Being as I have written before about music capturing or enhancing your moods, a recent upset at work caused me to think about anger, and how much music is devoted to this particular subject.
Sometimes rage requires silence, but sometimes it begs for a song to reinforce how you are feeling. Sometimes anger needs angry music and I tend to turn to punk to expel my wrath. The Buzzcocks “What do I get?, The Stranglers “No More Heroes” and The Clash “White Riot” are good for jumping up and down if you’ve some angry energy to burn off. Another particular favourite of mine for angry dancing is The Wombats “Let’s dance to Joy Division” with the great chorus “Let’s dance to Joy Division and celebrate the irony, everything is going wrong, but we’re so happy”. I like a nice sarcastic song as much as I like a nice sarcastic person.
Sometimes angry lyrics are the way you need to go. I find that the Manic Street Preachers “You Stole the Sun from my Heart” is actually a heartbreaking song to listen to, a weird a clash of a love song and a hate song. “But you, stole the sun from my heart” is such a beautiful line. Skunk Anansies “Hedonism” is a very moving song about feeling so let down by someone, “I hope you’re feeling happy now, I see you feel no pain, at all it seems”. I wouldn’t like to be the person that caused someone to feel so disappointed.
Carly Simon hit the nail square on the head with her very popular song “You’re so Vain”. I have always loved that song, ever since I was small. What a triumph of lyrics “You’re so vain, you probably think this song is about you”. For the fans of rap amongst you, the Geto Boys “Still” (made famous by the smashing a printer scene in “Office Space”) is a scarily angry song. Needless to say, I can’t repeat most the lyrics on here- but a particularly good one is “He didn’t know that every dog had his day, until he seen his”.
Angry girl- rock songs are plentiful. Remi Nicole’s “Fed Up” is a beautiful stripped down song- just her and a guitar. I love the chorus “I’m fed up, of people walking all over me, and I’ve had enough of you abusing my generosity”. The best line by far is “stop making excuses, face some responsibility, you may get away with it with everyone else but I’m telling you. Not with me.” Annie Lennox “Little Bird” is great for singing along to “You always said that you knew best, but this little birds fallen out of that nest”.
If you’re feeling a bit sorry for yourself, Nik Kershaw’s “Wouldn’t it be Good” is perfect for this, opening with “I got it bad, you don’t know how bad I got it”. I think we’ve all thought “I’m sick of fighting, even though I know I should”. Self indulgent- but we all deserve that sometimes.
If it’s love that’s made you angry, you really can’t go wrong with Chase and Status featuring Plan B “Pieces”. “If you don’t care about me anymore, why do you, you want to break my heart, into pieces on the floor”. Watch out for the hardcore drum and bass section of this song. I’ve beaten up a pillow to this many a time. Another great one is Mark Ronson’s “You Gave Me Nothing” with the great chorus “But if you loved me, you never told me. You’re not my baby, because you gave me nothing to hold on to.”
For the really angry people out there, a furious break up song does not get better than Alanis Morrisette “You Ought to Know”. That lady seriously hates the man she broke up with “I’m here to remind you of the mess you left when you went away” and “It was a slap in the face how quickly I was replaced, and are you thinking of me when you **** her?”
If your rage is a bit more incoherent, you definitely need to reach for Kelis’ “Caught Out There”. She couldn’t be more succinct than with the chorus “I hate you so much right now”, followed by some screaming. Well said.
Personally, my absolute favourite angry song is the song that promises revenge in the strongest possible terms. “God’s Gonna Cut You Down” by Johnny Cash is one of the most viscous songs I’ve ever heard. Despite not being religious, I can believe that whoever this song was written about rued the day they’d been born. Johnny Cash had one of the most emotive voices ever, but the words “You can run on for a long time, but sooner or later, God’ll cut you down”, sends a shiver down my spine. It’s a comfort when you’re so angry to hear the words “but as sure as God made black and white, what’s done in the dark will be brought to the light” or “go and tell that long tongued-liar, go and tell that midnight rider, tell the rambler, the gambler, the back-biter, tell them that God’s gonna cut you down.” It’s a perfect little song for building yourself into a stamping little rage.
Take a deep breath now.
