Stevie Wonder, “Superstition.”

“Hold on,” I can hear you saying already upon reading the headline. “Friday the 13th was yesterday. I dodged the bad luck. Why are we going over this again?”

Well, you see, I’ve always maintained that the real bad luck happens on Saturday the 14th. Everyone lets their guard down after spending the whole previous day being wary! Friday the 13th is a red herring to lull you into a false sense of security when it’s over then BAM, bad luck! So this is a public service announcement.

Also if I do a 12th column about Halloween music since 2019 our illustrious editor Roman Gokhman may literally kill me. Literally! So I’m saving it for the holiday proper.

Anyway, here are five songs about bad luck.

Fozzy — “Paraskavedekatriaphobia (Friday the 13th)”

While this is a little on the nose, and not the best song ever recorded, I included it for two important reasons.

First, “paraskavedekatriaphobia” is a great word. Just fantastic, Grade A word. It’s my second-favorite phobia name behind “hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia,” because that’s the word for a fear of long words. Language is fun.

Second, the singer of this song? Chris Jericho! The pro wrestler! I’m not a wrestling fan, but I’m always intrigued when they branch out into fields other than acting. And this isn’t bad! He’s a pretty good metal singer! Good for him, I appreciate it. Also that he knew the word for a fear of Friday the 13th.

Social Distortion — “Bad Luck”

If you thought the last one was on the nose, do I ever have a second song for you!

I couldn’t leave this one off, though, because of fate itself. I had a huge, genre-diverse playlist on shuffle while I was writing that previous entry and “Bad Luck” came on at random. It took me until about halfway through the song to realize what it was about despite me actively singing along, but once I got there it became immediately obvious it had to be next. Who am I to argue with the Tidal Shuffle Fates?

Albert King — “Born Under a Bad Sign”

You—yes, you specifically—don’t listen to enough blues.

I have absolutely no idea why the blues isn’t more popular. There are fewer new rock bands than ever but there still seem to be a lot of people listening to old rock, so there are quite a few people in the market for guitar-driven music. Why not fill that niche with blues, both old and new? Listen to Albert King! Listen to Gary Clark Jr.! Listen to Kingfish!

And sometime I’ll write up my theory about how the decline of rock music isn’t a reflection of public taste but rather socioeconomics, since starting a band requires time to practice, money for instruments, and access to a rehearsal space, and income inequality and declining wages make those things impossible for most young people. But not today.

Creedence Clearwater Revival — “Sinister Purpose”

This, admittedly, is probably the third-best Creedence song for this column on 1969’s Green River alone; most famous is “Bad Moon Rising,” of course, and “Tombstone Shadow” is also more appropriate to a list of songs about bad luck. Frontman and musical genius John Fogerty had a definite dark streak he doesn’t get enough credit for. A lot of his stuff is really heavy.

So why did I chose this one? Because I love this song and more people should hear it. It’s my column and I can break the rules for selfish reasons if I want. Just listen to the entirety of Green River, especially considering that in the ’60s, it was common to pad out one good single with covers and filler to make it a more expensive LP—and then to release two or three of those albums per year.

Totally unrelated, but the best example of quantity over quality is Paul Revere and the Raiders. I’m a huge fan, but they released three albums in 1966 and another three in 1967, and between the six there was maybe one album’s worth of good songs. Capitalism overriding artistic considerations isn’t new.

Stevie Wonder — “Superstition”

Why is this, one of my all-time favorite songs, last on a list that practically begs for its inclusion? Because I was trying to be good.

I try to avoid repeating songs too often in my columns. I’ve used it twice: Once as one of my favorite songs of 1972, obviously, and last January in a tribute to Jeff Beck.

That’s madness. So now I’ve used it thrice, and you get to hear “Superstition.” Everybody wins.

Follow publisher Daniel J. Willis and send column ideas to him at @bayareadata.press on BlueSky. (He has some invites if you ask nicely.)