boy". 
I guess it was my realization of him busting out of that cage.
This song is just so well written. I like the way he has the rhythm of the words going on throughout the song - direction - election - dissection-insurrection and wrong - on - song- belong. 
My absolute favorite thought in this song is "I should feel wonderful, but I don't feel wonderful". That's so true when it comes to a lot of situations of "getting what you want", not just with lust or sex. How often to you think you really want something, and when you get it, it doesn't feel near as good or satisfying as you thought it would, or if it does, it doesn't last.

This is definitely on my top 5 favorite Rick Springfield songs list.

The one thing that does bother me about this song is the line "I got the right rat baby, but the wrong dissection". I actually took zoology in college and had to know every single part of a rat, when cut open, and I get way to clear of a visual with this line. I would like to see "I got the right mirror baby, but the wrong reflection", that would work better for me. - rlh