NIKKI SIXX Says MÖTLEY CRÜE's 'Live Wire' Is About Domestic Violence

While making the press rounds for MÖTLEY CRÜE's Netflix biopic "The Dirt", bassist Nikki Sixx talked about the lyrical inspiration for some of the band's earliest songs.

"One thing that's important to me, and our fans know it, but people that don't know MOTLEY CRUE [may not], is we're very transparent in our lyrics and, of course, in our lifestyle, and there's the climb to success and, of course, the demise," he told SiriusXM (hear audio below). "And we talked about that in the movie. But even songs like 'Live Wire'. People were, like, 'What is that song about? It's so brutal.' And I've kind of kept my tongue pretty quiet about it. I've talked to a few people about it."

He continued: "Watching the movie and the relationship with my mother and these stepdads that used to beat me, the song is actually about domestic violence. And in the movie, you'll see how I had to get out of domestic violence, and I took extreme measures. And there's songs — like on the first record, 'On With The Show', it was me actually killing myself — my former self [by renouncing my given birth name, Frank Feranna Jr.] — 'cause I didn't wanna live in the shadow of my dad, who'd abandoned me.'

Sixx added: "So the band's always been willing to say things that isn't said by other bands. That was important to us, and that's how we've conducted this movie as well."

Earlier this week, Sixx apologized for a story in the band's 2001 memoir "The Dirt", in which he describes a scene where he may have participated in a sexual assault during a party. In the story, recounted by Sixx to writer Neil Strauss, Sixx said he "pretty much" raped an intoxicated woman after he had sex with her in a closet and then sent drummer Tommy Lee in to do the same.

On Tuesday (March 5),Sixx told Rolling Stone that he didn't recall the incident in question, claiming that the details in the book were "possibly greatly embellished" or "made up." He said in a statement: "The book was written in 2000 during a really low point in my life. I had lost my sobriety and was using drugs and alcohol to deal with a disintegrating relationship which I still to this day regret how I handled. I honestly don't recall a lot of the interviews with Neil."

He added, "I don't actually recall that story in the book beyond reading it. I have no clue why its in there other than I was outta my head and it's possibly greatly embellished or I made it up. Those words were irresponsible on my part. I am sorry. There is a lot of horrible behavior in the book . . . we all lived to regret a lot and learned from it."

In the book, Sixx said he completely forgot about the encounter until the woman called him the following morning and told him she had been raped by a man as she hitchhiked home from the party. Sixx said in the book, "At first, I was relieved, because it meant I hadn't raped her. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that I pretty much had. I was in a zone, though, and in that zone, consequences did not exist. Besides, I was capable of sinking even lower than that."

The incident is not included in the upcoming film adaptation of "The Dirt", which will arrive on March 22nd via Netflix.