The next album we’re looking at is Black Ice. We’ve got thirteen categories of lyrical content to choose from (and if none of these fit we’ll create new ones). Our categories so far are; sex, gambling, rocking (the importance of), love, personal power/ego, crime, loneliness, parties, the human condition, rejection of social norms, alcohol, war and television.

The Songs

Rock ‘n’ Roll Train – sex, the train in this song is a woman “You know she’s just like a runaway train”.

Skies on Fire – I think this is a love song, supporting lyrical evidence “I know you and, you know me, tell me what it is you want it to be, what you want to be, what you need in me”.

Big Jack – personal power/ego, supporting lyrical evidence “Big Jack, Big Jack, he said that he’s the only one who got a full sack”. Big Jack sounds like a show off to me.

Anything Goes – sex, supporting lyrical evidence “You know she’s blowing away all the others, you’re never man enough take it on all night”.

War Machine – war. It’s right there in the title.

Smash ‘n’ Grab – crime, supporting lyrical evidence “Steal the money, I’m taking while I can”.

Spoilin’ for a Fight – love, it’s a bit confused but this seems to be a fighting with a lady type of song, supporting lyrical evidence “Then you’re fighting all night, with my rocking shoes, cause I’m hungry for you”. Why fight with someone’s shoes?

Wheels – sex, the vehicle in this song is a woman. Supporting lyrical evidence “Ain’t no fakin’ she wanna take you out, you betcha right, she’s gonna spin you ’round”. This is the sort of woman that would not update her sat nav before an unfamiliar journey.

Decibel – rocking (the importance of), supporting lyrical evidence “They’re in there rocking standing proud, decibel, that’s the history of rock and roll”.

Stormy May Day – this song needs a new category of bad weather. Supporting lyrical evidence “The storm is raging, winds are howling”.

She Likes Rock ‘n’ Roll – rocking (the importance of), supporting lyrical evidence “We gonna rock you now, rockin’ and rollin’ all in the town, you’re gonna make it right, we’re gonna need to rock all night”.

Money Made – this sounds like the rejection of social norms to me, supporting lyrical evidence “She couldn’t get away, spending cash all about, the die was cast, there’s no burning out” which implies being trapped into a lifestyle.

Rock ‘n’ Roll Dream – This is bewildering. It asks two questions “Where goes a woman with a warm embrace? and “Does a man walk in the hard rain?” I think the sharks in this song might be women and I’ll guess this is about them being predatory in some way “You pretty women gather ’round, you can’t pick up not a single sound, you feel you’re winning, that’s what it’s all about”. I’m going to say it’s sex because that’s a very likely option but it reads like something written by someone who ate way too much cheese the night before.

Rocking All the Way – this is straightforwardly about sex, supporting lyrical evidence “She’s goin’ all the way, she’s comin’ out to play, she’s sexy in her boots, tear up all the news”. It’s unclear why one sexy person wearing boots means that news should be torn up. Surely some of the people not busy with sexy things would like a newspaper?

Black Ice – crime, supporting lyrical evidence “I’ll kick, I creep crawl down your street, and gouge your eyes out”.

Conclusion – We got a new category of bad weather with 7% of this album being about a “Stormy May Day”. This album is 33% sex, 13% love, 13% crime, 13% rocking (the importance of), 7% personal power/ego, 7% war and 7% social norms.

The final album we’ll look at is Rock or Bust.