Johnbobb ranks user-nominated Villain Songs: Requiem - The Ranking

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14. Polly
Source: Nirvana
Villain: Gerald Friend
Nominator: MarkS2222222224 (2 remaining)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DrlaVYKWeLU

Villainy: 10
Characterization: 8
Melody: 7
Total: 24/30

"Polly wants a cracker / Maybe she would like some food / She asked me to untie her / A chase would be nice for a few"

I've listened to this song maybe 4 dozen times prior to this list, and never put together what the song was about. I just never really thought about the lyrics at all. Part of me wishes I could go back to that time of just thinking it was the harmless little track from Nevermind and nothing more, but you took that from me.

This song is dark , even by a villain song list's standards. Largely because it's one of the very few on the list about a real villain, one who is still alive today. Gonna keep this one censored in case you don't want to know, and you probably don't, but Gerald raped and tortured a 12-year-old girl, was sentenced to 75 years in prison, only served 20 of them before be given early release, only to immediately rape and torture another 14-year-old girl. This song is about the second one.

I don't want to get too much into how ethical it is to write a song about a disgusting real life horror, but before knowing what the song was actually about, I always liked it. Not one of Nirvana's best, but simple and effective. It tells you mostly as much as you need to know about Gerald Friend even without ever addressing him directly; it seems to keep things intentionally just a little bit vague (likely that's the only way the song would ever have gotten produced) but while alluding to many of the individual things he did and the dynamic between him and his victim ("Polly" in this song).

Anyway, gonna go take a shower.