ain't it dark wrapped up in that tarp, Earl?
Someone I follow on Twitter put together a revenge song playlist on Spotify. I don't have Spotify, but reading through the thread, and doing a little Googling, brought me a much longer list that I have now made playable. Buckle in, folks, this just might become my Disturbing Songs Playlist for this October.
(Also, this is not typical alphabetizing. I'm being lazy, so first letter, first name, that's where they're dropped. Also, I expanded the list to not just revenge songs, but also fight songs, female empowerment songs, recovery songs. And I KNOW I still don't have everything!)
And just fair warning: there are no real categories. As it's turned out, there's a lot of country, but there's also rap, folk, filk, rock, pop, blues, metal, punk, and varying degrees of alternative. Enjoy?
3LW - No More (Baby I'ma Do Right)
7 Year Bitch - Dead Men Don't Rape
7 Year Bitch - Kiss My [A**] Goodbye
7 Year Bitch - M.I.A.
Adele – Rolling in the Deep
Adele - Rumour Has It
Adele - Send My Love (To Your New Lover)
Aerosmith - Janie's Got a Gun (male singer, but definitely about female revenge)
Alanis Morissette - Right Through You
Alanis Morissette – Uninvited
Alanis Morissette – You Oughta Know Alanis Morissette - Your House
Alessia Cara - Scars to Your Beautiful
Alicia Keys - Superwoman
Amanda Palmer - The Killing Type (this is one of the most brutal videos for a song, hands down)
Amy LaVere - Killing Him
Amy LaVere - Washing Machine
Amy Rigby - 20 Questions
Amy Rigby - Keep It To Yourself
Amy Winehouse - Me and Mr. Jones
Amy Winehouse - Tears Dry On Their Own
Annie Lennox - Thin Line Between Love and Hate
Aretha Franklin and Lauryn Hill - A Rose is Still a Rose
Aretha Franklin – Chain of Fools
Aretha Franklin - Do Right Woman, Do Right Man
Aretha Franklin - R-E-S-P-E-C-T
Ariana Grande - God is a Woman
Ariana Grande and Iggy Azalea - Problem
Avril Lavigne - Everything Back But You
Avril Lavigne - I Can Do Better
Avril Lavigne - My Happy Ending
Bea Miller - Fire n'Gold
Bette Midler - Miss Otis Regrets
Betty Blowtorch - Love/Hate
Bikini Kill - Feels Blind
Bill Jones - William Taylor
Billie Eilish - You Should See Me in a Crown
bis - Popstar Kill
Birthday Massacre - Superstition
Blondie - One Way or Another
Blu Cantrell - Hit 'em Up Style (Oops)
Blue Eyed Blondes - Maneater
Brandy – What About Us?
Brandy Clark - Stripes
Britney Spears – Don’t Go Knockin’ On My Door
Britney Spears – Stronger
Beyoncé - Diva
Beyoncé and Jack White - Don't Hurt Yourself
Beyoncé - Grown Woman
Beyonce - Hold Up
Beyoncé - Irreplaceable
Beyoncé - Ring the Alarm
Beyoncé - Run the World (Girls)
Beyoncé - Sorry
Bonnie Tyler - It's a Heartache
Boomkat - The Wreckoning
Buffy Sainte-Marie - Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee
Buffy Sainte-Marie - Johnny Be Fair
Buffy Sainte-Marie - The Uranium War
Butcher Babies - They're Coming To Take Me Away (I've heard a lot of variants of this, but this is the first metal cover I've heard, and it is INTENSE.)
Camila Cabello - I Have Questions
Candles - Hey Monday
Carly Rae Jepsen - Tonight I'm Getting Over You
Carly Simon - You're So Vain
Carrie Underwood - Before He Cheats (The ultimate cautionary tale against angering telekinetics.)
Carrie Underwood - Blown Away
Carrie Underwood - Church Bells
Carrie Underwood - Nobody Ever Told You
Carrie Underwood - Two Black Cadillacs
Carole King – It’s Too Late
Carolina Chocolate Drops - Hit 'em Up Style
Carolyn Dawn Johnson - Georgia
The Carter Family and Johnny Cash - On the Banks of the Ohio
Cher - Believe
Cher - Dark Lady
Chicago - Cell Block Tango
Christina Aguilera - Can't Hold Us Down
Christina Aguilera - Fighter
Christina Grimmie - Liar Liar
Christina Perri - Human
Ciara - I Bet
Coeur de Pirate - Carry On
Crass - Reality Asylum
Cyn - I'll Still Have Me
Dar Williams - Flinty Kind of Woman
Daya - Sit Still Look Pretty
Demi Lovato - Confident
Demi Lovato and Cher Lloyd - Really Don't Care
Demi Lovato - Sorry Not Sorry
Destiny’s Child - Independent Women (Pt. I)
Destiny's Child and Da Brat - Survivor
Dido - Don't Think of Me
Dixie Chicks - Goodbye Earl (the ULTIMATE 'take a bad man down' song)
Dolly Parton - Eagle When She Flies
Dolly Parton - Just Because I'm a Woman
Dolly Parton - On the Banks of the Ohio
Dolores Grey and Bert Lahr - If You Hadn't, But You Did
Dolores O'Riordan - Loser
Donna Summer and Barbra Streisand – No More Tears (Enough Is Enough)
Dresden Dolls - Missed Me
Dua Lipa - IDGAF
Dua Lipa - New Rules
Ella Eyre - Comeback
Ella Fitzgerald - Miss Otis Regrets (I don't care who's singing it, I offer several versions on this list, and there are others--but this is one of the most powerful indictments of domestic violence ever penned)
Ellie Goulding - Burn
Ellie Goulding - On My Mind
Eliza Carthy - Blood on My Boots
Emma Cole - High Times
Emilie Autumn - Fight Like a Girl (the anthem for all girls driven mad by injustice and lashing out)
Emilie Autumn - Gaslight
Emilie Autumn - Girls! Girls! Girls!
Emilie Autumn - God Help Me
Emilie Autumn - Gothic Lolita
Emilie Autumn - If I Burn
Emilie Autumn - I Know Where You Sleep
Emilie Autumn - I Want My Innocence Back
Emilie Autumn - Let the Record Show
Emilie Autumn - Liar
Emilie Autumn - Scavenger
Emilie Autumn - Swallow
Emilie Autumn - Time For Tea
Emilie Autumn - We Want Them Young
Emily Vaughn - Better Off
Empress Of - Woman is a Word
En Vogue - My Lovin' (You're Never Gonna Get It)
Erykah Badu – Tyrone
Estelle - Conqueror
Ethel Waters - Miss Otis Regrets
Etta James - I'd Rather Go Blind
Evanescence - Call Me When You're Sober
Evanescence - Going Under
Eve and Faith Evans - Love Is Blind
Faith Hill - Wild One
Fifth Harmony - Miss Moving On
Fleetwood Mac - Chain (though I'd point to the 1997 video of this song for The Dance live performance, where she is all but hurling the words of this song like daggers at Lindsay Buckingham.)
Fleetwood Mac - Go Your Own Way
Fleetwood Mac - Landslide
Fleetwood Mac - Silver Springs
Florence + The Machine - Kiss With a Fist
Frankee - [F*ck] U Right Back (a reaction song to Eamon's [F*ck] It (I Don't Want You Back) song.)
Freda Payne – Band of Gold
Gloria Gaynor – I Will Survive
Gloria Jones – Tainted Love
Gossip - Fire With Fire
Gotye and Kimbra - Somebody That I Used to Know (sure, it's his song to her, but her retort crushes him)
Grace and G-Eazy - You Don't Own Me
Halestorm - I Miss the Misery
Hailee Steinfeld, Alesso, Florida Georgia Line and Watt - Let Me Go
Hailee Steinfeld - Love Myself
Hailee Steinfeld - Most Girls
Hamilton - Burn
HANA - Clay
Helen Reddy - I Am Woman (one of the original female empowerment songs)
Hole - Violet
Human Switchboard - (I Used To) Believe in You
Human Switchboard - Refrigerator Door
Human Switchboard - Say No (To Saturday's Girl)
Ice-T - Big Gun (again, male singer, but from the Tank Girl soundtrack, about the lead character)
Ida Cox - Wild Women Don't Have the Blues
Ingrid Michaelson - Hell No
Issa - Poison
Iggy Azalea and Rita Ora - Black Widow
Janelle Monáe and Erykah Badu - Q.U.E.E.N.
Janet Jackson - Nasty
Janet Jackson – What Have You Done For Me Lately
Jann Arden – Insensitive
Jann Arden - Not Your Little Girl
Jazmine Sullivan - Bust Your Windows
Jeannie C. Riley - Harper Valley PTA
Jean Shepard and Ferlin Husky - A Dear John Letter
Jenn Colella - Number 5 With a Bullet
Jennifer Lopez - Ain't Your Mama
Jennifer Nettles - Hey Heartbreak
Jenny Lewis - Just One of the Guys
Jessie J - Masterpiece
Jessie James - I Look So Good (Without You)
Jewel – Foolish Games
Jewel - Stronger Woman
Joan Jett - Bad Reputation
Jo Dee Messina - Bye Bye
Jo Dee Messina - My Give a Damn's Busted
Jody Watley – Looking For A New Lovebr /> Johnnyswim - Let It Matter
JoJo - Leave (Get Out)
JoJo – Too Little, Too Late
Joseph - White Flag
Julia Fordham - Foolish Thing
K. Flay - Blood in the Cut
K. Michelle - Cry
Kacey Musgraves - Follow Your Arrow
Kalie Shorr - Fight Like a Girl
Kandi – Don’t Think I’m Not
Kate Nash - Foundations
Katy Perry - Circle the Drain
Katy Perry - Hot n' Cold
Katy Perry - Part of Me
Katy Perry - Rise
Katy Perry - Roar
Katy Perry and Nicki Minaj - Swish Swish
Katy Perry - Wide Awake
Ke$ha - Praying
Ke$ha - The Harold Song
Ke$ha and The Dap-Kings Horns - Woman
Keala Settle - This is Me
Kelleigh Bannen - Famous
Kellie Pickler - Red High Heels
Kellie Pickler - Tough
Kelis - Caught Out There
Kelly Clarkson - Because of You
Kelly Clarkson - Behind These Hazel Eyes
Kelly Clarkson - I Don't Think About You
Kelly Clarkson - Low
Kelly Clarkson - Miss Independent
Kelly Clarkson - Never Again
Kelly Clarkson - Piece by Piece
Kelly Clarkson - Since U Been Gone
Kelly Clarkson - Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You)
Kelly Clarkson – Walk Away
Keyshia Cole - You
Kim Stockwood - You Jerk
Kristina DeBarge - Goodbye
Kristin Chenoweth - If You Hadn't, But You Did
Kristine Sparkle - Devil Woman
K.T. Tunstall - Suddenly I See
L7 - [Sh*tlist]
Labelle - Miss Otis Regrets
Lake Street Dive - Call Off Your Dogs
Laura Mvula - Phenomenal Woman
Lauren Aliana - Road Less Traveled
Lauryn Hill – Ex-Factor
Lee Ann Womack - Does My Ring Burn Your Finger
Leela James - Baby, I'm Scared of You
Legally Blonde (Musical) - Positive
Legally Blonde - So Much Better
Lesley Gore - You Don't Own Me
Leslie Fish - Bring It Down
Leslie Fish - Female of the Species
Leslie Fish - Jirel of Jorey
Leslie Fish - Signy Mallory
Leslie Fish - Walk Through the Nightside
LÉON - Liar
Lights - Savage
Lights - We Were Here
Lily Allen - Hard Out Here
Lily Allen - Smile
Linda and Richard Thompson - Walking on a Wire (this song was recorded, and largely performed on the tour following, by a couple who had parted ways with EXTREME acrimony at that point. Multiple reports verify that during Linda's verses, she would frequently walk over to Richard onstage and kick him in the shins.)
Little Big Town - Better Man
Little Mix - F.U.
Little Mix - Salute
Little Mix - Shout Out To My Ex
Little Mix - Wings
Liz Phair - Divorce Song
Lorde - Writer in the Dark
Loretta Lynn - Fist City
Loretta Lynn - The Pill
Lorrie Morgan - Good As I Was To You
Lorrie Morgan - War Paint
Lorrie Morgan - Watch Me
Lotte Lenya - Pirate Jenny
Lucinda Williams - Come On
Lucinda Williams - Joy
Lush - Ladykillers
Maddie and Tae - Girl in a Country Song
Maddie and Tae - Shut up and Fish
Madison Beer - Unbreakable
Madonna - Human Nature
Madonna - What It Feels Like for a Girl
Maggie Linderman - Pretty Girl
Maggie Rose - Looking Back Now
Mariah Carey - Clown
Marianne Faithfull - Why D'ya Do It
Marina and the Diamonds - Can't Pin Me Down
Marina Dalmas Kaye - Live Before I Die
Marion Cotillard - Take It All
Martha Wainright - Bloody Mother [F*cking A**hole]
Martina McBride - A Broken Wing
Martina McBride - Independence Day
Martina McBride - This One's for the Girls
Mary Chapin Carpenter - He Thinks He'll Keep Her
Mary J. Blige - Good Woman Down
Mary J. Blige – Not Gon’ Cry
Mary Lambert - Secrets
Melissa Etheridge – I’m The Only One
Melissa Etheridge – Like The Way I Do
Mendoza Line - 31 Candles
Mercedes Lackey - Threes
Meredith Brooks - Bitch
Metric - Glass Ceiling
Michelle Branch – Are You Happy Now?
Michelle Branch - Goodbye to You
M.I.A. - Bad Girls
Miley Cyrus - 7 Things
Miley Cyrus and French Montana - F.U.
Miley Cyrus - These Boots Are Made for Walkin'
Miley Cyrus - Wrecking Ball
Miranda Lambert - Gunpowder and Lead
Miranda Lambert - Kerosene
Miranda Lambert - Mama's Broken Heart
Miranda Lambert - Over You
Miranda Lambert - White Liar
Missile - Dorothy
Monica – Like This And Like That
MUNA - Loudspeaker
Mya - Case of the Ex (Whatcha Gonna Do)
Naked Aggression - Leave Me Alone
Nancy Sinatra - These Boots Are Made For Walkin' (sure, it's her one big hit, but it's a GREAT sentiment)
Nicki Minaj - Fire Burns
Nicki Minaj - Tragedy
Nicole Scherzinger - Don't Hold Your Breath
Nina Simone - Pirate Jenny
No Doubt - Don't Speak
No Doubt – Ex-Girlfriend
No Doubt - Just a Girl
No Doubt - Sunday Morning
Norah Jones – Miriam
Olivia Newton-John - On the Banks of the Ohio
Orianthi - According to You
Orianthi - Heaven in This Hell
Orianthi - How Do You Sleep?
Orianthi - The Blues Will Never Leave Me Alone
Otep - Menocide
Otep - Nein
P!nk - [F*ckin]' Perfect
P!nk - Funhouse
P!nk - Revenge
P!nk - So What
P!nk – There You Go
P!nk - U + Ur Hand
Peaches and M.I.A. - Boys Wanna Be Her
P.J. Harvey - Rid of Me
Poe - Control
Phyllis Hyman - This Too Shall Pass
Pussycat Dolls and Missy Elliott - Whatcha Think About That
Rachel Platten - Fight Song
Pistol Annies - Trailer for Rent
Paramore - That's What You Get
Pat Benatar - Invincible
Pat Benatar - Hit Me With Your Best Shot
Pussycat Dolls - I Don't Need a Man
Queen Latifah - U.N.I.T.Y.
RayLynn - Love Triangle
RayLynn - WildHorse
Reba McEntire - Consider Me Gone
Reba McEntire - Fancy
Reba McEntire - I'm a Survivor
Reba McEntire - Night the Lights Went out in Georgia
Reba McEntire - Take It Back
Rihanna – Breakin’ Dishes
Rihanna - Cold Case Love
Rihanna - Man Down
Rihanna – Take a Bow
Remy Ma - Another One
Remy Ma -ShETHER
Robyn - Don't [F*cking] Tell Me What To Do
Robyn and Kleerup - With Every Heartbeat
Rozzi Crane - Half the Man
Salt-n-Pepa - None of Your Business
Santigold - Girls
Sara Bareilles - Brave
Sara Bareilles - Love Song
Sara Evans - A Little Bit Stronger
Sarah Johns - The One in the Middle
Scrawl - Cold Hearted Snake
Scrawl - Vi Ploriontos
Selena Gomez - Love Will Remember
Selena Gomez - Slow Down
Selena Gomez and the Scene - Who Says
Shawn Colvin - Sunny Came Home
Skylar Grey - Final Warning
Shania Twain - That Don't Impress Me Much
Shania Twain - She's Not Just a Pretty Face
Sheila Ryan - Johnny Be Fair
Sheryl Crow - Anything But Down
Sheryl Crow – If It Makes You Happy
Sia - Big Girls Cry
Sleater-Kinney - Anonymous
Sleater-Kinney - One More Hour
Sonic Youth - Kool Thing
Sophia Grace and Silento - Girl in the Mirror
Sparkle – Be Careful
Storm Large - Beautiful
Storm Large - Call Me Crazy
Storm Large and the Balls - I Want You to Die
Storm Large - Ladylike
Storm Large and Le Bonheur - Long Black Veil
Storm Large and Pink Martini - The Lady is a Tramp
Sunny Sweeney - Staying's Worse Than Leaving
Super Chick - One Girl Revolution
Sweet Spirit - The Power
SZA - Supermodel
Tammy Wynette - D-I-V-O-R-C-E
Tanya Tucker - No Man's Land
Taylor Swift and Kendrick Lamar - Bad Blood
Taylor Swift - Better Than Revenge
Taylor Swift - Clean
Taylor Swift - Dear John
Taylor Swift - Forever and Always
Taylor Swift - I Knew You Were Trouble
Taylor Swift - Picture to Burn
Taylor Swift - Story of Us
Taylor Swift - We Are Never Ever Ever Getting Back Together
Tegan and Sara - Proud
Tina Turner – What’s Love Got To Do WIth It
TLC – Creep
The Band Perry - DONE
The Civil Wars - Oh Henry
The Cranberries - Promises
The Divine Comedy - Something for the Weekend
The Eurythmics and Aretha Franklin - Sisters Are Doing it for Themselves
The Horrorpops - Sob
The Interrupters - She Got Arrested
The Judds - I Know Where I'm Going
The Pretty Reckless - Why’d You Bring a Shotgun to the Party
The Veronicas - Revenge is Sweeter (Than You Ever Were)
The Veronicas - You Ruin Me
Toni Braxton – He Wasn’t Man Enough
Tori Amos - Silent All These Years
Tori Kelly - Unbreakable Smile
Tove Lo - Habits (Stay High)
Tracy Chapman - Give Me One Reason
Utah Saints - What Can You Do For Me
Veruca Salt - Seether
Veruca Salt - Volcano Girls
Wanda Jackson - My Big Iron Skillet
Waitress - Everything Changes
Whitney Houston – Heartbreak Hotel feat. Faith Evans and Kelly Price
Whitney Houston – My Name Is Not Susan
Whitney Houston – It’s Not Right But It's Okay (Thunderpuss mix)
Within Temptation - Frozen
Wolfmother - Victorious
Womack and Womack - Baby, I'm Scared of You (This one, and the song below this, were both recorded by a married duo of singers who had a fair amount of understanding about familial dysfunction, and how bad relationships can go off the rails.)
Womack and Womack - Love Wars
X - Johnny Hit and Run Paulene (Mostly male-voiced punk duo, but this scathing condemnation of drug-fueled rape was penned by both John Doe and Exene Cervenka, his co-writer and alternate vocalist, as well as the reason for the band's name.)
Yolanda Adams - Never Give Up
ZZ Ward - Put the Gun Down
The hardest part of this list was trying to find some song for every letter of the alphabet. I've done my best.
(Also, this is not typical alphabetizing. I'm being lazy, so first letter, first name, that's where they're dropped. Also, I expanded the list to not just revenge songs, but also fight songs, female empowerment songs, recovery songs. And I KNOW I still don't have everything!)
And just fair warning: there are no real categories. As it's turned out, there's a lot of country, but there's also rap, folk, filk, rock, pop, blues, metal, punk, and varying degrees of alternative. Enjoy?
3LW - No More (Baby I'ma Do Right)
7 Year Bitch - Dead Men Don't Rape
7 Year Bitch - Kiss My [A**] Goodbye
7 Year Bitch - M.I.A.
Adele – Rolling in the Deep
Adele - Rumour Has It
Adele - Send My Love (To Your New Lover)
Aerosmith - Janie's Got a Gun (male singer, but definitely about female revenge)
Alanis Morissette - Right Through You
Alanis Morissette – Uninvited
Alanis Morissette – You Oughta Know Alanis Morissette - Your House
Alessia Cara - Scars to Your Beautiful
Alicia Keys - Superwoman
Amanda Palmer - The Killing Type (this is one of the most brutal videos for a song, hands down)
Amy LaVere - Killing Him
Amy LaVere - Washing Machine
Amy Rigby - 20 Questions
Amy Rigby - Keep It To Yourself
Amy Winehouse - Me and Mr. Jones
Amy Winehouse - Tears Dry On Their Own
Annie Lennox - Thin Line Between Love and Hate
Aretha Franklin and Lauryn Hill - A Rose is Still a Rose
Aretha Franklin – Chain of Fools
Aretha Franklin - Do Right Woman, Do Right Man
Aretha Franklin - R-E-S-P-E-C-T
Ariana Grande - God is a Woman
Ariana Grande and Iggy Azalea - Problem
Avril Lavigne - Everything Back But You
Avril Lavigne - I Can Do Better
Avril Lavigne - My Happy Ending
Bea Miller - Fire n'Gold
Bette Midler - Miss Otis Regrets
Betty Blowtorch - Love/Hate
Bikini Kill - Feels Blind
Bill Jones - William Taylor
Billie Eilish - You Should See Me in a Crown
bis - Popstar Kill
Birthday Massacre - Superstition
Blondie - One Way or Another
Blu Cantrell - Hit 'em Up Style (Oops)
Blue Eyed Blondes - Maneater
Brandy – What About Us?
Brandy Clark - Stripes
Britney Spears – Don’t Go Knockin’ On My Door
Britney Spears – Stronger
Beyoncé - Diva
Beyoncé and Jack White - Don't Hurt Yourself
Beyoncé - Grown Woman
Beyonce - Hold Up
Beyoncé - Irreplaceable
Beyoncé - Ring the Alarm
Beyoncé - Run the World (Girls)
Beyoncé - Sorry
Bonnie Tyler - It's a Heartache
Boomkat - The Wreckoning
Buffy Sainte-Marie - Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee
Buffy Sainte-Marie - Johnny Be Fair
Buffy Sainte-Marie - The Uranium War
Butcher Babies - They're Coming To Take Me Away (I've heard a lot of variants of this, but this is the first metal cover I've heard, and it is INTENSE.)
Camila Cabello - I Have Questions
Candles - Hey Monday
Carly Rae Jepsen - Tonight I'm Getting Over You
Carly Simon - You're So Vain
Carrie Underwood - Before He Cheats (The ultimate cautionary tale against angering telekinetics.)
Carrie Underwood - Blown Away
Carrie Underwood - Church Bells
Carrie Underwood - Nobody Ever Told You
Carrie Underwood - Two Black Cadillacs
Carole King – It’s Too Late
Carolina Chocolate Drops - Hit 'em Up Style
Carolyn Dawn Johnson - Georgia
The Carter Family and Johnny Cash - On the Banks of the Ohio
Cher - Believe
Cher - Dark Lady
Chicago - Cell Block Tango
Christina Aguilera - Can't Hold Us Down
Christina Aguilera - Fighter
Christina Grimmie - Liar Liar
Christina Perri - Human
Ciara - I Bet
Coeur de Pirate - Carry On
Crass - Reality Asylum
Cyn - I'll Still Have Me
Dar Williams - Flinty Kind of Woman
Daya - Sit Still Look Pretty
Demi Lovato - Confident
Demi Lovato and Cher Lloyd - Really Don't Care
Demi Lovato - Sorry Not Sorry
Destiny’s Child - Independent Women (Pt. I)
Destiny's Child and Da Brat - Survivor
Dido - Don't Think of Me
Dixie Chicks - Goodbye Earl (the ULTIMATE 'take a bad man down' song)
Dolly Parton - Eagle When She Flies
Dolly Parton - Just Because I'm a Woman
Dolly Parton - On the Banks of the Ohio
Dolores Grey and Bert Lahr - If You Hadn't, But You Did
Dolores O'Riordan - Loser
Donna Summer and Barbra Streisand – No More Tears (Enough Is Enough)
Dresden Dolls - Missed Me
Dua Lipa - IDGAF
Dua Lipa - New Rules
Ella Eyre - Comeback
Ella Fitzgerald - Miss Otis Regrets (I don't care who's singing it, I offer several versions on this list, and there are others--but this is one of the most powerful indictments of domestic violence ever penned)
Ellie Goulding - Burn
Ellie Goulding - On My Mind
Eliza Carthy - Blood on My Boots
Emma Cole - High Times
Emilie Autumn - Fight Like a Girl (the anthem for all girls driven mad by injustice and lashing out)
Emilie Autumn - Gaslight
Emilie Autumn - Girls! Girls! Girls!
Emilie Autumn - God Help Me
Emilie Autumn - Gothic Lolita
Emilie Autumn - If I Burn
Emilie Autumn - I Know Where You Sleep
Emilie Autumn - I Want My Innocence Back
Emilie Autumn - Let the Record Show
Emilie Autumn - Liar
Emilie Autumn - Scavenger
Emilie Autumn - Swallow
Emilie Autumn - Time For Tea
Emilie Autumn - We Want Them Young
Emily Vaughn - Better Off
Empress Of - Woman is a Word
En Vogue - My Lovin' (You're Never Gonna Get It)
Erykah Badu – Tyrone
Estelle - Conqueror
Ethel Waters - Miss Otis Regrets
Etta James - I'd Rather Go Blind
Evanescence - Call Me When You're Sober
Evanescence - Going Under
Eve and Faith Evans - Love Is Blind
Faith Hill - Wild One
Fifth Harmony - Miss Moving On
Fleetwood Mac - Chain (though I'd point to the 1997 video of this song for The Dance live performance, where she is all but hurling the words of this song like daggers at Lindsay Buckingham.)
Fleetwood Mac - Go Your Own Way
Fleetwood Mac - Landslide
Fleetwood Mac - Silver Springs
Florence + The Machine - Kiss With a Fist
Frankee - [F*ck] U Right Back (a reaction song to Eamon's [F*ck] It (I Don't Want You Back) song.)
Freda Payne – Band of Gold
Gloria Gaynor – I Will Survive
Gloria Jones – Tainted Love
Gossip - Fire With Fire
Gotye and Kimbra - Somebody That I Used to Know (sure, it's his song to her, but her retort crushes him)
Grace and G-Eazy - You Don't Own Me
Halestorm - I Miss the Misery
Hailee Steinfeld, Alesso, Florida Georgia Line and Watt - Let Me Go
Hailee Steinfeld - Love Myself
Hailee Steinfeld - Most Girls
Hamilton - Burn
HANA - Clay
Helen Reddy - I Am Woman (one of the original female empowerment songs)
Hole - Violet
Human Switchboard - (I Used To) Believe in You
Human Switchboard - Refrigerator Door
Human Switchboard - Say No (To Saturday's Girl)
Ice-T - Big Gun (again, male singer, but from the Tank Girl soundtrack, about the lead character)
Ida Cox - Wild Women Don't Have the Blues
Ingrid Michaelson - Hell No
Issa - Poison
Iggy Azalea and Rita Ora - Black Widow
Janelle Monáe and Erykah Badu - Q.U.E.E.N.
Janet Jackson - Nasty
Janet Jackson – What Have You Done For Me Lately
Jann Arden – Insensitive
Jann Arden - Not Your Little Girl
Jazmine Sullivan - Bust Your Windows
Jeannie C. Riley - Harper Valley PTA
Jean Shepard and Ferlin Husky - A Dear John Letter
Jenn Colella - Number 5 With a Bullet
Jennifer Lopez - Ain't Your Mama
Jennifer Nettles - Hey Heartbreak
Jenny Lewis - Just One of the Guys
Jessie J - Masterpiece
Jessie James - I Look So Good (Without You)
Jewel – Foolish Games
Jewel - Stronger Woman
Joan Jett - Bad Reputation
Jo Dee Messina - Bye Bye
Jo Dee Messina - My Give a Damn's Busted
Jody Watley – Looking For A New Lovebr /> Johnnyswim - Let It Matter
JoJo - Leave (Get Out)
JoJo – Too Little, Too Late
Joseph - White Flag
Julia Fordham - Foolish Thing
K. Flay - Blood in the Cut
K. Michelle - Cry
Kacey Musgraves - Follow Your Arrow
Kalie Shorr - Fight Like a Girl
Kandi – Don’t Think I’m Not
Kate Nash - Foundations
Katy Perry - Circle the Drain
Katy Perry - Hot n' Cold
Katy Perry - Part of Me
Katy Perry - Rise
Katy Perry - Roar
Katy Perry and Nicki Minaj - Swish Swish
Katy Perry - Wide Awake
Ke$ha - Praying
Ke$ha - The Harold Song
Ke$ha and The Dap-Kings Horns - Woman
Keala Settle - This is Me
Kelleigh Bannen - Famous
Kellie Pickler - Red High Heels
Kellie Pickler - Tough
Kelis - Caught Out There
Kelly Clarkson - Because of You
Kelly Clarkson - Behind These Hazel Eyes
Kelly Clarkson - I Don't Think About You
Kelly Clarkson - Low
Kelly Clarkson - Miss Independent
Kelly Clarkson - Never Again
Kelly Clarkson - Piece by Piece
Kelly Clarkson - Since U Been Gone
Kelly Clarkson - Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You)
Kelly Clarkson – Walk Away
Keyshia Cole - You
Kim Stockwood - You Jerk
Kristina DeBarge - Goodbye
Kristin Chenoweth - If You Hadn't, But You Did
Kristine Sparkle - Devil Woman
K.T. Tunstall - Suddenly I See
L7 - [Sh*tlist]
Labelle - Miss Otis Regrets
Lake Street Dive - Call Off Your Dogs
Laura Mvula - Phenomenal Woman
Lauren Aliana - Road Less Traveled
Lauryn Hill – Ex-Factor
Lee Ann Womack - Does My Ring Burn Your Finger
Leela James - Baby, I'm Scared of You
Legally Blonde (Musical) - Positive
Legally Blonde - So Much Better
Lesley Gore - You Don't Own Me
Leslie Fish - Bring It Down
Leslie Fish - Female of the Species
Leslie Fish - Jirel of Jorey
Leslie Fish - Signy Mallory
Leslie Fish - Walk Through the Nightside
LÉON - Liar
Lights - Savage
Lights - We Were Here
Lily Allen - Hard Out Here
Lily Allen - Smile
Linda and Richard Thompson - Walking on a Wire (this song was recorded, and largely performed on the tour following, by a couple who had parted ways with EXTREME acrimony at that point. Multiple reports verify that during Linda's verses, she would frequently walk over to Richard onstage and kick him in the shins.)
Little Big Town - Better Man
Little Mix - F.U.
Little Mix - Salute
Little Mix - Shout Out To My Ex
Little Mix - Wings
Liz Phair - Divorce Song
Lorde - Writer in the Dark
Loretta Lynn - Fist City
Loretta Lynn - The Pill
Lorrie Morgan - Good As I Was To You
Lorrie Morgan - War Paint
Lorrie Morgan - Watch Me
Lotte Lenya - Pirate Jenny
Lucinda Williams - Come On
Lucinda Williams - Joy
Lush - Ladykillers
Maddie and Tae - Girl in a Country Song
Maddie and Tae - Shut up and Fish
Madison Beer - Unbreakable
Madonna - Human Nature
Madonna - What It Feels Like for a Girl
Maggie Linderman - Pretty Girl
Maggie Rose - Looking Back Now
Mariah Carey - Clown
Marianne Faithfull - Why D'ya Do It
Marina and the Diamonds - Can't Pin Me Down
Marina Dalmas Kaye - Live Before I Die
Marion Cotillard - Take It All
Martha Wainright - Bloody Mother [F*cking A**hole]
Martina McBride - A Broken Wing
Martina McBride - Independence Day
Martina McBride - This One's for the Girls
Mary Chapin Carpenter - He Thinks He'll Keep Her
Mary J. Blige - Good Woman Down
Mary J. Blige – Not Gon’ Cry
Mary Lambert - Secrets
Melissa Etheridge – I’m The Only One
Melissa Etheridge – Like The Way I Do
Mendoza Line - 31 Candles
Mercedes Lackey - Threes
Meredith Brooks - Bitch
Metric - Glass Ceiling
Michelle Branch – Are You Happy Now?
Michelle Branch - Goodbye to You
M.I.A. - Bad Girls
Miley Cyrus - 7 Things
Miley Cyrus and French Montana - F.U.
Miley Cyrus - These Boots Are Made for Walkin'
Miley Cyrus - Wrecking Ball
Miranda Lambert - Gunpowder and Lead
Miranda Lambert - Kerosene
Miranda Lambert - Mama's Broken Heart
Miranda Lambert - Over You
Miranda Lambert - White Liar
Missile - Dorothy
Monica – Like This And Like That
MUNA - Loudspeaker
Mya - Case of the Ex (Whatcha Gonna Do)
Naked Aggression - Leave Me Alone
Nancy Sinatra - These Boots Are Made For Walkin' (sure, it's her one big hit, but it's a GREAT sentiment)
Nicki Minaj - Fire Burns
Nicki Minaj - Tragedy
Nicole Scherzinger - Don't Hold Your Breath
Nina Simone - Pirate Jenny
No Doubt - Don't Speak
No Doubt – Ex-Girlfriend
No Doubt - Just a Girl
No Doubt - Sunday Morning
Norah Jones – Miriam
Olivia Newton-John - On the Banks of the Ohio
Orianthi - According to You
Orianthi - Heaven in This Hell
Orianthi - How Do You Sleep?
Orianthi - The Blues Will Never Leave Me Alone
Otep - Menocide
Otep - Nein
P!nk - [F*ckin]' Perfect
P!nk - Funhouse
P!nk - Revenge
P!nk - So What
P!nk – There You Go
P!nk - U + Ur Hand
Peaches and M.I.A. - Boys Wanna Be Her
P.J. Harvey - Rid of Me
Poe - Control
Phyllis Hyman - This Too Shall Pass
Pussycat Dolls and Missy Elliott - Whatcha Think About That
Rachel Platten - Fight Song
Pistol Annies - Trailer for Rent
Paramore - That's What You Get
Pat Benatar - Invincible
Pat Benatar - Hit Me With Your Best Shot
Pussycat Dolls - I Don't Need a Man
Queen Latifah - U.N.I.T.Y.
RayLynn - Love Triangle
RayLynn - WildHorse
Reba McEntire - Consider Me Gone
Reba McEntire - Fancy
Reba McEntire - I'm a Survivor
Reba McEntire - Night the Lights Went out in Georgia
Reba McEntire - Take It Back
Rihanna – Breakin’ Dishes
Rihanna - Cold Case Love
Rihanna - Man Down
Rihanna – Take a Bow
Remy Ma - Another One
Remy Ma -ShETHER
Robyn - Don't [F*cking] Tell Me What To Do
Robyn and Kleerup - With Every Heartbeat
Rozzi Crane - Half the Man
Salt-n-Pepa - None of Your Business
Santigold - Girls
Sara Bareilles - Brave
Sara Bareilles - Love Song
Sara Evans - A Little Bit Stronger
Sarah Johns - The One in the Middle
Scrawl - Cold Hearted Snake
Scrawl - Vi Ploriontos
Selena Gomez - Love Will Remember
Selena Gomez - Slow Down
Selena Gomez and the Scene - Who Says
Shawn Colvin - Sunny Came Home
Skylar Grey - Final Warning
Shania Twain - That Don't Impress Me Much
Shania Twain - She's Not Just a Pretty Face
Sheila Ryan - Johnny Be Fair
Sheryl Crow - Anything But Down
Sheryl Crow – If It Makes You Happy
Sia - Big Girls Cry
Sleater-Kinney - Anonymous
Sleater-Kinney - One More Hour
Sonic Youth - Kool Thing
Sophia Grace and Silento - Girl in the Mirror
Sparkle – Be Careful
Storm Large - Beautiful
Storm Large - Call Me Crazy
Storm Large and the Balls - I Want You to Die
Storm Large - Ladylike
Storm Large and Le Bonheur - Long Black Veil
Storm Large and Pink Martini - The Lady is a Tramp
Sunny Sweeney - Staying's Worse Than Leaving
Super Chick - One Girl Revolution
Sweet Spirit - The Power
SZA - Supermodel
Tammy Wynette - D-I-V-O-R-C-E
Tanya Tucker - No Man's Land
Taylor Swift and Kendrick Lamar - Bad Blood
Taylor Swift - Better Than Revenge
Taylor Swift - Clean
Taylor Swift - Dear John
Taylor Swift - Forever and Always
Taylor Swift - I Knew You Were Trouble
Taylor Swift - Picture to Burn
Taylor Swift - Story of Us
Taylor Swift - We Are Never Ever Ever Getting Back Together
Tegan and Sara - Proud
Tina Turner – What’s Love Got To Do WIth It
TLC – Creep
The Band Perry - DONE
The Civil Wars - Oh Henry
The Cranberries - Promises
The Divine Comedy - Something for the Weekend
The Eurythmics and Aretha Franklin - Sisters Are Doing it for Themselves
The Horrorpops - Sob
The Interrupters - She Got Arrested
The Judds - I Know Where I'm Going
The Pretty Reckless - Why’d You Bring a Shotgun to the Party
The Veronicas - Revenge is Sweeter (Than You Ever Were)
The Veronicas - You Ruin Me
Toni Braxton – He Wasn’t Man Enough
Tori Amos - Silent All These Years
Tori Kelly - Unbreakable Smile
Tove Lo - Habits (Stay High)
Tracy Chapman - Give Me One Reason
Utah Saints - What Can You Do For Me
Veruca Salt - Seether
Veruca Salt - Volcano Girls
Wanda Jackson - My Big Iron Skillet
Waitress - Everything Changes
Whitney Houston – Heartbreak Hotel feat. Faith Evans and Kelly Price
Whitney Houston – My Name Is Not Susan
Whitney Houston – It’s Not Right But It's Okay (Thunderpuss mix)
Within Temptation - Frozen
Wolfmother - Victorious
Womack and Womack - Baby, I'm Scared of You (This one, and the song below this, were both recorded by a married duo of singers who had a fair amount of understanding about familial dysfunction, and how bad relationships can go off the rails.)
Womack and Womack - Love Wars
X - Johnny Hit and Run Paulene (Mostly male-voiced punk duo, but this scathing condemnation of drug-fueled rape was penned by both John Doe and Exene Cervenka, his co-writer and alternate vocalist, as well as the reason for the band's name.)
Yolanda Adams - Never Give Up
ZZ Ward - Put the Gun Down
The hardest part of this list was trying to find some song for every letter of the alphabet. I've done my best.
Comments