Readers recommend: songs about greed – results

Queen go straight for it, the lyric "I want it all and I want it now" resounding time and again in one of the band's rockier outings. An Arctic Monkeys' tune sharing the same title is an ode to greediness.

Give Give Give Me More More More by the Wonderstuff is a rather shameless declaration of greed. While they don't have all the manners or brains in this world, they hope in the next there's a lot more for them – including rich friends and never doing a stitch. The last sentence – "My only care in the world is me" – pretty much sums it up.

But not all the songs are proclamations of individualistic hedonism or money-lust. Seth Lakeman finds in greed and gold "the loneliest road" and recounts a dramatic love encounter hampered by money.

What better encapsulation of the topic than the famous line "Pretty girl, beware of his heart of gold" from Shirley Bassey's Goldfinger, a cautionary tale against the kiss of death from the most cold-hearted of men? If ever a song was sprinkled with the faux glitter of avarice, this is it.

Eddie Vedder's Society is a bleak but beautiful critique of a society in which nothing is ever enough. Though usually "allergic" to him, exiledMan praises the song's direct, clever lyrics and simple and catchy – yet haunting – tune.

Kanye West may be many things, but a bad lyricist isn't one of them. This is Kanye at his musical best, and it has to be said that this contagious hip-hop classic is bang on topic (if you're able to ignore the actual meaning – y'know, misogyny and all).

A bit of an overseas detour is in order via John Cale, who deals with British colonialism. "It's gold that eats the heart away, and leaves the bones to dry," he sings in what ShivSidecar says is a suitably epic production that fills the space under the empty sky.

The Ramones' account of wanting everything is a bittersweet tale of hardship that – because the greed of which they sing relates to things that many others have and take for granted – puts us on the side of the greedy, and might even encourage sympathy with their illicit plans.

But Greed doesn't have to be dark to show itself, as it has a whimsical side, according to Fintan28; the Lovin' Spoonful put it perfectly on their frivolous account of finances.

Lana Del Rey has created some interesting tunes, and National Anthem is a seductive, irresistible paean to the great American virtue of greed, says chinhealer. The whole thing is opulent, but perhaps the glittery excess of the song is all the more appropriate for the subject.

Time to jump up and down with the Clash – who, as usual, put it simply with a brilliant rant against the greed of managers and record labels, who promise artistic freedom when in reality they "meant let's make lots of money and worry about it later".

The playlist

1) I Want It All – Queen

2) I Want It All – Arctic Monkeys

3) Give Give Give Me More More More – The Wonderstuff

4) Greed and Gold – Seth Lakeman

5) Goldfinger – Shirley Bassey

6) Society – Eddie Vedder

7) Gold Digger – Kanye West ft. Jamie Foxx

8) The Endless Plain Of Fortune – John Cale

9) I Wanted Everything – Ramones

10) Money – The Lovin' Spoonful

11) National Anthem – Lana Del Rey

12) Complete Control – The Clash

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