10 Best Rock Songs About Placing Blame

Feature Photo: Victor Diaz Lamich, CC BY-SA 3.0 <http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/>, via Wikimedia Commons

Blame is one of those words that can carry anger, heartbreak, guilt, protest, or even a little humor depending on who is using it. Rock music has always been full of people pointing fingers at lovers, society, themselves, and sometimes everybody at once. The songs on this list approach blame from very different directions, from environmental damage and broken relationships to personal responsibility and social satire. Some of them accuse, while others admit that the fault may be closer to home. That is what makes blame such a great theme for rock and roll.

# 10 – Blame It On The Boom Boom – Black Stone Cherry

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“Blame It on the Boom Boom” kicks off the list with the kind of dirty Southern hard rock Black Stone Cherry does so well. The song appeared on the band’s 2011 album Between the Devil & the Deep Blue Sea and was produced by Howard Benson. Chris Robertson’s rough vocal sits over a huge groove, while the title turns bad decisions and wild nights into one very simple excuse. There is nothing subtle about the song, and that is exactly why it works. It is loud, playful, and a perfect way to start a list about passing the blame.

Read More: Top 10 Black Stone Cherry Songs

# 9 – Bang And Blame – R.E.M.

“Bang and Blame” was released in 1994 as the second single from R.E.M.’s ninth studio album, Monster. The song reached No. 19 on the Billboard Hot 100 and became the band’s final No. 1 on the Modern Rock Tracks chart. Michael Stipe’s vocal gives the song a tense, uneasy feeling as the lyrics circle around accusation, anger, and the damage people can do to one another. The harder production of Monster gives the track a rough edge that fits the subject perfectly. It remains one of R.E.M.’s strongest songs from that loud and restless period.

Read More: Top 10 R.E.M. Songs

# 8 – Indian Sunset – Elton John

“Indian Sunset” appears on Elton John’s 1971 album Madman Across the Water, with lyrics by Bernie Taupin and production by Gus Dudgeon. Elton’s piano and vocal are surrounded by Paul Buckmaster’s dramatic orchestral arrangement, giving the song the scale of a short film. Taupin tells the story through a fictional Native American narrator facing the destruction of his world and the collapse of everything he trusted. The song is dark, cinematic, and filled with anger at betrayal and loss. It remains one of the most ambitious deep tracks from Elton John’s early catalog.

# 7 – Big Yellow Taxi – Joni Mitchell

Joni Mitchell’s “Big Yellow Taxi” appeared on her 1970 album Ladies of the Canyon and became one of her most enduring songs. Mitchell has explained that the song began after she looked out from a hotel in Hawaii and saw a huge parking lot cutting through the beauty around her. That moment became the foundation for a bright, catchy song about environmental destruction and the things people fail to value until they are gone. The music sounds light, but the message underneath it is anything but. Few protest songs have ever delivered blame with such an easy smile.

# 6 – Devil Inside – INXS

“Devil Inside” came from INXS’s massive 1987 album Kick and was released as a single in 1988. Written by Andrew Farriss and Michael Hutchence, the song looks at the darker impulses that can live inside ordinary people. Hutchence delivers the lyric with that cool, dangerous swagger that made him one of the great frontmen of his generation. The single climbed all the way to No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming one of the band’s biggest American hits. It fits this list because the blame is not placed on somebody else; the devil is already inside.

Read More: Top 10 INXS Songs

# 5 – Look What They’ve Done To My Song Ma – Melanie

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“Look What They’ve Done to My Song, Ma” is one of Melanie’s most personal and memorable recordings. Released in 1970 and included on Candles in the Rain, the song turns artistic frustration into something almost painfully simple. Melanie sounds wounded as she looks at what other people have done to the one thing she felt she could do right. The melody is gentle, but the feeling behind it is frustration, sadness, and disbelief. Anyone who has ever watched something personal get changed by somebody else can understand exactly where this song is coming from.

Read More: Top 10 Melanie Songs

# 4 – No One Is To Blame – Howard Jones

“No One Is to Blame” first appeared on Howard Jones’s 1985 album Dream into Action, but the hit version was recorded again the following year. Phil Collins and Hugh Padgham produced the 1986 recording, with Collins adding drums and backing vocals. The song is built around all the things people can want but cannot quite reach, turning romantic frustration into something much bigger. It became Jones’s biggest American hit, reaching No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 1 on the Adult Contemporary chart. The title says no one is to blame, but the sadness in the song makes that answer feel anything but comforting.

Read More: Top 10 Howard Jones Songs

# 3 – Nobody’s Fault But Mine – Led Zeppelin

“Nobody’s Fault but Mine” was probably my favorite track on Led Zeppelin’s 1976 album Presence when I first heard it, and it still is. The song draws from the old gospel blues associated with Blind Willie Johnson, but Jimmy Page and Robert Plant turn it into something massive and unmistakably Led Zeppelin. Page’s guitar riff and slide work sound absolutely vicious, while Plant sings with a desperation that keeps building through the track. The heart of the song is personal responsibility, with the narrator finally admitting that the fault belongs to him. This one does not point the finger anywhere else, and that honesty is part of what makes it so powerful.

# 2 – Blame It On Cain – Elvis Costello

“Blame It on Cain” comes from Elvis Costello’s 1977 debut album, My Aim Is True. Produced by Nick Lowe and recorded at Pathway Studios in London, the track features members of the American band Clover backing Costello. The title gets right to the point: when something goes wrong, somebody has to take the fall. Costello delivers that idea with the sarcasm, anger, and wordplay that made his early records so exciting. It is a sharp little song about the human need to find somebody else to burn when nobody wants to accept the blame.

# 1 – Big Shot – Billy Joel

“Big Shot” opens Billy Joel’s 1978 album 52nd Street with one of the nastiest put-downs he ever recorded. Released as a single in 1979, the song reached No. 14 on the Billboard Hot 100. Joel tears into someone who spent the night showing off, dropping names, drinking too much, and making sure everybody in the room noticed. The hard rock arrangement gives the criticism real teeth, while the humor keeps the song from becoming too heavy. When it comes to placing blame after a disastrous night out, nobody on this list does it with more attitude than Billy Joel.