10 Most Badass Songs Of All Time

7. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Stagger Lee

A song that toys with ideas of old-school masculinity - but is so macho that it almost involuntarily endorses them - Nick Cave's update on the old folk song is every kind of nasty.

The doomy, deviant, low-slung bass creeps along menacingly, like the drunken subject. The sharp, intermittent smash of piano keys echoes the punishing hangover that darkens his mood, intensifying everything about him that is awful. The scratchy guitar is his abrasive personality, which Cave articulates with a barely-suppressed viciousness. The whole arrangement, so brilliantly evocative of the period, is coated in acrid chain smoke. It's as sleazy as hell, and that is before Cave unleashes his absurd, over-the-top, foul-mouthed torrent of threats with the succinct wit of an elite screenwriter.

"She saw the barkeep, said, "Oh God, he can't be dead!" / Stag said, "Well, just count the holes in the motherf*cker's head," he sings, callously. And then, disgustingly, ""I'm a bad motherfucker, don't you know? / And I'll crawl over fifty good p*ssies just to get one fat boy's a**hole"."

It all ends in a screeching, terrified cacophony, the sound of helpless dive bar patrons failing to scurry away to safety.

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Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!