# Music for supervillainy? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 4, 2004, 7:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-for-supervillainy/222612 "2004-01-04T07:12:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2004, 7:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-for-supervillainy/222612/1 "2004-01-04T07:12:43Z")
I don’t _think_ this one’s been done before… What are YOUR suggestions for music and/or songs appropriate for art of supervillainy? Remember, these are songs _for_ evildoers. Songs that are, themselves, evil, like _It’s a Small World_ or Kyle Minogue’s _Can’t Get You Out Of My Head_ only qualify for a “dishonorable mention.” My suggestions? The _Imperial March_ from the Star Wars soundtrack. ('Natch.) Nick Cave’s _Red Right Hand_. (Come to think of it, a _lot_ of Cave’s works would do well, wouldn’t they?) About half of all the “Bond Themes.” Maybe more. And, for the two “odd” choices: Beethoven’s _Ode to Joy_. (As seen in _Die Hard_. Hans Gruber…always an inspiration.) And Tears for Fears’ _Everybody Wants to Rule the World_. (Works especially well if you’re a technocrat rising to power in the mid-1980s) So…anyone else? ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2004, 7:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-for-supervillainy/222612/2 "2004-01-04T07:29:29Z")
J.S. Bach’s Tocatta and Fugue in D Minor- on the organ please, no orchestral arrangement can do it justice! ---
**Author:** ![quiltguy154](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/ad7895/32.png) [@quiltguy154](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/quiltguy154)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2004, 8:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-for-supervillainy/222612/3 "2004-01-04T08:57:22Z")
What’s that piece of music from Carmina Burana[?] that’s kinda’ famous, they use it often to give the impression of malevolent forces in play? I once heard it referred to as “psycho hitchhiker music.” ---
**Author:** ![BraheSilver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecccb3/32.png) [@BraheSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BraheSilver)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2004, 10:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-for-supervillainy/222612/4 "2004-01-04T10:49:31Z")
Holst’s _Mars, Bringer of War_ from _The Planets._ Every time I hear it, I want to stand on a balcony and laugh as my tanks roll past on their way to destroy the neighboring country. Greig’s _In the Hall of the Mountain King_. ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Nader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Darth\_Nader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Nader)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2004, 11:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-for-supervillainy/222612/5 "2004-01-04T11:54:41Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Ranchoth \* > \*\*(Come to think of it, a _lot_ of Cave’s works would do well, wouldn’t they?) \*\* [Stagger Lee](http://www.musicsonglyrics.com/N/Nick%20Cave/Nick%20Cave%20-%20Stagger%20Lee%20lyrics.htm) Yep. ---
**Author:** ![frankie\_d](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecccb3/32.png) [@frankie\_d](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/frankie_d)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2004, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-for-supervillainy/222612/6 "2004-01-04T15:21:48Z")
metallica-these are good titles as well am i evil-king nothing-devils dance and master of puppets. Rob zombie- dragula slayer-angel of death steve vai-bad horsie ---
**Author:** ![Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_It_s_That_Guy)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2004, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-for-supervillainy/222612/7 "2004-01-04T18:51:28Z")
“Mean Machine” - The Cramps “Bad To the Bone” - George Thorogood and the Destroyers “Goin’ Out West” - Tom Waits (not so much for the lyrics as for the music) ---
**Author:** ![Kizarvexius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/da6949/32.png) [@Kizarvexius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kizarvexius)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2004, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-for-supervillainy/222612/8 "2004-01-04T20:29:49Z")
Just about any Requiem arrangement, but some stand out for special mention. The _Dies Irae_ from Mozart’s Requiem was the music for the Nightcrawler attack scene in _X2_. Verdi’s _Dies Irae_ is, believe it or not, even more dramatic, and is used for commercials or tv shows now and then. And the piece **quiltguy154** mentions is called _O Fortuna_. The text is not really sinister, per se, but essentially says “life is short, so drink up.” ---
**Author:** ![nitroglycerine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c5a1d2/32.png) [@nitroglycerine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nitroglycerine)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2004, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-for-supervillainy/222612/9 "2004-01-04T20:48:46Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Darth Nader \* > \*\*[Stagger Lee](http://www.musicsonglyrics.com/N/Nick%20Cave/Nick%20Cave%20-%20Stagger%20Lee%20lyrics.htm) > > Yep. \*\* Nick Cave’s Solo/Bad Seeds stuff is pretty evil sounding, but it doesn’t come close to the evilness of his old band The Birthday Party. Bauhaus’ “Stigmata Martyr” would be a good soundtrack for evildoing, and years ago, I chased Mormans away by blasting Christian Death’s “Only Theatre Of Pain” Lp, an album that sounded a lot more evil when I was fifteen. Now it just sounds kind of corny. Jon ---
**Author:** ![Wumpus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8c91f0/32.png) [@Wumpus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wumpus)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2004, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-for-supervillainy/222612/10 "2004-01-04T21:47:39Z")
Behind Blue Eyes, of course. Every supervillain thinks he’s misunderstood! ---
**Author:** ![Miercoles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Miercoles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miercoles)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2004, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-for-supervillainy/222612/11 "2004-01-04T21:50:33Z")
How could anyone have missed… [St. John’s] A Night on Bald Mountain, by Mussorgsky, Mephisto Waltz #1, by Liszt (the intro). ---
**Author:** ![capacitor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e47774/32.png) [@capacitor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/capacitor)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2004, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-for-supervillainy/222612/12 "2004-01-05T00:30:34Z")
Symphony No. 6, the ‘na na na naaah na you can’t catch me’ movement Beethoven. It is after the storm one. ---
**Author:** ![capacitor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e47774/32.png) [@capacitor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/capacitor)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2004, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-for-supervillainy/222612/13 "2004-01-05T00:30:37Z")
Symphony No. 6, the ‘na na na naaah na you can’t catch me’ movement by Beethoven. It is after the storm one. ---
**Author:** ![Windwalker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/5e9695/32.png) [@Windwalker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Windwalker)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2004, 6:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-for-supervillainy/222612/14 "2004-01-05T06:59:40Z")
I’ve always imagined Simon and Garfunkel’s “The Sound of Silence” as one of those themes that could work for both hero and villain. I’ve always pictured Magneto rising up and unleashing his worst to this tune, and it works perfectly in my head. ---
**Author:** ![Tarrsk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/97f17d/32.png) [@Tarrsk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tarrsk)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2004, 9:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-for-supervillainy/222612/15 "2004-01-05T09:29:02Z")
**Windwalker** , I agree wholeheartedly. Radiohead’s “Climbing up the Walls” is incredibly creepy: the soft-spoken serial killer’s anthem. ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Nader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Darth\_Nader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Nader)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2004, 10:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-for-supervillainy/222612/16 "2004-01-05T10:37:22Z")
**Windwalker** is dead right. Now that I think about it, if your character is _evil_ enough, any song might work. I’m thinking of “Singin’ in the Rain” as a choice example: I don’t think about swinging from lampposts and splashing in puddles when I hear that song; I viddy horrorshow utlraviolence, O my brothers… ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2004, 11:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-for-supervillainy/222612/17 "2004-01-05T11:11:32Z")
The [Third Movement (“Elegia”)](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B000003FEJ/102-9435256-4302501?v=glance) of Bartok’s _Concerto for Orchestra_, suitable for vampires and assorted evil wizards. ---
**Author:** ![detop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bcef8e/32.png) [@detop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/detop)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2004, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-for-supervillainy/222612/18 "2004-01-05T13:19:45Z")
How baout 10cc’s [I Wanna Rule the World](http://www.allthelyrics.com/lyrics/10cc/how_dare_you/i_wanna_rule_the_world/) ? ---
**Author:** ![porkchop\_d\_clown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3bc359/32.png) [@porkchop\_d\_clown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/porkchop_d_clown)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2004, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-for-supervillainy/222612/19 "2004-01-05T14:20:26Z")
Intruder, by Peter Gabriel. Perfect for wanna-be psychos. ---
**Author:** ![flight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bbce88/32.png) [@flight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flight)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2004, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-for-supervillainy/222612/20 "2004-01-05T14:28:16Z")
Depeche Mode’s Personal Jesus would be great particularly if you were a disgruntled superspy who turns on their own government in a bid to bring the world to its knees. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-for-supervillainy/222612.md?page=2)