7 Classic Rock Songs for Each of the Seven Deadly Sins

For those who have seen the hit movie Seven, the concept of the “seven deadly sins” is familiar. But for those who have not seen the Brad Pitt-Morgan Freeman classic, the idea is pretty simple. According to the Bible, there are seven major vices that a human being can succumb to: pride, greed, wrath, envy, lust, gluttony and sloth. 

But to illustrate the concept more clearly, we thought it would be interesting to pair each of the deadly sins with a classic rock song. Since so many used to claim that rock and roll was “the devil’s music,” why not lean into the trope a little bit and showcase just how devilish a song can get. Here below are seven classic rock songs for each of the deadly sins.

[RELATED: No Skips: 4 Classic Rock Albums You’ll Never Have to Fast-Forward]

Pride: “Ava Adore” by Smashing Pumpkins

First of all, this industrial rock song just sounds like it should be in the dreary, bleak 1995 film Seven. But more than that, this track exemplifies the negative connotation of pride—not the idea of appreciation for self or community, but the narcissistic side of the concept. In it, the singer puts down the subject, telling her We must never be apart and And I’ll pull your crooked teeth / You’ll be perfect just like me. It’s a gross and grotesque form of love. One exemplified well by the vampiric Billy Corgan.

Greed: “Money” by Pink Floyd

One of the best songs on one of the best classic rock albums ever (The Dark Side of the Moon), this song, which is bolstered by the sounds of cash registers and paper receipts tearing, highlights modern society’s lust and fetishization over cold, hard cash. On the track David Gilmour sings,

Money
It’s a crime
Share it fairly, but don’t take a slice of my pie
Money
So they say
Is the root of all evil today

But if you ask for a rise
It’s no surprise that they’re giving none away
Away, away, away
Away, away, away

Wrath: “Hey Joe” by Jimi Hendrix

A traditional blues song performed and recorded by one of the greatest guitar players ever in Jimi Hendrix, this song is about getting bloody revenge. The singer, Joe, takes up a gun and is set to kill his longtime romantic partner because he caught her cheating. On the track, Hendrix sings about that anger and murder plot,

Hey Joe, where you goin’ with that gun of your hand?
Hey Joe, I said, where you goin’ with that gun in your hand? Oh
I’m goin’ down to shoot my old lady
You know I caught her messin’ ’round with another man, yeah
I’m goin’ down to shoot my old lady
You know I caught her messin’ ’round with another man

Envy: “You Oughta Know” by Alanis Morissette

Another song about a jilted lover, this 1990s hit rocker from Alanis Morissette seems to imply the singer is OK with her breakup and her man moving on to another, but the reality is she is still filled with range over it. She is envious of the new woman and tells the man he could never have it as good with the other as he did with her. Sings a blistering Morissette,

‘Cause the love that you gave that we made
Wasn’t able to make it enough for you to be open wide
No, and every time you speak her name
Does she know how you told
Me you’d hold me until you died?
‘Til you died, but you’re still alive

And I’m here, to remind you
Of the mess you left when you went away
It’s not fair, to deny me
Of the cross I bear that you gave to me
You, you, you oughta know

Lust: “Rocket Queen” by Guns N’ Roses

Brace yourself, but this song from the band’s debut studio album Appetite for Destruction includes actual moans from a woman (Adriana Smith). Her intimate sounds were recorded while she was having sex with Guns N’ Roses lead singer Axl Rose. And if that doesn’t, well, scream lust, nothing does! Said Rose in a 1988 interview with Hit Parader, “For [this] song there was also something I tried to work out with various people—a recorded sex act. It was somewhat spontaneous but premeditated; something I wanted to put on the record.”

Gluttony: “Peaches” by Presidents of the United States of America

The singer in this classic 1990s alternative rock song just can’t get enough peaches. They’re on his mind constantly, all he wants to do is bury his face in the fruit and chomp away. Such is the behavior of a glutton. And on the song, lead singer Chris Ballew says,

Movin’ to the country,
Gonna eat a lot of peaches
I’m movin’ to the country,
I’m gonna eat me a lot of peaches
Movin’ to the country,
Gonna eat a lot of peaches
Movin’ to the country,
I’m gonna eat a lot of peaches

And he adds,

If I had my little way,
I’d eat peaches every day

Sloth: “Lazy” by Deep Purple

This song, which is perhaps the most obvious of the bunch on the list of seven deadly sin songs given the title, is all about inability. It’s about not doing, as opposed to doing. About lack instead of abundance. It’s about being, well, just totally lazy. Sings lead vocalist Ian Gillan,

You’re lazy just stay in bed
You’re lazy just stay in bed
You don’t want no money
You don’t want no bread

If you’re drowning you don’t clutch no straw
If you’re drowning you don’t clutch no straw
You don’t want to live you don’t want to cry no more

Well my trying ain’t done no good
I said my trying ain’t done no good
You don’t make no effort no not like you should

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