I’ll kill her by Soko (intentionally)
Never going to happy by Lily Allen (I’m only 80% sure intentionally)
Next stop, Reno!
Friend of the Devil by the Grateful Dead
Yeah–in classic country music and in several other genres, the outlaw is the protagonist, so dickish behavior is de rigueur. With those included, this thread is almost like saying, “Songs about love.”
My example, the slow, sweet ballad by Willie Nelson, I Just Can’t Let You Say Goodbye. The singer’s persona is a dude who’s been dumped, who feels humiliated by his ex, and who therefore strangles her to death.
The horrible Nate Ruess/P!nk “Just Give Me a Reason.”
After she complains in verse 1:
Right from the start
You were a thief you stole my heart
And I your willing victim
I let you see the parts of me
That weren’t all that pretty
And with every touch you fixed them
Now you’ve been talking in your sleep
Oh, oh
Things you never say to me
Oh, oh
Tell me that you’ve had enough
Of our love, our love
He gets all condescending/possibly gaslight-y in verse 2:
I’m sorry I don’t understand where all of this is coming from
I thought that we were fine
(Oh we had everything)
Your head is running wild again
My dear we still have everything
And it’s all in your mind
This was a cool-down in my Zumba class, but every session I’d tense up at this and think, Asshole!
I’m Not in Love by 10cc
I Gotcha by Joe Tex
Interesting choice. It could go either way. I’ve debated about this for years. The line about the picture that hides the stain makes me think he IS in love but trying to convince her (and himself) that he really isn’t in love though he really is. Otherwise why have a picture at all?
Pink’s “Please Don’t Leave Me” is a good example.
For a different definition of ‘dick.’ A song from the viewpoint of a very childish spurned teenager having a furious tantrum about how it is all so ‘unfair.’
British sub-punk novelty record Jilted John by Jilted John was a spoken/sung first person account of the protagonist being told by girlfriend Julie that rather than cheat on him she was leaving for the ‘cool and trendy’ Gordon. A disbelieving John exclaims Gordon is a ‘puff.’ Julie counters Gordon is ‘more of a man than you’ll ever be.’
So upset he ‘cries all the way to the chip shop’ (for Americans that would be a fast food shop selling fish and French Fries) John exits to see his former girl and her new beau at the bus stop. Allegedly laughing at him.
Seemingly being done behind their backs, John fumes with a plethora of childish insults (slag, tart, creep, puff) rising to a repeated chant of ‘Gordon is a moron. Gordon is a moron.’
As the song draws to an end a clearly impotent John muses about smashing Gordon’s face in before admitting to himself Gordon is bigger. He considers asking his friend Barry to hit Gordon before remembering Barry is also a friend of Gordon.
Finally John insists unconvincingly ‘I don’t care’ and the song fades out to a reprise of the bitter insults ‘she’s a tart, a slag, he thinks he’s tough, na-na…’
The song reached number 4 in the British charts in 1978.
TCMF-2L
Disagree.
Mr. Bad Example is a dick.
Excitable Boy is mentally ill.
mmm
“…And I turned 21 in prison doin’ life without parole…”
Merle never says what it was, but it must’ve been a doozy of a dick move
“Someone I used to know” by Gotye. He seems really reasonable and then you hear her side of the story.
I suppose it could be a “He Said She Said” kind of thing but I always assumed the song took her side.
Presumably it was murder.
The narrator is evil, but at least he knows he’s evil, that he screwed up his life royally, and that it’s nobody else’s fault. There are song narrators who are equally rotten but either don’t see it or who blame everybody else.
They’re both telling the truth as they see it. Even Gotyer’s character admits things weren’t working out and that they had to split. He just figured he and his ex could still have some kind of relationship. He underestimated how much he hurt her and how bitter she remained.
There doesn’t have to be a clear good or bad guy in every song.
Speaking of the Dead, how about “Me and My Uncle,” which ends with:
I love those cowboys, I love their gold,
I loved my uncle, God rest his soul,
Taught me good, Lord, Taught me all I know
Taught me so well, I grabbed that gold
And I left his dead ass there by the side of the road.
Another one: Lily, Rosemary, and the Jack of Hearts. Dude cleans out the bank safe and gets out of town and for some reason Rosemary stabs Big Jim to death to aid his escape.
Nobody’s mentioned Ricky Nelson’s Travelin’ Man?
I’m a travelin’ man
I’ve made a lot of stops all over the world
And in every part I own the heart
Of at least one lovely girl
And he then goes on to list the “girls” in detail. “Dick” doesn’t begin to describe them guy.
“Dance Hall Days” by Wang Chung. Too creepy for words.
Right. The dicks in that song are They, who keep chalking up psychotic behavior to his just being ‘excitable’ so they don’t have to actually do anything with him.
OP:
Love The One You’re With (Stephen Stills) – This might cryptically be about something else, but on it’s face it’s pretty much, you’re randy, your girl ain’t here, but this one is so have at it.
Don’t You Want Me (Human League) – ‘his’ part of the duet–manipulative, entitled POS.