When I conceived this post, I had actually planned to broaden the category to “Demolition” so I could include classics like AC/DC’s “TNT” and the Talking Heads’ “Burning Down the House.”  The only two songs I knew of that were about wrecking balls were the ones by Neil Young and Creeper Lagoon.  I had stumbled across a few more – when I mentioned a “crowded field” last week I was aware of maybe five additional songs – but nothing had me prepared for the overwhelming number of songs musicians have recorded about this iconic piece of construction equipment. I mean, it’s not like the category was “love” or “war.”  So how many songs did I find?

Twenty-five songs.  TWENTY-FIVE SONGS!  And most of them are original songs.  And there’s plenty more that I found out about but I wasn’t able to track down the mp3’s.  There’s all kinds – some are indie tunes from recent years, there’s a few alt-country entries, there’s even one from a collection of National Socialist Black Metal bands (see if you can guess which one!  I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised…).  Since there’s so many songs, I’ve changed the voting a bit – you can vote for three different songs, and we’ll see who comes out on top.

Viva Voce – “Wrecking Ball”

Cranes and Crows – “Wrecking Ball”

Kate Schutt – “Wrecking Ball”

Mother Mother – “Wrecking Ball”

Creeper Lagoon – “Wrecking Ball”

Joachim Garraud – “Wrecking Ball”

Interpol – “Wrecking Ball”

Gary Allan – “Wrecking Ball”

Harvey Danger – “Wrecking Ball”

Talon – “Wrecking Ball”

Crooked Fingers – “Wrecking Ball”

Twinemen – “Wrecking Ball”

Nekromantix – “Struck by a Wrecking Ball”

Neil Young – “Wrecking Ball”

Spirit of the West – “The Wrecking Ball”

Gillian Welch (with Old Crow Medicine Show) – “Wrecking Ball”

Grace Slick – “Wrecking Ball”

Much the Same – “Wrecking Ball”

Beth Nielsen Chapman – “Heads Up for the Wrecking Ball”

H8MACHINE – “Wrecking Ball”

Davenport Cabinet – “Kiss of a Wrecking Ball”

Bud Light Real American Heroes – “Mr. Wrecking Ball Operator”

Vixen – “Wrecking Ball”

Crash Anthem – “Wrecking Ball”

Emmylou Harris – “Wrecking Ball” (cover)

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Last week, Mark Knopfler and Dire Straits came from behind to finish with 44% of the votes, beating Buffalo Tom’s 33% and Metallica’s 22%.  Next week we’ll dip back into Delilah’s well as we tackle the subject of Biblical Wives. If there’s anything you’re absolutely dying to see included, leave a note in the comments.