Blog A song for Kat Von D

There have been so many songs written about famous women that it wouldn’t be hard to imagine Sirius XM dedicating an entire channel to the genre. These tunes are scattered hither and yon on the emotional continuum, and encompass everything from fawning paeans (“Candle In The Wind”) to unrequited aches (“Layla”) to ironic fuck-yous (Steve Earle’s “Condi, Condi”). Still, in each case, it’s pretty easy to draw a straight line between the artist and muse. It’s nearly impossible to imagine Steve Earle crooning about Princess Di or Marilyn Monroe; whereas for Elton John, those two subjects could not be more emotionally entrenched.

Who better then to immortalize in song the frenetic persona of tattoo artist Kat Von D (who promotes her new coffe-table book Saturday at the West Towne Barnes And Noble) than Eagles Of Death Metal? Might their song “High Voltage” be the most perfect coupling yet?

Eric Clapton spoke of being entangled in the George Harrison/Patti Boyd love triangle that famously inspired “Layla”: “It was the heaviest thing going on at the time. That's what I wanted to write about most of all." Then there’s EoDM’s Jesse Hughes on the influences behind his tribute: “I wrote [“High Voltage”] for Kat Von D, because that girl's badass. I was spinning one night, Hollywood rolling, it was like 5 in the morning, she was still at her shop with a couple of people, her High Voltage shop, and I came rolling in, we had fun. I'm home by 7 in the morning and I'm sitting thinking what a rad night that was. I love this job. Bomb, 'High Voltage,' and then it came out, you know what I mean?"

“Layla” is a seven-minute emotional thunderclap that hangs on the song’s final verse: “Let’s make the best of the situation / Before I finally go insane / Please don’t say we’ll never find a way / And tell me my love’s in vain.” “High Voltage,” well, that one captures the moment, too: “She loves rock ’n' roll /  Yeah the girl’s high voltage/ She'll have you suckin’ on your finger/ That’s nasty.”

Von D is indeed electric; in addition to the tattooing, she's a TV celeb, beauty product entrepreneur, dater of aging metal legends, movie actress, and now author. And remember: If you stop by the book signing, remember to wear gloves.