The Evolution of the Dirtbag Anthem

We all know the type. They’re messy, unreliable, and totally self-destructive. They had one job to do and they still fucked it up. They’re a slave to their desires, and while they may have enemies, none are so glaring as themselves. Simply put, they’re a dirtbag: Always have been, always will be.

Musicians have been writing dirtbag anthems for as long as there’ve been dirtbags, which is essentially forever. Whether artists have existed on the fringes of society or as extensions of the upper social classes, they’re relied on for expressing the multitudes of humanity. To err is to live; to err repeatedly, knowing full well what the consequences are, is what gives a dirtbag their stripes.

But expressing one’s true dirtbaggery in the form of a relatable, ‘you know how it goes’ anthem is where things get interesting. Plenty of sad songs wallow, but true dirtbag anthems frame their own shortcomings in active, even celebratory ways. For instance, it’s not enough for Radiohead’s Thom Yorke to simply sing about wanting to be perfect and resigning to the fact the he’s just a “creep” and “a weirdo.” Instead, the band drops a wall of distorted sound behind his pathetic croons, culminating in a transcendent, cards-on-the-table bridge in which Yorke belts so purely that his longing and self-hatred become affectingly real.

Like “Creep” demonstrates, the dirtbag anthem’s power lies in its ability to make listeners feel seen in their messiness; it’s to create a temporary community of the flawed. There’s relief in dropping the facade of having it all together, in finding your tribe among fellow self-saboteurs who also can’t seem to get out of their own way.

For years, the dirtbag anthem has been a fixture in popular music, stretching back from the days of Johnny Cash and Warren Zevon to Post Malone and Morgan Wallen’s inescapable ode to fuck-ups, “I Had Some Help.” A lot of dirtbag anthems have come from men, but women have written plenty, too; including some of the most honest and nuanced.

But how, exactly, has the dirtbag anthem evolved and transformed over the last 60 years of music? For starters, it’s worth looking at an important distinction found in these songs. There are two types of dirtbag anthems: ones written by dirtbags about being a dirtbag (think Kid Rock or Mötley Crüe), and ones by non-dirtbag types written in character as a dirtbag (think MJ Lenderman or Father John Misty). There’s plenty of overlap between these two modes, but a touch of self-awareness is usually present.