Greatest hate songs ever

[stepford]

Oh come on, I can't be the only curmudgeon around here with a perverse affection for such things...

Anyway, while there have been some pretty good distillations of bitterness in the music world for decades, my feeling is that the great decade for classic hate songs was the '90s:

Head Like a Hole by Nine Inch Nails (and pretty much the whole Pretty Hate Machine album)

You Oughta Know by Alanis Morissette

and lots of others.

Going back to the '60s Bob Dylan certainly had some bitter moments with:
Positively 4th Street
Like a Rolling Stone
Masters of War
and others, but these always seemed to me to be more about disdain than real hate. The Peace and Love ethos of the time seemed to make songs about hatred and bitterness less popular.

Once we get to the '70s and '80s, though, songs about the darker emotions seemed show up more. Lots of early stuff by Elvis Costello fits the bill (personal fave would be No Action). A bit later the Smiths and the Cure had all kinds of bitter songs on their albums - the title track of the Cure's Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me a particularly extreme example.

I could go on, but what are your favorite bitter nasty songs?

 

[COZICAN]

Limp Bizkit - Full Nelson

I use to listen to a lot of Limp Bizkit as well as Kid Rock. I also developed anger issues during that period. They're gone now.

 

[Rianne]

Interesting post. "Born in the USA" by Bruce Springsteen has been misrepresented over the years as a USA cheer song. Doesn't anyone listen to the words?
"Sympathy for the Devil" is an unusual take on the devil. Makes him look charming.

The out and out hate songs immediately turn me off b/c, to me, they sound idiotic. Songs that are masked, take thought and reflection to understand the hate they express are more interesting. Hate in a polite way?

 

[Silver]

"Despite all my rage I'm still just a rat in a cage"

Smashing Pumpkins....THE WORLD IS A VAMPIRE

 

[ChiliPepr]

There is always Carly Simon's "You're So Vain"

 

[Nemo2]

"Born in the USA" by Bruce Springsteen has been misrepresented over the years as a USA cheer song. Doesn't anyone listen to the words?

Every time I hear this on the radio I think exactly the same thing. Decades ago someone asked me if I listened to lyrics.......my immediate thought was "Of course"...but it seems that isn't widespread.

 

[bw5972]

"We're cut adrift
We're still floating
I'm only hanging on
To watch you go down
My love"

So Cruel by U2

 

[Aerides]

Not really a hate song, but a precursor to Ms. Morisette's noted contribution above would be Gloria Gaynor's I Will Survive:

"Go on now, go, walk out the door
Just turn around now
'Cause you're not welcome anymore
Weren't you the one who tried to break me with goodbye
Do you think I'd crumble
Did you think I'd lay down and die?"

 

[NW-Bound]

I guess this song by Ray Charles qualifies, unless you say that lost love does not necessarily mean hate.

 

[NYEXPAT]

If your hate'n on the ex-wife, then "Kim" by Eminem is pretty powerful.

 

[GrayHare]

Hate songs as in songs that advocate hate? I find those too distasteful and generally avoid them. Hate songs as in ones that express anger over an injustice, real or perceived, are a different story. For example, there are plenty of broken heart songs. Are we talking those? Pat Benetar among others was good at that, "Hit Me With Your Best Shot" for example.

 

[samclem]

Do breakup songs count? My favorite (funny) one is Brad Paisley's "I'll take you back"
In part:

Let's say I get bucked off a bull and fall and hit my head
And then I get amnesia and forget the things you said
I lose my better judgement and I take up smoking crack
Right then, that's when
I'll take you back

(Chorus)

Go on, keep trying
Come on, keep calling
You know I like it
When you come crawling
It's like music
To hear you bawling
Waa, waa, waa, waa, waa​

​

​

 

[kevink]

Hard to beat this one featuring the great Thelma Houston on vocals.

 

[Spock]

Alan Parson's Eve album if you're hating on an ex.
From the cover art to lyrics like

You lie down with dogs you fall in with thieves
(You’re gonna catch something but you do as you please)
You’re scratchin’ an itch that nothing can ease
You lie down with dogs you get up with fleas

You don’t fool me with your easy lies and fables
You won’t see me in ten buck furs and sables
You sparkle like a snake
The wine is real but the glass is fake
Blame it on the apple tree but you don’t fool me

 

[MRG]

A classic about injustice.

War Pigs:
Gen'rals gathered in their masses,
Just like witches at black masses
Evil minds that plot destruction,
Sorcerer of death's construction
In the fields the bodies burning,
As the war machine keeps turning
Death and hatred to mankind,
Poisoning their brainwashed minds
Oh Lord yeah

Politicians hide themselves away
They only started the war
Why should they go out to fight?
They leave that role for the poor, yeah

Time will tell on their power minds,
Making war just for fun
Treating people just like pawns in chess,
Wait 'till their judgement day comes, yeah

Now in darkness world stops turning,
Ashes where the bodies burning
No more War Pigs have the power,
Hand of God has struck the hour
Day of judgement, God is calling
On their knees the war pigs crawling,
Begging mercies for their sins
Satan, laughing, spreads his wings
Oh Lord yeah

https://youtu.be/LQUXuQ6Zd9w

 

[razztazz]

Down with "The Man!"
SUNSHINE Jonathan Edwards

 

[MichaelB]

When it comes to bitterness expressed passionately in a song, this tops my list (along with Alanis mentioned in the OP). In Spanish, Amanda Miguel sings "Él Me Mintió" (he lied to me)
.
.

 

[Omega]

Hey Joe by Jimi Hendrix

 

[Bir48die]

“I Hate Everything About You” by Three Days Grace

 

[scrabbler1]

You Keep Me Hangin On - originally done by The Supremes in the 1960s, redone by Kim Wilde in the 1980s. Here is the Wilde version:

 

[Big_Hitter]

 

[Big_Hitter]

 

[HFWR]

https://youtu.be/JfCpDQKHcUw

 

[Crabby Mike]

You Keep Me Hangin On - originally done by The Supremes in the 1960s, redone by Kim Wilde in the 1980s. Here is the Wilde version:

Don't forget Vanilla Fudge!

 

[MRG]

Don't forget Vanilla Fudge!

Indeed, I like all the versions.

DW had a guffin cockatoo that sang the chorus.