10 Disturbing 2000s Songs That Hit Different Now

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Some songs from the 2000s sound very different in hindsight. Welcome to WatchMojo.WORLD, where we’re counting down 10 disturbing 2000s songs that hit differently today, uncovering the unsettling stories, controversies, and dark contexts behind these tracks.  Which 2000s song do you think didn’t age well? Share your thoughts in the comments!

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.

00:27Beloved 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

09:07Before we continue,

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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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