4 Disturbing Rock Tracks That Frightened Audiences and Fans Alike

While most of these songs wouldn’t cause anyone to clutch their pearls today, each one was somewhat controversial when they were released back in the day. Let’s take a look at four disturbing rock tracks that scared a fan or two through the years!

1. “Polly” by Nirvana

Nirvana put out quite a few disturbing alt-rock grunge songs during their heyday, from “Come On Death” to “Scentless Apprentice”. However, there’s something really unnerving about “Polly” from the 1991 album Nevermind. 

This song was written about a real-life case of a young girl who was abducted and abused by kidnapper Gerald Friend in the late 1980s upon returning home from a rock concert in Washington. Many believe the song to be Kurt Cobain’s open declaration of feminist support, though he never admitted to that notion.

2. “Closer” by Nine Inch Nails

Disturbing rock tracks don’t necessarily have to be about horror and crime; they can just be a little bit too hot and heavy for their time. That was the case for the kinky 1994 industrial rock song “Closer” by Nine Inch Nails. 

It’s a pretty demented, loosely religious song about power and sex. And quite a few listeners were freaked out by it. Some radio stations refused to play it at the time, too.

3. “One” by Metallica

Metal music as a genre has never been held back by ridged definitions of morality or censorship. That being said, even fans of Metallica were a bit weirded out by the 1988 track “One”. This song was inspired by the novel Johnny Got His Gun. 

In “One”, James Hetfield describes the internal thoughts of a man who is dying after being fatally hit on the battlefield. He’s unable to speak or communicate with his doctors to tell them to turn off life support, and the tone of the song goes from sadness to utter panic by the end.

4. “The End” by The Doors

Disturbing rock tracks aren’t always topical pieces of work, but “The End” by The Doors certainly is. This 1967 song came out at the height of the Summer of Love. Despite the horrors of the Vietnam War raging on, countless Americans chose to tune out, consume some specific substances, and listen to some great tunes. 

“The End” was The Doors’ attempt to disrupt that kind of apathy. The result is a violent, arresting song that stands out among the more flowery pop or rock works from that year.

Photo by Electra Records/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images

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