RationalWiki: The Musical
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Time to put on some Music |
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Soundtrack |
Musicians |
This article is about one-to-one correlation between songs and RationalWiki articles. If you're looking for a more broadly-selected "greatest hits" list for the whole political spectrum, see Fun:Greatest songs, liberal, leftist, and conservative.

Lou Reed's Metal Machine Music: Abandon all hope, ye who enter.
RationalWiki: The Musical is a jukebox musical of choice, cutting music that matches RationalWiki mainspace pages: no crapola ("Kill Ugly Radio" — Frank Zappa), please!
Abortion[edit]
See the main article on this topic: Abortion
- Jello Biafra & Mojo Nixon's "Will the Fetus be Aborted"[1]
- Great Beethoven fallacy: Chuck Berry's "Roll Over Beethoven"[2]
- Pro-life: Monty Python's "Every Sperm is Sacred" [3]
Miscarriage[edit]
See the main article on this topic: Spontaneous abortion in humans
- Sinead O'Connor's "Three Babies"[4]
Animals[edit]
See the main article on this topic: Animal
- Amphibian: Three Dog Night's "Joy to the World" ("Jeremiah was a bullfrog")[5]
- Bird: The Trashmen's "Surfin' Bird"[6] The Pee-wee Herman version[7]
- Chordata: Sam Hinton's "It's a Long Way From Amphioxus"[8]
- Goat: Pearl Jam's "Evil Little Goat"[9]
- Mammal: They Might Be Giants' "Mammal" [10]
- Platypus: Randy Crenshaw's "Perry The Platypus" from Phineas & Ferb[11]
- Reptile: Al Wilson's "The Snake"[12]
- Sheep: Cake's "Sheep Go To Heaven"[13]
- Sheeple: J. S.Bach's "Sheep May Safely Graze"[14]
Primate[edit]
See the main article on this topic: Primates
- The Dickies' "You Drive Me Ape (You Big Gorilla)"[15]
- Viagra Boys' "Cognitive Tradeoff Hypothesis"[16]
- The Monkees' "{Theme From} The Monkees"[17]
- Louis Prima & Phil Harris' "I Wan'na Be Like You" ("The Monkey Song") from Disney's The Jungle Book [18]
- Australopithecus: The Beatles' "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds"[19]
Humans, miscellaneous[edit]
See the main article on this topic: Human
- Nudity: Ray Stevens' "The Streak"[20]
- African American: James Brown's "Say it Loud — I'm Black and Proud"[21]
- Jake Angeli: Yngwie Malmsteen's "I am a Viking"[22]
- Glenn Beck: King Missile's "Sensitive Artist"[23]
- David Bellamy: David Bellamy sings "Brontosaurus, Will You Wait for Me?"[24]
- Tony Blair: D:Ream's "Things Can Only Get Better"[25][note 1]
- Napoleon Bonaparte: Abba's "Waterloo"[26]
- Julius Caesar: Robert Schumann's overture "Julius Caesar"[27]
- Charlemagne: Christopher Lee's symphonic metal albums Charlemagne: By the Sword and the Cross[28] and Charlemagne: The Omens of Death[29]
- Charles III: The Three Degrees' "Givin' Up, Givin' In"[30][note 2]
- Children: Tom Waits' "I Don't Wanna Grow Up"[31] (covered by The Ramones)
- Winston Churchill: The Kinks' "Mr. Churchill Says"[32]
- Ray Comfort and his banana argument: The Dickies version of The Banana Splits' theme song[33]
- Michael Coombs: Bob Marley & The Wailers' "Crazy Baldhead"[34]
- Princess Diana: Elton John's "Candle in the Wind 1997"[35]
- Ian Stuart Donaldson: MDC's "Nazis Shouldn't Drive"[36]
- Albert Einstein: Ian Dury & the Blockheads "There Ain't Half Been Some Clever Bastards"[37][note 3]
- Dwight D. Eisenhower: "I Like Ike" 1952 campaign jingle[38] (also available right here)
- Elizabeth II: Sex Pistols' "God Save the Queen"[39]
- Guy Fawkes: "Guy Fawkes, Fireworks and Gunpowder Plot Song" from the BBC's Horrible Histories [40]
- Nick Fuentes: Dead Kennedys' "Kill the Poor"[41]
- Newt Gingrich: "You're a Mean One, Newt Gingrich"[42]
- Rudy Giuliani: The Specials' "A Message To You Rudy"[43]
- Che Guevara: Carlos Puebla's "Hasta siempre, Comandante" [44] (More commercial and sexier version by Nathalie Cardone)
- Alexander Hamilton: "Alexander Hamilton"[45] from the musical Hamilton
- Kamala Harris: Randy Rainbow's "Kamala"[46]
- Stephen Hawking: MC Hawking's "What We Need More of is Science" [47]
- Joe Hill: Paul Robeson's "Joe Hill"[48]
- Hulk Hogan: Theme tune to Hulk Hogan's TV series Thunder in Paradise[49]
- Henry Kissinger: Monty Python's "Henry Kissinger" [50]
- Timothy Leary: The Moody Blues's "Legend of a Mind" [51]
- Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King Jr., John F. Kennedy, and Robert F. Kennedy: Dion's "Abraham, Martin and John" [52] (covered by Smokey Robinson & The Miracles, Moms Mabley, Marvin Gaye and Beverley Knight)
- Graham Linehan: The Divine Comedy's "Songs Of Love" [53], theme tune to Father Ted, the Channel 4 sitcom that Linehan wrote
- Charles Manson: Sonic Youth's "Death Valley '69"[54]
- Eugene M. McCarthy: Wild Man Fischer's "Monkeys vs Donkeys"[55]
- Patrick Moore: Patrick Moore plays his own composition "Penguin Parade" on the xylophone [56]
- Kristi Noem: Bill Frenzer/Ogden Edsl's "Dead Puppies Aren't Much Fun"[57]
- Barack Obama: White Pegacorn's "Barack Your World"[58]
- Viktor Orbán: "Dés László - Rossz pénz (Üvegtigris Filmzene)"[59]
- Beto O'Rourke: playing in his band "Foss" on local TV[60]
- Mike Pence: Remix of Kamala Harris' "You Have a Fly on Your Head."[61]
- Pocahontas: "Colors of the Wind" from the 1995 Disney film[62]
- Pol Pot: Dead Kennedys' "Holiday in Cambodia"[63]
- Grigori Rasputin: Boney M's "Rasputin"[64]
- Ben Shapiro: Cardi B's "WAP" with the words that Shapiro is unable to utter[65]
- Harry Truman: Chicago's "Harry Truman" [66]
- J. D. Vance stars as the villain in the 'family values' postmodern horror-comedy Too Many Cooks[67]
- Vikings: Led Zeppelin's "Immigrant Song"[68]
- Harold Wilson and Edward Heath: The Beatles' "Taxman"[69]
- Xi Jinping: "Heffalumps and Woozles"[70] from Walt Disney's Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day
Jack Chick[edit]
See the main article on this topic: Jack Chick
- Alice Donut's "Lisa's Father"[71]
- Dead Kennedys' "I Kill Children" (extracted lyrics from Chick's comic "Why No Revival")[72]
Adolf Hitler[edit]
See the main article on this topic: Adolf Hitler
- Mel Brooks' "Springtime for Hitler", from the 1968 version of The Producers[73]
- Spike Jones and His City Slickers' "Der Fuehrer's Face"[74]
Boris Johnson[edit]
See the main article on this topic: Boris Johnson
- The Kunts' "Boris Johnson Is a Fucking Cunt"
[75]
- Boots Randolph's Yakety Sax,
[76] played outside Parliament, as requested by Hugh Grant at the time of Johnson's resignation[77]
Jim Jones[edit]
See the main article on this topic: Jim Jones
- The Brian Jonestown Massacre's "The Ballad of Jim Jones"[78]
- Jim Jones' "I will Fight!" — a sermon by Jones at the peak of his cult[79]
Robert F. Kennedy Jr.[edit]
See the main article on this topic: Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
- Funkadelic's "Maggot Brain" (instrumental)[80]
- Allen Ginsberg sings William Blake's "The Sick Rose"[81] ("The invisible worm…")
Nelson Mandela[edit]
See the main article on this topic: Nelson Mandela
Elon Musk[edit]
See the main article on this topic: Elon Musk
- Frank Zappa's "Yo' Mama"[84] for his mother's peculiarly public preoccupation with touting him
- Dawn of Correction's "Shadows"[85] The drummer, Richard Tornetta, a minor Tesla stockholder, caused Musk to lose a $56 billion compensation package.[86]
- Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy's co-heading of DOGE:
Roky Erickson's "Two Headed Dog"[87] — "I've been working in the Kremlin With a two-headed dog"
Ronald Reagan[edit]
See the main article on this topic: Ronald Reagan
- Jerry Harrison & Bootsy Collins' "Bonzo Goes To Washington: [We Start Bombing in] 5 Minutes"[88]
- W.A.S.P.'s "The Neutron Bomber"[89]
- Weirdo's "We Got the Neutron Bomb"[90]
Margaret Thatcher[edit]
See the main article on this topic: Margaret Thatcher
- Renaud's "Miss Maggie" (available in the original French and English version)
- Pink Floyd's "Pigs (Three Different Ones)"[91]
- Death of Margaret Thatcher: "Ding Dong the Witch is Dead"
from the film The Wizard of Oz[92]
Donald Trump[edit]
See the main article on this topic: Donald Trump
- Shirley Bassey's "Goldfinger"[93] — title song from the James Bond movie
- Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu: Disturbed's "Bad Man"[94]
- Pissgate: Circle Jerk's "Golden Shower of Hits"[95]
- Trumpism: Hasil Adkin's "Chicken Walk"[96] — after the 2025 acronym TACO (Trump Always Chickens Out
)
- Donald Trump Jr.: Frank Zappa's (The Mothers of Invention) "The Idiot Bastard Son"[97]
Astrology[edit]
See the main article on this topic: astrology
- They Might Be Giants' "See the Constellation"[98]
Astronomy[edit]
See the main article on this topic: Astronomy
- Nicolaus Copernicus: Henryk Górecki's "Copernican Symphony"[99]
The Cosmos[edit]
See the main article on this topic: Universe
- Charles Ives' incomplete "Universe Symphony"[100]
- Betelgeuse: Harry Belafonte's "Day O (Banana Boat Song)"[101], as featured in the 1988 film Beetlejuice[102]
- Milky Way: Stephen Hawking sings Monty Python's "Galaxy Song"[103]
Solar System[edit]
See the main article on this topic: Solar System
- Gustav Holst's suite "The Planets"[104]
- John Coltrane's Interstellar Space album[105]
- Earth: Duran Duran's "Planet Earth" [106]
- Mars: David Bowie's "Life on Mars?"[107]
- Pluto: Pluto's theme [108] and Pluto's other theme [109] from the Walt Disney cartoons
- The Sun: Smash Mouth's "Walkin' on the Sun"[110]
- Uranus: Klaatu's "Hanus of Uranus"[111]
- Venus: Lady Gaga's "Venus"[112]
Moon[edit]
See the main article on this topic: Moon
- Gil Scott Heron's "Whitey on the Moon"[113]
- Hollow Moon: Ella Fitzgerald's "It's Only A Paper Moon"[114]
Business[edit]
- Chiquita: Monica Lewis sings the "Chiquita Banana Song" in the original 1947 commercial shown in movie theaters[115]
- Nestlé: "The Milkybar Kid" jingle[116]
- Walmart: "People of Walmart", the original[117]
Climate change[edit]
See the main article on this topic: Climate change
- Tool's "Aenema"[118]
Conspiracy theories[edit]
See the main article on this topic: Conspiracy theory
- 9/11: Martin Noakes "9/11 Building 7"[119]
- Debt slavery#Actual debt slavery: Merle Travis' "Sixteen Tons"[120]
- Freemason: The Simpsons' Stonecutters' Song "We Do"[121]
- Jake Angeli, the "QAnon shaman": The Incredible String Band's "Minotaur's Song"[122] ("I'm the original discriminating buffalo man. And I'll do what's wrong as long as I can!")
- Big Pharma: Exodus' "Chemi-Kill"[123]
- HAARP: Clues' "HAARP" [124]
- Persecution complex: Disturbed's "The Curse"[125]
- QAnon: Disturbed's "Deify"[126][note 4]
- RMS Titanic: Celine Dion's "My Heart Will Go On"[127][note 5]
- Tinfoil hat: "Weird Al" Yankovic's "Foil"[128]
List of predictions of the end of the world[edit]
See the main article on this topic: List of predictions of the end of the world
Denialism[edit]
See the main article on this topic: Denialism
- Men With Day Jobs' "Denial Tango"[133]
- Armenian genocide denial: System of a Down's "P.L.U.C.K."[134] & "Holy Mountains"[135]
- Climate change denial: Midnight Oil's "Rising Seas"[136]
- Crank: Groucho Marx's "Whatever it is, I'm against it!" in the film Horse Feathers[137]
- Willful ignorance: The scene from Judgment at Nuremberg
where the war crimes prosecutor confronts Mrs. Bertholt with intercuts from the song "Du, du liegst mir im Herzen"
("You, You're in My Heart")[138]
Drugs[edit]
See the main article on this topic: Drug
- Iggy Pop's "Lust for Life"[139]
- The Cramps' "New Kind of Kick"[140]
- The Fall's "Mr Pharmacist"[141]
- The Fall's "Totally Wired"[142]
- Spacemen 3's "Taking Drugs to Make Music to Take Drugs To…"[143]
- The Fugs' "I Couldn't Get High"[144] — the song was condemned by the then-future president of the Mormons[145]
- The Verve's "The Drugs Don't Work"[146]
- Purported legal highs: The Dead Milkmen's "Smokin' Banana Peels"[147]
Alcohol[edit]
See the main article on this topic: Alcohol
- George Thorogood & The Destroyers' "One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer"[148]
- Barenaked Ladies' "Alcohol" [149]
- Refreshments' "Mekong" [150]
- Buddy Guy's "Whiskey, Beer and Wine"[151]
- Bing Crosby, Sammy Davis Jr., Dean Martin & Frank Sinatra sing "Mister Booze"[152]
- Chumbawamba's "Tubthumping" [153] ("He drinks a whiskey drink, he drinks a vodka drink/He drinks a lager drink, he drinks a cider drink")
- Hollywood Vampires' "My Dead Drunk Friends" [154]
- Beartooth's "I Have a Problem"[155]
- Prohibition: Prince Buster's "Al Capone"[156]
Alcoholics Anonymous[edit]
See the main article on this topic: Alcoholics Anonymous
Beer[edit]
See the main article on this topic: Beer
Cannabis[edit]
See the main article on this topic: Cannabis
Cocaine[edit]
See the main article on this topic: Cocaine
- Eric Clapton's "Cocaine"[166]
- The original J. J. Cale version[167] — if you don't want to give advertising money to that asshole Clapton
- The Notorious B.I.G.'s "Ten Crack Commandments"[168]
Heroin[edit]
See the main article on this topic: Heroin
Ketamine[edit]
See the main article on this topic: Near-death experience
LSD[edit]
See the main article on this topic: LSD
- The Beatles' "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds"
from the film Yellow Submarine[175] — not actually about LSD according to John Lennon and Paul McCartney despite everyone thinking it was
- The Beatles' "A Day in the Life"
[176] — the more likely LSD-inspired song
Tobacco smoking[edit]
See the main article on this topic: Tobacco smoking
- Tex Ritter's "Smoke! Smoke! Smoke! (That Cigarette)"[177]
- Princess Chelsea's "The Cigarette Duet"[178]
War on Drugs[edit]
See the main article on this topic: War on Drugs
Economics[edit]
See the main article on this topic: economics
- The Refreshments' "Buy American"[181]
- Economic inequality: Motörhead's "Eat The Rich", excerpted from the film of the same name[182]
- Gold: Dan Fogelberg's "The Power of Gold"[183]
- Great Depression: Bing Crosby's "Brother Can You Spare A Dime?"[184]
- Laissez-faire: Digital Underground's "Doowutchyalike"[185]
- Marketing: The Clash's "Koka Kola"[186][note 7]
- Supply-side economics: John Mellencamp's "Pink Houses"[187]
- Trade union: Pete Seeger's "Solidarity Forever"[188]
Corporation[edit]
See the main article on this topic: Corporation
- Desaparacidos "Golden Parachutes" [189]
- The Evens' "No Money" [190]
- Pink Lincolns' "I've Got My Tie On" [191]
Gambling[edit]
See the main article on this topic: Gambling
Money[edit]
See the main article on this topic: Money
- Barrett Strong's "Money (That's What I Want)" [194] (covered by John Lee Hooker, [195] The Beatles [196] and The Flying Lizards [197])
United States dollar[edit]
See the main article on this topic: United States dollar
- U.S. Girls "4 American Dollars"[198]
- Aloe Blacc's "I Need a Dollar"[199]
- Lord Invader's "Rum and Coca-Cola"[200] ("Both mother and daughter working for the Yankee dollar")
Folklore, history and pseudohistory[edit]
- Dwarf: "Heigh-Ho" from Walt Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs [201]
- Easter Bunny: Gene Autry's "Peter Cottontail" [202]
- Fairy tales: Sam the Sham & the Pharaohs' "Li'l Red Riding Hood"[203]
- Feral child: The Troggs' "Wild Thing"[204]
- Giant: PJ Harvey's "50 Ft Queenie"[205]
- Great man theory: The Stranglers' "No More Heroes"[206]
- Human–dinosaur coexistence: Was (Not Was)'s "Walk the Dinosaur"[207]
- Kent State: Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young's "Ohio"[208]
- Middle Ages: Eartha Kitt's "A Knight for My Knights"[209]
- Nationalism in history textbooks: Pete Seeger's "What Did You Learn In School Today?"[210]
- Pagan survivals: PJ Harvey's "Sheela-na-gig"[211]
- Shakespeare authorship: Lord Buckley's "Willie The Shake"[212]
- Stonehenge: Spinal Tap's "Stonehenge"[213]
27 Club[edit]
See the main article on this topic: 27 Club
- The Jim Carroll Band's "People Who Died"[214]
- The Who's "My Generation"[215] — Roger Daltry (1944–) will always be a failure.
American tall tales[edit]
See the main article on this topic: American tall tales
- Dennis Day sings "The Lord is Good to Me" from the 1948 Disney cartoon Johnny Appleseed [216]
- Fess Parker's "The Ballad of Daniel Boone" [217]
- George Bruns & Tom Adair's "Hey, Paul" from the 1958 Disney cartoon Paul Bunyan [218]
- Doris Day sings "Secret Love" from the 1953 film Calamity Jane [219]
- Fess Parker's "The Ballad of Davy Crockett" [220]
- Harry Belafonte sings "John Henry" [221]
- Book of Knots' "John Henry" [222]
- Johnny Cash sings "The Ballad of Casey Jones" [223]
- Lloyd Price's "Stagger Lee" [224]
- Roy Rogers' "Pecos Bill" [225]
- Bing Crosby sings "The Headless Horseman" from the 1949 Disney cartoon The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad [226]
- Astronautalis' "Secrets of the Undersea Bell" [227]
Classical mythology[edit]
See the main article on this topic: Classical mythology
Halloween[edit]
See the main article on this topic: Halloween
- Marilyn Manson's version of "This is Halloween"[234] from The Nightmare Before Christmas
- The Shaggs' "It's Halloween"[235]
- John Carpenter's theme for his 1978 movie Halloween[236]
- Helloween's "Halloween"[237]
King Arthur[edit]
See the main article on this topic: King Arthur
- Rick Wakeman's concept album The Myths And Legends Of King Arthur[238]
- "Knights of the Round Table"[239] from Monty Python and the Holy Grail
Luck[edit]
See the main article on this topic: Luck
- Lene Lovich's "Lucky Number"[240]
- Daft Punk's "Get Lucky"[241]
- Joan Baez's "There but for Fortune" [242]
Internet[edit]
See the main article on this topic: internet
- Wolf Parade's 'Lazarus Online' [243]
- Bo Burnham's "Welcome to the Internet"[244]
- Furries: The Banana Splits' theme song (Tra-La-La song)[245]
- Porn: "The Internet Is For Porn" from the Broadway musical Avenue Q[246]
- Spam: Monty Python's "Spam", the original[247]
- Scam: Hop Alongs' "Tibetan Pop Stars" [248] the studio version [249] is cleaner and easier to hear the lyrics, but I think a live version is in the spirit.
Law and pseudolaw[edit]
See the main article on this topic: Pseudolaw
- Civil disobedience: Malvina Reynolds' "It Isn't nice"[250]
- Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association: Bob Marley & The Wailers' "I Shot the Sheriff"[251]
- Copyright: John Oswald's "DAB" from the Plunderphonics EP, a masterpiece of audio piracy[252]
- Corporal punishment: The Smiths' "The Headmaster Ritual"[253]
- Genocide: Judas Priest's "Genocide"[254]
- Health and safety: Men Without Hats' "The Safety Dance"[255]
- Hearsay: Marvin Gaye's "I Heard It Through The Grapevine"[256]
- Law enforcement: Carter U.S.M.'s "Glam Rock Cops"[257]
- Federal Bureau of Investigation: The Shadows' "F.B.I."[258]
- NAACP: "Lift Every Voice and Sing" (once promoted by the NAACP as a "Negro national anthem")[259]
- Vigilante: Woody Guthrie's "Vigilante Man"[260]
Capital punishment[edit]
See the main article on this topic: Capital punishment
- L7's "Gas Chamber" (performing as the band 'Camel Toe') from John Waters' film Serial Mom[261]
- Nick Cave and the Bad Seed's "The Mercy Seat"[262]
Crime[edit]
See the main article on this topic: Crime
- Judas Priest's "Breaking the Law"[263]
- Dead Kennedys' "Stealing People's Mail"[264]
- The Clash's "Bankrobber" [265]
- Boney M's "Ma Baker" [266]
- Tom Waits' "16 Shells from a Thirty-Ought Six" [267]
- Extrajudicial punishment: Billie Holiday's "Strange Fruit"[268]
- Gang: Link Wray's "Rumble"[269] — caused a minor moral panic by being the only instrumental song banned from US radio for the title's perceived meaning as "gang fight"[270] (e.g. as in West Side Story
)
- ITT Tech: Fela Kuti's "Fela Kuti - I.T.T. (International thief thief)"[271] (different ITT, similar sentiment)
- Jack the Ripper: Screaming Lord Sutch's "Jack the Ripper"[272]
- Nazi human experimentation: Slayer's "Angel of Death"[273]
- Organ theft: John Prine's "Please Don't Bury Me"[274]
- Organized crime: The Danish National Symphony Orchestra plays "The Godfather Orchestral Suite"[275]
- Rape: Nirvana's "Rape Me"[276]
Native American genocide[edit]
See the main article on this topic: Native American genocide
- The Dave Matthews Band's "Don't Drink The Water"[277]
- Neil Young and Crazy Horse's "Cortez the Killer"[278]
Police brutality[edit]
See the main article on this topic: Police brutality
- Rage Against the Machine's "Killing in the Name"[279]
- Run The Jewels' "Walking in the Snow"[280]
- Madison McFerrin's "That Motherfucker's Guilty" (recorded at the time of the conviction of the police officer who murdered George Floyd)[281]
- The Dicks' "The Dicks Hate the Police"[282] — warning: the lyrics contain the n-word
- N.W.A's "Fuck Tha Police"[283]
Prison[edit]
See the main article on this topic: Prison
- Johnny Cash's "Folsom Prison Blues"[284]
- Nina Simone's "Work Song"[285]
- Toots and the Maytals' "54-46 That's My Number"[286]
Language[edit]
See the main article on this topic: Language
- Kikagagu Moyo's "Kodama" [287] - probably a good idea to translate the lyrics if you don't understand them.
- "Weird Al" Yankovic's "Word Crimes"[288]
- [Crazification factor]: Ozzy Osbourne's "Crazy Train"[289]
- Esperanto: "La Espero", the anthem of the Esperanto movement, samba style![290]
- Hebrew: Harry Belafonte sings "Hava Nagila"[291]
- Latin: "Gaudeamus igitur"[292]
- No Cussing Club: Benny Bell's "Shaving Cream"[293]
Good old days[edit]
See the main article on this topic: Good old days
Magic and the paranormal[edit]
See the main articles on this topic: Magic and Paranormal
- Aleister Crowley: Ozzy Osbourne's "Mr. Crowley"[296]
- Curse of Tutankhamun: Steve Martin & the Toot Uncommons' "King Tut"[297]
- Ghost: "When the Night Wind Howls"[298] from Gilbert & Sullivan's Ruddigore
- Near-death experience: L7's "Pretend We're Dead"[299]
- Out-of-body experience: Frank Zappa and the Mothers' "Absolutely Free"[300]
- Paul the Octopus: The Beatles' "Octopus's Garden"[301]
- Zombies: The Zombies' "She's Not There"[302]
Superstition[edit]
See the main article on this topic: Superstition
Vampire[edit]
See the main article on this topic: Vampire
- Bauhaus' "Bela Lugosi's Dead"[305]
- Bill Buchanan's "Beware"[306]
- Toto Coelo's "Dracula's Tango (Sucker For Your Love)" [307]
- Marilyn Manson's "If I Was Your Vampire"[308]
- Annie Lennox's "Love Song for a Vampire"[309]
- Frankie Goes to Hollywood's "The Power of Love"[310] ("I'll protect you from the Hooded Claw/Keep the vampires from your door")
- Don Hinson & the Rigamortician's "Riboflavin-Flavored, Non-Carbonated, Polyunsaturated Blood"[311] (covered by 45 Grave)
- Bonnie Tyler's "Total Eclipse of the Heart" [312][note 8]
- Olivia Rodrigo's "Vampire"[313]
- Godsmack's "Vampires"[314]
- My Chemical Romance's "Vampires Will Never Hurt You"[315]
- Man Man's "Van Helsing Boombox" [316]
Witchcraft[edit]
See the main article on this topic: Witchcraft
Media[edit]
- Animal Farm: Pink Floyd's concept album Animals[319]
- Barbie (film): Aqua's "Barbie Girl"[320]
- BBC: "Lilliburlero" [321], known as the theme to the BBC World Service
- Billy Jack: The Original Caste's "One Tin Soldier"[322]
- Lewis Carroll: Jefferson Airplane's "White Rabbit"[323]
- Channel 4: The Airwaves Orchestra's "Fourscore" [324]
- Cops (TV show): Inner Circle's "Bad Boys" [325]
- Noel Edmonds: Brown Sauce's[note 9] "I Wanna be a Winner"[326]
- Fantasy: Leonard Nimoy's "The Ballad of Bilbo Baggins"[327]
- Fahrenheit 451: Hawkwind's "Fahrenheit 451" [328]
- Frozen: Idina Menzel's "Let It Go"[329]
- Green ink: Kermit the Frog's "Its Not Easy Being Green"[330]
- Jurassic Park: John Williams & Vienna Philharmonic's "Theme from Jurassic Park"[331]
- My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic: Theme tune to the TV series[332]
- Nineteen Eighty-Four: David Bowie's "1984"[333]
- PBS: Theme song from Sesame Street[334]
- The Simpsons: The Simpsons' "Do the Bartman"[335]
- South Park: Isaac Hayes as Chef's "Chocolate Salty Balls"[336]
- Subliminal messages: Las Ketchup's "Asereje (The Ketchup Song)"[337]
- The Sun: Bullets' "Girl on Page 3"[338]
- Shirley Temple: Shirley Temple sings "On the Good Ship Lollipop" [339]
- P. L. Travers: "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" [340] from Mary Poppins
- Mark Twain: Theme tune from the 1979 TV series Huckleberry Finn and his Friends [341]
- The Twilight Zone: Rush's "The Twilight Zone" [342]
- The Walt Disney Company: Louis Armstrong does "When You Wish Upon a Star"[343]
- The Washington Post: John Philip Sousa's "The Washington Post March"[344]
- Oscar Wilde: Sir John Betjeman & Jim Parker's "The Arrest of Oscar Wilde at the Cadogan Hotel"[345]
Blazing Saddles[edit]
See the main article on this topic: Blazing Saddles
- "The Ballad of Rock Ridge"[346]
The originals vs. the Blazing Saddles versions:
- Ella Fitzgerald performs Cole Porter's "I Get a Kick Out of You"[347]
- The Blazing Saddles version[348]
- The original Count Basie version of "April in Paris"[349]
- The Blazing Saddles version[350]
- Marlene Dietrich singing "Ich bin von Kopf bis Fuß auf Liebe eingestellt" from Der Blaue Engel[351]
- Madeleine Kahn's "I'm So Tired",[352] the parody of Dietrich's song
Censorship[edit]
See the main article on this topic: Censorship
- Eric Idle's "Fuck the FCC"[353]
- Yeastie Girlz' "FCC"[354]
- Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake,
which Russians most associate with state censorship of TV (Brezhnev's death, Andropov's death, Chernenko's death, 1991 coup attempt, 2022 invasion of Ukraine)[355]
- Mary Whitehouse: Theme tune to The Mary Whitehouse Experience[356]
A Clockwork Orange[edit]
See the main article on this topic: A Clockwork Orange
- Gioachino Rossini's "William Tell Overture", as heard in the film's original trailer [357] (also available right here)
- "A Clockwork Orange Soundtrack"[358]
Cybernetic revolt (also known as the "Terminator argument")[edit]
See the main article on this topic: Cybernetic revolt
- Emerson Lake & Palmer's "Karn Evil 9"[359]
Dr. Strangelove[edit]
See the main article on this topic: Dr. Strangelove
- Peter Sellers (as Dr. Strangelove) performs The Beatles' "She Loves You"[360]
- The Offspring's "Slim Pickens Does The Right Thing And Rides The Bomb To Hell"[361]
Frankenstein[edit]
See the main article on this topic: Frankenstein
- Edgar Winter Group's "Frankenstein" [362]
- Zodiac Mindwarp & The Love Reaction's "Feed my Frankenstein"[363]
- The Rocky Horror Picture Show's "Over at the Frankenstein Place" [364]
- The Diamonds' "Batman, Wolfman, Frankenstein or Dracula" [365]
- Helloween's "Dr. Stein" [366]
- Sam Cooke's "Another Saturday Night" [367] ("Instead of being my deliverance, she had a strange resemblance/To a cat named Frankenstein")
Music[edit]
See the main article on this topic: Music
- Heptones' (with Lee Scratch Perry) "Play on Mr Music"[368]
- LCD Soundsystem's "Losing My Edge"[369][370]
- Sly & The Family Stone's "Sing a Simple Song"[371]
- Hip-hop: The Sugarhill Gang's "Rapper's Delight"[372]
- Jerry Springer: The Opera "I Just Wanna Dance" and "Some are Descended from Angels" from Jerry Springer: The Opera[373]
- Mozart effect: Mozart's "Sonata for Two Pianos in D, K. 448"[374]
Rock music[edit]
See the main article on this topic: Rock music
- AC/DC's "Let There Be Rock"[375]
- Blue Öyster Cult's "Cities on Flame With Rock and Roll"[376]
- Chuck Berry's "Rock and Roll Music"[377]
- Joan Jett and the Blackhearts' "I Love Rock 'N Roll"[378]
- The Kids' "This Is Rock 'N Roll"[379]
- Led Zeppelin's "Rock and Roll"[380]
- Rainbow's "Long Live Rock 'n' Roll"[381]
- Christian rock: Norman Greenbaum's "Spirit In The Sky"[382] — Yes, it's Christian-themed. Yes, he's Jewish. No, he's not one those types of Jews.
- Punk: The Ramones' "Sheena is a Punk Rocker"[383]
- Straight edge: Minor Threat's "Straight Edge"[384]
"Tomorrow Belongs to Me"[edit]
See the main article on this topic: Tomorrow Belongs to Me
- "Tomorrow Belongs to Me"[385] from the original 1966 Broadway cast recording of Cabaret
- "Tomorrow Belongs to Me"[386] from the soundtrack album of the 1972 film Cabaret
- "Tomorrow Belongs to Me"[387] and its reprise[388] from the 1994 Channel 4 UK TV version of Cabaret based on the 1993 West End production
- "Tomorrow Belongs to Me"[389] and its reprise[390] from the 2021 West End cast recording of Cabaret
- "Tomorrow Belongs to Me" [391] from the soundtrack album of the TV series The Man in the High Castle
Please don't add any of the many recordings by Neo-Nazi dickhead bands of this song written for a 1966 American musical by two Jews, at least one of whom was gay.
Science fiction[edit]
See the main article on this topic: Science fiction
- Rocky Horror Picture Show's "Science Fiction/Double Feature"[392]
- Built to Spill's "Randy Described Eternity"[393]
- Ayn Rand: Rush's "2112"[394] (loosely based on her science fiction novella Anthem
)
- Star Trek: Spizz Energi's "Where's Captain Kirk?"[395]
- The X-Files: Catatonia's "Mulder and Scully" [396]
Philosophy and logic[edit]
See the main article on this topic: Philosophy
- Monty Python's "The Philosophers' Song"[397]
- Argumentum ad cellarium: "Weird Al" Yankovic's It's All About The Pentiums[398]
- Argument by gibberish: Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band's Trout Mask Replica[399]
- Argumentum ad nauseam: Mose Allison's "Your Mind Is on Vacation"[400]
- Argumentum ad populum: Sophie Tucker's "Fifty Million Frenchmen Can't Be Wrong"[401]
- "The French Mistake" from Blazing Saddles[402]
- Bumblebee argument: Rimsky Korsakov's "Flight of the Bumblebee"[403]
- Circular reasoning: Wild Man Fischer's "Merry Go Round"[404]
- Credentialism: Lou Reed's album Metal Machine Music, which inspired his credentialism quote[405](listen at your own risk)
- Didit fallacy: Ella Fitzgerald's "Let's Do It"[406]
- Free will: Rush's "Free Will"[407]
- Hyperbole: Public Enemy's "Don't Believe The Hype"[408]
- Golden hammer: Pete Seeger's "If I Had a Hammer"[409]
- Infinite regress/Solipsism: Jimi Hendrix's "Room Full Of Mirrors"[410]
- Nihilism: The Fugs' "Nothing"[411]
- Pacifism: Pete Seeger's "Study War No More (Down by the Riverside)"[412]
- PIDOOMA: Spinal Tap's "Big Bottom"[413]
- Spider-Man fallacy: Theme tune for the 1967 animated TV series Spider-Man [414]
- Time travel: Rocky Horror Picture Show's "Time Warp"[415]
Death[edit]
See the main article on this topic: Death
- Rev. Gary Davis' "Death Don't Have No Mercy"[416]
- The Fugs' "Carpe Diem"[417]
- Blue Öyster Cult's "Don't Fear the Reaper"[418]
- Led Zeppelin's "In My Time of Dying"[419]
- Charles Gounod's "Funeral March of a Marionette"[420]
- They Might Be Giants' "Dead" [421]
- Blanche's "Someday..." [422]
- Jay Reatard's "It's So Easy" [423]
- Barenaked Ladies' "Am I the Only One" [424]
Epistemology[edit]
See the main article on this topic: Epistemology
- Meat Wave's "Cosmic Zoo" [425]
Human rights[edit]
See the main article on this topic: Human rights
- The Clash's "Know Your Rights"[426]
- Bob Marley & The Wailers' "Get Up, Stand Up"[427]
- The Book of Knots' "View from the Watertower"[428]
Politics[edit]
See the main article on this topic: Politics
- Anarchy: The Orphans' "For an Old Kentucky Anarchist"[429]
- Antifa/Neo-Nazism: Dead Kennedy's "Nazi Punks Fuck Off"[430]
- Apartheid: Spitting Image's "I've Never Met A Nice South African" [431]
- British monarchy: Wee German Lairdie - Scottish Jacobite song [432]
- Robert Byrd: Senator Robert Byrd's "Cumberland Gap"[433]
- Class War: The Dils' "Class War"[434]
- Conservatism: Ozzy Osbourne's "I Don't Wanna Change the World"[435]
- Conservapedia: The Stooges' "No Fun"[436]
- Democracy: Leonard Cohen's "Democracy" [437]
- Fascism: Sonic Youth's "Youth Against Fascism"[438]
- Gun nuts: "Weird Al" Yankovic's "Trigger Happy"[439]
- Imperialism: Fela Kuti's "Colonial Mentality"[440]
- Jingoism: John Prine's "Your Flag Decal Won't Get You into Heaven Anymore"[441]
- Labour Party: "The Red Flag"[442]
- List of former heads of democratic countries charged with crimes: Jimmie Rodgers' "In The Jailhouse Now" (version from the film O Brother, Where Art Thou?)[443]
- Middle East: Spike Jones & His City Slickers do "The Sheik of Araby" [444]
- Personality cult: Living Colour's "Cult of Personality" [445]
- Public education: Pink Floyd's "Another Brick in the Wall"[446]
- Skinheads: Camper Van Beethoven's "Take the Skinheads Bowling"[447]
- The South: Tom Lehrer's "Dixie"[448]
- Undocumented immigration: Phil Ochs "Bracero"[449]
Alt-right[edit]
See the main article on this topic: Alt-right
- Marjorie Taylor Greene ("Jewish space lasers"): "Jews in Space" from Mel Brooks' film History of the World: Part I[450]
- Neoreactionary movement: The Mutants' "New Dark Ages"[451]
- Proud Boys: Adam Jacobs singing "Proud of Your Boy" from the film Aladdin[452] — a rather syrupy ode to "Mom", which was required listening before every PB meeting during the Gavin McInnes era. It was probably used to weed-out critical thinkers just like intentionally poorly-written spam email but was also an expression of McInnes' passive aggression against his wife.
Incel[edit]
See the main article on this topic: Incel
- The Mr. T Experience's "Even Hitler Had a Girlfriend"[453] "The odds are pretty good. But the goods are pretty odd"
- Frank Zappa's "What's the Ugliest Part of Your Body?"[454]
Ameriphobia[edit]
See the main article on this topic: Ameriphobia
- L7's "American Society"[455]
- Rammstein's "Amerika" [456]
- David Bowie's (with Nine Inch Nails) "I'm Afraid of Americans" [457]
- Mass shooting: Desaparacidos' "Von Mauer Massacre" [458]
Joe Arpaio ICE and who didn't see this coming?[edit]
See the main article on this topic: Joe Arpaio
See the main article on this topic: U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement
- Desaparacidos "Marikkkopa" [459]
CIA[edit]
See the main article on this topic: CIA
Communism[edit]
See the main article on this topic: Communism
- Arturo Toscanini conducts "The Internationale"[462]
- The Eat's "Communist Radio"[463]
- Red-baiting: Bob Dylan's "Talkin' John Birch Paranoid Blues"[464]
Dictatorship[edit]
See the main article on this topic: Dictatorship
- The Bobs' "Dictator in a Polo Shirt"[465]
- Judas Priest's "Tyrant"[466]
- Groucho Marx's "These Are the Laws of My Administration" from the film Duck Soup[467]
European Union[edit]
See the main article on this topic: European Union
- Ludwig van Beethoven's "Ode to Joy"[468]
Freedom[edit]
See the main article on this topic: Freedom
Futurism[edit]
See the main article on this topic: Futurism
- Firesign Theatre's I Think We're All Bozos On This Bus[471]
- Sun Ra's "Space Is the Place"[472]
Nations[edit]
See the main article on this topic: Nation
- Funkadelic's "One Nation Under A Groove"[473]
- Australia: Men at Work's "Down Under"[474]
- Austria: Falco's "Rock Me Amadeus" [475]
- Belgium: Plastic Bertrand's "Ça plane pour moi"[476]
- Canada: "Weird Al" Yankovic's "Canadian Idiot"[477]
- Cuba: Desi Arnaz & His Orchestra perform "Cuban Pete" [478]
- Denmark: Danny Kaye sings "Wonderful Copenhagen" [479]
- East Germany: IFA Wartburg's "The free German youth" [480]
- Ecuador: Sash! "Ecuador"[481]
- Egypt: Madness' "Night Boat to Cairo"[482]
- England: Linton Kwesi Johnson's "Inglan Is a Bitch"[483]
- Finland: Jean Sibelius' tone poem "Finlandia"[484]
- France: Serge Gainsbourg & Jane Birkin's "Je t'aime... moi non plus"[485]
- Germany: The Beatles' "Komm gib mir deine Hand" [486]
- Kingdom of Hawaiʻi: Liliʻuokalani's "Aloha ʻOe"[487]
- Hungary: Franz Liszt's "Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2" [488]
- Iceland: Björk's "It's Oh So Quiet" [489]
- Ireland: Pete St. John's "The Fields of Athenry" [490]
- Israel: Esther & Abi Ofarim's "Cinderella Rockefella" [491]
- Israel & Palestine: The Dave Matthews Band's "The Last Stop"[492]
- Italy: Sabrina's "Boys (Summertime Love)" [493]
- Japan: Shonen Knife's version of "Top of the World" [494]
- The Netherlands: Doop's "Doop" [495]
- Northern Ireland: Loudon Wainwright III sings "Carrickfergus" [496]
- North Korea: "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" — North Korean Edition[497]
- Norway: A-Ha's "Take on Me" [498]
- Palestine: Sharon Shannon's "An Phailistín" [499]
- The Philippines: Sexbomb Girls' "The Spaghetti Song" [500]
- Poland: Frédéric Chopin's "Heroic Polonaise (Op. 53 in A Flat Major)" [501]
- Scotland: "Scotland the Brave" [502]
- South Africa: Miriam Makeba's "Pata Pata" [503]
- Soviet Union: The Beatles' "Back in the USSR" [504]
- Spain: Baccara's "Yes Sir, I Can Boogie"[505]
- Sweden: Ace of Base's "All That She Wants" [506]
- Switzerland: Yello's "Oh Yeah" [507]
- Taiwan: S.H.E.'s version of "I've Never Been to Me" [508]
- Turkey: The Four Lads' "Istanbul (Not Constantinople)" [509] (covered by They Might Be Giants)
- United States: Green Day's "American Idiot"[510] and Razorlight's "America"[511]
- Vatican City: Tom Lehrer's "The Vatican Rag"[513]
- Wales: Paul Robeson sings "Land of My Fathers" [514]
Police state[edit]
See the main article on this topic: Police state
Ruling class[edit]
See the main article on this topic: Ruling class
- Leadbelly's "The Bourgeois Blues"[517]
- Motörhead's "Eat The Rich" (from the film of the same title)[518]
Whistleblower[edit]
See the main article on this topic: Whistleblower
See the main article on this topic: Manuel Noriega
- Man Man's 'Black Mission Goggles' [519] It's not just because of the whistles at the beginning but that's a huge bonus [note 10]
Pseudoscience[edit]
See the main article on this topic: Pseudoscience
- Penis enlargement: Speed Queen's "I Wish I Had A Big Cock Just Like Iggy Pop"[520]
- Spontaneous human combustion: The Bobs' "Spontaneous Human Combustion"[521]
- Wind turbine syndrome: Rufus Harley's bagpipe version of "Windy"[522]
Alternative medicine[edit]
See the main article on this topic: Alternative medicine
- Dental woo: "Dentist!" from Little Shop of Horrors with Steve Martin[523]
- Enema: Buck Naked & The Bare Bottom Boys' "Enema Party"[524] NSFW
- Sound healing: Len Chandler & Pete Seeger's "Beans In My Ears"[525]
- Trepanation: Malvina Reynolds' "No Hole In My Head"[526]
- Urine therapy: Frank Zappa's "Don't Eat The Yellow Snow"[527]
Cryonics[edit]
See the main article on this topic: Cryonics
- L7's "Pretend We're Dead"[528]
- Failure's "Solaris" [529] on the horrifying time capsule of saying you weren't good enough before freezing
Cryptids[edit]
See the main article on this topic: Cryptid
- The Cramps' "Human Fly"[530]
- The Cramps' "Goo Goo Muck"[531]
- Bunyip: "The Bunyip Song" from the 1977 Australian animated film Dot and the Kangaroo[532]
- Dragon: Peter, Paul & Mary's "Puff, the Magic Dragon"[533]
- Loch Ness Monster: "You'll Never Find a Nessie in the Zoo" [534] from the final episode of the UK animated TV series The Family Ness
- Mermaid: David Mallet, Thomas Arne & Lord Bolingbroke's "Married to a Mermaid"[536]
- Unicorn: The Irish Rovers' "The Unicorn"[537]
Lycanthropy[edit]
See the main article on this topic: Lycanthropy
Food woo[edit]
See the main article on this topic: Food woo
- Carrot: Harry Champion's "Boiled Beef and Carrots"[543]
- Cat food: Meow Mix jingle[544]
- Cholesterol denialism, Dietary cholesterol: Lard's "The Power of Lard"[545]
- Coffee: The Inkspots' "The Java Jive"[546]
- Fast food: Fast Food Rocker's "Fast Food Song"[547]
- Heart Attack Grill: "Weird Al" Yankovic's "Eat It"[548]
- Milk: Benny Hill's "Ernie (The Fastest Milkman in the West)"[549]
New Age[edit]
See the main article on this topic: New Age
- Deadeye Dick's "New Age Girl"[550]
- Frank Zappa's "Cosmik Debris"[551]
- MU330's "These Rocks have Energy" [552]
Earth angels[edit]
See the main article on this topic: Earth angels
- The Penguins' "Earth Angel (Will You Be Mine)"[553] (covered by The Crew-Cuts [554] and for the Back to the Future soundtrack [555])
- Amyl and the Sniffers' "Guided by Angels"[556]
Ufology[edit]
See the main articles on this topic: Ufology and Extraterrestrial
- Babylon Zoo's "Spaceman"[557]
- Blink 182's 'Aliens Exist' [558]
- David Bowie's "Starman" [559]
- Burt Bacharach, Mack David & Bernie Knee's "The Blob"[560]
- Alien invasion: Jeff Wayne's adaptation of War of the Worlds[561]
- Heaven's Gate: Radiohead's "Subterranean Homesick Alien"[562]
- Men in black: Will Smith's "Men In Black"[563]
- Roswell: Saxon's "There's Something In Roswell"[564]
Psychology[edit]
See the main article on this topic: Psychology
- ADHD: System of a Down's "Toxicity"[565]
- Bullying Robbie Wycoff's "He's a Bully" (from Phineas and Ferb) [566]
- Confirmation bias: Todd Snider's "Mission Accomplished (Because You Gotta Have Faith)" [567]
- Dancing mania: James Brown's "I Got Ants In My Pants (And I Need To Dance)"[568]
- Delusions of grandeur: Bad Livers' "Delusions of Banjer"[569]
- Greed: Queen's "I Want It All"[570]
- Illness anxiety disorder: Falling in Reverse's "Voices in My Head"[571]
- Paranoia: The Dickies' cover of Black Sabbath's "Paranoid" (because it's harder to hear the sucky lyrics in the cover version)[572]
- Schadenfreude: "Schadenfreude" from the musical Avenue Q[573]
- PTSD: Dream Theater's "The Enemy Inside"[574]
- Transactional Analysis: The Dickies' "I'm OK You're OK"[575]
- Wishful thinking: Go West's "King of Wishful Thinking"[576]
Humanistic psychology[edit]
See the main article on this topic: Humanistic psychology
Stockholm syndrome[edit]
See the main article on this topic: Stockholm syndrome
- Muse's "Stockholm Syndrome" [579]
- Yo La Tengo's "Stockholm Syndrome" [580]
- John Prine's "I Hate It When That Happens to Me" [581]
Racism, racialism, and bigotry[edit]
- Harry Belafonte's "Black and White (Together)"[582]
- Tom Lehrer's "National Brotherhood Week"[583]
- Antiziganism: Lady Gaga's "Gypsy"[584]
- Apartheid: Eddy Grant's "Gimme Hope Jo'Anna"[585]
- Bigotry: Tim Minchin's "Prejudice"[586]
- Black Lives Matter: Clipping's "Blood of the Fang"[587]
- Black supremacy#Afrocentrism: Black Uhuru's "Whole World Is Africa"[588]
- Blackface: Al Jolson sings "My Mammy"[589] (If you just want to hear Jolson pretending to sound Black without seeing him pretend to look Black, there's this version.)
- Everyone is racist: "Everyone's A Little Bit Racist" from the musical Avenue Q[590]
- Japanese-American concentration camps: Fort Minor's "Kenji"[591]
- Ku Klux Klan: The Ramones' "The KKK Took My Baby Away"[592]
- Nigger: Mystikal's "That's the Nigga" [593]
- Paradox of tolerance: Disturbed's "Who Taught You How to Hate"[594]
Slavery[edit]
See the main article on this topic: Slavery
- Burning Spear's "Slavery Days"[595]
- Rainbow's "Stargazer"[596]
- Rage Against the Machine's "Down Rodeo"[597]
Religion[edit]
See the main article on this topic: Religion
- Mr. Loco's "Religious Man" [598]
- Afterlife: Nick Cave & Friends' "Death is Not the End"[599]
- Babylon: The Melodians' "Rivers Of Babylon"[600]
- Blasphemy: Public Image Ltd's "Religion"[601]
- The Book of Mormon: "Hello!" from the musical The Book of Mormon[602]
- Black Hebrew Israelites: Desmond Dekker & The Aces' "Israelites"[603]
- Boy Scouts of America: Tom Lehrer's "Be Prepared"[604]
- Cult: "Blumenkranz" from Kill la Kill[note 11]
- Epic of Gilgamesh: Bohuslav Martinů's Oratorio "The Epic of Gilgamesh"[605]
- Evil: Eartha Kitt's "I Want to Be Evil"[606]
- Voltaire's "When You're Evil"[607]
- Fundamentalism: Disturbed's "Liberate"[608]
- Human sacrifice: Bob Dylan's "Highway 61 Revisited"[609]
- International Society for Krishna Consciousness: Allen Ginsberg sings the Hare Krishna mantra to William F. Buckley[610] — who should have been more embarrassed by this: Ginsberg, Buckley or the Hare Krishas?
- Judaism: "Tradition"[611] from Fiddler on the Roof
- Just world fallacy: The Shaggs' "Philosophy of the World"[612]
- Karma: Toots and the Maytals' "Pressure Drop"[613]
- Krishna: The Bobs' "Slow Down Krishna"[614]
- Mormonism: "I Believe" from the musical The Book of Mormon[615]
- Norse mythology: Richard Wagner's 15 hours "Ring" cycle[616]
- Problem of evil: Bad Religion's "God's Love"[617]
- Religious leaders: Allen Ginsberg sings William Blake's "Garden of Love"[618]
- Rastafarianism: Bob Marley & the Wailers' "Iron Lion Zion"[619]
- Sacrifice: Elton John's "Sacrifice" [620]
- Saint John Coltrane Church: John Coltrane's A Love Supreme album[621]
- Sin: Nina Simone's "Sinnerman"[622]
- Sufism: Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan's "Mustt Mustt"[623]
- Wicca: The Sword's "Maiden, Mother & Crone"[624]
- Yogic flying: Black Flag's "Rise Above"[625]
Angel[edit]
See the main article on this topic: Angel
- Chip Taylor's "Angel of the Morning"[626], as performed by Evie Sands,[627], Merilee Rush, [628], P. P. Arnold,[629] Juice Newton[630] and The Pretenders [631]
Atheism[edit]
See the main article on this topic: Atheism
- FAQ for the Newly Deconverted: R.E.M.'s "Losing My Religion"[632]
- Modest Mouse's "Teeth Like God's Shoeshine" [633]
Book of Genesis[edit]
See the main article on this topic: Book of Genesis
- Joseph Haydn's "The Creation"[634]
- The "Genesis Suite", conceived by Nathaniel Shilkret, which includes collaborations from some of the greatest composers of the 20th century, such as Arnold Schoenberg and Igor Stravinsky.[635]
- Garden of Eden Iron Butterfly's "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida"[636]
Christianity[edit]
See the main article on this topic: Christianity
- Tom Waits' "Down There by the Train" it covers enough that I'll let you pick [637]
- Amish: "Weird" Al Yankovic's "Amish Paradise"[638]
- Bible Belt: Tyminski's "Southern Gothic"[639]
- Jim Bakker: Frank Zappa's "Jesus Thinks You're A Jerk", which is specifically about Bakker[640]
- Creation science: The Rudy Schwartz Project's "Creation Science Polka"[641]
- Christophobia: Negativland's "The Mashin' of the Christ"[642]
- Crucifiction: Monty Python's "Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life" from Life of Brian[643]
- De-evolution: Devo's "Jocko Homo"[644] ("Are we not men? We are Devo.")
- The Divine Comedy: Iced Earth's "Dante's Inferno"[645]
- Easter: Bing Crosby sings Irving Berlin's "Easter Parade" [646] and so do Judy Garland & Fred Astaire [647]
- God (the Christian version): Norman Greenbaum's "Spirit in the Sky"[648]
- Herod: "Herod's Song"[649] from Jesus Christ Superstar
- Kent Hovind: eddygoombah's "Tribute to Kent Hovind"[650]
- Judas Iscariot: "Damned for All Time" and "Blood Money"[651] from Jesus Christ Superstar'
- Book of Judges: Blind Willie Johnson's "If I Had My Way I'd Tear The Building Down"[652]
- Limbo: Chubby Checker's "Limbo Rock"[653]
- Mary Magdalene: "I Don't Know How to Love Him"[654] from Jesus Christ Superstar
- Mary (mother of Jesus) Franz Schubert's "Ave Maria"[655]
- Messiah: Georg Friedrich Händel's "Messiah"[656]
- Name it and claim it: O'Jay's "For the Love of Money"[657]
- Pontius Pilate: "Pilate's Dream" [658] from Jesus Christ Superstar
- Book of Revelation: Genesis's "Supper's Ready"[659]
- Salem witch trials: Lonewolf's "Words of the Witch"[660]
- Spanish Inquisition: "The Inquisition" from Mel Brooks' film History of the World: Part I[661]
- Televangelists: Genesis's "Jesus He Knows Me"[662]
- YMCA: Village People's "YMCA"[663]
Armageddon[edit]
See the main article on this topic: Armageddon
- Venom's "At War with Satan"[664]
- The Dickies' version of "Eve Of Destruction"[665]
- Trivium's "Wake (The End Is Nigh)"[666]
Jesus[edit]
See the main article on this topic: Jesus
War on Christmas and Christmas[edit]
See the main articles on this topic: War on Christmas and Christmas
- Perry Como's "(There's No Place Like) Home for the Holidays"[672] from 1954!
- Bing Crosby sings Irving Berlin's "Happy Holiday"[673] from 1942!
- Isaac Hayes as Chef's "Christmas Lovin'" song from the Non-Offensive, Non-Denominational Holiday Play in the first season of South Park [674]
- "The World Turned Upside Down
", 17th century protest song against the banning of Christmas celebrations in England by Oliver Cromwell's Puritanical Parliamentary government following the English Civil War [675]
- John Lennon with The Plastic Ono Band and The Harlem Community Choir's "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)"[676]
- Jona Lewie's "Stop The Cavalry" [677]
Santa Claus[edit]
See the main article on this topic: Santa Claus
Heaven[edit]
See the main article on this topic: Heaven
- Joe Hill's "The Preacher and the Slave" ("You'll get pie in the sky when you die."): Utah Philips version Joe Glazer version
- Monty Python's "Christmas in Heaven"[682]
Hell[edit]
See the main article on this topic: Hell
Idolatry[edit]
See the main article on this topic: Idolatry
- Teenage Cool Kids' 'Beyond the Grasp of Guilt' [687]
- The Goldcoast Singers' "Plastic Jesus"[688]
- The National's "Mr. November" [689]
Satan[edit]
See the main article on this topic: Satan
- The Rolling Stones' "Sympathy for the Devil"[690]
- The Charlie Daniels Band's "The Devil Went Down to Georgia"[691]
- And the long awaited sequel by Mark O'Connor featuring Johnny Cash, Charlie Daniels, Travis Tritt, and Marty Stuart: "The Devil Comes Back to Georgia"[692]
- King Dude's "Lucifer's the Light of the World"[693]
- Elvis Presley's "(You're the) Devil in Disguise" [694]
- Cliff Richard's "Devil Woman" [695]
- Edward Hamilton's "Pack Up Your Troubles In Your Old Kit Bag And Smile, Smile, Smile!"[696] — with the original lyrics, "And smile, smile, smile. While you've a lucifer to light your fag"
- Anton LaVey: Anton LaVey returns to his carnival roots with "Satan Takes a Holiday"[697]
Satanic panic[edit]
See the main article on this topic: Satanic Panic
- Cake's "Pentagram"[698]
- Lil Nas X’s "Montero (Call Me By Your Name)",[699] which caused a 21st century panic[700]
Science, technology, environment, and math[edit]
- Thomas Dolby's "She Blinded Me With Science"[701]
- They Might Be Giants' "Science Is Real"[702]
- Animal Liberation Front — Dana Lyons' "Cows With Guns"[703]
- CERN/Large Hadron Collider: Large Hadron Rap[704]
- ChatGPT: Firesign Theatre's I Think We're All Bozos On This Bus[705]
- Computer: Kraftwerk's "Computer Love"[706]
- Diamond: Marilyn Monroe's "Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend"[707]
- Element: Tom Lehrer's "The Elements"[708]
- Enshittification: Too Many Cooks[711]
- Global warming: Disturbed's "Another Way to Die"[712]
- Greenwashing: The Muppets' Kermit the Frog's "Its Not Easy Being Green"[713]
- Holography: Gerry & The Holograms' "Gerry & The Holograms"[714]
- Immortality: Alphaville's "Forever Young"[715]
- Large language model: HAL 9000 sings "Daisy Bell" in Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey[716]
- Monkey typewriter theory: Leroy Anderson's "The Typewriter" performed by Leroy Anderson Martin Breinschmid with Strauß Festival Orchestra[717]
- New Math: Tom Lehrer's "New Math"[718]
- Nuclear science: Timbuk 3's "The Future's So Bright, I Gotta Wear Shades" [719]
- Pollution: Tom Lehrer's "Pollution"[720]
- Roko's basilisk: Grimes - "We Appreciate Power"[721]
- Sleep: Pup's "Totally Fine"[722]
- Snow: Dean Martin sings "Let it Snow! Let it Snow! Let it Snow!"[723][note 12]
- Tree: Clint Eastwood sings "I Talk to the Trees"[724] from Paint Your Wagon
- Water: Gene Kelly sings "Singin' in the Rain"[725]
Evolution[edit]
See the main article on this topic: Evolution
- Roomrunner's "Weird" [726] Describe yourself to the strangest animal.
- Fossil record: Science with Tom's "Fossil Rock Anthem" [727]
- Living fossil#Elvis taxon: Mojo Nixon's "Elvis is Everywhere"[728]
Medicine[edit]
See the main article on this topic: Medicine
- Bon Jovi's "Bad Medicine"[729]
- Aging: The Beatles' "When I'm 64"[730]
- Cancer: Joe Jackson's "Cancer"[731]
- Dentistry: Little Shop of Horrors' "Dentist!" [732]
- Gulf War syndrome: Moxy Fruvous' "Gulf War Song"[733]
- HIV/AIDS: Diamanda Galás' "This Is The Law of the Plague"[734]
- Stem cell research: Dream Theater's "The Great Debate"[735]
NASA[edit]
See the main article on this topic: NASA
- Tom Lehrer's "Wernher von Braun"[736]
- Elton John's "Rocket Man"[737]
- Sam Ryder's "Spaceman"[738]
Physics[edit]
See the main article on this topic: Physics
- Faster-than-light travel: Yngwie Malmsteen's "Faster Than Speed Of Light" [739]
Rainbow[edit]
See the main article on this topic: Rainbow
See the main article on this topic: Argument from beauty
- Akron/Family's "There's So Many Colors" [745] Lyrics eventually I know it's a long one "sunrise, sunset, sun never set and rise to reach." As in a sunrise or sunset is beautiful but not intentional, not some Godly gift, just something very pretty cool we get to see sometimes. Same as a rainbow.
Radio[edit]
See the main article on this topic: Radio
Transportation[edit]
- Aircraft: Pink Floyd's "Learning to Fly"[750]
- Automobile: The Dickies' "Manny, Moe and Jack"[751]
- Bicycle: Frank Zappa playing music on a bicycle on the Steve Allen TV show[752] and Queen's Bicycle Race [753]
Rail transportation[edit]
See the main article on this topic: Rail transportation
- Lester Flatt & Earl Scruggs' "Orange Blossom Special"[754]
- Justin Towns Earle's "Workin' for the MTA" [755]
- Keith & Tex's "Stop That Train"[756] — the rocksteady song that launched a thousand reggae songs
Y2K[edit]
See the main article on this topic: Y2K
Sex and gender[edit]
See the main article on this topic: Sex
- The Buzzcocks' "Orgasm Addict"[759]
- Mousse T's "Horny"[760]
- Salt-N-Pepa's "Let's Talk About Sex"[761]
- Spinal Tap's "Sex Farm"[762]
- Tool's "Prison Sex" [763]
- Anal sex: Eddie Murphy's "Boogie In Your Butt"[764]
- Birth control: Monty Python's "Every Sperm Is Sacred" from The Meaning of Life[765]
- Bra: Bette Midler's "Otto Titsling" from Beaches[766]
- Circumcision/Penis enlargement: King Missile's "Detachable Penis"[767]
- Cunt: "Cibai Bai"
[768]
- Feminism: Beyoncé's "Run the World (Girls)" [769]
- Marriage: Toots and The Maytals' "Sweet and Dandy"[770]
- Masochism: Tom Lehrer's "The Masochism Tango"[771]
- Menstruation: The Steriles' "On the Rag"[772]
- NoFap: Tool's "Stinkfist"[773]
- Open marriage: Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass' "Swinger from Seville" [774]
- Pick-up artist: Britney Spears' "Womanizer"[775]
- Pornography: Tom Lehrer's "Smut"[776]
- Sexuality: Slothrust's "Spill the Juice" [777]
- Sexually transmitted disease: Frank Zappa's "Why Does It Hurt When I Pee?"[778]
- Sodomy: "Sodomy" from the Peter Jackson film Meet the Feebles[779]
BDSM[edit]
See the main article on this topic: BDSM
- The Velvet Underground's "Venus in Furs"[780]
- X-Ray Spex's "Oh Bondage! Up Yours!"[781] — banned by Auntie Beeb
LGBT[edit]
See the main article on this topic: LGBT
- Belle and Sebatian's "Act of the Apostle" [782]
- Drowners' "Long Hair" [783]
- Bisexuality: Green Day's "Coming Clean" [784]
- Homophobia: Chumbawumba's "Homophobia"[785]
Cross-dressing[edit]
See the main article on this topic: Cross-dressing
- Rocky Horror Picture Show's "Sweet Transvestite"[786]
- Monty Python's The Lumberjack Song[787]
Homosexuality[edit]
See the main article on this topic: Homosexuality
Same-sex marriage[edit]
See the main article on this topic: Same-sex marriage
- The Tanks 'Kirby Loves Dudes' [794]
Transgender[edit]
See the main article on this topic: Transgender
- Transphobia and public restrooms: Tribe 8's "Wrong Bathroom"[795]
- The Who's "I'm a Boy"[796]
- Wrabel's "The Village"[797]
- The Kinks' "Lola"[798] (Had to be partially rerecorded for the BBC. Not because of anything to do with gender or sexuality, but to avoid giving free advertising to Coca-Cola
)
- Beyoncé's "If I Were A Boy" [799] (while not strictly related, often used as a FTM Trans anthem)
Masturbation[edit]
See the main article on this topic: Masturbation
Men Going Their Own Way[edit]
See the main article on this topic: Men Going Their Own Way
- Deep Purple's "Rat Bat Blue"[804]
- Nancy Sinatra "These Boots" [805] This was supposed to be big man Lee Hazelwood's song, but woke bullhonkey said it would be better if a woman sang it
- Utah Phillips' "Rock Salt and Nails" covered by Tyler Childers [806]. Can't find the original on youtube, probably because it's a song that contains ideations of explicit violence towards all women based on a bad relationship with one, and if it got taken wrong by the wrong people, I'd want to keep my name off of it too.
Social justice[edit]
See the main article on this topic: Social justice
- Disability: The Who's Tommy rock opera[807]
Vegetarianism[edit]
See the main article on this topic: vegetarianism
War[edit]
See the main article on this topic: War
- The Marx Brothers' "The Country's Going to War" from the film Duck Soup[811]
- AC/DC "War Machine" [812]
- Edwin Starr's "War"[813]
- Black Sabbath's "War Pigs"[814]
- Benjamin Britten's "War Requiem"[815]
- The Fugs' "Kill for Peace"[816]
- Pink Floyd's "Us and Them"[817]
- Agent Orange: REM's "Orange Crush"[818]
- Conscription: Frank Zappa's "I Don't Wanna Get Drafted"[819]
- Crusades: Saxon's "Crusader"[820]
- English Civil War: Elvis Costello & The Attractions' "Oliver's Army"[821]
- Syrian Civil War: Myrath's "Dance"[822]
- War of 1812: Jimmy Driftwood's "The Battle of New Orleans" [823] (covered by Johnny Horton and Lonnie Donegan)
American Civil War[edit]
See the main article on this topic: American Civil War
- "Marchin' Through Georgia"[824] — a marching song commemorating Sherman's March on Atlanta
- Vilkas Music's "Union Dixie - Eurobeat Remix"[825]
- Ennio Morricone's "The Story of a Soldier" [826] from The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
Chickenhawk[edit]
See the main article on this topic: Chickenhawk
- Monty Python's "The Tale of Sir Robin"[827] from the film Monty Python and the Holy Grail
- Roger Waters' "The Bravery of Being Out of Range"[828]
Gunboat diplomacy[edit]
See the main article on this topic: Gunboat diplomacy
- Tom Lehrer's "Send the Marines"[829]
- Phil Ochs' "Cops of the World"[830] and "Santo Domingo"[831]
- Neil Young's "Powderfinger" [832]
Nuclear war[edit]
- Black Sabbath's "Electric Funeral"[833]
- The Weirdos' "We Got The Neutron Bomb"[834]
- Crack The Sky's "All Fly Away"[835]
The Troubles[edit]
See the main article on this topic: The Troubles
Vietnam War[edit]
See the main article on this topic: Vietnam War
World War III[edit]
See the main article on this topic: World War III
- Tom Lehrer's "We Will All Go Together When We Go"[843]
- Tom Lehrer's "So Long, Mom (A Song for World War III)"[844]
- Randy Newman's "Political Science (Let's Drop the Big One Now)"[845]
- Vera Lynn's admittedly-mawkish "We'll Meet Again", with the visuals from the ending of Dr. Strangelove turning it on its head[846]
Encore: Funspace, Helpspace, and oddments[edit]
- Funspace, pro: Flipper's "Ha Ha Ha"[847]
- Funspace, con: Hüsker Dü's "It's Not Funny Anymore"[848]
- Fun:American football: Bobby Bare's "Drop Kick Me Jesus"[849]
- Fun:Asshole: Frank Zappa's "Broken Hearts Are For Assholes"[850]]
- RationalWiki:DysLexicon#Banhammer: Devo's "Uncontrollable Urge"[851]
- Category:Black nationalism: Parliament's "Chocolate City"[852]
- RationalWiki:Blocking policy: Thomas Jefferson Slave Apartments' "Negative Guest List"[853]
- Category:Cartoons and comics: Happy Flowers' "I Said I Wanna Watch Cartoons"[854] — rather less irritating than Metal Machine Music
- Fun:Cats & Fun:Dogs: The Cramps' "Can Your Pussy Do The Dog?"[855] and Hasil Adkins' "Boo Boo the Cat"[856]
- Fun:Cider: The Wurzels' "I am a Cider Drinker"[857]
- Conservapedia:Conservative: Tool's "The Grudge"[858]
- Fun:Dalek: The Timelords' "Doctorin' the Tardis"[859] and its mashup with Green Day's "Holiday" as Dean Gray's "Doctor Who on Holiday"[860]
- Fun:Eurovision Song Contest: Monty Python's Europolice Song Contest with "Sgt. Duckie's Song" and "Bing Tiddle Tiddle Bong"[861]
- Fun:Fox Jimi Hendrix's "Foxey Lady"[862]
- Category:Government surveillance: Judas Priest's "Electric Eye"[863]
- Goth: Havergal Brian's "Gothic Symphony"[864]
- Fun:Horse: America's "A Horse With No Name"[865]
- RationalWiki:Leaving and never coming back: The Mr. T Experience's "So Long Sucker"[866]
- Fun:LOLCatistianity: The Bobs' "Fluffy's Master Plan for World Domination"[867]
- Conservapedia:Machismo Village People's "Macho Man"[868]
- Monster (fork): Bobby Pickett's "Monster Mash"[869] or The Automatic "Monster"[870]
- Fun:Monty Python: Auckland Symphony Orchestra's version of John Phillip Sousa's "Liberty Bell March" (the Monty Python theme song)[871]
- RationalWiki:Pissed at us: L7's "Shitlist"[872]
- Fun:Planet of the Apes: The musical Stop the Planet of the Apes, I Want to Get Off! from The Simpsons [873]
- Fun:Elvis Presley: Mojo Nixon's "Elvis is Everywhere"[874]
- Fun:Stupidity: Thomas Jefferson Slave Apartment's "You Can't Kill Stupid"[875]
- RationalWiki:Sysops: Suburban Lawns' "Janitor"[876]
- Fun:Whisky: Thin Lizzy's "Whiskey in the Jar"[877]
- WIGO: Marvin Gaye's "What's Going On"[878]
- Woke (fork): Snow Tha Product's "Snooze"[879]
Boredom[edit]
See the main article on this topic: Help:Bored
Fart[edit]
See the main article on this topic: Fun:Fart
Shit[edit]
See the main article on this topic: Fun:Shit
See also[edit]
- 2001 Clear Channel memorandum — an attempt at a banned music list after 9/11
Notes[edit]
- ↑ D:Ream's "Things Can Only Get Better" was used by Tony Blair's Labour Party as its campaign song for the 1997 UK general election
- ↑ According to this 2021 BBC news story, The Three Degrees' "Givin' Up, Givin' In" was the then Prince Charles' favorite song.
- ↑ "There Ain't Half Been Some Clever Bastards" also references Noël Coward, Vincent van Gogh, Leonardo da Vinci and Andrés Segovia, but we don't have articles on them.
- ↑ This song was most likely written about George W. Bush, but it's just as applicable to Donald Trump's personality cult.
- ↑ The Titanic sinking has drawn a lot of conspiracy theories.
- ↑ It is about hitting a Ketamine high that is so intense you feel powerless and are tripping so hard you think you're dead, called a K-hole. It can happen with a lot of drugs in their own ways, and it's not exactly proven that modern medical anesthesia does much more than just give you a heavy enough dose that both sedates/immobilizes you and makes you unable to form memories, which is fine for horses and dogs but not a great after school activity. It's like being blackout drunk except you can't stand stand up even if you tried, which, okay, is maybe a positive. That's why I only tried Ketamine once, Elon. Micro dosing is pussy shit and you will look like a drunk asshole fighting for his life to just stand up straight and keep his eyes open even on low doses. Go for the K hole in a controlled safe environment if you're truly curious, but do it under the care of a licensed veterinarian at the very least, for legal reasons.
- ↑ There's also some ample references to cocaine usage (natch), but that doesn't really show up until the last quarter of the song.
- ↑ Word of God (in the TV Tropes sense) on this song is that it's a love song for vampires.
- ↑ Brown Sauce
was a short-lived 1980s pop band made up of Noel Edmonds and his fellow Multi-Coloured Swap Shop
presenters, Keith Chegwin
and Maggie Philbin
.
- ↑ I have seen these guys live three times, and can confirm they had tons of this exact energy the first time I saw them. They lost a lot of the chaotic steam by the third time, which, who could blame them, touring endless and sweating through their war paint. But I did see them at peak, climbing all over each other to bang on a pile of household objects and toys and somehow keep it cohesive, just the definition of performing art.
- ↑ You might need to be familiar with the anime in question to fully get this one, but the comments in an older upload do helpfully explain it.
- ↑ One of the many Christmas songs written or co-written by Jews.
- ↑ Funnily enough, in spite of what Kermit says, there aren't that many songs about rainbows.
- ↑ The theme to the excellent British children's TV series Rainbow
- ↑ Monster Movies Zappa Wiki Jawaka.