Vengeance Is Mine: The 5 Best Revenge Songs
Yep. Still alive.
I hate to bug you in the middle of dinner…
Tricked you: this song isn’t number one.
Jagged Little Pill is the 21 of 17 years ago, except every idiot in town didn’t sing “You Outta Know” on karaoke nights and American Idol auditions. Thank God.
Like Tapestry before it, Alanis Morissette’s debut album (and searing single) became the essential “hot crazy lonely drunk rabbit boiler girl” musical accessory/signifier of its time. The album was as much a part of single female life in the 1990s as a Bust subscription and the pair of Tamara de Lempicka posters over the IKEA futon.
“You Outta Know” is unusual because the singer is tossed aside for an older woman.
(Considering said singer was a teenager when she had her affair, that would be hard not to do. Yeah, it’s sleazy and illegal, but I’d have probably lost my virginity to Bob Saget, too, if he’d been interested. But Dave Coulier? Holy hell, no wonder she’s bitter.)
That gives the song its one-of-a-kind brattiness; Morissette’s snotty Valley Girl phrasing on lines like “I bet she’d make a really excellent mother” are a kick in the balls by a chick wearing really cute shoes.
The lyrics perfectly capture the evolved “new age” phrases we all know we were supposed to say to an ex (“I wish nothing but the best for you both”) but are expertly (un)balanced by those nasty, more honest thoughts we’re supposed to keep to ourselves (“But you’re still alive…”)
Missed an obvious one:
“Vengeance is Mine”, by Alice Cooper.
“To forgive is divine-
Not as rewarding I find.
Because vengeance is mine!”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCtu7A9WGKs
“How do you like me now” by Toby Keith is the best revenge song. But that’s a more living well revenge type song.
Great choice! Classic! — and it’s not just “living well.” It’s downright mean! Her life is miserable and her “wake-up call” is hearing the singer on the radio-alarm.
Another good one is Tony Bennett’s “I Wanna Be Around,” although that one may not count because the singer is only fantasizing about the possibility of future retribution.
I LOVE the video to that song (as well as all his other videos- he has one of the best video producers ever…)
That would have been an excellent song for Jennifer Hudson to have covered when she won the Oscar for “Dreamgirls,” especially if she’d dedicated it to Simon Cowell.
“The prospect of banshee ghost Sinead O’Connor extracting her revenge on you for using and dumping her (and knocking her up) has got to be pretty scary, no?”
No, the scary part is knocking her up. Must have involved large amounts of booze and pharmaceuticals.
Experimental pharmaceuticals. Like, stuff DARPA barely has on the drawing board.
Ditto, with apologies to Hedley Lamar.
The whole “beyond the grave” vengeance motif is inherently unnerving, but for an even creepier take on it, I recommend POE’s “Angry Johnny.”
You forgot “Get in the Ring”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y8siuqj2sZ0
I Love “Get In The Ring”
“Revenge” Black Flag
‘The Rain’, — Oran ‘Juice’ Jones
‘That Girl Is Poison’,– Bell Biv Devoe
‘Cry Me A River’– Justin Timberlake
Not So Pretty Now’– Nine Inch Nails
‘Everything About You’ — Ugly Kid Joe
‘The Payback’ — James Brown
No mention of Marianne Faithfull’s “Why’d Ya Do It?”? I suppose that it’s more of a bitterness song than a revenge song as such, but I’m surprised it didn’t make the Cracked list.
Anyway, it’s so full of fury that merely having it sung at one must count as a sort of revenge. I’ve always thought that it must have inspired Alianis Morisette’s song, as the harsh, half-crazed vocals have a certain similarity, as do the lyrics, with their emphasis on the sexual intimacies betrayed and the awfulness of the rival/replacement.
‘Sucks To Be You’– Clinton Sparks
‘The Rain’ — Oran Juice Jones
‘Cry Me A River’ — Justin Timberlake
‘Not So Pretty Now’ — Nine Inch Nails
‘River Runs Deep’ — JJ Cale
‘ The Payback’ — James Brown
“My Boyfriend’s Back” – the Angels
“Judy’s Turn to Cry” – Leslie Gore
I would add
“Kiss This” by Aaron Tippin
“White Liar” and “Kerosene” by Miranda Lambert
“You Lie” by the Band Perry
“Cheatin’” by Sara Evans
“Here’s a Quarter – Call Someone Who Cares” -by Travis Tritt
“Look It Up” – by
There’s also the subset of vengance songs involving abuse rather than cheating.
“Sunny Came Home” by Shawn Colvin
“Independence Day” – by Martina McBride
” Gunpowder and Lead” by Mirinda Lambert
My favorite is probably this Jo Dee Messina song:
” Well you filled up my head with so many lies
You’ve twisted my heart ’til something snapped inside
I’d like to give it one more try
But, my give a damn’s busted
You can crawl back home, say you were wrong
Stand out in the yard and cry all night long
Go ahead and water the lawn
My give a damn’s busted
[Chorus:]
I really wanna care
I wanna feel something
Let me dig a little deeper
No, sorry, nothing
You can say you’ve got issues
You can say you’re a victim
It’s all your parents’ fault, I mean after all you didn’t pick em
Maybe somebody else has got time to listen
My give a damn’s busted
Well your therapist says it was all a mistake
A product of the Prozac and your codependent ways
So who’s your enabler these days
My give a damn’s busted
[Chorus:]
I really wanna care
I wanna feel something
Let me dig a little deeper
No, still nothing
It’s a desperate situation
No tellin what you’ll do
If I don’t forgive you, you say your life is through
Come on give me something I can use
My give a damn’s busted
[Chorus:]
Well, I really wanna care
I wanna feel something
Let me dig a little deeper
No, man, sorry
Just nothing, no
You’ve really done it this time
My give a damn’s busted”
I was going to suggest Gunpowder and Lead by Miranda Lambert but I see you beat me to it. Here is a link to a version that shows the lyrics: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nUtVgKZGoi4
Good choices, but what about “Goodbye, Earl” by the Dixie Chicks ?
“The weeks went by and Spring turned to Summer,
and Summer faded into Fall;
and it turned out he was a missing person,
who nobody missed at all”
“Look It Up” by Ashton Shepherd
“Black No. 1/Little Miss Scare-All” by Type O Negative
1. “Goodbye to You” by Scandal. Hard to beat a line like “The days were dull, the nights were long.”
2. “Feel a Whole Lot Better” by the Byrds.
3. “Red Rubber Ball” by the Cyrkle.
4. “It’s All Over Now” recorded by the Stones and damn near everyone else.
5. Best revenge song ever? Two words: “Hey Joe”
Don’t know about ‘best’ but I have long thought Hendrix’s “Hey, Joe” was written in some kind of acid-induced precognitive state, in which he witnessed the whole Simpson debacle. If it had been written during OJ’s trial, he could have sued Hendrix.
Hendrix didn’t write it and several recorded versions predate his.
Like Cross Roads Blues, Hey Joe’s one of those songs where it seems like just about every blues artist covered at one point. Jimi’s cover is fairly mild compared to a few.
Long proud tradition of revenge songs in the blues, especially in early delta blues. It was a fairly common theme, going back at least to Robert Johnson and Skip James. (“Take my .32-20, and cut her half in two.”)
Probably not much of a surprise that another very common delta blues theme was about prison.
Any list of revenge songs is incomplete without the inclusion of Carly Simon’s “You’re So Vain”. Its elegantly vindictive lyrics trap a worthless lover in the poisonous web of his own vanity. Delicious revenge!
And “You’re So Vain” was nicely redone by Faster Pussycat. Just so the guys can sing it too.
Most of the songs listed seem more “you broke my heart, you brute” than actually revenge-oriented. You want revenge? How about “I’ve Got Rights” by Hank Williams Jr.?
“I went down to the Mary Carter paint store,
I said ‘Give me one of those Smith and Wesson Magnum .44′s
‘Cuz there’s a man the law let loose and justice was not done,
this man he killed my wife and my only little son.’”
Would this do ?
“Hey I’m goin’ home, gonna load my shotgun
Wait by the door and light a cigarette
He wants a fight well now he’s got one
And he ain’t seen me crazy yet
Slapped my face and he shook me like a rag doll
Don’t that sound like a real man
I’m gonna show him what a little girl’s made of
Gunpowder and lead
His fist is big but my gun’s bigger
He’ll find out when I pull the trigger… “
“H-A-T-R-E-D,” by Tonio K., from the album Life in the Foodchain. Greatest, not to mention most obscure, revenge song of my youth, lo these many years ago.
Representative lyrics (verse 2):
“I know I’m acting immature, I’m acting like a child
I should display some self-control instead of going wild (like this)
And I know I should accept all this as simply life, which includes pain,
And act upon the actual fact that nobody’s to blame
Yes, I wish I could be as mellow as for instance Jackson Browne,
But ‘fountain of sorrow’ my ass, mother****er, I hope you end up in the ground!”
Glad someone made the shoutout for Tonio K. H*A*T*R*E*D is awesome.
“You say my kisses are not like his, but I’m not gonna tell ya why that is”–best revenge line ever, by Bob Dylan.
“Papa loved Mama, Mama loved men”
Momma’s in the graveyard, Poppa’s in the pen.
I second Carly Simon’s “You’re So Vain”. You just know her target wants to tell people the song is about him, but she effectively taunted him into silence.
Although Taylor Swift is known for her sappy songs, she has a habit of writing songs that are clearly aimed at people who have done her wrong in real life, such as “Mean”, and especially “Dear John”. Apparently “Dear John” was the final straw that convinced John Mayer that it was time to take a break from public life for several years (it really embarrassed the guy – so I’d say the revenge was effective).
Don’t Call Us We’ll Call You – Sugarloaf
Already Gone – Eagles
Yes I was going to say the Lesley Gore song….
My favorite will always be REM’s ‘The One I Love.’ Subtle and slashing.
Mud In Your Eye by Nils Lofgren. Closing lines….
Some may say that it’s a crime
But you didn’t know he’s a brother of mine
I’ll just laugh if you cry
Ain’t that mud in your eye
I’ll just laugh when you cry
Here’s mud in your eye
How about Dylan’s “like a rolling stone”?
What? No “Thank God And Greyhound You’re Gone”? Or “No Regrets” by Tom Rush?.
“Pumped up Kicks” by Foster the People
All the other kids with the pumped up kicks
You’d better run, better run, outrun my gun
All the other kids with the pumped up kicks
You’d better run, better run, faster than my bullet
Although sad and morbid I take it to mean “bullied” got back!
Even Norah Jones has tried vengence songs on “Little Broken Hearts.”
It’s not an album I’d recommend but her lyrics are quite explicit, singing about “she’s only 22″ – the girl that her man dumped her for, one presumes. Then on “Miriam” she imagines killing her rival.
If you want a song about being on the probable receiving end of vengence, let me suggest “Gimme Two Steps,” also by Van Zant.
It was painful to watch Janis Joplin at her high school reunion in Port Arthur.
Idiot wind ( Bob Dylan). – makes me think of Peggy Noonan
How about Cleaning Out My Closet by Eminem, where he takes revenge on his own mother?
Or try Korn’s Right Now:
Right now
can’t find a way to get across the hate when I see you
Right now
I’m feeling strange inside I wanna slash and beat you
Right now
I rip apart the things inside that excite you
Right now
I can’t control myself I know hate you!
you open your mouth again
I swear I’m gonna break it
You open your mouth again
My god I cannot take it
Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!
Or I’ll ****you up!
I suppose it would be too much to even acknowledge, Bob Dylan, the unsurpassed master of the kiss-off song. Positively 4th Street. Most Likely You Go Your Way, I’ll Go Mine and Like A Rolling Stone to name but a few.
I wish that for just one time
You could stand inside my shoes
And just for that one moment
I could be you
Yes, I wish that for just one time
You could stand inside my shoes
You’d know what a drag it is
To see you
Copyright © 1965 by Warner Bros. Inc.; renewed 1993 by Special Rider Music
You say you disturb me
And you don’t deserve me
But you know sometimes you lie
You say you’re shakin’
And you’re always achin’
But you know how hard you try
Sometimes it gets so hard to care
It can’t be this way ev’rywhere
And I’m gonna let you pass
Yes, and I’ll go last
Then time will tell just who fell
And who’s been left behind
When you go your way and I go mine
Copyright © 1966 by Dwarf Music; renewed 1994 by Dwarf Music
Once upon a time you dressed so fine
You threw the bums a dime in your prime, didn’t you?
People’d call, say, “Beware doll, you’re bound to fall”
You thought they were all kiddin’ you
You used to laugh about
Everybody that was hangin’ out
Now you don’t talk so loud
Now you don’t seem so proud
About having to be scrounging for your next meal
How does it feel
How does it feel
To be without a home
Like a complete unknown
Like a rolling stone?
Copyright © 1965 by Warner Bros. Inc.; renewed 1993 by Special Rider Music
Agreed, Dylan was a master of the revenge song, if he served you up, you got it with both barrels.
He may have even invented the genre. If not, he certainly made it into an artform. Notwithstanding country music, Loretta Lynn songs in particular, You Rascal You is the only, pre-Dylan song I can come up with that has similar sentiments although it’s more comedic.
Ain’t no use to run, you rascal, you.
Ain’t no use to run, you rascal, you.
Ain’t no use to run,
I done bought a Gatling gun,
And you still having your fun, you rascal, you!
I’m gonna kill you just for fun, you rascal, you!
I’m gonna kill you just for fun, you rascal, you!
I’m gonna kill you just for fun;
The buzzards gonna have you when I’m done.
I’ll be glad when you dead, you rascal, you!
More lyrics: http://www.lyricsmode.com/lyrics/c/cab_calloway/#share
“You Rascal You” is covered by Hanni el Khatib on his ‘Will the Guns Come Out’ album – hard genre to place, call it 21st century punk. Another song on the album isn’t about revenge per se, but encapsulates the bitterness: “F**k It, You Win”.
POSITIVELY
It’s “Positively 4th Street”
But it’s the opening line that says it all: “You got alot of nerve to say you are my friend”
Sooner or later one of us must know that Dylan probably did invent the genre.
No one has yet mentioned Dwight Yoakam’s Buenos Noches From a Lonely Room.
She wore red dresses with her black shining hair
She had my baby and caused me to care
Then coldly she left me to suffer and cry
She wore red dresses and told such sweet lies
I never knew him but he took her away
And on my knees like a madman for vengeance I prayed
While the pain and the anger destroyed my weak mind
She wore red dresses and left the wounded behind
I searched til I found them, then I cursed at the sight
Of their sleeping shadows in the cold neon light
In the dark morning silence I placed the gun to her head
She wore red dresses, but now she lay dead
For old farts -
“These Boots Are Made for Walking” – Nancy Sinatra, 1966
“A Public Execution” – Mouse and the Traps, 1966
“They’re Coming to Take Me Away” – Napoleon XIV (Jerry Samuels), 1966
“Little Girl” – Syndicate of Sound, 1966
I don’t know why the all ended up from 1966. Cheers -
From old f*** to another:
Best list so far, but we need another one from 1966. How about the Leaves’ version of “Hey Joe” or the Thirteenth Floor Elevator Operators “You’re Gonna Miss Me!”
Close enough to 1966!
“You Oughta Know” – Alanis Morissette, 1995
Lyrics here: http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/alanismorissette/yououghtaknow.html
Cheers -
I can’t believe nobody listed any Adele on this thread, “Rolling in the Deep” or Carrie Underwood’s “Before He Cheats”. Men don’t do the revenge songs nearly as well, but they do sing of heartbreak better than women. When a person gets dumped, if it’s a guy, he’s sad, but women are usually angry.
Actually, “Before He Cheats” is on the list. “Rolling In The Deep” is a good addition, though.
“Janey Got A Gun” – Aerosmith. Not the hurtin’ cheatin’ kind, but definately revenge, and Aerosmith at its musical best.
I’m totally amazed here. Let me preface everything with this statement. Cheating ain’t cheating unless you’re married. What laws or mores exist in this society that gives a woman or a man territorial rights on somebody else’s body by just spreading your legs for that other person. In essence it says, I f*cked him he’s mine now. “Maybe he’s not that into you.” or is it that you are truly a bitch with some serious mental problems. Its totally amazing that there is so much energy put out because some gal lost her man. Our priorities are all screwed up. Where are the songs about clitorectomies, honor killings, beating of women, maiming of women, modern sex slavery etc? No, the most tragic thing happening to these women is being dumped.
I agree. Personally, I find it disturbing that so many people glorify all out bloody revenge for personal slights. Rap is especially virulent and vile in this genre. And we wonder what incites the mentally disturbed to commit henious crimes–to view such a response as normal and socially sympathetic–pop music.
These people on this blog, and their favorite musicians, are psychotic.
#35: And it’s justified and righteous revenge.
Positively 4th Street – Bob Dylan ??????
That was my first thought. Next up was Idiot Wind with:
You hurt the ones that I love best
And cover up the truth with lies
One day you’ll be in the ditch
Flies buzzing around your eyes
Blood on your saddle…
Then, Jimmy Reed “Going Upside Your Head”:
I bought you a suit baby
Cost 99.99
Now you want to mistreat me baby
And take on all the time
You better hear me baby
You better believe what I said
If you don’t straighten up baby
Honey I’m going upside your head
In a bar in Toledo across from the depot
On a bar stool she took off her ring
I thought I’d get closer so I walked on over
I sat down and asked her name
When the drinks finally hit her
She said I’m no quitter but I finally quit livin on dreams
I’m hungry for laughter and here ever after
I’m after whatever the other life brings
In the mirror I saw him and I closely watched him
I thought how he looked out of place
He came to the woman who sat there be-side me
He had a strange look on his face
The big hands were calloused he looked like a mountain
For a minute I thought I was dead
But he started shaking his big heart was breaking
He turned to the woman and said
You picked a fine time to leave me Lucille
With four hungry children and a crop in the field
I’ve had some bad times lived through some sad times
But this time your hurting won’t heal
You picked a fine time to leave me Lucille.
After he left us I ordered more whisky
I thought how she’d made him look small
From the lights of the bar room
To a rented hotel room
We walked without talking at all
She was a beauty but when she came to me
She must have thought I’d lost my mind
I could’nt hold her ‘cos the words that told her
Kept coming back time after time
You picked a fine time to leave me Lucille
With four hungry children and a crop in the field
I’ve had some bad times lived through some sad times
But this time your hurting won’t heal
You picked a fine time to leave me Lucille.
–Kenny Rogers Lyrics
Kenny Rogers is Pop, but if you want alt. country, baseball bat to the chest love-lorn helpless hapless pain try Terry Allen’s “Room to Room” –with Lucinda Williams singing back up –singing a one line chorus,
“Baby, I’m sorry, it’ll never ever happen again.”
Please, any list that doesn’t include “One More Minute” by Weird Al is suspect!
(http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2aih6_weird-al-yankovic-one-more-minute_music)
Where else could you hear such sublime poetry as this:
“I’d rather have my blood sucked out by leeches (leeches),
Shove an icepick under a toenail or two
I’d rather clean all the bathrooms in Grand Central Station with my tongue
Than spend one more minute with you.”
Brings tears to my eyes every time.
Hmmm, singing whiny songs are “revenge”?
What about Hey Joe? Probably the most popular revenge song, in terms of covers.
Or “Another One Bites the Dust” by Queen? Or my personal favorite, “Surprise! You’re Dead!” by Faith No More. “Raining Blood” by Slayer is also a good one.
Less violent, there’s also The Murmurs’s “You Suck”
Ah, looks like nobody mentioned my personal favorite… the Bloodhound Gang’s “I hope you die.” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qpAtG744-hE
And for non-relationshippy revenge tales, Jeannie C. Riley’s “Harper Valley PTA” is classic for a reason.
I was going to to throw that diddy on my list as well though the opening lyric, ‘I hope..’ – thus it’s but a wish. It didn’t occur. Yet!
Listening to the O’conner clip reminded me of a description of Jackie Stewart’s car race commentary: multi-octave. Although I always thought of that phrase referring to singers that appeared to INTEND to change octaves.
Still, a lot of people used to like her music. I was going to add a reference here to Bob Dylan, who I once read a review of his contribution to rock music being in part that you no longer needed to be able to sing to be a singer, but I couldn’t remember who had penned that phrase.
“I’m Gonna Change Everything” by Jim Reeves. Throw out all her crap, anything that reminds you of her. I’ve done it twice.
Pistol-packin’ Momma
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WfeKmD7XTUo
Does completely pointless and misdirected revenge have a place, here? If so, “Two out of Three Ain’t bad.”
Oh, for heaven’s sake, we forgot Toby Keith
Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0dBwEeCks5Y
…Soon as we could see clearly through our big black eye,
Man, we lit up your world like the fourth of July.
Hey, Uncle Sam put your name at the top of his list,
And the Statue of Liberty started shaking her fist.
And the eagle will fly and it’s gonna be hell,
When you hear Mother Freedom start ringing her bell.
And it’ll feel like the whole wide world is raining down on you.
Ah, brought to you, courtesy of the red, white and blue.
Screaming for Vengeance: Judas Priest
The Heavy: How You Like Me Now?
Led Zeppelin: Your Time is Gonna Come
Cake: Take it All Away
Mad Season: I’m Above
The Rolling Stones: Under My Thumb
Leonard Cohen: Famous Blue Raincoat
Misfits: Die Die My Darling
Bruce Dickinson: Re-entry
James Brown: The Big Payback
I’m sure I’ll be labeled a philistine but Sweet Home Alabama is immediately turned off whenever humanly possible. It’s so overrated and overplayed just reading about it rankles me.
I’m glad to see at least one other person mentioned Sunny Came Home. I’m sorry, but I feel that is more creative musically and lyrically than anything on the official list. Plus it involves abuse, seemingly, and not the pettiness of most of the tracks mentioned by the author.
Janie’s Got a Gun is another great revenge song, very haunting in its presentation.
I was also pleased that someone mentioned Al Yankovick’s One More Minute While the music parodies some 50s ballad, and lyrics are farcical, the overall presentation is very biting satire, especially how soulfully Al sings lyrics like “…and I burned down the malt shop where we used to go, just because it reminds me of you.”
How about Blondie’s One way or Another. Yes, it sounds like a nice catchy ditty, but if you read the lyrics, things like “Lead you to the supermarket.
Check out some specials and rat food, get lost in the crowd” indicates the song is a bit darker than its refrain let’s on.
Lilly Allen, Smile http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0WxDrVUrSvI&feature=related
The Shins, Turn on Me http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MoHqrgB7ZrE
Cake, I Will Survive (better rendition than disco Gloria) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MoHqrgB7ZrE
Julie London, Cry me a River http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DXg6UB9Qk0o
Ella Fitzgerald, Everything I’ve Got http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aiIkLHGQxlg
Nancy Wilson, Guess Who I Saw Today. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yOH_DMO-qCo
Sorry, wrong link for Cake: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=10C68Gzd5GM
Now the time is near
For Iron Man to spread fear
Vengeance from the grave
Kills all the people he once saved
There’s an old song, from the 50′s Id guess, that starts something like this:
“Wave you hand and whisper ‘so long dearie’..You ain’t gonna see me anymore…” And ends with “…I should have said so long so long ago.”
Unknown title and author. Great song.
It was Louis Armstrong singing “So Long Dearie”… a sort of “Let’s make Shepard’s Pie out of the leftover Prime Rib” concoction ordered up by record executives after the smash hit of Hello Dolly. Shepard’s Pie is still delicious though.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uMhfx-uM9xM
Wow, 71 comments so far and no one has mentioned “Dirty Deeds (Done Dirt Cheap)” by AC/DC. Granted, it’s revenge by proxy, but still . . .
Then there’s “I Shot the Sheriff” (Eric Clapton). Hey, the sheriff started it . . .
#48 mentioned “Your Time is Gonna Come.” The next Zeppelin album featured “Heartbreaker.”
An obscure revenge song: “Texan Love Song” (Elton John).
I was raised hearing a lot of folk and folk-rock, thanks to my parents’ old records, so this may be a little off the beaten path . . . but “The Brown Girl” by Steeleye Span is one of my favorites. It’s classic medieval scorned woman, and quite the picker-upper after a rough day. Heather Dale gives us “Crashing Down” (http://youtu.be/FNqPYVgkAws), which runs in a similar vein but can also be applied to someone frustrated with a man in power . . . like, say, our beloved King Barry I.
Or just crank up Twisted Sister and “We’re Not Gonna Take It.”
Best revenge songs? If we expand the word “songs” to mean compositions, why not the 1812 Overture?
Shostakovich’s 7th Symphony is not a bad choice, either. Depicts the attempted German invasion of Leningrad.
Wagner’s “Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg” could be seen as a revenge piece in real life. It’s where Wagner took his revenge against the Viennese music critic Eduard Hanslick. In the original libretto, Wagner named the repulsive and talentless antagonist “Hans Lick” but later renamed the character to “Beckmesser” — which, if my German still holds, means “knife in the back.”
Sorry, I’d try to find something more modern, but for me music stops at about 1980 and I couldn’t force myself to listen to Sinead O’Connor if I were using *your* ears.
If Broadway songs are fair game for this, from an almost forgotten Fifties musical named “Kismet”, Baghdad’s wicked wazir (chief of police) makes evil sound fun in his tune, “Was I Wazir?”…
“When we caught the seven hundred men
And hung them in their prison pen,
Who said, ‘Suspend them by their fuzz?’
Was I wazir? I was!
“When the keeper of the royal zoo
Was short a cockatoo or two,
Who sealed him in a pot of glue?
Was I wazir? I was!”
“I have a way of learning what I want to know,
Delicate, but to the point.
They always seem to remember
When I begin to dismember them
Arm by arm
And ear by ear
And joint by joint”
For old-timers like me, the Wazir was played on Broadway by Henry Calvin, who later went on to play the corpulent Sergeant Garcia in Disney’s “Zorro” series (with Guy Williams in the title role). Calvin was a versatile comic actor, and also did a bang-up Oliver Hardy impression (on a Dick Van Dyke Show episode, Van Dyke himself portraying Stan Laurel). Calvin also had a huge, booming bass-baritone voice, which he puts to good effect in “Kismet”.
Check out Captain Kirk, William Shattner!, with the Ben Folds Band doing “You
Really Understand Me” dealing with a self-obsessed female male hater he intentionally sets up and hammers. It’s a riot the whole way:
And I..”can’t..commit!”
To you
Liz Phair — “And He Slayed Her.”
And nobody mentioned: “I got a brand new girlfriend” and “I pray” which are more of the western comedic revenge genre.
Are we getting our genres too narrow?
“I don’t need you no more” J Geils Band
“I Never Liked You” by the Rogue Traders.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZWAMOZfaxyA
Used in the group exercise class Les Mill’s Body Combat and we get to do a great big roundhouse kick during the “surprise!” part. Heh heh…
Chattanooga Choo Choo, The Lawrence Welk Orchestra
Beach Blanket Bingo, Annette Funicello
Blue Velvet, Bobby Darin
Lay you Down, Conway Twitty
A Good Year for the Roses, George Jones
“Your Time Is Gonna Come” Led Zepplin
Samuel Hall: My name is Samuel Hall and I Hate you one and all.
Careless Love: Frankie and Johnny: Down by the Willow Gardens: Been on the Job too long/Twinkle Twinkle Little Star/ long come Brady in his electirc car/right mean look in his eye/he’s going to shoot somebody just to see him die…The Folk are full of revenge and murder ballads.
Perhaps the French do it better 1966 “A young Girl”