When bigots have got me down and I need to scream and air guitar it out, I turn to Screaming Females, my favorite power trio of all time and space. Marissa Paternoster is an epic force on vocals and guitar. Here she is singing about gender non-conformity and homophobia, screaming “While you sit on the fence I will burn in hell” over and over from the depths of her soul.

Legend.

CW: lyrics about homophobia, healthcare access, family estrangement, and toxic Christianity

When she was 19
She had a fever
But the office was now closed
When she was 19
Pushing the window
Into her parent's home

Is that your boyfriend
Is that your girlfriend
With all this nonsense
Prevent confusion

She is our miscreant
She is our detox
She is our dagger in the dark
She is the knot mess
She is the undressed
She is the boy borne in my heart

While you sit on the fence I will burn in hell

Boyfriend by Screaming Females

We feature music from Screaming Females all over our website, including our “Neurodiversity and Gender“, “Happy Flappy“, and “Mission” pages. Their music helps us tell our stories.

Marissa Paternoster churns out monumental riffs with the proclivity of Jimmy Page. One song can have several different badass riffs worthy of songs of their own.

These towering sounds give me chills.

Here’s an 8 song playlist full of screaming, towering, epic riffs.

Screaming Riffs

On Apple Music:

https://music.apple.com/us/playlist/screaming-riffs/pl.u-qxyll3BC2X78Gl

On Spotify:

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/50cT7THA88ttx4AzhAsQ02?si=anG35epLRSmRv5PzMhejcQ

On YouTube:

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL4vHAg2MP4X8fh6Ob9V1Zo7shBv3oRNiQ

And the lyrics don’t disappoint the riffs.

My visions have been lies

Deep fire in the sky

A sound that turns the mountains into sand

The dirt that won’t wash clean

The blade that splits the team

The holy war that breaks your shell

Source: Screaming Females – Doom 84 Lyrics | Genius Lyrics

Without these gods and heroes

Whose words will hold you hostage

His canvas choked with words

Drops of inks to douse a desert fire

It brought us back to page

I see myself in bondage

Outside a house in flames

I’m blessed to burn into a desert fire

Source: Screaming Females – Agnes Martin Lyrics | Genius Lyrics

I dressed up the horses, set them loose

Sunk the needle deep and took in every drop

A violent path, an inch in time

An error, my device the anchor drops

I said peel the skin raw

I said peel the skin raw

I said peel the skin raw

Pinch ’til the feeling’s gone

Source: Screaming Females – Ripe Lyrics | Genius Lyrics

Hell. Yes.

Buy their stuff.

We’ve got more from Screaming Females on our playlist “Chronic Neurodivergent Depressed Queer Punk: Punk Rock, the Social Model of Disability, and the Dream of the Accepting Community“.