Songs that disparage other artists in the lyrics

this is awesome!!! thank you!!!

 

That is one reason I'll never really be able to respect Chuck D. If there was one fifties' white R&B/rocker who not racist, it was Elvis.

That song did a lot of damage to Elvis's reputation with latter generations.

 

always trying to be collegiate clever and falling short every time...boo, hiss

 

I believe The Police's "Peanuts" (1978) was Sting's diss of Rod Stewart, and how his music/image had changed by the late 70s.

(Ironically, Sting later sang on a horrid hit song, "All For Love", with Rod Stewart, after which Sting's career declined just as Stewart's had.)

 

At least four songs on Ian Brown's first solo album are about his former Stone Roses band-mate, John Squire: 'Ice Cold Cube', 'Can't See Me', 'What Happened To Ya', and 'Deep Pile Dreams'.

 

'John you went too far this time' - Rainbo (aka Sissy Spacek)


but more sadly critical than disparaging

 

Yes I know, not exactly disparaging, but I mentioned anyway.

 

"Look out! Here come the intellectual creeps. Here come the a**hole college professors." -- Harvey Danger, "Mainland"

 

You do understand that that's not Mark Knopfler's (or Dire Straits') point of view. The lyrics are from a perspective of, I guess, movers or men doing manual labour.

 

The Roots took a stab at others as well:

 

Really? The lyrics are so vague that it could be about any "old" act!

 

not exactly disparaging but i always liked Eminems lyric "i cant figure out which Spice girl i want to impregnate"

 

Oh yeah... Duh. You're right, that makes sense seeing as Dire Straits are millionaire musicians with blisters on their fingers too. But I did wonder why it was a pop at Gary Numan in particular. Or if it was just rumoured to be.

 

And the Eagles' reply: "They stab it with their steely knives"

 

"Dope on the Scarecrow" by Angry Samoans, a parody of John Mellencamp's "Rain on the Scarecrow," is about Jerry Garcia and his search for good drugs, which caused him to summon Pigpen from heaven, at which point Jerry joined him in the great beyond. Supposedly written and recorded before Garcia died, it wasn't released until after.

 

Some mild deflating of the Beatles (et al.) by David Bowie and Pete Townshend:

"All The Young Dudes" (Mott The Hoople)

And my brother's back at home with his Beatles and his Stones
We never got it off on that revolution stuff
What a drag, too many snags

"The Seeker" (The Who)

I asked Bobby Dylan
I asked the Beatles
I asked Timothy Leary
But he couldn't help me either

 

I don't think anyone's mentioned one of the most famous ones yet:

Roll Over Beethoven

 

Most of them don't, but "Smells Like Nirvana" did, sort of.

 

https://twitter.com/fieldmusicmusic/status/1305928585035874315?s=19

 

Much more biting was this early Weird Al Yankovic parody that remains officially unreleased, "It's Still Billy Joel to Me":

 

Not everyday you hear a Pop song that wants the popular music landscape to change on MTV and Radio, along with taking shots at Britney Spears, Ashanti, and R.Kelly.

 

I seem to remember reading once that the B side, “Get of the Stage” by Morrissey, was about the Rolling Stones.

 

As I noted above, the mentions of the Beatles and Dylan in that song are not disparaging. Neither of them ever claimed to be spiritual leaders (to the contrary, they both resisted having such a role thrust upon them). Rather, what Townshend is mocking is the title character in the song, who naively believes he can find enlightenment from rock stars or trendy gurus.

 

I think it was more about the hair metal bands that were popular around that time.