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.
00:27Beloved indie rock singer-songwriter Smith is said to have struggled with substance use disorder,
00:32as well as ongoing mental health issues.
00:34Acclaimed for his poetic, powerful songwriting and Beatles-esque arrangements,
00:38his often upbeat, poppy compositions belied their intense subject matter.
00:42Son of Sam, Sam, Sam, all the shining, that the glory were high.
00:51Upon his still-mysterious 2003 passing,
00:53fans looked to his music for potential clues that Smith left.
00:57Son of Sam, the first single from his figure-eight album,
01:01his 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,
01:10the actual Son of Sam killer,
01:12and described the song as, quote,
01:13just an impressionistic song about destruction and creativity.
01:16I'm a little like you,
01:19more like Son of Sam.
01:26Floating in the fourth,
01:28Frightened Rabbit.
01:29So you just step out of the front of my house
01:33and I'll never see you again.
01:36Mellow Scottish indie rocker's Frightened Rabbit
01:39started out as a solo project for singer Scott Hutchison,
01:41before 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
01:58in 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,
02:06The Midnight Organ Fight,
02:07as seemingly predicting Hutchison's tragic demise.
02:10Turn the fourth into the sea
02:14Whatever, Our Lady Peace
02:16Unlike most of the songs and artists on our list,
02:26the creepiness of this hard-charging post-grunge tune
02:29has nothing to do with any of the band's members,
02:31or with the band itself at all.
02:33Rather, the reason that Our Lady Peace made the choice
02:35to stop performing Whatever Live
02:37is because of the late Chris Benoit.
02:39The day, the wheels, the lies
02:41Stumble in your mind
02:44For the uninitiated,
02:46Benoit 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 7-year-old son
03:00before ultimately taking his own.
03:03Whatever was Benoit's entrance theme from 2002 to 2007?
03:07Whatever you need
03:08Whatever you get
03:10Whatever you wanna take back
03:12Like a stone, audio slave
03:14Soundgarden and later audio slave singer Chris Cornell
03:28was no stranger to incorporating dark, heavy themes
03:30into his music,
03:32often drawn directly from his own battles
03:34with declining mental health
03:35and often heavy substance use.
03:37Like a stone,
03:38the second single from the band's self-titled debut album
03:40and their biggest hit,
03:41was 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
03:58Concentrating on the afterlife you would hope for
04:01rather than the normal monotheistic approach.
04:03Like a stone,
04:04doubly functions as a posthumous tribute to the singer himself,
04:07who took his own life following a Detroit concert in 2017.
04:11Lucky, Britney Spears
04:22This is a story about a girl named Lucky.
04:25This revealing pop song,
04:27written 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,
04:38also 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.
04:48Early morning,
04:50she wakes up,
04:52knock, knock, knock on the door
04:55Lucky has been noted by critics and fans alike
04:58for predicting Spears' future clashes with paparazzi,
05:01as well as her own personal struggles,
05:03particularly those associated with her controversial conservatorship,
05:07uncovered in the 2010s and 2020s.
05:10She's a lucky,
05:12she's a star,
05:14but she cry, cry, cries in the lonely heart.
05:19Rehab, Amy Winehouse
05:21They tried to make me go to rehab,
05:23but I said no, no, no.
05:26This rebellious British soul singer was famous for being just that,
05:30a rebel.
05:31Her breakout single, Rehab, was evidence of this,
05:33and explained in no uncertain terms Winehouse's insistence that she wouldn't go to,
05:39well, Rehab.
05:39The man said why, but thank you, hey.
05:44The singer's only top 10 hit on the Billboard Hot 100,
05:48Rehab still goes hard today due to Winehouse's rock star charisma,
05:51inimitable vocals,
05:52and the song's throwback soul-R&B-pop hybrid sound.
05:56The up-tempo tune now carries a bittersweet weight
05:59due to its tragic, inextricable association with Winehouse's 2011 death from alcohol poisoning,
06:05among other health issues.
06:06Breaking the Habit, Linkin Park
06:14This moody, electronic, fast-paced alt-rock jam
06:27is somewhat atypical in sound for New Metal Legends Linkin Park.
06:30However, from its lyrics,
06:32it is instantly clear to the listener that this is a classic Linkin Park number.
06:37Those 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,
06:48the 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.
07:08Ignition, Remix, R. Kelly
07:10Honestly, 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,
07:25we'll stick to calling out the Pied Piper's biggest,
07:27most enduring 2000s hit.
07:29And yes, he really did refer to himself as the Pied Piper.
07:40A colossal smash at the time of its release,
07:43and routinely listed as being among the best songs of that decade.
07:46The song's ubiquity made it even harder to listen to
07:49following Kelly's 2019 arrest on racketeering
07:51and human trafficking charges.
07:53A catchy, irresistibly playful R&B tune,
07:56the remix to Ignition's vehicle-based euphemisms
07:59are now more cringeworthy than comedic.
08:01It's the remix to Ignition,
08:03hot and fresh out the kitchen.
08:05Mama ruling that body,
08:07got every man in here wishing.
08:09Hurt, Johnny Cash.
08:10I hurt myself today.
08:14Legendary country rebel Cash
08:17and industrial metal provocateur's Nine Inch Nails
08:20are not, at first glance,
08:21a marriage made in heaven.
08:23However, when you listen to the former's cover
08:25of The Ladder's Hurt,
08:26originally about singer Trent Reznor's chronic substance use,
08:29you can understand why Reznor commented that,
08:31quote,
08:31I wear this crown of thorns.
08:39Recorded for Cash's American Four 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,
08:52that Cash's Hurt cover hits way differently
08:54after the singer's death in September 2003,
08:56just under a year after American Four's release.
08:59What have I become
09:02My sweetest friend
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09:24I Need a Girl Part 1
09:26P. Diddy featuring Usher and Loon
09:28Where 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
09:42as 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
09:50to a, quote,
09:51brother or his now ironic charge
09:54that 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 to make me feel so good inside
10:04A sizable hit at the time of its release,
10:06I Need a Girl and its sequel
10:08received renewed attention and scrutiny
10:10after Combs' September 2024 conviction
10:12on racketeering and trafficking charges.
10:14A quick scan of the song's lyrics
10:16make it clear as to why.
10:18I had a girl that would've died for me
10:20Damn appreciated so I made her cry for me
10:23Every night she had tears in her eyes for me
10:25Which 2000 song is hard for you to listen to nowadays?
10:29Let us know in the comments.
10:30Why do these tears come at night?
10:35We'll see you next time.
10:58We'll see you next time.
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