Rape me (Nirvana)
It’s not the first song Kurt Cobain wrote that’s ostensibly about the most heinous of sexual crimes — the acoustic cut ‘Polly’ off ‘Nevermind’ seems to tell a similar story of a defiant rape victim — but it is the only Nirvana song (and perhaps one of the few songs ever) to feature the phrase “rape me” repeated over and over again. Then again, as with most Nirvana songs, it’s not exactly clear what ‘Rape Me’ is about. The literal act? Cobain’s feelings about his treatment in the media? Regardless, it’s disturbing the first time anyone hears it, and then somehow, it seemingly morphs into anti-rape anthem that’s — dare we say it? — almost fun to sing along to. Do it and do it again.
Watch video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rCS14PoQc2M

Debaser (The Pixies)
Not every songwriter can turn lyrics like “Slicing up eyeballs” and the made-up, multi-language phrase “un chien andalusia” into instantly hummable phrases, but then again Frank Black is no ordinary songwriter. The Pixies frontman is responsible for some of both the catchiest and most indecipherable rock songs of all time, and ‘Debaser’ is a classic example of his songwriting style: roughly based on the 1929 surrealist short film ‘Un Chien Andalou,’ which was directed by Spanish director Luis Buñuel and featured input from legendary painter Salvador Dali, ‘Debaser’ turns the bizarre and diabolical into an infectious pop nugget.
Watch video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PVyS9JwtFoQ

Sex and Candy (Marcy Playground)
“I smell sex and candy here,” Marcy Playground frontman John Wozniak sings on the band’s massive 1997 hit ‘Sex and Candy’, which spent a then-record 15 weeks at No. 1 on the U.S. Modern Rock Tracks chart. That line on its own isn’t exactly creepy, but combined with the repeating outro of “Mama this surely is a dream”, not to mention the band’s name, it’s enough to make the unwitting karaoke singer later want to book an appointment with Sigmund Freud. Bizarrely, the song was later parodied by Jimmy Fallon on ‘Saturday Night Live’s’ Weekend Update segment featuring lyrics altered to go with a Halloween theme.
Watch video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-KT-r2vHeMM

Semi-Charmed Life (Third Eye Blind)
Third Eye Blind wrote their breakthrough hit ‘Semi-Charmed Life’ years before the drug crystal meth became a national scourge (and made AMC’s ‘Breaking Bad’ a national treasure), but singer Stephen Jenkins’ lyrics about being hooked to the terribly addictive drug were no less prescient in the ’90s. Written as a West Coast response to Lou Reed’s ‘Take a Walk on the Wild Side,’ ‘Life’ became a smash, topping the Modern Rock Tracks chart and peaking at No. 4 on the Top 40.
Watch video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MyjTrwOMSO4

Luka (Suzanne Vega)
Child abuse is never an easy topic to broach, but back in the ’80s, songs about said subject were especially few and far between. Suzanne Vega’s 1987 single ‘Luka,’ off her sophomore album, ‘Solitude Standing,’ certainly earned recognition for its brave exploration of the topic, but it’s equally notable for the immensely catchy melody used to deliver the song’s disturbing lyrics. It’s sung in an almost happy-go-lucky style, and it’s no surprise that many fans initially missed the seriously dark subject matter. “That particular song is a very special song,” Vega once said. “It’s a song about child abuse, so therefore it does touch a lot of people in a different way than if it were, say, a love song or some other kind of song.”
Watch video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZt7J0iaUD0

Closer (Nine Inch Nails)
When you dig not-so-deep into the lyrics, it’s mind-blowing that Nine Inch Nails‘ ‘Closer’ has been one of the most popular rock songs on radio for the past two decades.
Although the profanity was censored, the lyrics describing primal sex could not be ignored as “You let me violate you / You let me desecrate you / You let me penetrate you / You let me complicate you” spilled into the listener’s ears. NIN mastermind Trent Reznor created possibly the greatest strip club song ever with ‘Closer,’ which drips out the chorus, “I want to fuck you like an animal / I want to feel you from the inside.” The music video for ‘Closer’ was also incredibly challenging, showcasing a monkey tied to a cross, fetish gear and a spinning severed pig’s head.
Watch video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTFwQP86BRs

Disposable Teens (Marilyn Manson)
After Marilyn Manson was targeted by the government and the media following the tragic Columbine shootings, the Antichrist Superstar released ‘Disposable Teens,’ the first single from Manson’s 2001 ‘Holy Wood’ album.
Likely commenting on the event’s aftermath, along with referencing George Orwell’s ‘Nineteen Eighty-Four,’ ‘Disposable Teens’ recites, “And I’m a black rainbow / And I’m an ape of god / I got a face that’s made for doing violence upon / I’m a teen distortion, survived abortion / A rebel from the waist down.” Manson sings with his trademark unnerving articulation, especially with the line, “I never really hated a one true god, but the god of the people I hated.”
Watch video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GKkiCFOE-Ic

One (Metallica)
Robbed of his arms, legs, face, sight, speech and taste, Joe Bonham, the central character in the 1938 classic novel ‘Johnny Got His Gun.’ The book was transformed into a 1971 film, clips of which Metallica used for the ‘One’ music video.
Inspired by the story, Metallica frontman James Hetfield bellows, “Hold my breath as I wish for death / Oh please, God, help me / Darkness, imprisoning me / All that I see, absolute horror / I cannot live, I cannot die / Trapped in myself, body my holding cell.” ‘One’ has become a Metallica fan favorite since the track’s 1988 release and continues to paint vivid mental images today.
Watch video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EzgGTTtR0kc

Last Resort (Papa Roach)
Papa Roach are a radio-friendly band that constantly pump out active rock hits, but their breakthrough single, ‘Last Resort,’ is a disturbing contemplation of suicide.
Don’t let the catchy verses and chorus fool you. Lyrics such as, “Cut my life into pieces / I’ve reached my last resort, suffocation, no breathing / Don’t give a fuck if I cut my arms bleeding / Do you even care if I die bleeding? / Would it be wrong, would it be right? / If I took my life tonight,” fill the track with manic hopelessness. Luckily, singer Jacoby Shaddix is mentally in a better place, but we’ll always have ‘Last Resort’ as a postcard from one’s mental hell.
Watch video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d0ui-9yccM0

Date Rape (Sublime)
In what almost seemed like a musical contradiction, Sublime released a lively ska-reggae-punk single about date rape in 1991.
Narrating the story of an unfortunate woman and her monstrous attacker, singer Bradley Nowell croons, “Come on babe it’s your lucky day / Shut your mouth, we’re gonna do it my way / Come on baby don’t be afraid / If it wasn’t for date rape I’d never get laid.” Luckily, the rapist gets his comeuppance in the end at the track’s finish. “They locked him up and threw away the key / Well, I can’t take pity on men of his kind / Even though he now takes it in the behind.”
Watch video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CeMeDihwyrg

Every Breath You Take (The Police)
This is one of the most misunderstood lyrics in recent rock history: ‘Every Breath You Take’ from the Police‘s 1983 masterpiece ‘Synchronicity.’
Many people apparently take the song’s “every breath you take / every move you make / I’ll be watching you” lyrics as a lover’s vow, but Sting says he had more sinister things in mind — for example, governments spying on their citizens. “I think the song is very, very sinister and ugly,” he told BBC Radio.
Watch video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMOGaugKpzs

Brown Sugar (Rolling Stones)
“God knows what I’m going on about in that song,” Mick Jagger says of ‘Brown Sugar,’ one of the Rolling Stones‘ most popular anthems of all time. Well, let us help you out, buddy. The subjects covered on the opening track from 1971′s ‘Sticky Fingers’ includes oral sex, heroin, slavery and quite possibly rape all turn up at one point or another. As Jagger told Rolling Stone magazine in 1995, “I never would write that song now. I would probably censor myself. I’d think, ‘Oh God, I can’t. I’ve got to stop. I cant just write raw like that.”
We’ll leave it to you to decide whether that’s a good or a bad thing. At the very least, we’re glad he’s still willing to perform it live.
Watch video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fmfi3UbDPnQ

My Sharona (The Knack)
A guy walks into a store and instantly falls in love with the girl behind the counter — what’s so disturbing about that?
Well, for one thing, the real-life girl at the center of the Knack’s smash hit ‘My Sharona’ was only 17, a fact referenced in rather Prince-ly detail in the lyrics: “Never gonna stop, give it up, such a dirty mind / I always get it up for the touch of the younger kind.” Didn’t realize those were the words you and your friends were dancing along to, huh?
Now, to be fair, Knack singer Doug Fieger was only 25 at the time, and the couple — that’s her, Sharona Alperin, on the single’s cover — ended up dating for several years.
Watch video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g1T71PGd-J0

Maxwell’s Silver Hammer (The Beatles)
Paul McCartney‘s always had a knack for catchy melodies — so much so in fact, that it’s easy to forget he’s gleefully singing about a man who murders people during ‘Maxwell’s Silver Hammer.’
During the three-and-a-half minute song — which can be found in the middle of side one on the Beatles‘ 1969 album ‘Abbey Road’ — Maxwell’s girlfriend, school teacher and a judge all meet their doom via the titular piece of hardware.
George Harrison may have been ready to bash McCartney a bit himself after Paul dragged his bandmates through three days of work in order to get this “fruity” (George’s words) song sounding the way he wanted it to.
Watch video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MfnpZhJ8exQ