10 Best Songs About Greed

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Greed has fueled some of rock and roll’s most compelling songs, whether artists are attacking wealth and corruption, exposing personal selfishness, or admitting just how powerful the desire for more can be. These ten songs approach the subject from different angles, from hard rock and metal to blues, soul, punk, progressive rock, and classic pop.

# 10 – Black – Sarah McLachlan

“Black” appeared on Sarah McLachlan’s 1991 album Solace. The song turns greed inward, presenting a narrator who wants what is pleasing, takes without remorse, and is left confronting the consequences. Rather than attacking corporations or wealthy elites, McLachlan frames greed as a personal moral failure that eventually closes in on the person who embraces it.

Read More: Top 10 Sarah McLachlan Songs

# 9 – Half-Penny, Two-Penny – Styx

“Half-Penny, Two-Penny” appeared on Styx’s 1981 album Paradise Theatre. Written by James Young and Ray Brandle, the song takes aim at money, corruption, and the way wealth can distort justice and values. James Young later described the song as part of the album’s broader allegory about America, making it one of Styx’s sharper social commentaries.

Read More: 10 Most Rocking Styx Songs

# 8 – Greed – Godsmack

Godsmack’s “Greed” appeared on the band’s 2000 album Awake and was later released as a single in 2001. Sully Erna turns the title into a direct attack on selfishness and manipulation, backed by the heavy, confrontational sound that defined Godsmack’s early records. The song became another major rock-radio hit for the band and reached the Top 5 of Billboard’s Mainstream Rock chart.

Read More: 10 Best Godsmack Songs

# 7 – Greedy Man – George Thorogood & the Destroyers

“Greedy Man” opened George Thorogood & the Destroyers’ 2003 album Ride ‘Til I Die. Thorogood approaches greed with the same swagger and blues-rock attitude that has powered his best-known recordings. Instead of preaching from a distance, the song leans into the personality of someone who simply wants more, making the excess part of the fun.

# 6 – I Want More – Tedeschi Trucks Band

“I Want More” appeared on Tedeschi Trucks Band’s 2016 album Let Me Get By. The title alone makes it an obvious choice for this list, but the song goes beyond simple materialism and captures the restless feeling of never being completely satisfied. Susan Tedeschi’s vocal and Derek Trucks’ guitar give that hunger a soulful, blues-driven intensity.

Read More: Top 10 Tedeschi Trucks Band Songs

# 5 – Greedy Awful People – The Stooges

“Greedy Awful People” appeared on The Stooges’ 2007 comeback album The Weirdness, their first studio album of new material since Raw Power in 1973. Recorded with Steve Albini at Electrical Audio in Chicago, the track takes a typically blunt Stooges approach to greed, entitlement, and people who always seem to want more. Iggy Pop does not dress the subject up, which is exactly what you would expect from The Stooges.

Read More: Top 10 Stooges Songs

# 4 – Greed – Ann Wilson

Ann Wilson released “Greed” on her 2022 solo album Fierce Bliss. Wilson has described the song as being inspired by the culture around her and the way money, power, success, and desire can influence people’s decisions. Much of Fierce Bliss was recorded at FAME Recording Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama. Wilson’s huge voice gives the song the anger and weight its subject demands.

Read More: Top 10 Ann Wilson Songs

# 3 – Money – Pink Floyd

Pink Floyd’s “Money” appeared on the 1973 album The Dark Side of the Moon and became one of rock’s most famous songs about wealth and materialism. Roger Waters wrote the song and played bass, while David Gilmour handled the lead vocal and guitar. Its unusual 7/4 groove, cash-register tape loop, and sarcastic attitude turned a critique of greed into one of Pink Floyd’s most recognizable recordings.

Read More: Top 10 Pink Floyd Deep Tracks

# 2 – I Want It All – Queen

Do we really have to explain this one? Queen released “I Want It All” in 1989 as the first single from The Miracle. The song turns ambition into a giant stadium-sized anthem, with Freddie Mercury delivering the title like a demand rather than a request. Whether you hear that hunger as determination or greed depends on where you draw the line between wanting success and wanting everything.

# 1 – Money (That’s What I Want) – The Beatles

Barrett Strong first recorded “Money (That’s What I Want)” in 1959, and The Beatles closed their 1963 album With the Beatles with their own hard-driving version. John Lennon’s urgent lead vocal strips the subject down to its most basic form: forget everything else, money is what the narrator wants. There is no complicated metaphor here, which is exactly why it works so perfectly as the number one song on this list.