# Songs about tough guys or badasses **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 25, 2012, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-tough-guys-or-badasses/629310 "2012-07-25T02:03:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Accidental\_Martyr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ce7236/32.png) [@Accidental\_Martyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Accidental_Martyr)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2012, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-tough-guys-or-badasses/629310/42 "2012-07-26T05:04:39Z")
> [@VunderBob](#): > > Warren Zevon’s _Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner_. > > I’ll also nominate _Mr Bad Example_, but the protagonist more bad than badass. You have excellent taste, my friend. 🙂 Drive-By Truckers, _The Boys From Alabama_ Don’t piss off the boys from Alabama You know we won’t let it slide Well, they might find your body in the Tennessee river Or they might not find it at all And there’ll be no place to run and hide And your family ain’t safe at all So don’t piss off the boys from Alabama We’re keepin’ an eye on you ---
**Author:** ![Accidental\_Martyr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ce7236/32.png) [@Accidental\_Martyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Accidental_Martyr)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2012, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-tough-guys-or-badasses/629310/43 "2012-07-26T05:41:15Z")
The Reverend Horton Heat - _Cruisin’ For A Bruisin’_ [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/wqCcw0ZRH-0/hqdefault.jpg "REVEREND HORTON HEAT AT READING FEST") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wqCcw0ZRH-0) ---
**Author:** ![gonzoron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a6a055/32.png) [@gonzoron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzoron)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2012, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-tough-guys-or-badasses/629310/44 "2012-07-26T15:04:23Z")
Weird Al Yankovic - C.N.R. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/xLnapb-30hA/maxresdefault.jpg ""Weird Al" Yankovic - CNR (Official 4K Video)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xLnapb-30hA) (best ever) ---
**Author:** ![gonzoron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a6a055/32.png) [@gonzoron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzoron)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2012, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-tough-guys-or-badasses/629310/45 "2012-07-26T15:05:25Z")
> [@Rubixcube](#): > > Let’s not forget about the meanest of the mean, the toughest of the tough, and the baddest of the bad…[Charles Nelson Reilly](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xLnapb-30hA) Darn… I searched for CNR and C.N.R. and didn’t notice it was already posted. Still, it bears repeating. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Grumman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/43a26b/32.png) [@Grumman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grumman)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2012, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-tough-guys-or-badasses/629310/46 "2012-07-26T15:39:59Z")
[Indestructible](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aWxBrI0g1kE) by Disturbed is a good one. The music video is great too. ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2012, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-tough-guys-or-badasses/629310/47 "2012-07-26T16:16:48Z")
Carl Perkins’ \*Dixie Fried \*(another one covered by Thorogood): _Well, Dan got happy and he started raving. He pulled out a razor, but he wasn’t shaving. And all the cats knew to jump and hop, Cause he was born and raised in a butcher shop._ ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2012, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-tough-guys-or-badasses/629310/48 "2012-07-26T16:26:17Z")
Judas Priest’s _The Ripper_. ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2012, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-tough-guys-or-badasses/629310/49 "2012-07-26T16:35:41Z")
> [@VunderBob](#): > > Warren Zevon’s _Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner_. Also by Zevon, “Hit Somebody.” ---
**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2012, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-tough-guys-or-badasses/629310/50 "2012-07-26T16:38:17Z")
The Leader of the Pack – The Shangri-las (ostensibly at least, it’s more tell and less show). Bad – Michael Jackson Smooth Criminal too, I guess, depending on whether you consider the song “about” Annie or the eponymous character. ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2012, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-tough-guys-or-badasses/629310/51 "2012-07-26T16:51:33Z")
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance has _two_ badasses: When Liberty Valance rode to town the womenfolk would hide . . . the men would step aside. The man who shot Liberty Valance was the kind of a man the West would need to tame a troubled land . . . he was the bravest of them all. Of course, in the movie, he wasn’t the man who did the shootin’. But in the song he did. ---
**Author:** ![Accidental\_Martyr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ce7236/32.png) [@Accidental\_Martyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Accidental_Martyr)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2012, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-tough-guys-or-badasses/629310/52 "2012-07-26T17:19:23Z")
> [@Bob Ducca](#): > > Also by Zevon, “Hit Somebody.” What else can a farm boy from Canada do? 😉 Kevin Smith is supposedly working on a movie based on the song. > **[Kevin Smith's Hit Somebody Won't Be Split Into Two Movies After All](https://www.cinemablend.com/new/Kevin-Smith-Hit-Somebody-Won-t-Split-Two-Movies-All-28662.html)** > > For those not keeping score, Hit Somebody tells the story of a Canadian farm boy who discovers he has a special talent for hockey violence. He eventually goes pro, but becomes dissatisfied with his job of slamming the crap out of people on the ice;... [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-tough-guys-or-badasses/629310.md?page=2)