"Shitty" songs meaning, in this case, songs that contain the word "shit" in their titles. More specifically, to keep it simple and aid in the selection process, the titles could only contain a basic form of the word "shit"—so shit, shitty, shitting, etc.; but not shiteating, shitfaced, bullshit, horseshit, and so on—thus disqualifying tracks I might have included otherwise, such as Mongoloid Village with "Shittown, U.S.A.," or The Pharcyde with "Bullshit."
Doughboys, "Shitty Song," from Crush (A&M, 1993)
How could I not top the list with a track titled, literally, "Shitty Song," and its chorus, "Shitty times in a shitty world, shitty songs about shitty girls..."? It had to be done. This woozy tune can be heard on the Canadian act's fourth (and best) full-length—their major label debut for A&M Records, and a longstanding bargain bin jewel.
Suicidal Tendencies, "Feel Like Shit... Déjà Vu," from Controlled by Hatred/Feel Like Shit… Déjà Vu (Epic, 1989)
A classic. Plain and simple. Quite possibly my favorite Suicidal Tendencies album, even if it mostly consists of cover songs. It's just too perfect! Fun fact: I just learned that Controlled by Hatred/Feel Like Shit… Déjà Vu was the first Suicidal Tendencies album to go gold. Who knew!?
SEE ALSO: 5 Great Heavy Metal Songs With the Word “Metal” in Their Titles
Morbid Angel, "World of Shit (The Promised Land)," from Covenant (Earache/Giant, 1993)
A longtime favorite from what I've always deemed their finest album. Supremely grimy, crawling, midpaced riffing for the first minute; onto that frantic, high-speed Morbid Angel precision that practically spawned an entire subgenre of death metal in the years that followed. (Hello, Brazil!)
Fudge Tunnel, "Shit for Brains," from Teeth (Earache, 1992)
Another "shitty" (in a good way) early-'90s Earache gem, this recording of "Shit for Brains" is tighter and crunchier than the 1990 original from The Sweet Sound of Excess EP. Bonus points for the band name "Fudge Tunnel," in this context, of course!
Havoc, "Same Shit, Different Day" (2012)
In 2012, Havoc from Mobb Deep released two singles to hype his surprisingly awesome 13 full-length, issued the following year. Strangely enough, neither pre-release single ended up on the album itself, which is kinda crazy, 'cause they're both incredible. ("Separated (Real From the Fake)" is even better, though not applicable to this list.)
Life, Sex & Death, "Fuckin' Shit Ass," from The Silent Majority (Reprise, 1992)
Not the best song on the list, sure, but it's hard to argue against that title's blunt beauty. I hated this oddball band—what with their faux "homeless" frontman, "Stanley," and disjointed approach to insanely catchy yet oft-irritating songwriting—when I was younger, but after a couple of decades of randomly getting "Tank" stuck in my head, something finally clicked and I bought the CD back in February... even if I still don't quite "get it."
The Death of Her Money, "Shit Shaped," from Spirit of the Stairwell (SuperFi, 2008)
The first minute or so of piercing feedback is, well, actually kinda shitty (for real). But... and that's a big but, from there on out it's just a devastatingly crushing slab of surging, eerily melodic brilliance from this underappreciated Welsh trio.
Shit, There's More...
Obviously there are hundreds and hundreds of other "shitty" songs that ain't so shitty out there. I would've included Saint James Infirmary's "See Through Shit" for added musical diversity, for example, but couldn't find it online. And in my iTunes library alone, there's:
- As Friends Rust, "We on Some Next Level Shit"
- Crumbsuckers, "Shit's Creek"
- Disrupt, "Same Old Shit" (among others)
- Grimple, "Walls of Shit"
- Iron Reagan, "Eat Shit and Live" (the best song title herein, even if it didn't officially make the cut)
- Point Blank, "We Don't Owe You Shit" (despite its "politically incorrect" subject matter, à la Agnostic Front's "Public Assistance")
- Victims, "Holy Shit"
And nearly 100 more!
Hell, part of me wanted to include a Bathtub Shitter track, too, but... they kinda fail on the "ain't so shitty" criteria. I'm just not a fan, sorry! (Can't help but throw 'em a mention, though.)
As always, there's nothing definitive about this list. It's all in good fun, so I'd love to see you chime in with your own selections in the comments below...
Comments
I have always love that Doughboys album! And, yes, I picked up a used copy of it. Great list, Andrew!
10.14.2014 | By Carlos Ramirez
I’ll never understand how they followed up ‘Crush’ with such a stinker like ‘Turn Me On’.
10.14.2014 | By Andrew Aversionline
That Doughboys albums is so good, i still spin it regularly.
10.21.2014 | By Matt
It wasn’t THAT bad of an album. The first two are wonky as well especially in their mix. they just hit the nail on the head with album #3.
10.21.2014 | By Matt
The first three albums before ‘Crush’ used to bore me a little, but I’ve warmed up to them a lot over the years now. Every time I revisited ‘Turn Me On’ it just did absolutely nothing for me, though, so I eventually sold it. ‘Crush’ just sets a damn high standard to compare anything to, ha…
10.21.2014 | By Andrew Aversionline