The Best "F*** You" Songs

Over the years, I've learned one of the most cathartic things you can do when you're really pissed at someone, or when someone exits your life who just continued to drag you down, is scream the lyrics to some incredible "fuck you" kind of songs at the top of your lungs. Music can often say the things through lyrics and instrumentals that you just can't say in real life. So being able to sing along to those lyrics that say what you wish you could say, well, there's nothing like it.

I've had my fair share of drama and toxic people and my fair share of people exiting my life who didn't deserve to be there in the first place. My best friend and I have made a playlist for such an occasion and it's honestly one of the hardest slapping playlists we've ever made together. I was recently reminded of just how hard it slaps due to some drama at my part time job that made me go back to it, and so I figured I'd share that incredible knowledge here.

As a quick note, usually I try to limit lists like this to one song per artist, but I gotta be real, some artists and bands are just better at writing the perfect "fuck you" songs.

So, with that said, here's the highlights -- or at least, hopefully just the highlights, let's hope I don't get too carried away and just go for the full ~150 songs -- from that incredible playlist. Buckle in, it's about to get intense fast.

"Deadweight" | I Prevail

"It's time you get put in the rearview"

This song's off of their incredible 2019 sophomore album TRAUMA and it's absolutely a banger. It's the perfect encapsulation of all the "fuck you" kind of energy you could ever have. It's the type of song that's perfect to release your anger, whether screaming the words in the car or getting into a mosh pit. If you ever feel or felt the need to cut some deadweight out of your life, this one's for you.

"Already Dead" | I Prevail

"'Cause when it's all said and done, I'll fucking spit on your grave"

You know how I said some musicians are just that good at writing "fuck you" songs? Yeah, well, I Prevail is easily one of them. Their angry songs are so genuine and really resonate. This one in particular is off their first album, Lifelines. I really don't know what more to say about it. It's a perfect song to listen to when you need to vent some frustrations about a certain someone.

"Same Book But Never the Same Page" | A Day to Remember

"Nothing ever seems to work when you're around"

This is genuinely one of my favorite song titles that A Day to Remember -- or anyone, really -- has on their discography. "Same Book But Never the Same Page" is a much less of an angry song than the previous two on this song, more along the lines of disappointment in both the other person and also yourself, as well as the acceptance that, well, in Jeremy McKinnon's own words "I'd give you everything but that would never be good enough and that's alright with me," or, one of my personal favorites, "You're just a notch in the wall that made me." This one's for those of you who's ready to move on, or just wants something less heavy.

"medicine" | Bring Me the Horizon

"Some people are a lot like clouds, you know / 'Cause life's so much brighter when they go"

This one's a much poppier sound, much less angry and extremely less heavy -- in fact, much more danceable. And it burns just as strong. That opening line is perhaps one of the most iconic ones I could think of off the top of my head. It's proof that a song doesn't have to be super heavy to sting a lot. Maybe it's less cathartic for some without that heaviness, but it still rings just as true and hits just as hard.

"Kick Me" | Sleeping With Sirens

"Of all the sinners / You’re first in line / So go to hell and tell the devil / I’m not that far behind"

It's almost impossible to not include this song. It's the anthem for being sick of people judging you without knowing you, putting you down, putting you through hell. While it may not be directed specifically at one person, it's still a major "fuck you" to anyone who does any one of those things to you. It's a pretty short song, clocking in at two and a half minutes, but it's packed full of aggression.

"I Don't Give A..." | MISSIO ft. Zeale

"Shut up and read my lips / I don't give a fuck"

This song is so much more chill than anything else on this list. It's less angry and more like "yeah, okay, whatever." It's acceptance and it's that genuine feeling of "you know what? I don't give a fuck" (as the title would suggest). It doesn't matter what whoever you're mad at or angry with or saying "fuck you" to says or does, you're way past the point of caring. That's the kind of vibe this song is perfect for.

"Me Without You (All I've Ever Wanted) | All Time Low

"'Cause I am only me when I'm without you"

This Don't Panic: It's Longer Now bonus track is genuinely one of my favorite All Time Low songs. It's a poetic fuck you, specifically for broken relationships -- I'd say specifically romantic ones, but it works pretty damn well (with the exception of perhaps the first verse) for platonic ones. It's for the relationships that fell apart, whether slowly or spontaneously. It's not a super heavy song -- it's a strong fuck you kind of pop punk song.

"Thank You" | Simple Plan

"And thank you for lying to me / Your friendship and good times we had, you can have them back"

This old school Simple Plan song is all about thanking the people who made you who you are by wronging and hurting you. It's the perfect mix of bitter and aggressive, and acceptance and finally moving on. It sucks that sometimes you have to be hurt to learn a lesson, and that's what this song is all about. We grow from everything that happens to us, good and bad. So this one's both sarcastically and sincerely thanking those that fucked you over.

Also, if you want another song with the same concept in mind but heavier, check out The Word Alive's "THANK YOU," which very nearly made this list.

"Better Off This Way" | A Day to Remember

"You’re the reason things have to change"

And just like that, we're back to A Day to Remember. There's no particular order to this, besides how the playlist shuffles, so that's why we're suddenly now back to a band that was up at the beginning. This one, contrary to "Same Book But Never the Same Page," is more on the heavy side, featuring both clean and unclean vocals. And -- this might come as a surprise to anyone who's familiar with A Day to Remember's music -- this is perhaps my favorite "fuck you" song of theirs. The whole song takes these sharp digs and then keeps coming back to the concept of "you know what, I'm better off this way." Better off without that toxic person in your life, without all that drama and constant backstabbing and pain. It builds to this moment of "you're the reason things have to change" and then keeps the momentum going strong all the way to the final lines of "I'm better off this way." It's almost like this epiphany kind of moment. And this may be a weird thing to say about a fairly aggressive song, but it's honestly beautifully written.

"I'd Love to Break It To You" | Natewantstobattle

"They’re setting up and you’re the punchline / You learned you’re never in demand"

This one comes from Natewantstobattle's first fully original album, Sandcastle Kingdoms. It's a fuck you to those who think too highly of themselves, those who think they are "the shit" and better than everyone else. It's breaking it to that person that they're not as good as they think they are, they're not "in demand," they're on their own, that they're likely just going to be forgotten. It's all those things you wish you could say to someone but don't because, well there's a multitude of reasons why you wouldn't say these things.

"Fire" | PVRIS

"So go ahead, yeah, just drop dead / And while you're tryna fool the whole world don't forget that / You'll decay, and you'll waste away / You can't cheat death when you're digging your own grave"

This 2014 PVRIS song is about karma coming back around to bite someone who's wronged you in the ass. And above that, it's not feeling pity when they claim to regret their actions or blame it on the "shit in your head." The line "You can't cheat death when you're digging your own grave" is perhaps one the best lines in this list. And this song is full of great lines like that, dripping with emotion -- hatred, anger, whatever you might consider it to be -- with the sentiment of you get what you deserve and you can't take back your actions.

From the same album, you should definitely check out "Holy" because it was so fucking close to making this list but I cut it -- with great pain -- at the last second.

"Wolf In Sheep's Clothing" | Set It Off ft. William Beckett

"Listen, mark my words, one day / You will pay, you will pay / Karma's gonna come collect your debt"

This song is so theatrical and it's because of that, it's so cathartic to sing at the top of your lungs. It's written so well, full of allusions and snappy lines. And that bridge -- oh wow, that bridge. It's quite frankly one of the biggest musical fuck you's. I highly contemplated putting it in the lyric line, but I don't want to ruin that incredible surprise for those of you who may not have heard the song before. If you want a broadway-esque "fuck you" kind of song, this is the one for you.

"Ugly On The Inside" | The Maine

"Oh you can change your face but it's a waste of time / Because it don't change the fact that you're ugly on the inside"

This bonus track on The Maine's 2014 deluxe version of their album Forever Halloween has always stuck out to me as one of my favorite tracks on their discography. It's a great reminder that even if someone's absolutely gorgeous on the outside, they can still be ugly on the outside and that is what ultimately matters more than anything else. So while the chorus may compliment someone's outward appearance, it is clouded by the huge diss that follows: "it don't change the fact that you're ugly on the inside."

"I Want You (Gone)" | Set It Off ft. Matt Appleton

"I guess you'd say I'm blessed / I threw away stress the moment I said / I want you, I want you gone"

This next song by Set It Off is more of what the band considers to be a subtle "fuck you." It's saying that you're glad someone has left your life and that your life is so much better without them in it. It's saying you're finally free of the toxicity that that person brought to your life. It's an uplifting song instrumentally and the lyrics carry that same tone, as highlighted in the bridge with the lines "day after day / I'm taking my life, taking my life back."

Also, Set It Off writes incredible "fuck you" tracks, so while I'm going to leave it at these two, if you want a third, check out "Raise No Fool."

"Fake Friend" | nothing,nowhere.

"Losing you's a win-win / Always gotta pretend / I don't need a fake friend"

There's something specifically cathartic about this song in particular. Perhaps it's because all of the toxicity in my life has come from friends, so I can relate really hard to this song and its lyrics. Since I think this song can really truly speak for itself, I want to take a moment in all of this and just say that if you ever find yourself surrounded by people you have to pretend around -- whether just one person or a whole group of them -- then they're probably not real friends, they probably don't make you truly happy. There's something beautiful in finding friends -- or even just one -- who know the true you, your likes, dislikes, hobbies, life goals, your fears, your quirks and accepts all of that, flaws and all. Not having to pretend takes such a load off your back, but most importantly, a load off your mind. Take it from someone who had to pretend to get through high school. My best friend who I met in college knows and accepts the best and worst parts of me. You don't need fake friends, toxicity, drama and you sure as hell don't need to pretend to be someone you're not because someone's always going to be out there that can accept you for who you are and you shouldn't have to settle for anything less.

"Last Chance to Dance (Bad Friend)" | A Day to Remember

"Drop the dead weight, I'm moving past this"

"Last Chance to Dance (Bad Friend)" off A Day to Remember's most recent album You're Welcome is easily the heaviest on the 2021 album, and perhaps one of the heaviest in their discography. So that should give you a taste of what to expect with the song, in case you've never heard it before. But they honestly couldn't have chosen a better song for it lyrically and thematically. It's laced with anger and hatred towards, well, as the title suggests, a bad friend -- or assumedly also an ex-friend. The pre-chorus and chorus are perfect to sing at the top of your lungs -- trust me when I say there's nothing like screaming the words "you're just another bad friend."

"This Will Be My Year" | Two Friends ft. Point North

"This will be my year / If I don't see you again"

This year I've discovered a new love of songs whose titles seem like they'll be a big, happy song, but are actually the opposite. In this song's case, it's actually a big "fuck you." It's the realization that someone in your life was actually bad for you and extremely toxic and you're better off without them. That cutting them from your life might not be what you want, but what you need -- for your mental health, or just out of respect to yourself. It's realizing that your year will be so much better if they're just not in it.

"Scissors" | Krewella

"I know I cut you out my life but you gave me the scissors"

I love this song with all of my heart. It encapsulated things that I had been feeling better than any other song. It's the acknowledgement that cutting someone toxic out of your life isn't your fault. And like that might sound stupid, but I know that whenever I had to cut people out of my life, there's always been a twinge of guilt. But in truth, it's all for the better and it wasn't really a choice I had, but rather that they had -- they "gave me the scissors." This song's for anyone who might feel similarly, and for anyone who's partial to EDM.

"LIKE IT" | Waterparks

"You deserve a couple bad hair days / And I hope that your car's AC breaks / I'd like it if you cracked your phone screen"

Genuinely, Awsten Knight writes some of the best angry "fuck you" songs I've ever heard and "LIKE IT" off their 2021 album Greatest Hits in all its 90s punk-esque glory demonstrates that. It's gritty, and it's Knight's version of venting. Maybe it's not directed at one person (well some of it is) but it goes hard. It's angry and it's catchy as hell. It throws all these really petty things out there as things he wished would happen to the people who inspired this song. And if that's not a whole ass mood, I don't know what is.

"TANTRUM" | Waterparks

"Hey, look what you've done now / I'm fucked and hope you're proud"

This song, off Waterparks' sophomore album Entertainment, is quite literally a tantrum. It's a tantrum about double standards, about people who's wronged him, injustices and the music industry. It's one of my and my best friend's favorite to scream in the car with the window down. It may not be a direct "fuck you" but it's a "fuck everything" and that's just as good, if not better.

"Nice Now" | Point North

"Maybe they all shoulda thought who they were sleepin' on / Cause now they sendin' friend requests to pages I don't run / Like "look what you accomplished, yeah man look how far you've come" / I say "Crazy that you waited until 2021!""

This one's for those people you knew why back when who comes back into your life because they see your successes and want to ride them. It's for those people that come back into your life without acknowledging the shit they did to you way back when. It's the song to laugh in their face to and to cathartically say "fuck you" to those people who didn't think you'd amount to anything and to those who come running back when you do.

"Things Are Better (Alt Version)" | PVRIS

"Hate to tell you things are better"

We're rounding off this list with another PVRIS song, and another cheerful, "my life's better without you" kind of "fuck you" song. Lyrically, it's the growth you see after cutting someone out of your life. Some people in life just want to see you suffer, and this song is after the fact of cutting those people out. It's recognizing how freeing it is.

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So there you have it. Twenty-two songs. Twenty-two absolute "fuck you" songs of varied sounds and themes. Every song on this list slaps hard in its own unique way, whether being heavy or gritty or cheerful. Genuinely, "fuck you" kinds of songs are some of the best written and hardest hitting ones.

With that said, I could've kept this going for a while, so I'd love to hear what you think I missed in the comments!