The ''Series/HorribleHistories'' live-action adaptation owes a good deal of its massive popularity to its music. Each episode matches historical figures to the appropriate modern genre to create a truly unique comic music video. A good many are also [[FridgeBrilliance flat-out brilliant parodies]] of the genre or performer in question, and all of them are catchy. A representative sample of the best are listed below:
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* [[https://youtu.be/zPtYmq5qFVA The 4 Georges, Born 2 Rule]]. The song that started it all: the four, erm, ''colourful'' founders of the British House of Hanover perform in the style of a modern {{boyband}}.
* [[https://youtu.be/rTdTDCRKvvM The Wives of Henry VIII: Divorced, Beheaded, Died]]. "Some might say I ruined their lives..." The iconic much-married monarch must use a catchy mnemonic to keep track of each woman's fate.
* [[https://youtu.be/Kmw9rNBgF2Q Spartan High School Musical]]. The proud little future casualties of ''Film/ThreeHundred'' put on their own ''Film/HighSchoolMusical''... complete with squeaky little American accents. "Everyone's a jock here, there are no Spartan nerds/The weedy kids were left to die as breakfast for the birds!"
* [[https://youtu.be/8qSkaAwKMD4 Literally (The Viking Song)]]. The presumed ancient ancestors of [[Film/ThisIsSpinalTap Spinal Tap]] belt out an authentically passionate power ballad dedicated to their love... of burning and pillaging English monasteries.
* [[https://youtu.be/FA5abHKvUBQ Charles II: King of Bling]]. As far as the Merry Monarch was concerned, in this sweetly-sophisticated, souffle-light hip-hop romp, the Restoration was all about letting the good times roll once again. "I'm the King... who brought back partying!"
* [[https://youtu.be/XXVpW399hwM George IV: Couldn't Stand My Wife]]. In which performer Jim Howick almost single-handedly turns a lite-FM take on Georgian self-pity into a soaring, hilarious classic.
* [[https://youtu.be/eHMRLoJZ5JA Boudicca]]. The legendary warrior queen matches her rage against the Roman Empire to the driving beat of alternative rock.
* [[https://youtu.be/51aHb_U8Zr0Do the Pachacuti]]. The fearsome Incan warlord fronts this chipper little summer novelty song, all about how viciously he mutilated enemy corpses' bodies. Bonus: little bouncy skulls following the onscreen lyrics.
* [[https://youtu.be/WYU-vSh7ORA Dick Turpin, Highwayman]]. The show somehow decides that the best way to debunk Turpin's DracoInLeatherPants reputation would be to dress up Mathew Baynton (''aka'' Charles II) in lush Georgian cape and guyliner and have him perform a brilliant satire of Adam and the Ants' "Stand and Deliver". ''Somehow'', this instead resulted in easily the most adult performance ever recorded for children's TV.
* [[https://youtu.be/hfbXQFsOtDo Ra Ra Cleopatra]]. What could the iconic (Fashion) Queen of the Nile and pop-rock royalty Music/LadyGaga possibly have in common? Quite a lot, as it turns out.
* [[https://youtu.be/R6JczvS1PL4 The Truth About Richard III]]. Jim Howick's ability to wring the last drop of {{woobie}}-ness out of maliciously maligned royal figures strikes again, with even more spectacular soft-rock results. Notable for possibly the best single rhyming couplet in the show's history: "Can you imagine it / I'm the last Plantagenet..."
* [[https://youtu.be/3g61xASD-24 William Wallace, Scottish Rebel]]. Dubious authenticity of the costuming aside, the real story of the ''Film/{{Braveheart}}'' hero still makes for one uniquely kickass hard-rock vocal. No, really.
* [[https://youtu.be/qWwAC9dOTCE Who's Bad]]. Basically, four infamous Roman emperors (including UsefulNotes/{{Caligula}} and UsefulNotes/{{Nero}}) battle it out to see who is truly the worst, set to a parody of "Bad" by Music/MichaelJackson. [[spoiler:Nero wins.]]
* [[https://youtu.be/H7rHTUNAz0g Celtic Boast Battle]]. Ancient rhyming (and occasionally beatboxing) warriors boast of their courage, their cunning, their bling... oh yes, "and I paint myself blue! / That is way, ''way'' cooler than you!"
* [[https://youtu.be/uqNHbrVsfVQ The Aztec Priests' Song (Ain't Stayin' Alive)]]. Easily the weirdest tune ever in series history -- but hey, faced with defining a cruelly decadent culture fascinated with shiny things, what other musical genre you gonna call ''except'' old-school disco? Includes another one of the show's great rhymes: "Don't cross us Aztecs we advise ya (huh, huh, huh, huh)/Or you'll end up as fertiliser (yeaaaahhhhh!)."
* [[https://youtu.be/vC6okzIKQvg The Kings and Queens Song]]. Pretty much exactly what it says on the tin: a five-minute, multi-performer cumulative epic that literally lists off all the British monarchs from William the Conqueror. Written as a memorization challenge for the show's young audience, after the producers noticed them memorizing previous songs.
* [[https://youtu.be/3UyjdqspU5k Death's Favourite Things]] is a wonderful anthem for {{Nightmare Fetishist}}s everywhere, sung by Horrible Histories' very own [[DontFearTheReaper Death]].
* [[https://youtu.be/GLUyEXO-jI0 The Few (RAF Pilots)]]. Douglas Bader and his fellow dashing flyboy heroes of the Battle of Britain sing of their extraordinary feats of derring-do... also, they dance. Because this is another boyband parody. "[[TakeThat Take]] [[Music/TakeThat That]], Hitler!"
* [[https://youtu.be/sdg6R2s-d04 Charles Darwin: Natural Selection]]. The founding father of modern biology recast as an eccentric old professor straight out of classic children's literature... complete with drumming gorilla sidekick... explaining his theories via an elegant parody of David Bowie's "Changes". What's not to love?
* [[https://youtu.be/96eigZrs7Js Hey Hey, We're the Thinkers]]. Using the [[Music/TheMonkees Monkees]] and the [[Music/TheBeatles Beatles]]--with just a dash of Creator/MontyPython--to celebrate the equally quirky, iconoclastic ancient forebears of intellectual revolution results in an almost unbearably charming fusion of fun and philosophy.
* [[https://youtu.be/yJPhMi8GKjs Mary Seacole]]. Move over, Music/{{Beyonce}}, this single lady's got business to take care of -- specifically, breaking down racial barriers ''and'' curing constipation as the forgotten other nursing heroine of the Crimean War.
* [[https://youtu.be/UXCIMmpETaA "Bloody" Mary Tudor]] recounts her story through a wonderful parody of Music/KateBush's classic [[https://youtu.be/BW3gKKiTvjs "Wuthering Heights"]], complete with Bush's own signature dance moves to match.
* [[https://youtu.be/mJ0UB__I9j4 Flame (Olympic song)]]. The Olympic flame of athletic sportsmanship and social idealism will burn forever... but not without some memorable hitches along the way.
* [[https://youtu.be/Koeio4fqwmU Rosa Parks: I Sat on a Bus]]. The first lady of the American civil rights movement takes to the Creator/{{Motown}} stage to explain how one small act had the power to make history.
* [[https://youtu.be/F2Dy2n2H2qA Charles Dickens]]. The great man of English literature borrows from several great Music/TheSmiths songs to relate the tumultuous relationship between his real life and fiction -- complete with the swinging gladioli flowers.
* [[https://youtu.be/wINLmGb4cbM Marcus Licinius Crassus: Minted]]. The forgotten decadent aristocrat of the Ancient Roman pantheon explains -- via grime rap (and pretty obvious SuspiciouslySimilarSong version of Dizzee Rascal's "Bonkers"), of course -- why he couldn't care less about the fame, so long as he had the fortune. "You can't call yourself loaded 'til you can buy an army..."
* [[https://youtu.be/EChK5l9lwHU Vikingland]]. ''Aka'' [[Music/SimonAndGarfunkel Vikings and Garfunkel]]: in which the Nordic invaders make the case for the surprisingly extensive number of reasonable, peaceful improvements they made to English culture once they arrived... while wearing wigs that really do need to be seen to be believed.
* [[https://youtu.be/5ZGwXRuNsUg Joan of Arc's song]], written to the tune of Music/JessieJ's "Price Tag", tells the inspiring story of the French teenage girl who went from an illiterate peasant to a Saint. Bonus points for incorporating the words "If I am not, may God put me there, and if I am, may God so keep me", her real life answer to the question of if she believed she was in God's grace.
* [[https://youtu.be/-4pSUbntiAs The Pioneers of Transportation]], a parody of [[Film/{{Grease}} Grease Lightning]], tells us the history of transportation (trains, steam ships, motor cars and planes). It's just as awesome as it sounds.
* [[https://youtu.be/IwwQXNe_06Y Henry VII: The Original Tu-Tu-Tudor]]. The dynasty's dour founder takes on his rather dull reputation in 70's GlamRock style, complete with killer falsetto.
* [[https://youtu.be/oXmMT4sETu8 The World War I Cousins]]. Have you ever wanted to see a sitcom based on the lives of [[UsefulNotes/TheHouseOfWindsor King George V]], Tsar UsefulNotes/NicholasII, and Kaiser UsefulNotes/WilhelmII, and the hilarious antics and hijinx they get into at [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarI the turn of the 20th century?]] Well, if you were one of the few people who didn't, perhaps this [[Film/TheThreeStooges Three Stooges]]-reminiscing ditty will make you reconsider your choice.
* [[https://youtu.be/s1ADwv2A1wg The Borgia Family]]. What song is best to use as a parody base about a murderous, power-hungry, corrupt and exploitative Italian dynasty? Why, ''The Addams Family''! Two minutes doesn't take long to show who the real monsters were!
* [[https://youtu.be/E-LemeejdjA We're History (Finale)]]. Every era the show ever featured is revisited by nearly every character the show ever created in an epic finale that borrows its format from "We Are the World"-style charity singles... and despite it all is guaranteed to raise a lump in your throat. "We're history... and we made it Horrible!"
* [[https://youtu.be/XTWQzF1027I Magna Carta: 800 Years]]. A song dedicated to the signing and impact of the Magna Carta through a parody of "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)" by The Proclaimers.
* "The Victorian Christmas Song", which shows that many Christmas traditions were popularized by Victorians. Especially Charles Dickens' Noddy Holder-like scream at the end (the song is a spoof of Slade's "Merry Xmas Everybody")!
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