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- 3OH!3's "Don't Trust Me" gives us this absolute gem:And tell your boyfriend, if he says he's got beefThat I'm a vegetarian and I ain't fuckin' scared of him
- AC/DC's "T.N.T."'Cause I'm T.N.T., I'm dynamite
T.N.T., and I'll win the fight
T.N.T., I'm a power load
T.N.T., watch me explode - Asking Alexandria's "Reckless & Relentless"I! AM! ROCK AND ROLL!!!
- Amaranthe's "Unreal"You can try to defeat me, you won't win
You won't beat me on the field
My fortitude beyond unreal
If you dare interfere me
Slow me down or impede me
I guarantee, my vengeance will be so unreal- "Invincible" too.Can't you see who I am? I'm invincibleLike a force that is out of controlBut this power runs deep in my soul
- "Invincible" too.
- Given their love of fantasy and sci-fi pulp, Purple Prose, and use of first-person POVs in their songs, Bal-Sagoth's lyrics are positively stuffed with elaborate and original Badass Boasts. Particular credit though has to go to the song Of Carnage and the Gathering of Wolves:Yes... I am the scythe in the field at summerI am the thunder which awakens the earthI am that which gives the night air its chill...I am far beyond the ken of menMy gaze shall make the night tremble!
- "A National Acrobat" by Ozzy-era Black Sabbath.I am the one that hides the universal secret of all timeDestruction of the empty spaces is my one and only crimeI've lived a thousand times, I've found out what it means to be believedThe thoughts and images, the unborn child that never was conceived
- Blind Guardian's "And then there was silence" with"We have been betrayed by the wind and the rainThe sacred hall's empty and coldThe sacrifice made should not be done in vainRevenge will be taken by Rome""We don't regret itSo many men have failed but now he's (gone)Go out and get itThe madman's head it shall be thineWe don't regret itThat someone else dies hidden in (disguise)Go out and get itOrion's hound shines brightNo hopeThe blind leads the blindCarry onThough future's deniedMare or stallionThere's far more insideWe are in at the kill we'll cheerfully die."
- Boastful Rap in general.
- Bob Marley's "Small Axe":If you are the big tree
We are the small axe
Ready to cut you down... * Bo Diddley's "Who Do You Love?"I walk 47 miles of barbed wire
I use a cobra snake for a necktie
I got a brand new house out on the roadside
Made out of rattlesnake hide
I got a brand new chimney made on top
Made out of a human skull
Come take a little walk with me and tell me
Who do you love? - A lot of martial music does this. An example from The British Grenadiers:"Some talk of Alexander, and some of Hercules,""Of Hector and Lysander, and such great names as these.""But of all the world's great heroes, there's none that can compare.""With a tow, row, row, row, row, row, to the British Grenadiers.""Those heroes of antiquity ne'er saw a cannon ball,""Or knew the force of powder to slay their foes withal.""But our brave boys do know it, and banish all their fears,""With a tow, row, row, row, row, row, for the British Grenadiers."
- Piece Of Me by Britney Spears
- No wonder there's panic in the industry
- Brown Bird's Blood of Angels is about a very angry person.I tried to drink the blood of angels from a bottleIt hasn't struck me yet, and I would wager my soul to betThat there ain't no one throwing lightning anyhow!
- Chase & Status - No ProblemI move like water, I go with the flowI go back to old school, I go back to RomeBut this is no history it's the start of the showNever worry that is the way that I rollI'm a bad man, what is it? Let me say againYou can try copy like a slave to a trendNothing they can say and nothing they can doIt's no problem for me, but it's a problem for you.
- Clutch has a few.
- "Subtle Hustle" on the album "Blast Tyrant."
I got your numberI steal your thunderI got your mother's maiden name tattooed on my arm!- "Walking In The Great Shining Path Of Monster Trucks" is almost nothing but these.
And Evel Knievel, like VirgilWas a gentleman as well as a scholar - Coheed and Cambria's albums are a sci-fi epic about Claudio Kilgannon, prophesied to defeat Supreme Tri-Mage Wilhelm Ryan, the man responsible for his family's deaths. In the song The End Complete, which describes their final battle, Ryan boasts:We are the fate of Hell andThe call of JusticeWe are now waiting while you wish us awayWith your plans in all deliveranceWon't take us over, baby!God (He will not save you)Is not (He will not save you)here! (He will not save you from this)
- Cormorant touches upon this in "The Purest Land"My deeds live on,for I have seen what mencould only dream they saw.I have seen what mencould only dream they saw.
- Given that Rage Against the Heavens is pretty much The Crown's raison d'etre, these are pretty common in their lyrics. One particularly memorable one is from the song "Deathexplosion" (no, really)All legends tell of meCreating a killing spreeWhat the legend doesn't sayIS THAT I'M COMING BACK ONE DAY!
- Cypress Hill's 'Insane In The Brain' sums up decades of rap boasting in one simple lyric:SEN DOG: "Punks just jealous 'cause they can't outwrite me"
- The Crystal Method's Play For Real seems to take it to the next logical step: the person singing doesn't need to boast about his achievements. You should already know them. So the only logical thing is to question your sanity for challenging him.You gotta be mad
Or stone-cold crazy
Outta your mind
If you wanna play with me
What are you, sick?
Or maybe just straight-up ill
You gotta be crazy as fuck
If you wanna play for real - David Guetta's "Titanium":I'm bulletproof, nothin' to loseFire away, fire awayRicochet, you take your aimFire away, fire awayYou shoot me down, but I won't fallI am titanium
- Dean Brody's song, "Cattleman's Gun" relates the tale about kindly old preacher who beseeches his followers to forgive rather than seek vengeance against the Cattleman, a skilled but cruel gunfighter whom has been terrorizing the town. All that changes one day when the Cattleman guns down a farmer in front of his two sons then taunts the boys as they're crying over their father's body...at which point the preacher emerges from the church with fiery murder in his eyes and issues the following threat to the Cattleman, before gunning the tyrant down before he can even clear leather:" Your ticket to hell is a comin' to you, and I got a hollow-point to give you the ride!"
- Demon Hunter, being a Christian Metal band often have badass metal anthems boasting about being warriors of God that can tear down even hell itself in his name. Lines taken from This I Know (featured on the Killing Floor 2 soundtrack)I am the ruthless bane of a wicked worldAnd I prey on the killing floorLet my will be a violent pathTo tear apart what’s leftAll Hell falls down around my feet when I speak with a word of wrath
- "Devil Went Down to Georgia" by Charlie Daniel Band. Admittedly, it's for a duel by fiddles, but...My name's JohnnieAnd it might be a sinBut I'll take your betAnd you're gonna regretCause I'm the best that's ever been.
- You mean a badass fiddle duel.
Now Devil you just come on backIf you ever wanna try it againI done told you once you old sonofabitchIM THE BEST THAT'S EVER BEEN! - "The Queen's Rebuke" from a concept album by The Decemberists features the hero's fae foster mother, boasting her immortality and power over the forest:I'm made of bones of the branches the boughs and the brow-beating lightWhile my feet are the trunks and my head is the canopy highAnd my fingers extend to the leaves in the eves, and the brightBrighter shine, it's my shine
- Dio era Black Sabbath had "I", another boast-in-song-form, this one from the point of view of an Anti-Hero. The end of the last verse, however, outbadasses the rest of the song.I'll smash your face inBut with a smileAll together you'll neverBe stronger than me
- "Indestructible" by Disturbed is one long boast. And it works.No hesitation / When I am commanded to strikeYou need to know that you're in for the fight of your lifeYou will be shown / How I've becomeIndestructible / Determination that is incorruptibleFrom the other side a terror to behold / Annihilation will be unavoidableEvery broken enemy will know / That their opponent had to be invincibleTake a last look around while you're aliveI'm an indestructible Master of war!
- "Divide," off the same album, though it doesn't go to nearly the same extreme:
You might say that I'm the last man standing now,Though you'll try, you'll never find a way to break me- "Warrior" from the next album takes this to a stupidly extreme level, sounding as if Dave Draiman watched multiple episodes of Dragon Ball Z for reference.
I am an instrument of violence / I am a vessel of invincibilityI cannot leave this undecided / Stepping down to battle another dayRemember me for all time, this / Determination is a vital part of meSurrender now or be counted / With the endless masses that I will defeatBroken down till your hope has died / Beat down till the victory's mineStand up and show me some pride, are you ready?I'm one with the warrior inside / My dominance can't be deniedYour entire world will turn into a battlefield tonightAs I look upon you / Through the warrior's eyes nowI can see the fear that will ensure my victory this timeI can't be told of compromise / They'll never doubt the body lying at my feetA most formidable reminder / They will speak my name for eternityI have no need of any guidance / I am a weapon, powerful beyond beliefSeen through the warrior's eyes / I never need to question how to defeat you- And then there is their theme song for "Stone Cold" Steve Austin.
- Disciple had a few
- Unbroken is an entire extended one with lyrics like
So come what may let the waters rise and I’ll walk on the tidesWon’t let my faith be haunted by the bones that lay behindCause there’s an ending that’s unseen that I choose to believethat I won’t breakSo let sky fall down, the earthquake shake the groundI am coming out, I’m coming out Unbroken- Outlaws
We're more than faces, we're more than just namesWe're more than labels the hypocrites gaveWe're the affection of the UnseenWe are the sons and daughters of the King- Kings
Lie if you want in your bed of hateWe're not your slavesWe are the kings with a King - Doctor Steel has one in Lament for a toy factory:I am the nightmare that crushes your dreamsI’m the greatest creator this world’s ever seen!
- Dr. Dre and Ice Cube's "Natural Born Killaz" combines Badass Boast, Blasphemous Boast, Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu? and Refuge in Audacity:
- Donovan with "Sunshine Superman": "Superman and Green Lantern ain't got nothing on me!"
- Even that pales in comparison to "Lord Of The Universe".
I never lived and I'll never die
It's all the same to me
'Cause I'm the Lord, I'm the king of the universe
And it's best you don't mess with me
('Cause I'll stomp on ya!)
E-K
- Eluveitie's Kingdom Come Undone is basically a 03:22 Badass Boast Awesome Music consider the chorus:This is V for vengeanceThis is V for vehemenceThis is V for victoryThis is V for Vercingetorix[...]This is V for verdictThis is V for valourThis is V for ventureThis is revoltThis is kingdom come undone
- Emerson, Lake & Palmer's Karn Evil 9: 3rd Impression
- No man yields who flies on my ship!
- Eminem does this right off the bat in Godzilla.I can swallow a
Bottle of
Alcohol and I'll
Feel like Godzilla - Fats Domino had one of the earliest proto-Rock'n'roll hits with "The Fat Man", a boasting song about his sex appeal."They call, they call me the fat man
'Cause I weigh two hundred pounds
All the girls they love me
'Cause I know my way around" - Filk singer Rob Balder's song "Yet Another Stupid Decade: NetHack Turns 20" (available here) contains this boast:"I've played since the eighties! I've seen more dungeons than Torquemada! I've killed more explorers than malaria! I've kicked in more doors than the LAPD and I've opened more chests than a M* A* S* H unit! Crom help me, I have ascended a Tourist."
- War is the Answer by Five Finger Death Punch is one long Badass boast..
- Flobots' "Handlebars" is one giant Badass Boast.
- Flogging Molly is rather fond of these too. "You Won't Make a Fool Out Of Me".For green is the heart of your greedThat much I can tellYou may think you're the captain of meBut I'm your coffin ship from hellBut you won'tNo, no, no you won'tYou won't make a fool out of me
- Florence + the Machine's Seven Devils
- Holy waterCannot help you nowA thousand armiesCouldn't keep me downI AM ALL THERE IS!
- Foo Fighters — "Pretender":I'm the voice inside your headYou refuse to hearI'm the face that you have to faceMirrored in your stareI'm what's left, I'm what's rightI'm the enemyI'm the hand that will take you downBring you to your knees
- At least half of Christian Metalcore band For Today's songs are this.Hell, fear me
I am the one that will bring you down
And when you fall, feel me
I'll see your face on the battleground
Let my name be fear at the gates of Hell
as I exalt the Savior
The one who died to bring my victory
and give me a new name
In the name of the Holy One of God
I will cast you down
at the foot of the cross He hung from
I will stand behind my Savior
as I burn your kingdom down
And I will see you on your knees
before the King of Kings
You will lose your throne
to the Chosen One
The chosen ones will rise - Foxy Shazam's bombastic performance style means that their lyrics and live shows are full of this. During a live show lead singer Eric Nally once shouted into the audience, "20 bucks says nobody here can kill me! I'll get to you before you can get to me!"
- In addition to repeated shoutings of "I'm a dangerous man", the song "A Dangerous Man" has:
I thought you said I never could, well I did
I did it right in front of your face- from "Introducing Foxy":
Kill everyone here
Ain't no survivors
Making it clear
Yeah, making it clear
With a ruff ruff
Ah, they won't do anything
I don't know about you but I feel I got all the power in hand - "My Way" by Frank Sinatra is one entire badass boast from the start to finish, all the more impressive if you consider it to be from the viewpoint of someone at the end of his life, who may have had "times when he bit off more than he could chew", but still thinks that despite all he still came through.
- "St. Jimmy" from Green Day's American Idiot is pretty much one big Badass Boast:St. Jimmy's coming down across the alleywayUpon the boulevard like a zip gun on paradeLight of his silhouette, he's insubordinateComin' at you on the count of 1, 2—(1, 2, 3, 4!)My name is Jimmy and you better not wear it outSuicide commando that your momma talked aboutKing of the forty thieves and I'm here to representThe needle in the vein of the establishmentI'm the patron saint of the denialWith an angel face and a taste for suicidalCigarettes and ramen and a little bag of dopeI am the son of a bitch and Edgar Allen PoeRaised in the city in the halo of lightsProduct of war and fear that we've been victimized...Are you talking to me? I'll give you something to cry about! ST JIMMY!My name is St. Jimmy, I'm the son of a gunI'm the one that's from the way outside, nowI'm a teenage assassin executing some funIn the cult of the life of crime, nowI really hate to say it, but I told you soSo shut your mouth before I shoot you down, old boyWelcome to the club, and give me some bloodI'm the resident leader at the lost and foundIt's comedy and tragedyIt's St. Jimmy, and that's my name...and don't you fucking wear it out!!!!
- Constantly parodied by Gloryhammer, either as the theme of the whole song or as dialogue within it.
- Entire songs, and who's boasting or being boasted on behalf of:
- "Hail to Crail" (Brotherhood of Crail)
- "Legend of the Astral Hammer" (Angus McFife XIII)
- "The Hollywood Hootsman" (the Hootsman)
- "Victorious Eagle Warfare" (Brotherhood of Crail)
- "Masters of the Galaxy" (Death Knights of Crail)
- "Power of the Laser Dragon Fire" (the heroes)
- "Gloryhammer" (Angus McFife XIII)
- "Hootsforce" (the Hootsforce)
- "Battle for Eternity" (the heroes)
- "Holy Flaming Hammer of Unholy Cosmic Frost" (the kingdom of Fife)
- "Wasteland Warrior Hoots Patrol" (the heroes, the Hootsman)
- "Brothers of Crail" (Brotherhood of Crail)
- "Fife Eternal" (the heroes)
- "Keeper of the Celestial Flame of Abernethy" (Zargothrax)
- Entire songs, and who's boasting or being boasted on behalf of:
- Kanye West's Jesus Walks has:"Harrasin' arrestors harass and arrest us,Sayin' 'we eat pieces of shit like you for breakfast!''Huh, y'all eat pieces of shit?...'"
- He's nicking Adam Sandler jokes now? Ladies and Gentlemen, the voice of a generation.
- It's that kind of generation.
- He's nicking Adam Sandler jokes now? Ladies and Gentlemen, the voice of a generation.
- Halsey does this often, most notably in "Hurricane":''I'm a wanderess, I'm a one-night standDon't belong to no city, don't belong to no manI'm the violence in the pouring rainI'm a hurricane.''
- And then again, even more so, in "Control":
''I'm bigger than my body, I'm colder than this homeI'm meaner than my demons, I'm bigger than these bonesAnd all the kids cried out, "Please stop, you're scaring me"I can't help this awful energyGod damn right, you should be scared of me.'' - One-man acoustic punk troubadour Hamell On Trial's "The Meeting" gives usI'm rocking like The ClashIt's acoustic kind of meaneryI'm as bad as Nine Inch NailsExcept I don't need machinery!
- Hayley Kiyoko's Signature Song "Girls Like Girls" has a verse that's pretty much entirely a badass boast, albeit of a more personal and self-affirming sort.
- Always gonna steal your thunder, watch me like a dark cloudOn the move, collecting numbers-I'mma take your girl outWe will be everything that we'd ever need, ohDon't tell me, tell me what I feel-I'm real and I don't feel like boys!
- Iron Maiden's "The Trooper"You'll take my life but I'll take yours tooYou'll fire your musket but I'll run you throughSo when you're waiting for the next attackYou'd better stand there's no turning back.
- Jimi Hendrix: "Voodoo Child (Slight Return)"Well I'm standing next to a mountainAnd I chop it down with the edge of my hand
- Jen Titus does a brilliant one in "O Death", honoring Death itself.Well I am Death, none can excel,I open the door between Heaven or Hell.My name is Death and The End is here.
- According to "Folsom Prison Blues", Johnny Cash shot a man in Reno, just to watch him die.
- The entirety of "Ain't No Grave" is a Badass Boast.
- All verses in Judas Priest's "Hard As Iron" is a Badass Boast of some kind. The chorus of "Blood Red Skies" is also a Badass Boast: "You won't break me/You won't make me/You won't take me/Under blood red skies", as are "Tyrant", "The Ripper", parts of "Invader", "Killing Machine", "Electric Eye", "Riding on the Wind" if you assume it's in 1st person, "You've got Another Thing Comin'", possibly "Love Bites", "Heavy Du-" let's just say "a lot".
- Kaleidoscope's rendition of 'Oh Death'My name is Death, and none can excel
I can open the gates to heaven or hell - Karliene's "Wolves of the North" is a Game of Thrones song from the perspective of the remaining members of House Stark, finally reunited and itching to avenge their murdered family members.And we howl for our fallen
And we howl for our slain
To the lions, we give warning
That we'll howl on their graves
And we howl for our family
And we howl for our name
To the lions, we are coming
And we'll howl on your graves! - Ken Ashcorp does this sometimes, but most notably in his song "Touch Fluffy Tail", where the singer is a self assured adventurer.I don't give a damn, not an iota,Motherfucker, I'm the Straightest Shota!
- The Eurobeat song "The Top" by Ken Blast has a long badass boastWhat were you thinking telling me to change my game?That style wasn't going anywhere, it was kaputt!Don't you see what I've done with this place? This whole thing?Don't you see that I've changed the game? No! I am the game!Before I knew where this was going I wouldn't listen to youBut right now I've distanced myself from whatever you have to sayI made this something way bigger than you were ever gonna beI made it this far....and I'm taking it to the top
- Kendrick Lamar dropped quite a few in Big Sean's "Control":I'm important like the Pope; I'm a Muslim on pork
I'm Makaveli's offspring, I'm the King of New York
King of the Coast; one hand, I juggle 'em both
the Juggernaut's all in ya jugular, you take me for jokes
——And I'm gon' get it even if you're in the way
And if you're in it, better run, for Pete's sakes
——- And of course, the four bars that the verse is famous for:
And that goes for Jermaine Cole, Big K.R.I.T., Wale,
Pusha T, Meek Millz, A$AP Rocky, Drake,
Big Sean, Jay Electron', Tyler, Mac Miller
I got love for you all, but I'm tryna murder you niggas! - Kid Rock: I! AM! AMERICAN BADASS!note
- The entire song "Cocky" is a badass boast, summed up by the chorus
They say I'm cocky, and I say what?
It ain't bragging, motherfucker, if you back it up- From "I Am The Bullgod" (Kid Rock does this a lot)
A lotta people poke fun and that's all right
But when I start poking back they get all uptight
You can't cap with the master, son
So sit your ass down 'fore I blast you one. - The lyrics for "The Man" by The Killers are filled to the brim with this throughout the song. Here are the lines in the chorus, for example:I got gas in the tank
I got money in the bank
I got news for you baby, you're looking at the man.
I got skin in the game
I got a household name
I got news for you baby, you're looking at the man. - At the beginning of Side One of KISS' Alive II album: "You wanted the best, and you got the best! The hottest band in the world...KISS!"
L-P
- Break You, by Lamb of God. Many of their songs are like this:You taught me hate, I'll teach you fear.Open the eyes, kill despair.You tried to squeeze the life from me.Son of a bitch, I'm going to break you.
- The number of ludicrous claims Lil B has made boggles the mind. Here's a sample of what he has claimed about himself:I'm retired nigga I already ruled the worldI'm Bill ClintonI'm Paris HiltonI'm Hugh HefnerI look like Bill Gates mixed with ObamaGirlfriend look like Ellen [Degeneres]
- One of his songs is titled "I'm God"
- He takes it further a year later by calling his tape God's Father.
- His song "Wanton Soup" is about "fuck[ing] your bitch" and then "eat[ing] wanton soup."
- Pretty sure "Look Like Jesus" takes the cake:
Hoes on my dick 'cause I look like JesusYoung Based God coming straight with the heaterNiggas getting mad cause I dress like Jesus ChristI'm that pretty bitch, I'mma fuck her all night - Lil Wayne's "Drop The World":"Pick the world up and I'ma DROP it on yo' fuckin head, yeah
Bitch I'ma pick the world up and I'ma DROP it on yo' fuckin head, yeah
And I could die now, rebirth motherfucker
Hop up in my spaceship and leave Earth motherfucker
I'm gone.. motherfucker I'm gone" - Machine Girl's track "Suck Shit" is full of these:I'll end your fucking ass, that's not a threat, it's a fact
You're a stupid little boy and your jokes are fucking whack
I'll eat your heart for breakfast and save your bones as a snack
So bitch, you better run for cover when I attack! - Nearly anything by Manowar, music's penultimate Badass Boasters. They are the living embodiment of this trope.
- "The Crown and the Ring" is a long, Norse-flavored badass boast, including the stanza: "High and mighty alone we are kings / Whirlwinds of fire we ride / Providence brought us the crown and the ring / Covered with blood and our pride".
- King of Kings.
- First two minutes of Megadeth's "Prince of Darkness" are boasts from Satan itself, culminating in:I am more powerful than all the armies of the worldI am more violent than violence, more deadly than deathI have destroyed more men than all the nation's warsI am relentless, unpredictable, waiting for your last breath
- "Public Enemy No. 1" has a pretty boastful chorus.I'm invincibleYou might say despicablePunishment's reciprocalPublic Enemy number oneI'm unbeatableMy mind is untreatableCrimes unrepeatablePublic Enemy number one
- The same song drops the line "The posters say I'm wanted 'dead or dead' / Anyone who's tried got a bullet to the head".
- "Public Enemy No. 1" has a pretty boastful chorus.
- The Megas: Quite a few of the Robot Masters get one of these lines, as does Mega Man himself.Mega Man: The road that I walk is a gathering storm.
Air Man: I'll usher in the end upon my thunder chariot!
Metal Man: As soon as you step foot inside that door, you'll fall victim to my metal dance.
Wood Man: It'll take more to stop this war than a little boy in blue. When the leaves fall, so will you.
Snake Man: You can fight for the steel, or die beneath my heel. It's up to you.
Top Man: I'm the one on top, I'm the one who makes history, yeah. You can't stop the rhythm of victory.
Also Top Man: I've been told I can cut a rug, but tonight it's gonna bleed.
Hard Man: Harder than steel!note
Shadow Man: I am the knife in a gunfight!
Skull Man: It's not this world that needs saving.
Also Skull Man: What is dead can never die! - The country song "Sixteen Tons", originally performed by Merle Travis and made famous by Tennessee Ernie Ford (and covered by numerous other artists ranging from other country acts such as Johnny Cash to Swedish doom metal bands like Memento Mori) features this segment:Well if you see me comin' better step asideA lotta men didn't and a lotta men diedOne fist of iron, the other of steelIf the right one don't get ya then the left one will
- You don't see a lot of female country singers on this list but Miranda Lambert's Gunpowder and Lead certainly counts:I'm goin' home, gonna load my shotgunWait by the door and light a cigaretteIf he wants a fight well now he's got oneAnd he ain't seen me crazy yetHe slap my face and he shook me like a rag dollDon't that sound like a real manI'm going to show him what a little gir'ls made ofGunpowder and lead
- The Men That Will Not Be Blamed for Nothing: Isambard Kingdom Brunel tersely refuses to let the failures of others stop him from any engineering project he sets his mind to.I looked him up and down, and then replied"A lot of men tried, and a lot of men died!""Yeah? Well... I'm not a lot of men."
- As with Monster Magnet, pretty much every flippin' song, only letting up when they tackle "serious" subjects like Vietnam Veterans' Syndrome or the Guyana massacre. They think they're the house band at Valhalla, what else would one expect?
- The song "Space Lord" by Monster Magnet can be read, at least in part, as a somewhat surreal badass boast:
I left my throne a million miles away
I drink from your tit, I sing the blues every day
Give me the strength to split the world in two, yeah
I ate all the rest and now I've gotta eat you- Monster Magnet are defined by that description; it would be easier to list the songs that don't fit this trope (usually, some kind of put-down song), and they almost always combine it with some kind of drug/sexual innuendo or comic book reference. And even their songs that don't fit this trope sound as if they do, because of Dave Wyndorf's "A God Am I" vocal delivery:
"Bummer": I need a fistful of medication just to keep it in my pants"All Friends and Kingdom Come": I can fry you with my eyes, I can blow you to kingdom come, I can take the friends awayI've got mushroom butts in my hands, and a place in my head for you"The Right Stuff'": My nerves are made of steel and my eyes are eagle sharpWhat would freak the average man does not affect my heart"Crop Circle": I was born underwater, I dried out in the sunI started humping volcanoes baby, when I was too youngStarted surfing the madhouse and I decided to stayGot an itch in my cosmic pocket and it won't go away - Motörhead:
- "Orgasmatron" is a badass boast by the personification of religion, politics, and war. Part of the war stanza includes: "I hold a banner drenched in blood, I urge you to be brave / I lead you to your destiny, I lead you to your grave / Your bones will build my palaces, your eyes will stud my crown / For I am Mars, the god of war, and I will cut you down."
- "You Better Run", including lines like "I'm iron and steel, I'm bad to the bone/If you come looking for trouble honey, don't you come alone."
- From "I'm So Bad (Baby I Don't Care):
"I make love to mountain lions
Sleep on red hot branding irons
When I walk the roadway shakes
Bed's a mess of rattlesnakes"
* "Werewolf Gimmick" by the Mountain Goats is a particularly Nightmare Fuel-laden example:Bring your heroes to the wolf-den
Watch them all get crushed! - "I Am Murloc" is basically one long badass boast on behalf of the murlocs. This makes it a parody since murlocs in the game are just humorous and annoying Goddamned Bats.
- The same band has also done "Power of the Horde" which is one long serious badass boast on behalf of a Farseer of the Horse.
I feel the fire burning in my veinsLightning strikes at my command!By storm and earthBy axe and fireWe have come to claim this land!- Lil Wayne's guest spot on the "Roman's Revenge" re-release, naturally.All I do is win; my name should be Victor!
- Muddy Waters' "I'm Ready":I got a axe-handled pistol on my graveyard frame
That shoot tombstone bullets, wearing balls and chain
I'm drinking TNT, I'm smoking dynamite
I hope some screwball start a fight - Mystery Skulls has a couple, with Unstoppable being the most straightforward.This is a joke, baby,These dudes are ganging up on me,These people must be crazy,Guess they don't know that I'm unstoppable,
- In My Sleep is another one, from the perspective of one musician to another.
You can't do this like I do it,I fuckin' wrote this in my sleep, - Most of Nicki Minaj's music, but her verse in "Monster" stands out.
- You can be the king but watch the queen conquer!
- "Roman Reloaded" and "Roman's Revenge" are also shining examples, thanks to the title character.I am not Jasmine, I am Aladdin
So far ahead, these bums is lagging
See me in that new thing, bums is gagging
I'm starting to feel like a dungeon dragonIs it me, or did I put these rap bitches on the map again?
You mad 'cause I'm at the Grammys with the Vatican?
You in the booth, but I'm who you be channeling
Why they never bring your name up at the panel, then?
- Nightquest, by Nightwish. The first four verses are fantasy-themed metaphorical description of one of band members, and it ends like this.Guardians of the halls of heartWhen we from my homeland departTo challenge the gods of emptinessMay the quest begin!
- Nile's music, many songs being retellings of old myths, is naturally full of these. Some prominent ones include:
- The Eye Of Ra:
Flee from me, humanity, though it availeth thee not.Hide in the deserts and the mountains, let fear grow in your hearts,For I am vengeance and bloody death.- Permitting The Noble Dead To Descend To The Underworld:
I have gone forth,Even I, the vindicated Osiris.The great ones on earth await me,The scribes on their mats magnify me.I am as Re the eldest of the gods,I have taken possession of the sky,I have inherited the earth,Who shall take away the sky and earth from me?I know you and I know your names.note- User Maat Re is a song being sung from the perspective of Ramses the Great, to his father, Seti I, the entirety of which is a series of badass boasts, speaking of the nearly innumerable acts that are the reason he's known as "The Great." The twist is that Ramses has literally been driven insane by his own desire to live up to his father's legacy, which he never felt worthy of, and begins hearing his father's voice in his head, telling him "Thou hast done nothing."
- The one that takes the cake, however, is Those Whom The Gods Detest. The whole song is a screed against the Egyptian gods, as a way of saying, in the words of Karl Sanders: "Oh yeah. Bring it on biatch. Do your worst." The final lyric stands out:
Embraced within the coils of Set,I have no fear of the second death.Of being slashed with knives,Of being butchered on the slaughtering blocks.No god or demon will feed on my entrails or drink my blood.No blind servant of the throne of RaShall I willingly allow to devour me.No consuming flames of uttermost damnation shall I fear.No tongue speaking words of redemption shall ever penetrate my will.Darkly splendid, I remain unconquered....I am counted amongst the legions of the unrighteousWho dread not being immersed in the pits of fire.We are they whom the gods detest.We are they whom the gods detest. - Nine Inch Nails, "The Warning", pretty much everything said by The Presence (everything in the song after "You've become a virus").
- Nox Arcana's "Blood of Angels" is basically a long Badass Boast... from the point of view of Fallen Angels! Lyrics include:We are the twilight and we are the dawnWe are the silence when all else is gone(...)Ours is the power and ours is the mightOurs are the shadows that swallow the lightWorship us mortals, bow down to our reign!The blood of the angels, it beats in our veins.(...)Once we were scattered, in hiding, alone...Now we have marshalled to regain our throne.
- The Finisher by Oh, Sleeper is, pretty much in its entirety, one of these from God to Satan. And, within Christian doctrine, a deserved one since, well, He's God:Do you mean to challenge me? Because your speech is threateningto the writer of your history[...]Your whisper may sway the weak, but when I speak it roars the seas.Your challenge has been met, because with a breath I could snap your neck.This won't be like the first time you tried, because my patience and mercyfor you has run dry[...]Because if that tree keeps them from seeing me, I'll burn off your limbs,you will never shade again. You'll bow at my feet or I'll rip out your kneesand make of your face all the carnage you crave[...]From the armories the angels sing, you will fear them when they lift their wings.They will sing to a world reborn, they will sing as I cut off your horns.I'll cut off your horns!
- Ozzy Osbourne's "Not Going Away" has a good one, short and sweet.Try so hard to break me,But all your diamonds turn to sand
- "Showdown" by dubstep band Pendulum definitely has this, complete with an awesome drop:"I know you thought I'd sold my soul
But never told me to my face
I just had to leave you cold
And BLOW THIS SHIT AWAAAAAY!" - The Pipettes' self-introduction Theme Tune "We Are The Pipettes" cops a Girl Group attitude:We are The Pipettes, and we've got no regrets
If you haven't noticed yet, we're the prettiest girls you've ever met
We are The Pipettes, we will drop you in our nets
When you're crying in your bed, you'll hope we haven't finished with you yet... - The Pogues in "If I Should Fall From Grace With God":"This land was always ours
Twas the proud land of our fathers
It belongs to us and them
Not to any of the others!" - The national anthem of Poland contains very many - fitting, as it was originally a marching song of Napoléon Bonaparte's Polish troops.Poland is not yet lost,
So long as we still live.
What foreign power has taken from me,
I shall reclaim at sabrepoint.We'll cross the Vistula and the Warta,
And we shall be Polish.
Bonaparte has shown us,
The way to victory!Like Cziarnecki returning to Poznan,
Battling the Swedish,
To save our Fatherland,
We shall return by sea! - The Protomen's Vengeance is a song-long Badass Boast.Send your armies!There's no man or machine who can stop me!And you'll soon seeI've come for vengeance, for the first son of Light!And I'm ready, and I'm willing, and I'm prepared to...Send me the best you've got!Send me your strongest machine!The fight my brother foughtHere, now, will end with me!All you wounded!Those of you who can, get yourselves off the ground,Hurry back!Tell your leader you need more men!Send me the best you've got!Send me your strongest machine!The fight my brother foughtHere, now, will end with me!Is this the best you've got?!Is this your strongest machine?!Now with one Power Shot,You'll see what vengeance means!The shadow, it covers your face!But your eyes shine just like mine!Step forward! Step into the lightIf you're ready, and you're willing, and you're prepared to fight!So be it, send your armies!There's no man or machine who can stop me!And you'll soon see!I've come for vengeance for the first son of Light!And I'm ready and I'm willing and I'm prepared to fight!Send me the best you've got!Send me your strongest machine!The fight my brother foughtHere, now, will end with me!Is this the best you've got?!Is this your strongest machine?!Now with one Power Shot,You'll see what vengeance means!
Q-U
- "Princes of the Universe" by Queen. Sword-wielding immortals are just that badass.I am immortal!I have inside me blood of kings!I have no rival!No man can be my equal!
- Another song from Queen's soundtrack to Highlander, "Gimme The Prize (Kurgan's Theme)".
Here I am!I'm the master of your destiny!I am the one, the only one!I am the god of kingdom come!GIMME THE PRIZE! - Rachel Bloom's "Die When I'm Young" is a darkly comic Deconstruction of the Badass Boast. The first verse goes " Don’t live for the future / I don’t live in the past / I throw my hands up in bliss ready for the world’s kiss / No regrets or hesitations taking chances / Cause I’m gonna / Die when I'm young / Burn out fast and dance forever" — but then the song is interrupted by Rachel getting a phone call from her doctor, informing her that she has cancer. She immediately starts to have second thoughts:GonnaDie when i’m youngI should have had my home checked for asbestosGonna die when I’m youngYeah, it was way cooler in theory.Doctors give me heavy sedatives(O-M-G I’m such a stoner)Hands are feelin’ up my bodyCause I’m an organ donor!I’m dyin’ young just ‘cause I lived too fast.AlsoI have tumor.
- Rage Against the Machine's "Sleep Now in the Fire:"Crawl with me into tomorrow
Or I'll drag you to your grave
I'm deep inside your children
They'll betray you in my name - The Rolling Stones' "Sympathy for the Devil" is one long badass boast by Satan, beginning: "Please allow me to introduce myself, I'm a Man of Wealth and Taste / I've been around for a long long year / stolen many man's soul and faith".
- Rap duo Run the Jewels has a few long-rhymed boasts as songs. For example, "Legend Has It".Doctors of death
Curing our patients of breath
We outta pay you the trust
Crooked at work
Cookin' up curses and slurs, smoking' my brain into mush
I became famous for blaming you fucks
Maimin' my way through the brush
There is no training' or taming of me and my bruh
Look like a man but I'm animal raw- Along with "Let's Go (The Royal We)"
We pray for your God to end the perverse
He sent the worst of the worse
Every death demon disperse
We put em' all in a hearse
We put em' under the earth
We are the savages ravaging hell
Death in the air, we relish the smell
We are the hand of the Lord
We are the hand with the sword
Taking the head to the face
We are the sealers of fate
We are the fangs of the snake - Sabaton has several on behalf of many military units, like Panzer Battalion:Under this sun no shadows will fallPiercing our eyes as we chargeAn armoured battalion on course to the eastClosing the end of it's marchThis time we're here to finish a jobStarted a decade agoDriving the animals out of their holesTo bury them 6 feet belowArmoured tanks of mass destructionKillers in the eastRats who dares to stand before usFeel our guns go liveDeath in the shape of a panzer battalionInsect of terror don't run face your fate like aMan cannot outrun our panzer battalionThousands of tons of armour and gunsMaking it's way through the sandOur panzer battalion is back for revengeArtillery sweeping the landFirst strike is ours no mercy is shownThere's rivers of blood in our trackBreaking their lines of defence with our tanksInfantry watching our backBlow their SAM sites clear for air strikeBring forth the stormMinefields swept there's no surrenderFeel our napalm burn
- Resist and Bite contains the following from the perspective of the Chasseur Ardennais, a 40-strong Belgian Army company that slowed the Wehrmacht eighteen days while outnumbered a thousand to one.
But when captured by the Axis and forced to tell the truthWe will tell them with a smile, we will surprise them with a laughwe are all, we were allHonoured where our orders in despite of our foe- Their ambiguously-non-war songs tends to go into that direction as well, for example Birds of War:
The priesthood is tremblingthe five knights of light has betrayed mankindNow known as the dark oneswe strike down on earth with powers from hellWe ride on the wind we ride through the skylike unholy birds of war we flywe bring agony and insanityOnce blessed by the light now serving the nightand soon cursed by every man on earthWe follow our lust, in no god we trustCome join usLeave this world behind and you will find satisfactionfight on our side you cannot hide from us forever moreOnce greeted as heroesnow treated as foes wherever we goRecruiting more warriorsthe hordes of undead march on our commandNow mankind will pay from this very dayevery man on earth will curse his birthWe spread fear and pain resistance in vainWe march in the dark your kind is our markavoid the daylight in dark we fightWe'll control your souls you'll end up like ghoulsCome join us! - Scar Symmetry in Quantumleaper:I'm nothing and all thingsI drift between dimensionsI'm lifeless, immortalCollapsed duality
- "I Am The Cool" by Screamin' Jay Hawkins.
- Chris Cornell of Soundgarden's James Bond theme "You Know My Name" is basically one long one. Sample:I've seen angels fall from blinding heightsBut you yourself are nothing so divineJust next in line
- Although this is less a Badass Boast than a chilling prophesy about how Bond will inevitably become a cold-blooded killer.
- Mirdautas Vras by Summoning. Translated excerpt:Northwards ride on a thousand orcs,They take the storm and powerOf Mordor through the world!Fire and ice — the Nazgûl fly!It is a good day to kill!Even Manwë shall bow down!
- Also Farewell:
Who can, who can find you clear springs of water? But I — but I can!Who can, who can tell you the age of the moon? But I — but I can!Who can, who can call up the fish from the depths of the sea? Yes I can!Who can, who can change the shape of the hills and the headland? I can!- AND it includes an audio sample from a second example of the trope:
- The Stooges, "Search and Destroy":I'm a streetwalkin' cheetah with a heart full of napalmI'm a runaway son of the nuclear A-bombI am the world's forgotten boyThe one who searches and destroys
- Tragedy, who called their album of heavy metal The Bee Gees covers We Rock Sweet Balls And Can Do No Wrong.
- The Ballad of Little Jock Elliot (who was a real person, a Scottish border reiver of the powerful Elliot clan)In raids I ride always the foremost,My straik is the first in melee,My name is little Jock Elliot,And wha daur meddle wi' me?I ne'er was afraid of a foe,Or yield I liefer wad die;My name is little Jock Elliot,And wha daur meddle wi' me?
- Taylor Swift's "Blank Space" informs the world that she is the crazy, manipulative, man-eating psycho the media makes her out to be. She doesn't care if everyone knows... but you will soon.
- Tribute is a Badass Boast by Tenacious D about how they accidentally played "The Best Song In The World" to kill a shiny demon threatening to eat their souls.
- Dubstep artist Terminite has one in his track titled "Earthquake"."People often confuse earthquakes for Terminite gigs, but that's okay."
- Played with on Toby Keith's "As Good as I Once Was": The narrator admits that he can't be a badass all the time, but he is put in situations where he still shows that, when pressed, he has at least some of his badassery left ("I ain't as good as I once was / But I'm as good once as I ever was").
- Tom Waits, Goin' Out WestI Know Karate, Voodoo too
I'm gonna make myself available to you
I don't need no make-up
I got real scars
I got hair on my chest
I look good without a shirt. - The Curbstomp Song is basically an entire song about one-sided battles. There's one that stands out at the end:"This battle was over before it even started.Cause darling I'm a nightmare dressed like a daydream.
- Tom Smith (known as The World's Fastest Filker) is not exactly shy about his own abilities in "(Don't Gotta Be A) Big Star":I can make you laugh like mad
Or cry from love or pain
I can sing a song
You'll never get out of your brain!
(and "A Boy And His Frog" completely backs up his boasts...) - Theocracy has I AM, a 11 minute long hero song written from the perspective of God describing his nature and his powerI am the melody that weaves it's way inside your soulI am the symphony, the masterpiece, the actor's greatest roleI am the poetry that speaks to you with every rhymeI am the songwriter who seems to write your life in every lineI am the simple truth that shaped your world from your birthI am the vast volumes of knowledge spanning all across the earthI am the whisper of the wind you feel but cannot seeI am the Alpha and Omega, First and Last, eternallyI am the breaking of chains and the tolling of freedom's bell(I am grace and mercy, I am sacrifice)I am the notes that eternally ring in the music too holy for angels to singI am the fire on the altar consuming the sacrifice(I am endless glory, I am light and life)I am the three and yet I am the one in the grace of the Father and the deathI am the one who bled in silence and endured it allI am the Word who spoke no word, with a thousand angels waiting for my call
- The United States Marine Corps' official theme song is essentially one long Badass Boast, complete with a Take That! at the rival branches of the U.S. military in the final verse:If the Army and the Navy ever look on heaven's scenes
They will find the streets are guarded by United States Marines!
V-Z
- Voltaire's "When You're Evil" is one long boast by a goofy Card-Carrying Villain. Or so it seems. The first few verses describe pretty silly cartoon villainy. And then...I pledge my allegiance, to all things darkAnd I promise on my damned soulTo do as I am told, Lord BeelzebubHas never seen a soldier quite like meNot only does his job, but does it happily.I'm the fear that keeps you awakeI'm the shadows on the wallI'm the monsters they becomeI'm the nightmare in your skullI'm a dagger in your backAn extra turn upon the rackI'm the quivering of your heartA stabbing pain, a sudden start.
- The White Stripes — "Seven Nation Army"
- Wu-Tang Clan's discography has too many examples to list. But their eponymous track codifies this.If you want beef then bring da ruckus.WU-TANG CLAN AIN'T NOTHING TO FUCK WITH!