10 Most Controversial Songs In Rock History
Ruffling more than a few feathers.
The goal for any good rock song should be to make you throw your fist in the air at the end of the day. As much as people might rag on this kind of music for being dumb or not particularly advanced, there's always something about it that made you feel powerful after the record finished. This wasn't how rock started though. In the early days, rock music was the stuff that you could piss your parents off with.
Although most of these songs were meant to entertain at the end of the day, the darker meanings of the lyrics ended up coming back around more often than not. Even if it was completely unintentional, the listening public have been having a field day with these type of songs for years, with some stations even refusing to play the tracks when they were famous. While the people who got up in arms look a little too uptight these days, these were originally pure fodder for rock and roll being the reason why kids are rotting their brains outside of school.
Then again, when has rock and roll been about pleasing everyone? Enduring longer than anyone probably imagined, these songs have earned their place in history despite all of the mudslinging they may have gotten. Love them or hate them, you can't mistake them for being unoriginal.
10. Sleep Now in the Fire - Rage Against the Machine
Honestly, you could probably throw a dart at over half of Rage Against the Machine's catalog and come out with some sort of controversial song. Hell, the one emblematic song that everyone knows this band for boasts one of its main hook lines as "F*ck you, I won't do what you tell me." As much as these guys aren't known to pull their punches, Sleep Now in the Fire occupies a bit of a different space in their discography.
Taken from The Battle of Los Angeles, the controversy surrounding this song has more to do with its music video than anything else. While the actual tune is a scathing indictment of the capitalistic mindset of big business, the decision to film right outside the New York Stock Exchange was probably the biggest way to get the people on Wall Street to pay attention. Produced by Michael Moore, the entire video feels like you're watching guerilla footage of a riot, which very nearly happened when Rage was called off by police.
In the mayhem trying to get them off of the premises, Rage ended up going into the New York Stock Exchange and managed to get them to shut their doors for a little while that day as everyone dispersed. Regardless of which political affiliation you belong to, you can't deny that Rage is at the very least committed to their cause.