SCORPIONS’ “Rock You Like A Hurricane” Originally Had A Way More Literal Title

The immediately recognizable guitar riff, the infectious power, the lyrics that fueled numerous nights of youthful revolt within the 80s — Scorpions‘ “Rock You Like A Hurricane” is a timeless anthem of rock ‘n’ roll. Nonetheless, behind its meteoric rise to fame lurked a title so controversial, that it was deemed too scorching for the airwaves.

In a latest interview with Classic Rock journal, former Scorpions drummer Herman Rarebell, who was chargeable for co-writing the “Rock You Like A Hurricane”‘s lyrics with singer Klaus Meine, peeled again the curtain on the making of Love At First Sting, the album that catapulted the band to international stardom. Rarebell credited the band’s American excursions with acts like Foreigner, Aerosmith, and Journey for influencing their sound. He explains how they “realized quick” from these iconic bands, ensuing within the album’s slicker and extra melodic method.

“It was touring with bands like Foreigner and Aerosmith and Journey that taught us. We noticed how they wrote, and we realized quick.”

“Klaus and Herman wrote the lyrics collectively,” shared guitarist Rudolf Schenker in the identical interview, revealing that he wrote the now-famous riff in the course of the earlier album’s tour.

Schenker humorously described the contrasting kinds of the 2 songwriters: “Klaus‘s very romantic, harmonic thoughts and Herman‘s very soiled thoughts.” This artistic stress is clear in a few of Rarebell‘s extra suggestive lyrics, which he admits had been autobiographical reflections of their hard-living rock and roll life-style.

“I’d open the curtains within the morning after partying all night time to let the solar are available,” Rarebell recalled. “The query was all the time, [to imaginary sexual partner] ‘And what’s your identify?’ For me it was a wild time, it actually was intercourse and medicines and rock’n’roll.”

Nonetheless, the largest shocker comes when Rarebell confesses the track’s unique title. “I assumed we wanted a rock track with lyrics that must be forbidden,” he mentioned. “The unique title, for me no less than, was ‘Fuck You Like A Hurricane’.”

He revealed that the document firm unsurprisingly rejected the thought, calling him “fully out of his thoughts.”

Whereas the title “Fuck You Like A Hurricane” could have been deemed too risqué for mainstream consumption on the time, Rarebell muses that right this moment, such express language would hardly elevate an eyebrow.

“Wanting again at it now, it makes you chortle. There are all these songs that go, ‘Motherfucker, asshole…’ They might by no means have been performed in America again then. Now you might launch it as ‘Fuck You Like A Hurricane’ and no one would give a shit.”