Big Thief
"Not" is a song built entirely out of negation, circling an unnamed thing by naming everything it isn't. Lenker piles up sensory…
negation and unnameability impermanence desire and its objects
Bruce Springsteen
A minimal, hushed blues built on obsessive desire, where the narrator's want curdles into something closer to torment than…
obsessive desire sleeplessness and mental anguish transgressive attraction
The Stooges
This is a song built almost entirely on repetition, groove, and physical grunt rather than narrative or wordplay. It circles a…
voyeurism and being watched sexual desire primal/animal imagery
Patti Smith
A co-write between Patti Smith and Bruce Springsteen, this song turns nighttime into a sanctuary where desire overrides doubt…
desire as sustenance night as refuge doubt versus surrender
T. Rex
A glam-rock come-on that fuses car culture, cosmic imagery, and vampire slang into a single boastful seduction. Marc Bolan…
desire and objectification glamour of consumer culture (cars) seduction as performance
Bad Company
A straightforward blues-rock strut about wanting sex and not being satisfied, built almost entirely on one repeated declaration…
physical desire insatiability masculine bravado
Massive Attack
A slow-burning meditation on desire as self-inflicted damage, built from a handful of repeated images—storms, sin, flame,…
desire and self-destruction moral ambivalence addiction to feeling
Leonard Cohen
A meditation on grace and surrender disguised as a portrait of a woman by a river, Cohen's song moves from intimate seduction…
spiritual longing disguised as romance the sacred in the everyday trust and surrender
The Doors
A short, propulsive rock song built almost entirely around a single command repeated until it becomes a mantra. It uses images…
transcendence limits of perception desire and entrapment
The Rolling Stones
A weary declaration of devotion dressed up as a refusal: the singer insists he won't be exploited or taken for granted, even as…
emotional labor in relationships self-worth and insecurity devotion disguised as protest
Deep Purple
This is a straightforward garage-pop cover turned hard-rock workout, built almost entirely from nonsense syllables and a simple…
obsessive infatuation powerlessness in love physical desire
Radiohead
A song of self-loathing built around a single obsessive comparison: the speaker idolizes someone he sees as flawless while…
self-loathing unrequited desire alienation
Mos Def
A narrative rap unfolding like a short film in three scenes, tracking a pursuit-and-fallout romance with a woman the narrator…
desire versus discernment the performance of masculinity and vulnerability cynicism eroded by intimacy
Gang of Four
Gang of Four fuse the language of romantic breakup with the language of consumer transactions, treating a relationship like a…
commodification of relationships alienation desire vs. disgust
Japanese Breakfast
A synth-pop breakup plea dressed up as a demand rather than a lament: the narrator wants proof of good faith from an unreliable…
conditional love self-deception desire versus doubt
PJ Harvey
A murder ballad told in fragments, where a narrator confesses to drowning a girl referred to alternately as lover and daughter,…
guilt and confession incest/taboo desire folk horror and Southern gothic
The Strokes
An opening-track statement of exhaustion and detachment, "What Ever Happened?" pairs a jittery, almost panicked vocal delivery…
desire for erasure/anonymity romantic withdrawal cultural anxiety and authenticity
Steely Dan
A slack, aging drifter moves onto his aunt's couch and develops an unseemly fixation on his young cousin, pitching her a…
arrested development delusional self-image taboo desire played for laughs
SZA
SZA casts herself as the mistress in a triangle and refuses the shame the role usually carries, framing her position as a…
infidelity and complicity self-worth versus desire possession and comparison
Betty Davis
Betty Davis takes the insults an ex has thrown at her -- witch, alley cat, dirty dog -- and turns them into a badge of honor,…
sexual autonomy reclaiming slurs female desire vs. respectability
The Beach Boys
An early Beach Boys car song that treats a Chevrolet engine like a lover and a racehorse at once, built almost entirely on chant…
car culture masculine pride and status consumerism/saving toward a goal
Fleetwood Mac
A breakup song written from a position of eerie calm rather than anguish, in which the departing partner's bid for freedom is…
romantic dissolution detachment as self-protection cyclical nature vs. human choice
The Kinks
A wide-eyed young narrator recounts a night at a Soho club where he meets a striking, ambiguous figure named Lola, and the song…
gender ambiguity sexual awakening urban nightlife