Bad Company (song)
| "Bad Company" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single by Bad Company | ||||
| from the album Bad Company | ||||
| Released | 1974 | |||
| Recorded | November 1973 | |||
| Genre | Hard rock | |||
| Length | 4:50 | |||
| Label | Swan Song Records (US) Island Records (UK) |
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| Writer(s) | Simon Kirke Paul Rodgers |
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| Producer | Bad Company | |||
| Bad Company singles chronology | ||||
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"Bad Company" is a song from the hard rock band Bad Company. It was released as the third single from their debut album Bad Company in 1974, although it did not chart (in America). Co-written by the group's lead singer Paul Rodgers and drummer Simon Kirke, the song's meaning comes from the movie of the same name featuring Jeff Bridges and Barry Brown.[1] The introductory three chords of the song are also in the movie. The Joni Mitchell song "Woodstock" from 1970 uses the same chords and piano figure.
It is also a rare instance of the artist, album and song names being the same. Other examples include "Black Sabbath","Iron Maiden", "Motörhead", Pennywise, "Children of Bodom", "Damn Yankees", "Bang Camaro", Deicide", "Iced Earth" and "Living in a Box".
Timothy McVeigh, the terrorist responsible for the April 19, 1995 bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, was quoted as saying as he fled the site of the bombing that he thought of a specific "Bad Company" lyric, "...dirty for dirty," heard towards the end of the song. Many websites describe this, but confuse that short phrase within a song as the title for another song.[citation needed]
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In popular culture [edit]
This song is also heard in the 2006 episode of The CW series Supernatural, titled "Scarecrow". It can also be heard on episode 20 of the sixteenth season of The Simpsons where Ned Flanders moves to a new town and becomes a "rebel" by keeping an untrimmed mustache.
Tori Amos performed the song at a number of concerts in 1994 and 1996.[2]
Bill Champlin did a cover of the song that was featured in Season 2, episode 9 of The Young Riders (1990). The title of the episode is "Bad Company".
In the beginning of the 7th book of his Dark Tower series, The Dark Tower, Stephen King quotes the lines "I was born 6-gun in my hand, Behind a gun I'll make my final stand".
On The Best Show on WFMU, the song is frequently faded up to drown out callers who have proven to be poor company.
Personnel [edit]
- Paul Rodgers – vocals, guitar, piano, accordion
- Mick Ralphs– guitar, keyboards
- Simon Kirke – drums
- Boz Burrell – bass
| "Bad Company" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Single by Five Finger Death Punch | ||||
| from the album War Is the Answer | ||||
| Released | May 17, 2010 | |||
| Recorded | 2009 | |||
| Genre | Heavy metal, hard rock | |||
| Length | 4:22 | |||
| Label | Prospect Park | |||
| Writer(s) | Simon Kirke Paul Rodgers |
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| Producer | Kevin Churko | |||
| Five Finger Death Punch singles chronology | ||||
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Five Finger Death Punch cover [edit]
Five Finger Death Punch frequently performs a cover of this song live, and recorded the song for their second album War Is the Answer. The song has a significantly heavier tone to it, along with several lyrical edits ("I was born a shotgun in my hands", "the death punch sound is our claim to fame"). The song is used by Washington Nationals closer Drew Storen, Baltimore Orioles pitcher Jake Arrieta and San Francisco Giants pitcher Madison Bumgarner.[3]
Track listing [edit]
| UK Digital Download | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Length | ||||||||
| 1. | "Bad Company" | 4:22 | ||||||||
| 2. | "The Devil's Own" (Live) | 4:54 | ||||||||
Chart performance [edit]
| Chart (2010) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| US Mainstream Rock Songs (Billboard) | 2 |
| US Rock Songs (Billboard)[4] | 7 |
| US Alternative Songs (Billboard)[4] | 26 |
| US Heatseekers Songs (Billboard)[4] | 11 |
Band members [edit]
- Zoltan Bathory — guitars
- Jason Hook — guitars
- Ivan Moody — vocals
- Matt Snell — bass
- Jeremy Spencer — drums
References [edit]
- ^ "Bad Company by Bad Company". Songfacts.
- ^ "Tori Amos Song Summary". Toriset.org. Retrieved 2011-11-10.
- ^ "Orioles Walk-Up Music".
- ^ a b c "Bad Company - Five Finger Death Punch". Billboard. Archived from the original on 1 November 2010. Retrieved November 1, 2010.
External links [edit]
- Lyrics of live cover by Queen + Paul Rodgers from Live in Ukraine, from Queen official website
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