10 Disturbing 2000s Songs Because of What We Know Now

WatchMojo

These songs will never be the same. Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re breaking down songs from 2000 to 2009 that have taken on a darker meaning in the years since their initial release.

Transcript

00:00I had a girl that would have died for me, damn appreciated so I made her cry for me.

00:05Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're breaking down songs from 2000 to 2009

00:10that have taken on a darker meaning in the years since their initial release.

00:14I hurt myself today.

00:20Son of Sam, Elliot Smith.

00:22Something's happening, don't speak too soon.

00:42Son of Simpson, all the shining that the clouded world.

00:52Mysterious 2003 passing.

00:54Fans looked to his music for potential clues that Smith left.

00:57Son of Sam, the first single from his figure eight album,

01:00his last to be released during his lifetime,

01:03stands out in its embrace of what comes after we exit this mortal coil.

01:07That said, Smith denied that it was about David Berkowitz, the actual Son of Sam killer,

01:12and described the song as quote,

01:13Just an impressionistic song about destruction and creativity.

01:26Floating in the fourth, Frightened Rabbit.

01:29So you just step out of the front of my house and I'll never see you again.

01:36Mellow Scottish indie rocker's Frightened Rabbit started out as a solo project for

01:40singer Scott Hutchison before developing into a full-fledged musical outfit of its own.

01:45Hutchison, who had reportedly struggled with depression for years,

01:49went missing on May 9th, 2018.

01:52Although Scottish police and other members of the band reported this,

01:55the singer's body was discovered at Port Edgar of the River Forth in South Queensferry,

01:59a Scottish town west of Edinburgh.

02:01Eagle-eyed fans were quick to point out Floating in the Fourth

02:04off of the band's second studio album The Midnight Organ Fight

02:07as seemingly predicting Hutchison's tragic demise.

02:23Unlike most of the songs and artists on our list,

02:26the creepiness of this hard-charging post-grunge tune

02:28has nothing to do with any of the band's members or with the band itself at all.

02:33Rather, the reason that Our Lady Peace made the choice to stop performing whatever live

02:37is because of the late Chris Benoit.

02:44For the uninitiated, Benoit was a Canadian WWE superstar,

02:49winning 30 championships in total.

02:51Unfortunately, this would not be his legacy.

02:54From June 22nd to June 24th, 2007,

02:57Benoit took the lives of his wife and seven-year-old son before ultimately taking his own.

03:02Whatever was Benoit's entrance theme from 2002 to 2007?

03:07Whatever you need, whatever you got, whatever you want, I'll take back again.

03:12Like a Stone, Audioslave

03:24Like Elliot Smith, Soundgarden and later Audioslave singer Chris Cornell

03:28was no stranger to incorporating dark, heavy themes into his music,

03:31often drawn directly from his own battles with declining mental health

03:35and often heavy substance use.

03:37Like a Stone, the second single from the band's self-titled debut album

03:40and their biggest hit, was the furthest thing from an exception to this.

03:52A plainly stated message to a loved one who has passed away,

03:56Cornell explained the song as being about, quote,

03:58"...concentrating on the afterlife you would hope for,

04:01rather than the normal monotheistic approach."

04:03Like a Stone doubly functions as a posthumous tribute to the singer himself,

04:07who took his own life following a Detroit concert in 2017.

04:25This revealing pop song,

04:26written and recorded at what was arguably the height of Spears' fame,

04:30is a quietly devastating, clearly scathing indictment of the monster that is celebrity.

04:35Although the song focuses on a fictionalized character, also called Lucky,

04:39it's abundantly clear that Spears' song is more than a little autobiographical,

04:44drawing from her own experiences with achieving fame at too young of an age.

04:55Lucky has been noted by critics and fans alike for predicting Spears' future clashes

05:00with paparazzi, as well as her own personal struggles.

05:03Particularly those associated with her controversial conservatorship,

05:07uncovered in the 2010s and 2020s.

05:11This rebellious British soul singer was famous for being just that, a rebel.

05:15Her breakout single, Rehab, was evidence of this,

05:18and explained in no uncertain terms Winehouse's insistence that she wouldn't go to, well, rehab.

05:25Rehab still goes hard today due to Winehouse's rockstar charisma,

05:29inimitable vocals, and the song's throwback soul, R. Kelly.

05:33But it's not just about her.

05:34She's also about to make a comeback with her new single, Rehab.

05:38The song is set to be released in the fall of 2020,

05:41but it's not the first time that Winehouse has made a comeback.

05:44In fact, it's the first time that Winehouse has made a comeback in a while.

05:47In fact, it's the first time that Winehouse has made a comeback in a while.

05:51The up-tempo tune now carries a bittersweet weight

05:54due to its tragic, inextricable association

05:57with Winehouse's 2011 death from alcohol poisoning,

06:00among other health issues.

06:02Yes, I'll be back when I come back

06:05No, no, no

06:07Breaking the Habit, Linkin Park.

06:09Memories consumed

06:12Like opening a world

06:14Picking up the pieces

06:17Like opening a world

06:20Picking me apart again

06:23This moody, electronic, fast-paced alt-rock jam

06:27is somewhat atypical in sound for new metal legends Linkin Park.

06:30However, from its lyrics, it is instantly clear to the listener

06:34that this is a classic Linkin Park number.

06:36Those lyrics, in an unusual turn for the band,

06:39were courtesy of Mike Shinoda, as opposed to Chester Bennington.

06:43Shinoda more commonly wrote his own rap verses,

06:45but took a detour for Breaking the Habit.

06:47That said, the song takes on a deeper significance

06:50after Bennington's untimely 2017 passing by his own hand.

06:54Although Linkin Park's output was often blunt and raw,

06:57Breaking the Habit dispenses with the aggression

06:59to plaintively contemplate one's own mental health.

07:02I'm breaking the habit tonight

07:08Ignition, remix, R. Kelly.

07:11Now I'm not trying to be rude

07:12But hey pretty girl, I'm feeling you

07:14The way you do the things you do

07:16Reminds me of my Lexus Coupe.

07:18Honestly, we could probably just do a list of R. Kelly songs

07:21that are disturbing because of what we know now.

07:24Until then, however, we'll stick to calling out

07:26the Pied Piper's biggest, most enduring 2000s hit.

07:29And yes, he really did refer to himself as the Pied Piper.

07:32So baby give me that

07:33Two, two

07:34Let me give you that

07:35Beat, beat

07:36Running her hands through my fro

07:38Bouncing on 24s

07:40A colossal smash at the time of its release,

07:43and routinely listed as being

07:44among the best songs of that decade.

07:46The song's ubiquity made it even harder to listen to

07:49following Kelly's 2019 arrest

07:51on racketeering and human trafficking charges.

07:53A catchy, irresistibly playful R&B tune,

07:56the remix to Ignition's vehicle-based euphemisms

07:59are now more cringe-worthy than comedic.

08:09Hurt, Johnny Cash.

08:10I hurt myself today

08:15Legendary country rebel Cash

08:17and industrial metal provocateur's Nine Inch Nails

08:20are not, at first glance, a marriage made in heaven.

08:22However, when you listen to the former's cover

08:24of The Ladder's Hurt,

08:26originally about singer Trent Reznor's chronic substance use,

08:29you can understand why Reznor commented that,

08:31quote,

08:31that song isn't mine anymore.

08:33I wear this crown of thorns

08:38Recorded for Cash's American For The Man Comes Around album,

08:42the stark, stripped-down acoustic rendition

08:44famously tugs at the heartstrings with its plaintiveness,

08:47as well as with the singer's now-weathered vocals.

08:50It goes without saying, then,

08:51that Cash's Hurt cover hits way differently

08:54after the singer's death in September 2003,

08:56just under a year after American For's release.

08:59What have I become

09:05My sweetest friend

09:08Before we continue,

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09:24I Need A Girl Part 1

09:26P. Diddy featuring Usher and Loon

09:28I need a girl to make my wife

09:31I need a girl who's mine, all mine

09:34Where do we start with this one?

09:35This song played as creepy even at the time.

09:38Sean Diddy Combs' ostensible love song

09:40describes treating a woman as the rapper's personal property,

09:44intended only to serve his needs.

09:46If that sounds uncharitable,

09:48consider Combs comparing the object of the song to a,

09:51quote,

09:51brother,

09:52or his now-ironic charge that the women in his life were abusing him.

09:56I need a girl to ride, ride, ride me

09:58I need a girl to make my wife

10:00I need a girl who makes me feel so good inside

10:04A sizable hit at the time of its release,

10:06I Need A Girl and its sequel received renewed attention and scrutiny

10:10after Combs' September 2024 conviction on racketeering and trafficking charges.

10:14A quick scan of the song's lyrics make it clear as to why.

10:18I had a girl that would've died for me

10:20They appreciated so I made her cry for me

10:23Every night she had tears in her eyes for me

10:25Which 2000s song is hard for you to listen to nowadays?

10:29Let us know in the comments.

10:55you

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