The Six Most Tasteless References To 9/11 In Song

It has been eleven years since the attacks on the World Trade Center, and while the feelings brought up by the events are still complicated, we can view its aftermath with some clarity. With over a decade of hindsight, many of the songs written after the attacks display less than healthy attitudes toward the situation. Here are the six most tasteless references to 9/11 in song. Let us know your favorites in the comments below, because it's a free country, mang.

6. Slayer - "Jihad"

To some extent, you expect religious imagery for shock value when Slayer is involved. On "Jihad," the band goes so far into book of Revelation gore that Tom Araya comes off like a Southern Baptist fire-and-brimstone preacher rather than the singer of a metal band: "War of holy principles / I'm seeking God's help in your destruction / Slit the throat of heathen man / And let his blood dilute the water." Araya makes sly references to "towers" and "ground zero" throughout "Jihad," and the title is the only indication that the song's antagonist is a Middle Easterner. It's vague enough to not directly offend Muslims, but there's enough implication here to make phrases like "Fuck your God" and "You're fucking raped upon your deathbed" sting.

5. Team America: World Police Original Soundtrack - "America (Fuck Yeah)"

Trey Parker and Matt Stone's 2004 puppet film Team America: World Police is both hilarious and frightening in its mockery of post 9/11 mentalities; that it is just as relevant now as it was eight years ago makes it that much funnier and scarier. The songs throughout the movie embody the attitudes the film parodies. "America (Fuck Yeah)" is a "Danger Zone"-style cock rock tune summing up blind patriotism: "Terrorists, your game is through / 'Cause now you have to answer to / America, fuck yeah! / So lick my nuts and suck on my balls." There's a self-awareness here that makes its ridiculousness more justified than others, but purposeful tastelessness is tasteless nonetheless.

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4. Three Six Mafia - "Bin Laden Weed"

Three Six Mafia explains in the preface to "Bin Laden Weed:" "It's like, three different kinds of weed grown all together." This foreword is necessary, because what follows is an ode to this product that manifests lines like "Now I'm feelin' happy / I'm on that binny Bin Laden" that could pass for Taliban conversion propaganda.