10 Most Badass Songs Of All Time

5. Hole - Violet

In 'Violet', Courtney Love is trapped, desperate.

Released in 1994, 'Live Through This' predated #MeToo by over 20 years, but this wasn't any prescience on her part. She looked her past and her present for inspiration - "one above and one below," as she put it - to send an arrow into the cold heart of every abuser.

Courtney Love released a masterpiece of aggression and release, the fierce yet futile sound of screaming into the patriarchal void, but the catharsis, marked by the rawness of her full lung, was only physical. When that outburst was released, the bowels of that patriarchy, the bowels that ate its sh*t, recognised the quality of the music. They recognised its fusion of ethereal beauty and caustic fury, manifest in 'Violet', as something masterful. Too masterful for a woman to write: a conspiracy theory gained traction that Kurt Cobain had written it on her behalf. This is corroborated bullsh*t, and more to the point, it's so fiercely feminine that he couldn't have.

"I told you from the start just how this would end," she sings, before that last cathartic burst of f*cking righteous aggression.

And nobody listened.

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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!