Top 10 Saliva Songs

Photo: Samantha Moore, CC BY 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

Our Top 10 Saliva songs list looks at a rock band that was formed in 1996 in Memphis, Tennessee. They have been in the American rock scene for a quarter of a century at this point. Although it is important to note that their original lead singer, Josey Scott left the band in 2011 to pursue a Christian solo career. Although that was the statement that came out when he left, Scott himself said this was untrue.

Scott says that he is a Christian, but he never wanted to pursue a Christian music career, which seems to hold water as it has been a decade since his departure. He never released any solo music. In reality, he left the band to have a normal life with his wife and his children. The band is undoubtedly not Josey Scott, but much of their best music happened with him as a frontman.

Saliva has multiple studio albums and is still currently touring. That is pretty good for a band that has been around for a quarter of a century.

# 10 – In It To Win It

“In It To Win It,” was the title track on the 2013 album. It is a hard song with an important message about deciding who you are going to be. The song’s overall message is basically are you going to work hard and do what needs to be done, or are you just going to quit and walk away. It is a strong song with a powerful message, certainly worthy of being the album’s title track.

# 9 – King of My World

“King of My World” may be most known for being a unique and original theme song for a wrestler in the WWE. This song was the theme song for wrestler Chris Jericho. It is a song about controlling your own destiny and being the most crucial person in your universe. Obviously, this is an excellent song for a wrestler to walk into the ring with. He is saying everyone else is underneath him, and no one else matters.

# 8 – Survival of the Sickest

“Survival of the Sickest,” is the title track of their fourth album, released in 2004. This song made it to number 6 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Chart and number 22 on the Billboard Alternative Song Chart. The song was also featured in the video game NASCAR 2005: Chase for the Cup and the official theme song of WWE’s Unforgiven 2004 pay-per-view event.

The song starts out with a good beat, as most of Saliva’s songs do, as this is a priority during the writing process for Josey Scott and the band. They make sure the song has a good beat and build a song with other good music and lyrics. The lyrics of this song both include more confident lyrics about being number one, and a little sex was thrown in. It is no surprise that different sporting events would want this song to be used to represent them.

# 7 – Superstar

“Superstar” was a song included in the movie and the soundtrack for the original Fast and Furious film, which came out June 22, 2001. The soundtrack was released later that year on December 18, 2001. The song itself is about wanting to be a superstar and willing to do anything to make that happen. This is why it fits so well into the Fast and Furious movie.

It is a fan favorite, where many fans who love this song do not understand why it never took off. The sound is good, has a catchy beat, and makes you want to listen to it again. It is the kind of sound that gets stuck in your head.

# 6 – I Walk Alone

“I Walk Alone,” is another of Saliva’s songs that became a theme/entrance song for a famous wrestler. This song was the song for Barista, which was an enormous wrestler of 6 feet 4 inches and 320 pounds of muscle.

The song is about the inability to trust anyone due to past circumstances like being betrayed or having people talk about you behind your back. The sound encourages you to leave everyone behind and walk alone in life. This is definitely a good song for a wrestler. You would most certainly label this as a fight song when you hear the loud thumping music, the screaming vocalist, and the anger in the lyrics.

With the tone of the song and the subject matter, you can easily see how many people relate to the track, and it has become the fight song in many people’s lives.

# 5 – Superstar 2

Sometimes bands revisit a great song and either make a follow-up (“Unforgiven” and “Unforgiven 2,” Metallica) or a song with alternative lyrics (“Don’t Cry” and “Don’t Cry (Alternative Lyrics),” Guns N’ Roses). This song is a follow-up to Saliva’s original song, “Superstar.”

Whereas in “Superstar,” the song was about doing whatever was necessary to become a superstar, “Superstar 2” is a song written during the midpoint. They were beyond wanting superstardom but did not feel like they were entirely there yet. Now they are superstars in the making. Like in Click Click Boom, he takes a dig at other superstars who use their platform to whine about their love lives and their families.

# 4 – Your Disease

“Your Disease,” was a song from Saliva’s second album, Every Six Seconds. This song had a fair amount of commercial success. It made it to number 3 on the Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart, number 7 on the Modern Rock Tracks chart, and number 16 on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles. Besides climbing the chart, this song was on the Dracula 2000 movie soundtrack, the Aggressive Inline video game from 2002, and the Downhill Domination video game from 2003.

Lead Singer Josey Scott said this song was about a relationship going bad. He went on to talk about how manipulation can be used when feelings and sex are involved. This song is so popular because of how easily relatable this song is to most people.

# 3 – Ladies and Gentlemen

“Ladies and Gentlemen,” was a commercially successful song but a critical failure. Being a critical failure is not always bad; often, critics hate what the general public loves. This is undoubtedly the case with this song. Even if they did not love it, the fans did. This song went Gold, meaning it sold more than 500,000 units. The song also made it to #2 on the Mainstream Rock Chart, number 25 on the Alternative Airway Chart, and number 96 on the Pop 100 Chart.

The band even came out and said it was written for their friends at the WWE to use it in their events and broadcasts. They did – as well as other media outlets utilizing it. Here are some events/organizations that made use out of this hard-hitting anthem meant to pump up a crowd:

WWE – it was the official theme song for the pay-per-view event Wrestlemania 23.

NFL – It was used on the broadcast of Super Bowl XLI.

BBC – BBC HD used this song to promote movies and TV shows they would be playing during the holiday season.

NASCAR – Was used as the theme song for the 2008 Sharpie 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway.

NHRA – It was used as the song for their drag racing since 2007.

Ohio State Buckeyes – This was the song used for background music and the intro video for their men’s hockey team in the 2010 season.

Bottom Line: The critics hated it; everyone else loves it.

# 2 – Click Click Boom

Although “Click Click Boom,” is probably their most famous song, alas, it is still only number 2 on our list. It is a great song, and everyone knows the chorus, and most people really get into this song. It is an excellent song about a few different things. One is the singers’ long standing love for music and how music was always the center of their life.

I think many people can relate to this, especially during the time that they were growing up. Music is powerful, especially when it seems like it is directly speaking to us.

The song is also about having so many things going on in your mind, jumping from one subject to another. Finally, it is about where they are now, going from listening to music almost obsessively as a kid or teenager to being on the radio and wondering how far this road will take them.

It is a fantastic song with a great beat, an incredible concept and can work for almost anything – road trip songs, party songs, inspiration, or just because you love fantastic music.

# 1 – Always

Finally, we have made it to number one with Saliva’s song “Always.” “Always” is the first single off their third studio album called Back into Your System, released in 2002. This song has both critical and commercial success; in fact, this is their most commercially successful song, even though most casual fans think that it is “Click Click Boom,” but in reality, “Always” is not only a better song, but it is also more successful.

“Always” is the only Saliva song that made it to #1 on any chart. Here are the chart results for this song:

#1 Alternative Airplay Chart

#2 Mainstream Rock Chart

#3 UK Rock and Metal Chart

#38 Scotland

#47 UK Singles

#48 Ireland

#51 Billboard Hot 100

#62 Australia

This song is about a dysfunctional or toxic relationship. Josey Scott actually said that the song was his interpretation of domestic abuse. He actually based this song on someone he knew who was abused by her partner.

This is a powerful song with an equally powerful topic. Even if everyone has not been in a relationship that included domestic abuse, most people have been in toxic relationships or at the very least known someone who has. It is a song that most people can identify with on some level. The powerful topic, as well as the spot-on vocals, which are filled with the right amount of emotion, are what make this song so great.