50 Best Rock Songs About Mean People

Best Rock Tracks That Call Out Mean People

There’s a weird satisfaction that comes from hearing someone else sing what you wish you could say. The sting of a snide comment, the person who smiles while twisting the knife, the friend who suddenly starts keeping score. Some tracks lean into the pettiness, some spit venom back, and some stand there watching the wreck burn with a half-smirk. It’s not all fury and finger-pointing though. There’s humor in it, a little swagger even, when guitars grind and drums crash like payback with rhythm. These songs catch that pulse, the one that beats right after you’ve had enough.

Every era has its anthems for the quietly fed up. Punk tore through fake niceties, grunge rolled its eyes at the smug and the shallow, and even pop, rock, country, and R&B songs have taken their swings. Not every track lays it out word for word, but the energy is there—the bite in the chorus, the grit in the delivery, that electric feeling of calling someone out without saying their name. Sometimes it’s fun, sometimes it’s bitter, sometimes it’s the only way to let it out without flipping a table.

The thing is, nobody really escapes mean people. You deal, you stew, you find your own soundtrack that spits back a little of what you took. Some of these tracks might not spell it out, but they carry that same sneer in their sound. Here are the best rock songs for when you’re done putting up with mean people.

1. 'Positively 4th Street' by Bob Dylan

2. 'You're So Vain' by Carly Simon

3. 'Sweet Talkin' Woman' by Electric Light Orchestra

4. 'T.N.T.' by AC/DC

5. 'Cold as Ice' by Foreigner

6. 'Hit Me With Your Best Shot' by Pat Benatar

7. 'Liar' by Queen

8. 'Creep' by Radiohead

9. 'Somebody's Me' by Bryan Adams

10. 'You Oughta Know' by Alanis Morissette

11. 'Mama Told Me (Not to Come)' by Three Dog Night

12. 'Bad Reputation' by Joan Jett & the Blackhearts

13. 'I Hate Everything About You' by Ugly Kid Joe

14. 'Don't Stop Me Now' by Queen

15. 'Hate to Say I Told You So' by The Hives

16. 'Psycho Killer' by Talking Heads

17. 'Heartbreaker' by Led Zeppelin

18. 'Walls (Circus)' by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers

19. 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' by Nirvana

20. 'Killing in the Name' by Rage Against the Machine

21. 'Evil Woman' by Black Sabbath

22. 'Jerk It Out' by The Caesars

23. 'Bullet with Butterfly Wings' by The Smashing Pumpkins

24. 'Misery Business' by Paramore

25. 'Dirty Little Thing' by Velvet Revolver

26. 'I'm Bad, I'm Nationwide' by ZZ Top

27. 'Go Your Own Way' by Fleetwood Mac

28. 'Mr. Roboto' by Styx

29. 'Black Dog' by Led Zeppelin

30. 'Faint' by Linkin Park

31. 'The Pretender' by Foo Fighters

32. 'Don't Tell Me' by Ozzy Osbourne

33. 'Where Is My Mind?' by Pixies

34. 'The Man Who Sold the World' by David Bowie

35. 'Give Me Shelter' by The Rolling Stones

36. 'Basket Case' by Green Day

37. 'Welcome to the Black Parade' by My Chemical Romance

38. 'Closer' by Nine Inch Nails

39. 'Bad Company' by Bad Company

40. 'I Hate Myself for Loving You' by Joan Jett & the Blackhearts

41. 'Loser' by Beck

42. 'Hurt' by Nine Inch Nails

43. 'Paranoid' by Black Sabbath

44. 'Renegade' by Styx

45. 'Spoonman' by Soundgarden

46. 'I Don't Know' by Ozzy Osbourne

47. 'Gimme All Your Lovin'' by ZZ Top

48. 'The Joker' by Steve Miller Band

49. 'Somebody to Love' by Queen

50. 'Barracuda' by Heart