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Revenge is a Bitch: The 10 Most Bitter Female Rock Songs

By Stephen Handley November 21, 2007 417,771 views
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No matter how ugly your last break-up was, at least you can be thankful the girl didn't make a hit pop song about it. Those things can get downright nasty, as these 10 tracks prove.

#10.
"Irreplaceable" - Beyonce

Harshest lines:
"I could have another you in a minute, matter of fact he'll be here in a minute, baby"

Rumored to be about her split from Jay-Z, Beyonce's "Irreplaceable" hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in December 2006 and remained there for 10 weeks. The song's subject is a man who is arrogant enough to think that someone as hot as Beyonce could never replace him. So, surely it's not targeted at Jay-Z, who refers to himself as J-Hova, the Hebrew word for God.

Unlike many other female-revenge songs, "Irreplaceable" doesn't involve any violence, just a sense of independence and the smug assurance that she can get more dick than you might have suspected. Though, the opening lines that claim she was able to fit, "... everything you own in the box to the left," implies that rap mogul Jay-Z is in fact just one paycheck away from homelessness.

Bitterness level: 2.5
Hov has rapped in more than one song about his revolving door of hoes, so taking a brag that would be at home in one of his more misogynistic songs and throwing it back in his face has a nice sense of symmetry to it. Luckily, Beyonce stops short of packing the video with bethonged men booty dancing while she pours champagne on them.

#9.
"You're So Vain" - Carly Simon

Harshest lines:
"You're so vain, I bet you think this song is about you."

The thing that sucks the most about this song is that no matter who you are, if you've ever fucked Carly Simon, even once in college, you're going to at least for a moment entertain the possibility that the song is about you, and you're going to get called vain every single time. It's a Chinese finger trap of a mind fuck--the more you fight it, the tighter you're trapped.

The laundry list of celebrities that "You're So Vain" was supposedly written about is pretty much as long and shocking as Simon's hair in the below performance, which appears to have been combed with a Tesla coil.

At one time or another, the song has been rumored to be about Mick Jagger (doubtful considering he sang backing vocals), James Taylor (they were married at the time of recording--Carly has said "It is definitely not about James"), Warren Beatty (No official denial and Carly said in The Washington Post, "It certainly sounds like it was about Warren Beatty ..."), Kris Kristofferson and Cat Stevens.

When asked to reveal the target's identity by VH1 in 1990 she said that she "... can never give it away," a questionable statement since she seems to have fucked everyone who picked up a string instrument and grew his hair longer than shoulder length in the 1970s.

Bitterness level: 3.5
Confusing the hell out of a guy, though relatively easy, is just not very nice. It's also a sort of indiscriminate drive-by insult, firing the accusation wildly into a large crowd of males who worked in the entertainment industry in the '70s. They can't all deserve it. Also, wouldn't the most vain be the ones who assume the song isn't about them?

#8.
"These Boots Are Made For Walkin'" - Nancy Sinatra

Harshest lines:
"These boots are made for walking, and that's just what they'll do, one of these days these boots are gonna walk all over you."

Easily the most passive-aggressive song on the list, "These Boots Are Made For Walkin'" was released in February 1966 and shot to No. 1. The song has been adopted as a rallying cry for everything from pulling out of Vietnam to the introduction of the Fembots in Austin Powers.

Nancy Sinatra was reportedly told by Lee Hazlewood, the song's writer and producer, to sing it as if she was a 16-year-old girl brushing off a 40-year-old man. Hazelwood presumably followed that creepy request up with, "Not that I know what that sounds like."

That was apparently an era when 16-year-olds could brush off a dirty old man with a few melodic words about how she had found an even more experienced lover ("And what he knows, you ain't had time to learn ..."). Today, she'd have to change her address, her cell phone number, get all new MySpace friends, and call To Catch A Predator.

Bitterness level: 4
Nobody ever said the Sinatra's were great actors. The lyrics may be bitter, but her voice and the performance in the original video suggest less enraged woman and more of a "I'll keep the boots on while we have sex if you'd like me to" vibe.

#7.
"Breakin' Dishes" - Rihanna

Harshest lines:
"I ain't going to stop until I see police lights, I'm a fight-a man tonight, I'm-a fight a man tonight"

Be careful standing under Rihanna's Umbrella ella-ella-ella. She may just be luring your ass under there to beat you down. Things are starting to get a little violent, now. These ladies' have gone from walking away, to gloating to full-blown domestic violence.

During an interview for U.K. radio station Capital FM, Rihanna says of her third album, Good Girl Gone Bad, "Bad is not sleazy. Bad has its own term to every individual and in my case it just means I've gotten a little rebellious on the album, broken out of my shell and I'm taking risks ... Michael Jackson 'bad' kind of way," Although breaking dishes would actually qualify as the most violent thing Michael Jackson has ever done, calling yourself bad in a Michael Jackson kind of way doesn't really have the same connotation it used to.

Bitterness level: 5
Rihanna sings that she doesn't even know if her man is cheating on her or not, but she's going to beat his ass anyway, you know, just in case.

#6.
"One Way Or Another" - Blondie

Harshest lines:
"Lead you to the supermarket checkout, some specials and rat food, get lost in the crowd"

Don't let the catchy upbeat refrain on this 1978 song fool you, this is a dark one. The catch is that, like the best horror movies, we never know why the protagonist of the song is after her prey. Like Halloween's Michael Myers, she relentlessly and mindlessly stalks her victim. All we know is that one way or another she's going to get him. We don't know why, and she probably doesn't, either.

She watches his house, follows him to the mall, monitors his calls and eventually plans to lace his dinner with rat food, for some reason. What did he do? Are they having an affair? Did he smile at her on the bus? Does he work in the cubicle next to her? Is he a hilarious writer of awesome and super-meaningful content on a comedy website? That shit could happen to anybody, man, and that's scary.

Bitterness level: 5.75
The implied murder would normally give Ms. Harry a higher score, but the fact that she plans on committing the act by feeding her prey rat food as opposed to rat poison shows that, no matter how terrifying her lyrics are, Blondie is, at the end of the day, totally harmless and kind of an idiot.

My nomination goes to "Bye Bye Beautiful," which only qualifies halfway because Annette only sings some of the lyrics... still, the song is Nightwish ranting about how much of a traitorous b***h Tarja was, so it's pretty damn bitter even if a large portion of the lyrics are sung by a man.

7/1/2009 2:26:59 PM
Plangkye

uh, no that is one of G-d's names. It is the proper pronunciation for the 4 letter name of G-d that is in every single blessing, um, ever. We only say Je*ova on days like Yom Kippur because of its holiness. And Suri is short for Sarah which does mean princess, or leader in Bibilical Hebrew and Aramaic. Nesi'ah (which not used to refer to royalty) is just the Ancient and Modenr female form of Nasi, which means prince. Uch, don't talk unless you know what you're talking about!

Great article!

4/29/2009 9:55:02 AM
leahperry

Yeah, it's a name for god. it's actually spelled jehova. Jay-z is just f*****g retarded and thinks that his ugly ass is a gift to women and rap artists everywhere.

3/31/2009 12:02:59 AM
Sliptheflitch

what about "hot and cold" by katy perry? and the hebrew god word is wrong, there's alot of names for god in hebrew but i never heard that one. maybe im wrong, i just hate it when celebrities try to use hebrew names and words and use it wrongly, like tom cruise and his wife named their child suri, which suppose to mean "princes" but princes is nesiha in hebrew

3/30/2009 1:39:59 PM
milestarcar1994

I really liked the alanis morissette and carrie underwood songs because they are just plain good ... heck all of these songs are awesome just different genres ... i personally prefer metal and death metal but these are awesome anyway

3/26/2009 3:27:07 PM
OilPaint

This list fails for lack of rock.

Other than Blondie and L7, all the other songs are by country/pop starlets. you cant rock with an acoustic guitar, fiddle, and cowboy hat.

3/18/2009 10:50:51 AM
Danowar

I'm backing the Dixie Chicks on this one. Murder beats out interrupting your ex while he has dinner.

3/7/2009 3:09:57 PM
dizzypdx

urbancowgirl I can't believe you posted all of that. Go to your room! Fired.

2/25/2009 11:58:19 AM
perraru

How ironic that Rihanna made this list and ended up getting smacked around by Chris Brown.

2/19/2009 12:26:46 AM
bustos26

and what about this one

Should've Said No
It's strange to think the songs we used to sing,
The smiles, the flowers, everything,
Is gone.
Yesterday I found out about you,
Even now just looking at you,
Feels wrong.
You say, that you'd take it all back,
Given one chance, it was a moment of weakness,
And you said yes

You should've said no,
You should've gone home,
You should have thought twice before you let it all go.
You should've known that word 'bout what you did with her'd, get back to me.
And I should've been there, in the back of your mind,
Shouldn't be asking myself why,
You shouldn't be begging for forgivness at my feet,
You should've said no
Baby and you might still have me.

You can see that I've been cryin',
Baby you know all the right things,
To say.
But do you, honestly,
Expect me, to believe,
We could ever be the same.
You say, that the past is the past,
You need one chance, it was a moment of weakness,
And you said yes

You should've said no,
You should've gone home,
You should have thought twice before you let it all go.
You should've known that word 'bout what you did with her'd, get back to me.
And I should've been there, in the back of your mind
Shouldn't be asking myself why,
You shouldn't be begging for forgiveness at my feet,
You should've said no
Baby and you might still have me..

I can't resist,
Before you go tell me this,
Was it worth it,
Was she worth this.

No, no, no, no

You should've said no,
You should've gone home,
You should have thought twice before you let it all go.
You should've known that word 'bout what you did with her'd, get back to me.
And I should've been there, in the back of your mind
Shouldn't be asking myself why,
You shouldn't be begging for forgiveness at my feet,
You should've said no
Baby and you might still have me..

2/5/2009 9:55:13 AM
urbancowgirl

picture to burn lyrics
State the obvious,
I didn’t get my perfect fantasy
I realized you love yourself
More that you could ever love me
So go and tell your friends
That I’m obsessive and crazy,
That’s fine
You won't mind if I say
And by the way,

I hate that stupid old pickup truck,
You never let me drive
You’re a redneck, heartbreak
Who’s really bad at lying
So watch me strike a match
On all my wasted time
As far as I’m concerned,
You’re just another picture to burn.

There’s no time for tears
I’m just sitting here planning my revenge
There’s nothing stopping me
From going out with all of your best friends
And if you come around saying’ sorry to me
My daddy’s going to show you how sorry you’ll be

‘Cause I hate that stupid old pickup truck,
You never let me drive
You’re a redneck, heartbreak
Who’s really bad at lying, yeah
So watch me strike a match
On all my wasted time
As far as I’m concerned,
You’re just another picture to burn.

And if you’re missing me
You better keep it to yourself
‘Cause coming back around here
Would be bad for your health

‘Cause I hate that stupid old pickup truck,
You never let me drive
You’re a redneck, heartbreak
Who’s really bad at lying, yeah
So watch me strike a match
On all my wasted time
In case you haven’t heard,

I really, really hate that stupid old pickup truck,
You never let me drive
You’re a redneck, heartbreak
Who’s really bad at lying, yeah
So watch me strike a match
On all my wasted time
As far as I’m concerned,
You’re just another picture to burn.
Burn, burn, burn, baby burn.
Just another picture to burn
Baby burn


u cant tell me thats not bitter

2/5/2009 9:51:37 AM
urbancowgirl

im so glad u put carrie underwood in that even tho she became a stuck up b***h and what about taylors swifts songs picture to burn and shouldve said no those are good bitterness songs

2/5/2009 9:48:22 AM
urbancowgirl

im so glad u put carrie underwood in that even tho she became a stuck up b***h and what about taylors swifts songs picture to burn and shouldve said no those are good bitterness songs

2/5/2009 9:48:22 AM
urbancowgirl

i think the song FURB by Frankee is pretty mean..she pretty much bashes the guy through the whole song..telling him that she has better sex on her own...it's pretty funny

1/27/2009 4:16:22 PM
lilr2k

ok most of them r stupid but that Carrie Inderwood song isnt tat bad.

1/14/2009 1:51:40 PM
kwrenbirdy

Cherrypitbull - What do you mean? I don't think that any man would willingly admit that he's cheating on his partner by way of a music video (or just song). From what I know of myself, men are generally not that vengeful.

12/5/2008 9:51:01 PM
Umup0

Also, thanks for "Jay-Z, who refers to himself as J-Hova"
I now know what "H to the izzo V to the Izza" means.

12/5/2008 6:04:08 AM
Darkmage

Surely Pink should have got onto this list somewhere. That's one seriously bitter b***h right there.

12/5/2008 4:29:29 AM
Darkmage

This article just came out before Jazmine Sullivan's "Bust Your Windows." This song should have definitely made the list/

11/17/2008 7:25:22 PM
tiggerwitch1

FYI, I know the category is female, it was a lame attempt at humor

10/5/2008 11:35:25 AM
nightmare1970