10 Most Controversial Hard Rock Songs Of All Time

The Beatles are probably one of the last bands you’d think of when you think of controversy. For as many radical takes as the band have come out with over the years, they still always felt like the fun-loving rock and rollers that gave new life to the genre back in the ‘60s. Though the band did get tougher with age, some more disturbing fans were looking too far into the band’s tunes.

With the band’s self titled double album being an eclectic mix of genres, “Helter Skelter” was the band’s attempt at hard rock to combat acts like the Who and Led Zeppelin. While Paul McCartney has admitted that the lyrics were just filler words about going up a playground slide, one man by the name of Charles Manson had other ideas as to what McCartney was saying. Instead of being just placeholder words, Manson saw “Helter Skelter” as the mantra for the coming Armageddon, after which he assembled the Family to kill anyone he saw fit.

This all came to a head in the late ‘60s when the Family stormed the house of Sharon Tate, where they killed her and left the song title painted in blood at the scene. The Beatles have made a career out of making the world a better place through music, but all it takes is one person to turn that message on its head.