50 Best Rock Songs About Bad Luck

Best Rock Tracks That Capture Bad Luck Energy

There’s a strange kind of charge in songs that lean into bad luck. Not the neat kind you shake off with a grin, but the kind that follows you around like a busted shoelace or headlights in the rain. Rock music has always been good at catching that twitchy mood, the stumble that turns into a spiral, or the laugh that sounds a little too tired. A riff comes in jagged, a lyric cuts sideways, and suddenly you feel like the song knows your streak better than you do. Some of these tracks may not be literally tied to the theme, but they carry the same weight and slide right into the playlist.

Nobody wakes up thinking they’re doomed, but some days unfold like the dice were loaded from the start. That’s when the sound of guitars crashing over steady drums fits the headspace better than anything else. You can hear it in the scratch of a vocal straining to hold on, or in the way the melody collapses into noise. There’s grit in there, but no promise of payoff. Even when you dip into pop, rock, country, and R&B songs, the vibe still works if the track taps into that restless mood where nothing lines up.

It’s not all gloom, though. Sometimes the hook is catchy enough to make the bad luck feel like background music to a story worth telling. You might throw it on for a laugh, or to let the energy spill out without cleaning it up. These are the cuts that take all that messy timing and make it loud enough to carry. Here are the best rock songs on bad luck for Instagram reels and stories.

1. 'Born Under a Bad Sign' by Albert King

2. 'Bad Luck' by Social Distortion

3. 'Superstition' by Stevie Wonder

4. 'Mr. Bad Luck' by Jimi Hendrix

5. 'Bad Moon Rising' by Creedence Clearwater Revival

6. 'I've Had Enough' by The Who

7. 'Hard Luck Woman' by Kiss

8. 'Bad Luck Streak in Dancing School' by Warren Zevon

9. 'Thirteen' by Danzig

10. 'Tombstone Shadow' by Creedence Clearwater Revival

11. 'Unlucky' by Radiohead

12. 'Sister Luck' by The Black Crowes

13. 'Good Luck Bad Luck' by Lynyrd Skynyrd

14. 'Loser' by Grateful Dead

15. 'Poorboy' by Blind Faith

16. 'Fortunate Son' by Creedence Clearwater Revival

17. 'Born To Lose' by Johnny Thunders and the Heartbreakers

18. 'Hollywood (Down on Your Luck)' by Thin Lizzy

19. 'Friday the 13th' by Atomic Rooster

20. 'Ironic' by Alanis Morissette

21. 'Misfortune' by The National

22. 'Bad Luck and Trouble' by Gary Moore

23. 'With a Little Luck' by Paul McCartney and Wings

24. 'I Ain't Superstitious' by Jeff Beck Group

25. 'Bad Luck and Trouble' by Memphis Slim

26. 'I'm Bad' by The Who

27. 'Just My Luck' by The Dawes

28. 'Bad Day' by Daniel Powter

29. 'Why Does This Always Happen to Me?' by Weird Al Yankovic

30. 'Trouble' by Little Feat

31. 'Hard Luck Story' by Men At Work

32. 'Luck of the Draw' by Bonnie Raitt

33. 'Born To Lose' by The Bouncing Souls

34. 'Unlucky 13' by DevilDriver

35. 'The Jinx' by Peter and The Test Tube Babies

36. 'Bad Luck' by We Came As Romans

37. 'Shit Luck' by Modest Mouse

38. 'Bad Luck' by The Outfield

39. 'Bad Luck' by The Black Crowes

40. 'Trouble' by Elvis Presley

41. 'You Got Lucky' by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers

42. 'Black Cat' by Janet Jackson

43. 'Trouble in the Water' by The Black Crowes

44. 'Hard Time Losin' Man' by Jim Croce

45. 'Bad Luck' by Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes

46. 'Good Luck' by The Hellacopters

47. 'Lucky' by Radiohead

48. 'The Luckiest Guy on the Lower East Side' by The Magnetic Fields

49. 'Omen' by Disclosure ft. Sam Smith

50. 'Unsatisfied' by The Replacements