I don’t think that I am surprising anyone when I say that I love villains a million times more than I will ever like the heroes. Villains have charisma. Villains have charm. Villains can be fun. And what makes it better is when you have a cool villain with a really cool song, that can bring a chill to your bones, or make you feel an intense passion, or the character’s pain. This is a list that is gives credit to the song that really brought a smile to my face, or a chill to my bone. Hope you enjoy! (All songs described will be linked on the names)
10. Shiver my Timbers
Muppet Treasure Island
This has got to be the strangest opening to a Muppet movie that I have ever seen, and I love every minute of it. This song has such a cool beat, such a cool set-up, and is suprisingly dark for a Muppet movie. It tells the story of murderous thugs, burying their treasure on an unknown island. The lyrics are very fun, and so are all the fun little creatures that they got to do the voices. Of all the Muppet movies, this was by far the most violent, which is something to be said for the franchise, considering that it has always had one of the saddest moments in film history. It was a cute addition to a cute movie.
9. You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch
Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas
This is a classic villain song, probably the classic. This song is great just because of the incredibly descriptive nature of it. I mean, listen to the lyrics and the imagery is great. It really does make the Grinch out to be the biggest villain in the history of evil villains, and all while not saying a single violent thing. Only through the power of words can you sense the evil. What makes it better is that he isn’t really doing anything that horrible. Dr. Seuss had a hand in writing the lyrics for this song, and you really can tell. It’s an awesome classic, with a memorable villain.
8. What You Feel
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
I love and hate this show. There are elements about it that are kind of awesome, and there are elements of it that annoy the living shit out of me. This song pairs up both, and in a way that I love so well. It is the introduction of the episode’s villain – Sweet. This demon is a guy who morphs reality into a musical, summoned from a necklace. He is summoned by the part of this show I HATE – Dawn Summers. I hate her character so incredibly much. She whines, she cries, she bitches. Nothing about her is likeable in the slightest. But the thing I love most about this song is that Sweet almost totally ignores her. It is like Joss Whedon’s subconscious realized that he created a character who is so bad, and created this villain to not even care what she has to say. He has style, he has grace, and he is overall a cool villain. What’s not to love?
7. Hellfire
The Hunchback of Notre Dame
I kind of wish that this movie had stuck with the original story more. That would have given this song a lot more power, because there, Frolo was a priest. Attacking religion, always a good time. But for what it is, it is still awesome. The intensity is incredible. Frolo is singing about how he is a good Christian, but still wants to bang this Gypsy. It was surprisingly dark for Disney, and I do mean that literally. I was kind of shocked how this man was so serious about killing her and sending her to Hell. For real, that’s the premise. That he is going to take this woman’s life, and make her burn forever in hellfire. Not something you see coming from Disney, right? So yeah, great song, and if he had been a priest, it would have been better.
6. Friends on the Other Side
The Princess and the Frog
The visuals in this song are just incredible. It is a lot like Poor Unfortunate Souls, but in a much less stupid movie. Keith David has a surprisingly good singing voice, and with this song, it is great. The flow of it is perfect. It’s kind of strange that Randy Newman wrote this song, seeing as how he almost never makes a single good piece of music. But here, it works. I love how this guy can do very southern dance while playing his voodoo. His shadow working with him is just great, and you gotta low how he seems to be too cool for school. But it is the visuals that make this piece. It starts out pretty simple, just his shop of voodoo. But as the song builds, the spirits he can channel come out, and the colors get brighter and brighter, yet still retain the bizarre creep to them. And unlike Poor Unfortunate Souls, he is only trying to help the guy for a minute, and then he turns on him and curses him. Very, very fun.
5. Pretty Women
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
This song is probably the coolest of the ones on here, but not my favorite. It’s cool because of the set-up. In the song, Sweeney Todd is preparing to kill the judge who he holds responsible for sending him to prison and destroying his life. He sings about the women in their lives. What’s ironic is that both him and the judge are singing the exact same song, but both of them have entirely different interests. Todd has revenge in his heart, while the judge has love. The song builds and builds as you can tell the Todd’s emotions are running high. It gets weird and weirder, until he is getting the point where he is about to strike. This song sound so pleasant at first, and by the end, you are biting your nails. It’s awesome. This was a great revenge story, and it could only have been told from the mind of Tim Burton.
4. Oogie Boogie’s Song
The Nightmare Before Christmas
You gotta love Tim Burton. This was the song introducing the villain who you saw very little of. A lot of people thought that this character was racist. Well, you’re dumb. This character was very cool, and although you saw him for a short time, he definitely left his mark. If you didn’t see his character, and just heard the song, I bet you’d imagine him like a suave gangster-type in a nice suit. But instead, you get a rather disturbing creature made entirely of bugs. Still, I love this song because of the visuals and the pacing. It goes from a dark and sinister appearance, to a colored and almost Vegas-like appearance. The colors contrast with the back-up singers, and their talents. It also compliments the nature of the villain, since he is a gambling man. Very, very cool, along with dark and twisted. This film had a lot of great pieces of music, and ironically enough, this one isn’t my favorite of them all.
3. Legal Assassin
Repo: The Genetic Opera
Ah, Anthony Stewart Head, another of the things from Buffy the Vampire Slayer that I liked. This guy has a surprisingly good singing voice, and in this, he is perfect. Now, you might be saying – but he’s not the villain. Well, the thing about this movie, it left it kind of ambiguous as to who the heroes are, and who the villains are. He definitely does villainous things. He kills people, rips out their organs, and then gives them back to the company whence they came. This song gives the back-story that led to him to becoming a professional murderer. It showed how he may even have been directly responsible for killing his wife. He is given an offer – become the Repo Man, or go to prison. And you also get to see that his murderous job has led to the creation of a very sadistic split-personality. All in all, great song, and one of many from a great movie.
2. Be Prepared
The Lion King
I recently found out something really cool about this song. It turns out, while Jeremy Irons does the actual voiceover for most of this song, it suddenly switches to Jim Cummings. This guy’s voice work is so perfect, it’s almost impossible to tell. Totally blew me away when I found out. But this is a great song. The visuals are great, going from dark and unpleasant to bright and sinister. The bit with the hyenas marching in lock-step is great, because it is a very clever metaphor to Nazi Germany, or North Korea. It’s such a cool metaphor. And this is a great song. It’s kind of a pity that Scar became a total bitch when he achieved power, because this was a cool song, and he was pretty awesome before-hand. Another thing is that I HATED every other song, save this one. This is the one saving grace in the music of this film. Which is good, because this song goes with everything perfectly.
So, what is on the top of this list? The creepiest song you have ever heard.
1. Only You
Batman: Arkham City
Now, you could say – this song wasn’t made just for him! Well, you’d be right. But honestly, the way he is singing it, and the context to when this is happening, this is his song. It is a classic love song, but the way that this guy sings it, it is beyond disturbing. It is left as an answering machine message at the end of the game. The Joker is singing this to Batman. It really was a testament to Mark Hamill’s final role as the Joker, and honest, this couldn’t possibly have been more disturbing. If you listen closely at the end, you can actually hear a bit where the Joker is crying. He knew that he was going to die, and this is his final requiem. It is always something that I have pondered – what will Batman do when the Joker is dead? It is very heavily implied that those two need one-another. Batman gave the Joker’s life meaning, and the battle with the Joker gave the idea of Batman meaning, because the Joker was an enemy who couldn’t be stopped. But, now he is dead. It’s over. What will become of him? It’s an almost tragic question, and a very tragic ending to a game, which was very, very cool.
Until next time, a quote,
“I hope you’re doing your best here Bats, because I just had a horrible thought – we might both actually die here tonight!” -The Joker, Batman: Arkham City
Peace out,
Maverick
Lucien Maverick's Den 