Kick

Album: Diamond Star Halos (2022)
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Songfacts®:

  • Here, Def Leppard singer Joe Elliott sings about yearning for a lover. Intoxicated by his passion for the woman, he tells her she's:

    The pulse to my motor
    His electric desire
    The tonic to my thirst
    Sweet nectar of sin
  • In the chorus, Elliot compares his longing for his sweetheart to an addict craving for drugs:

    I just can't stop it and I love it that way
    I don't wanna kick, kick, kick your habit
  • Def Leppard guitarist Phil Collen penned "Kick" with songwriter Dave Bassett (Elle King's "Ex's & Oh's," Rachel Platten's "Fight Song"). They wrote the tune with a female artist in mind, but when they played it to Elliott, he told them it's obviously a Def Leppard song.
  • Def Leppard had already completed 14 tracks for Diamond Star Halos, and "Kick" was a last-minute addition. "Phil's always trying to write the next 'Sugar' or 'We Will Rock You' or 'I Love Rock And Roll.' We all are, but he actually came up with one," Elliott told Billboard, and it's, like, 'Yeah, we've got to do that,' so now it's a 15-song record."

    Collen's demo guitars and demo backing vocals remain on the final recording.
  • The song is a stadium anthem with a glam-rock feel. Def Leppard not only added "Kick" to Diamond Star Halos late on, but released it early as its lead single. "That handclap groove, big vocals. It was just a no-brainer," Collen said. "It was not only that it's got to be on the album, it's got to be the first single as well."
  • Anuk Rohde, a Berlin-based director with Spanish roots, filmed the music video. Rohde has also shot visuals for Alice Merton and Rammstein.
  • Def Leppard produced Diamond Star Halos along with longtime engineer Ronan McHugh. The record takes its title from lyrics of the T. Rex song "Bang A Gong (Get It On)," and its sound comes from the early musical tastes of the band. "It wasn't planned that way; It's just how it happened," bassist Rick Savage told Audacy about the album's direction. "We were all really influenced by an era that was somewhere between 1971 and 1974, where you were just learning and a sponge for all the stuff you were watching on Top of the Pops."

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