Songs That Make You Want to Get Up And/Or Kick Ass
Submitted by CaptMal on Fri, 06/15/2007 - 03:28
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- All Day and All of the Night - The Kinks
- I just recently listened to this song for the first time in a long time, and I swear to God the insane power chords that build throughout gave me chills.
- Another One Bites the Dust - Queen
- As with most Queen songs, there's not a lot going on here other than what the title makes clear: Somebody gonna die, and you're present at their sonic annihilation.
- April 29, 1992 (Miami) - Sublime
- About the riots sparked by the Rodney King incident, this ode to anarchy and violence is Sublime at its very best.
- Beat on the Brat - Ramones
- If you have someone bratty in your life, they better watch their ass.
- Blitzkrieg Bop - Ramones
- This lightning rock war song gets you off your feet with a "Hey ho!" and keeps you tapdancing across the minefield.
- Bohemian Rhapsody - Queen
- The guitar near the end is ungodly.
- A Boy Named Sue - Johnny Cash
- There's just something about hearing folks at San Quentin eating up Johnny's story about how he beat the shit out of the man who dared to name him Sue that makes you want to follow suit.
- Break on Through (To the Other Side) - The Doors
- One of Jim Morrison's most powerful vocals, and just a driving energy that never lets up.
- Bring on the Lucie (Freda Peeple) - John Lennon
- One of Lennon's more rousing yet underappreciated political anthems, "Bring on the Lucie" is a clever stab at politics. And when you're as political as I am, hearing John say that the fat cats are jerking off each other and that their names are 666, well, you can't help but get a little riled.
- Death or Glory - The Clash
- The title pretty much says it, but it's a powerful frenzy that makes me want to beat somebody up.
- Folsom Prison Blues - Johnny Cash
- This song is always brilliant, and especially in its live incarnation on At Folsom Prison, wherein Johnny sings to the idolizing masses of thieves, murderers, rapists, and other assorted criminals that once he shot a man in Reno just to watch him die. Preachin' to the choir, J.R.
- God's Gonna Cut You Down - Johnny Cash
- No singer's voice closer comes to what one would imagine as the voice of God than Cash's, and when he's telling you he's gonna cut you down, you take him for his word.
- Helter Skelter - The Beatles
- Well, it certainly made Charles Manson want to do something...
- Housequake - Prince
- Prince knows how to get things moving, and this talent is at its best here. If you're not dancing, you're dead.
- How Do You Sleep? - John Lennon
- This is one of the most scathing personal attacks I've ever heard, Lennon tearing apart McCartney. And even if you like both of the guys--like me--Lennon very easily persuades you to spit in McCartney's face or, really, anyone's.
- Hound Dog - Elvis Presley
- If you've ever had someone betray you, you immediately relate to this song.
- I Am the Walrus - The Beatles
- I hope I'm not the only one who kinda gets this empowering feeling from this song, like, "I am the walrus!"
- I Feel the Earth Move - Carole King
- Her vocals are amazing here, and really lend this song a "Hell yes, get out of my way" edge on top of the already empowering lyrics.
- I Fought the Law - The Clash
- So, okay, most songs by the Clash make me feel like wanting to kick ass, but "I Fought the Law" genuinely does it. I don't care if the law wins in the end, you've gone the distance, and that's what counts.
- Icky Thump - The White Stripes
- So I'm not yet entirely sure what this song is about, but it's angry and I like it.
- Instant Karma! (We All Shine On) - John Lennon
- Who do you think you are, laughin' in the face of love?
- Jailhouse Rock - Elvis Presley
- Classic Elvis energy; he describes a party and you are there.
- Kashmir - Led Zeppelin
- Just listening to the opening riff. And let's not kid ourselves, it's one of the best in rock history.
- Kiss You Off - Scissor Sisters
- Ana Matronic's voice is both beautiful and commanding, which, really, is what I want in a woman. Even if she eventually kisses me off.
- A Little Less Conversation - Elvis Presley
- Whether or not this is the original or the souped-up JXL remix, it doesn't matter: Elvis doesn't wanna talk no more, he wants some action. And whichever way you choose to take that, it means your adrenaline's about to come at you in a rush.
- London Calling - The Clash
- London's drowning, Beatlemania's dead, and even if the Clash say they don't know what to do about it, they make one hell of an effort to chronicle what basically feels like an entire society stepping out of its plastic bubble safety net to discover what lurks on the outside. And then it explodes.
- Louder Than a Bomb - Public Enemy
- With some of the best raps ever and a swift beat, Chuck D and the gang incite a riot and set off a stealth bomb that's as sneaky as it is destructive.
- Misirlou - Dick Dale & the Del-Tones
- This is a pretty damn great song on its own, but after its definitive usage in Pulp Fiction, it's the ultimate shock of cold water in your face.
- Money (That's What I Want) - The Beatles
- This cover, which bests the original, I think just makes me feel financially superior to everyone. Ever.
- My Generation - The Who
- An anthem of a pissed off generation, this song is still stunningly vivid and relevant, and oozes with "I'm mad as hell, and I'm not going to take it anymore!" power. Check out the live Patti Smith version, too, she does it wild.
- Nod Your Head - Paul McCartney
- Easily Paulie's most wild and dangerous song since "Helter Skelter" nearly forty years ago, and even though it's brief, it effectively brings the house down.
- 100,000 Years - Kiss
- This has some of the most insane drumming I've ever heard, and since percussion is naturally inclined to excite, I can barely not be on my feet by its end.
- Paint It, Black - The Rolling Stones
- Charlie Watts' drums lead into Mick Jagger's bitingly morbid/funereal vocal and it's a gothic tour de force.
- Proud Mary - Ike & Tina Turner
- This song is about as perfect as they get, and before it even gets rolling, Ms. Turner herself shows up to tell you that they never play anything nice and easy. It does actually start pretty nice and easy, but by the end it's knocking walls down.
- Remember - John Lennon
- It's probably the "Remember the fifth of November" Guy Fawkes-esque explosion at the end that gets this one on the list.
- Respect - Aretha Franklin
- With all due respect to Otis Redding (and trust me, respect is due), his original "Respect" didn't do much to differentiate itself from the rest of his similar jazz/blues. Aretha takes it and turns it into the definitive girl power song and makes anyone feel like they deserve more than a little respect.
- Revolution - The Beatles
- How can this one not? It starts out with a burst of high energy most songs can't even aspire to, and from there sets up the manifesto for a social revolution. If that doesn't make you get up off your couch and fight the power, I don't know what will.
- She's My Man - Scissor Sisters
- There's a lyric in here about tasting pavement, and with the dominating melody, there's no denying this is a song about violent S&M. Which really makes you wanna get violent.
- Shout Bamalama - Otis Redding
- Here, Otis is just a troublemaker fucking around, and he does so raucously.
- Showdown - Electric Light Orchestra
- The perfect soundtrack to the final battles you will inevitably have with any of your mortal foes.
- Sunday Bloody Sunday - U2
- Unusally hostile and violent for a U2 song, it's their best work and their most convincing song about war and just how much it pisses them off.
- Sympathy for the Devil - The Rolling Stones
- "Make use of all your well-learned politesse, or I'll lay your soul to waste."
- Twist and Shout - The Beatles
- I think it's mostly just John's crazy vocal, which kicks enough ass on its own.
- Walk This Way - Aerosmith
- This is just a powerhouse of macho testosterone, and since Aerosmith are pretty much masters of macho testosterone, it shoots right into your vein and sends you on a power trip.
- We Will Rock You - Queen
- It doesn't matter if it's been played (or overplayed) as many times as "Yesterday," or if Major League Baseball has practically stolen it as its theme song. There's a reason for its endurance: It's basically the kick-ass anthem.
- We're Not Gonna Take It - The Who
- If "We Will Rock You" is the kick-ass anthem, "We're Not Gonna Take It" has got to be a close second.
- Well Well Well - John Lennon
- I can't really explain the effect this song has on me, but the tough-as-nails rock sound accompanied with John's primal screaming gets my blood pumping.
- Woman Is the Nigger of the World - John Lennon
- The gender equality song to end them all, and the one most likely to get you started on the cause.
- Yes Sir, No Sir - The Kinks
- The Kinks get the message of the injustice done to soldiers across in a powerful way--the sneering middle part especially, "Give the scum a gun and make the bugger fight"--and I don't know one person with whom that topic sits well.
- You Really Got Me - The Kinks
- Basically a great early Beatles love anthem like "She Loves You" or "I Want to Hold Your Hand" given a kick in the pants. Unfortunately, every time I hear it now I think of Sanjaya and that crying girl.
Author Comments:
What do you think?
Got any suggestions?
What I think : Awesome idea! Great list. Can't wait to get hold of The Kinks.
What I personally would suggest : Smack My Bitch Up by Prodigy.
Just tracked down "Smack My Bitch Up"; a very high-energy song but not really my cuppa tea.
I was considering adding "Lose Yourself" by Eminem...
Yes... that song is one of the ONLY eminem songs I like (the rest grooving on money, chics and sex. Yawn.). Actually, I read somewhere in a poll that out of all the songs NBA players listen to before a match to pump themselves up, this is the most frequently listened to. Not surprising considering it's a do-or-die song..
That's a very, very interesting tidbit.
Great choice - Death Or Glory - The Clash.
My Choices:
Anarchy In The UK - Sex Pistols
Tin Soldiers - Stiff Little Fingers
T'is a good list. I've always preferred You Really Got Me to All Day and All of the Night - similar tune, but more energy, more singalong-ability to it, I guess.
Bohemian Rhapsody - I must be the only one who finds the bits near the end boring. What really gets me going is the operatic bit before the head-banging part. "Galileo, Galileo" etc. Genius.
And as much as I love the Beatles, I think Barrett Strong's original of Money (That's What I Want) is superior by far to the Beatles cover. However, pretty much all the Beatles own work is great, I really get a kick out of their earlier work, that was perfect pop, whereas everybody else I know seems to prefer their later, more experimental stuff.
I also prefer "You Really Got Me" to "All Day and All of the Night," and I also agree they're similar tunes. But I love both, as evidenced by both making the cut here.
Pretty much the whole of "Bohemian Rhapsody" gets me going...
And, yes, the Beatles' early stuff is perfect pop; the best pop in the world. But I, like the others you know, prefer their later, more experimental stuff. To me, stuff like "A Day in the Life" and "Strawberry Fields Forever" are more complex and have more to offer musically...yet still just as hummable!
But, really, I love any Beatles, any period. I just love 'em.
I'd say electronic music, especially breakbeats, drum and bass and hard acid techno/trance would suit this list, but it seems you're not into electronic music. If you are ever in the mood for experimenting, this stuff will definitely be out of your comfort zone, then apart from Merlin's suggestion you could try...
Cubanate - Hinterland
Imminent Starvation - Ire
Prodigy - Voodoo People
Chemical Brothers - Loops of Fury
Fatboy Slim - Acid 8000
Overseer - Supermoves
All pumping stuff, especially Supermoves, which is amazing (its on the movie Snatch's soundtrack).
I know little of rock but more suited to your taste would be
The Cranberries - Zombie
The White Stripes - Seven Nation Army
The guitar on Seven Nation Army is absolutely crazy! =p
You're right, I've never really been able to get into electronic music. But I'm up to exploring the genre.
And yes, "Seven Nation Army" should be on the list.
Perhaps the ambient side of electronic music might be easier to get into? Albums such as
Global Communication - 76:14
DJ Shadow - Endtroducing
Shpongle - Are You Shpongled?
Very awesome list! Not often that you find 100,000 Years by Kiss on any list except favorite Kiss song lists :)
It's a great song!
It is unfortunate that The Beatles broke up in 1970. I think this group is the greatest in the history of rock'n'roll and a lot of wonderful songs we could hear, if its members did not want to take up solo career. I especially like the theme of love in their works, so the album The Beatles Love in format-mp3 is a part of my music collection.