Some were released decades after they were first written
The Rolling Stones' 'Beggars Banquet' album, released in December 1968, opens with the iconic 'Sympathy for the Devil.'
The aptly titled 'Dancing with the Devil... the Art of Starting Over,' Demi Lovato's seventh album, released in 2021, includes the song 'Dancing with the Devil,' a reference to a very turbulent and self-destructive period in her life.
Elvis Presley describes his new love as the devil incarnate in this 1963 recording, which peaked at no. 3 in the US on the Billboard singles chart.
Similarly, British singer Cliff Richard has problems with a mystical lady that he describes as "cursed" in his top 10 single taken from the 1976 album 'I'm Nearly Famous.'
Taken from her third studio album 'Rhythm of Love' (1990), 'Better the Devil You Know' is known as the song that reinvented the Australian singer-songwriter's image after she ditched her "girl next door" persona.
Released as the second single from Beck's 1996 'Odelay,' 'Devils Haircut' has been described as one of the "unequivocal standouts" of the album.
Released as a single in February 1988, 'Devil Inside' featured in the 2001 movie 'Rock Star,' starring Mark Wahlberg and Jennifer Aniston.
'Devil in a New Dress' is from the 2010 album 'My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy.' On it, Kanye West shares vocals with Rick Ross.
Released as a single by Neil Sedaka in 1961 and taken from his album 'Neil Sedaka Sings Little Devil and His Other Hits,' 'Little Devil' was a hit, reaching no. 11 on the US Billboard chart.
'Devils & Dust' is taken from Springsteen's 2005 album of the same name. The track concerns a troubled American soldier fighting in the Iraq War.
Taken from their eponymous 1978 debut studio album, 'Runnin' with the Devil' is one of Van Halen's best-known songs.
'Devil Pray' is the second track on Madonna's 2015 album, 'Rebel Heart.' The song was co-produced by Avicii, DJ Dahi, BloodPop, and Madonna herself.
A hit in 1974 for American singer-songwriter Suzi Quatro, 'Devil Gate Drive' was her second no. 1 in the United Kingdom.
'Run Devil Run' is one of just three McCartney originals on an album of rock and roll covers released by the former Beatle in 1999.
The 11th studio album by former Beatle George Harrison—and the final released in his lifetime—1987's 'Cloud Nine' is opened on side two by 'Devil's Radio.' Released as a promotional single, the song reached no. 4 on the the Billboard Album Rock Tracks chart.
Written by Jerry Garcia, John Dawson, and Robert Hunter, 'Friend of the Devil' is the second song on the band's 1970 album 'American Beauty.'
The second single released by English band Prefab Sprout, and the first to feature backing vocalist and guitarist Wendy Smith, 'The Devil Has All the Best Tunes' achieved moderate success in 1983.
Sources: (Los Angeles Times)
See more: Animals of evil: beasts as a symbol of the devil
'The Devil's in the Temple' is a song from Bon Jovi's 14th studio album, 'This House Is Not for Sale.'
Canadian singer-songwriter Avril Lavigne's 2019 album 'Head Above Water' includes 'I Fell in Love with the Devil,' the third track on the album and released as the fourth single.
'Talkin' Devil' appears on Bob Dylan's 'New York Sessions 1962' album, released in 2013. The track was recorded on January 19, 1963 with Dylan going under the name of Blind Boy Grunt.
Written by James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich, 'Devil's Dance' is the third song on Metallica's 1997 album, 'Reload.'
Ex-Smiths front man Morrisey debuted his sixth studio album, 'Maladjusted,' in August 1997, from which the third single 'Satan Rejected My Soul' was released.
Fleetwood Mac vocalist Peter Green explained that the 'Green Manalishi' was a hellhound, a dead dog that barked at him from the afterlife. The canine represented money and greed. Green was later diagnosed with schizophrenia and famously refused to accept royalty checks long after he'd left the band.
Welsh alternative rock band Stereophonics released their fifth studio album, in 2005. The third single from the album was 'Devil.'
'Dance with the Devil' appears on the exclusive and international deluxe edition of Katy Perry's 2017 album 'Witness.'
British folk rock band Mumford & Sons recorded 'Devil in Your Eye' in 2019. The song appears on the soundtrack album 'For the Throne: Music Inspired by the HBO Series Game of Thrones.'
Singer, songwriter, and bandleader Cab Calloway was the first to record the standard 'Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea,' in 1931. Numerous other artists have covered the song, including Ella Fitzgerald, Thelonious Monk, and Diana Krall. A version by George Harrison appeared on his posthumous final album, 'Brainwashed.'
'Devil's Got a New Disguise' is the closing track on the 2006 compilation album 'Devil's Got a New Disguise: The Very Best of Aerosmith.'
'Lucifer Sam' appears on 'The Piper at the Gates of Dawn,' the debut studio album by English rock band Pink Floyd, released in August 1968.
Queen's epic 'Bohemian Rhapsody, a huge hit in 1975, references Satan by way of the lyric, "Beelzebub has a devil put aside for me, for me / For meee." The song is track 11 on side two of 'A Night at the Opera.'
Heavy metal outfit Mötley Crüe released 'Shout at the Devil' in September 1983. Taken from their breakthrough album of the same name, the band embarked on the Shout at the Devil tour to promote it.
Some songwriters have an affinity with the devil. As the personification of evil, the devil—or Satan, Lucifer, and Beelzebub, among other names the nefarious entity is bestowed with—is referenced in all sorts of songs to represent dark deeds, or the deceitful nature of people. But read the lyrics in a different way, and a song might instead be describing the devilish charm of an individual with an impossibly seductive manner. Either way, what songs best describe this generally hostile and destructive force?
Click through for a playlist of Satan's favorite songs.
Famous songs you had no idea mention the devil
Songwriting at its most devilish!
MUSIC Devil
Some songwriters have an affinity with the devil. As the personification of evil, the devil—or Satan, Lucifer, and Beelzebub, among other names the nefarious entity is bestowed with—is referenced in all sorts of songs to represent dark deeds, or the deceitful nature of people. But read the lyrics in a different way, and a song might instead be describing the devilish charm of an individual with an impossibly seductive manner. Either way, what songs best describe this generally hostile and destructive force?
Click through for a playlist of Satan's favorite songs.