"Do Anything You Want To" is a song by the Irish

hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a loosely defined subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the garage, psychedelic and blues rock movements. Some of the earliest hard ...

band Thin Lizzy. It was the second single released from their 1979 album '' Black Rose: A Rock Legend''. It was recorded at Pathe Marconi EMI Studios in Paris, France.'' Black Rose: A Rock Legend'' sleeve notes, Stuart Bailie, 1996.

Composition

The song opens with an African-style drum beat by Brian Downey--which gives way to a twin-guitar melody characteristic of Thin Lizzy's harmonics.Ken Brooks, "Phil Lynott & Thin Lizzy: Rockin' Vagabond", Agenda, 2000, p.82–83. The lyrics employ rhyme and alliteration-- such as in the first three lines which include the words: 'investigate', 'insinuate', 'intimidate', 'complicate', 'wait', 'hesitate', 'state', 'fate' and 'awaits.' The song fades out with lead singer

Phil Lynott Philip Parris Lynott (, ; 20 August 1949 – 4 January 1986) was an Irish singer, bassist, and songwriter. His most commercially successful group was Thin Lizzy, of which he was a founding member, the principal songwriter, lead vocalist and ba ...

impersonating Elvis Presley. Guitarist Scott Gorham suggested: "I think he just wanted to use his American accent there."

Chart performance and video

The single reached No. 14 in the British charts and remained in the charts for nine weeks.Mark Putterford, "Philip Lynott: The Rocker", Castle, 1994, p.179. It reached No. 25 in Ireland-- charting for two weeks. An accompanying video was filmed at Molineir Studios, directed by David Mallet. Mallet said that the video cost £12–15,000 to film adding: "Most of the shoots I did with Lizzy back then only lasted a day-- maybe eight or ten hours worth of footage."Alan Byrne, "Thin Lizzy: Soldiers of Fortune", Firefly, 2004, p.111. The video was the band's first attempt at a short film rather than a simple video of a band performance. The video featured Hot Gossip dancers Perri Lister, Dominique Wood and Carole Fletcher.

Subsequent releases

This track has been featured on several Thin Lizzy compilation albums including: ''

The Adventures of Thin Lizzy ''The Adventures of Thin Lizzy'' is a compilation album by the rock band Thin Lizzy, released in the United Kingdom and Ireland in 1981. It features songs released as singles from 1972 to 1980. Track listing All tracks written by Phil Lynott unl ...

'' released in 1981, '' Dedication: The Very Best of Thin Lizzy'' released in 1991, and '' Wild One: The Very Best of Thin Lizzy'' released in 1996. It was subsequently included on the ''

Vagabonds, Kings, Warriors, Angels ''Vagabonds Kings Warriors Angels'' is a 2001 4-disc set by Irish rock group Thin Lizzy, which also contains a book chronicling the life of the band and music in some detail, with rare photos and a discography. The set was packaged in a longb ...

'' box set in 2002, as well as the '' Greatest Hits'' and '' Definitive Collection'' set. "Just the Two of Us," (the single's B-side) is a Lynott/Gorham composition that was not included on the ''Black Rose'' album. It was only available as part of the single until the release of ''

Vagabonds Kings Warriors Angels ''Vagabonds Kings Warriors Angels'' is a 2001 4-disc set by Irish rock group Thin Lizzy, which also contains a book chronicling the life of the band and music in some detail, with rare photos and a discography. The set was packaged in a longb ...

''.

Personnel

– bass guitar,

lead vocals The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of t ...

* Scott Gorham – lead guitar *

Gary Moore Robert William Gary Moore (4 April 19526 February 2011) was a Northern Irish musician. Over the course of his career he played in various groups and performed a range of music including blues, blues rock, hard rock, heavy metal, and jazz ...

– lead guitar * Brian Downey –

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

References

{{ThinLizzy Thin Lizzy songs 1979 singles Songs written by Phil Lynott Song recordings produced by Tony Visconti Music videos directed by David Mallet (director)