3 Rock Songs That Give a Stiff Middle Finger to the Music Industry

The music industry is a tough place. Between labels grabbing every bit of money they can from artists to the negative pitfalls that come with musical fame, it takes a certain kind of person to handle it all. The following three rock stars and bands decided to use their song to give a stiff middle finger to it all. Let’s take a look!

“Serve The Servants” by Nirvana

Kurt Cobain is still considered the 90s grunge movement’s poster child. And he did not let fame get in the way of saying exactly what he wanted to say. After the mainstream success of Nevermind, he seemed determined to put out an album that would alienate his new fanbase of normies. And on In Utero, the song “Serve The Servants” gives a stiff middle finger to the music industry. This screechy, spiteful song shows Cobain grappling with the fact that the angst of disenfranchised youth got Nirvana to the top of the charts, and now, he is left to “serve” his new audience of mainstream listeners.

“Blood From A Clone” by George Harrison

He may have been known as the “quiet Beatle.” But George Harrison had no qualms about dishing out criticisms of the music industry in his solo work. Around the year 1980, though, Harrison’s solo career had waned. While working on Somewhere In England, his label demanded that he dish out radio-friendly singles. He wasn’t particularly happy about that, so he put together “Blood From A Clone”, a song quite literally about being sucked dry by the vampire that was his label at the time, along with the radio-friendly single “Teardrops” that the label wanted. That latter song bombed pretty hard, ironically. Labels should let artists do as they please, especially if that artist is a former Beatle.

“Barracuda” by Heart

Nancy and Ann Wilson of Heart have been forthright about how nasty men in the music industry were to them during the band’s early years. The press seemed to love spreading rumors about them, including truly vile assumptions that the sisters had an incestuous relationship. Heart’s stiff middle finger to the music industry and how it treated them was one of the most legendary rock songs of all time, “Barracuda”. Dig through the song’s lyrics, and you’ll find commentary about the fakeness of interviews and the nastiness of the press.

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