Company
Always on the run
Destiny is the rising sun
Oh I was born six gun in my hand
Behind a gun I'll make my final stand
That's why they call me

Bad company
And I can't deny
Bad company
'Til the day I die
'Til the day I die
'Til the day I die

Rebel souls
Deserters we are called
Chose a gun and threw away the sword
Now these towns
They all know our name six gun sound is our claim to fame
I can hear them say

Bad company
And I won't deny
Bad, bad company
'Til the day I die
'Til the day I die

Bad company
I can't deny
Bad company
'Til the day I die
And I say it's
Bad company oh yeah, yeah
Bad company
'Til the day I die oh yeah

Tell me that you are not a thief
Oh but I am
Bad company
It's the way I play
Dirty for dirty
Oh somebody double-crossed me
Double-cross, double-cross

Yeah
We're bad company
Kill in cold blood


Lyrics submitted by jhines0042

Bad Company Lyrics as written by Paul Rodgers Simon Kirke

Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.

Lyrics powered by LyricFind

Bad Company song meanings
Add Your Thoughts

24 Comments

sort form View by:
  • +6
    Song Meaning

    I believe that bad company was written about a desserting confederate company in the civil war (Rebel souls- Confederates or rebels, Desserters we are called obviously they have desserted . They were infamous because of their vigilantie reputations. He leads the company but is double crossed much like other Rebel groups.

    chacha4444on June 01, 2009   Link
  • +4
    General Comment

    Very simple. It's about the bandits and gangs that roamed the old West, like Billy the Kid and such. Also, julioismyname, are you smoking crack?

    DaveJunioron August 02, 2008   Link
  • +2
    General Comment

    Squeven, i think if you listen to OTHER songs of Zeppelin that aren't hits (ie, Your Time is Gonna Come, You Shook Me, The Ocean, Boogie With Stu, Fool In The Rain, The Crunge, the list goes on man) i think you might change your mind. But Bad Company does kick so much ass

    heyjude55on April 23, 2006   Link
  • +2
    Song Meaning

    This song is about how he is 'Bad Company'. Yeah, till the day he dies. Hmmm...quite!

    SnobbySnobbersonon October 10, 2010   Link
  • +2
    My Interpretation

    I feel like this song is about the seven cowboy bandits who had to protect a Mexican village in the 1960 film, The Magnificent Seven. It makes the most sense because the song states, "these towns... they all know our name." Also, the Magnificent Seven was continued from an older movie in the 50's called Seven Samurai. Despite the songs reference to the number six, the song also includes the lyrics, "chose a gun, and throw away the sword." This could reference the discard of swords that samurais used in the 50's, and pick up in the 60's to where the seven cowboys used guns instead. Makes sense? Hopefully. Just watch The Magnificent Seven movie and maybe the song will link. Plus the song was made in 1970, ten years after the movie was made. Just a thought!!!

    csnail99on June 02, 2017   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    bad Company is an awesome song and this awesome song is about that awesome band

    vipergt196on May 09, 2002   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    Been listenin to Bad Company since I was a kid! Great band!

    ImaniTheGreaton July 03, 2002   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    definitely a song that deserves to be very popular

    James.W.on January 05, 2006   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    it's not that bad, but it can't hold a candle to the original. Paul Rodger's voice is so fitting to this song, anyone trying to cover it is screwed from the start.

    J-Rizzoon April 02, 2011   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    Bad Company by Bad Copmpany off the album Bad Compnay. The song is about a a group of guys that are just considered bad asses but really they just got sucked into that lifestyle since they born into it.

    kfe2on February 03, 2006   Link

Add your thoughts

Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.

Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!

More Featured Meanings

Album art
Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
"Fast car" is kind of a continuation of Bruce Springsteen's "Born to Run." It has all the clawing your way to a better life, but in this case the protagonist never makes it with her love; in fact she is dragged back down by him. There is still an amazing amount of hope and will in the lyrics; and the lyrics themselve rank and easy five. If only music was stronger it would be one of those great radio songs that you hear once a week 20 years after it was released. The imagery is almost tear-jerking ("City lights lay out before us", "Speeds so fast felt like I was drunk"), and the idea of starting from nothing and just driving and working and denigrating yourself for a chance at being just above poverty, then losing in the end is just painful and inspiring at the same time.
Album art
Mental Istid
Ebba Grön
This is one of my favorite songs. https://fnfgo.io
Album art
Bron-Y-Aur Stomp
Led Zeppelin
This is about bronies. They communicate by stomping.
Album art
No Surprises
Radiohead
Same ideas expressed in Fitter, Happier are expressed in this song. We're told to strive for some sort of ideal life, which includes getting a good job, being kind to everyone, finding a partner, getting married, having a couple kids, living in a quiet neighborhood in a nice big house, etc. But in Fitter, Happier the narrator(?) realizes that it's incredibly robotic to live this life. People are being used by those in power "like a pig in a cage on antibiotics"--being pacified with things like new phones and cool gadgets and houses while being sucked dry. On No Surprises, the narrator is realizing how this life is killing him slowly. In the video, his helmet is slowly filling up with water, drowning him. But he's so complacent with it. This is a good summary of the song. This boring, "perfect" life foisted upon us by some higher powers (not spiritual, but political, economic, etc. politicians and businessmen, perhaps) is not the way to live. But there is seemingly no way out but death. He'd rather die peacefully right now than live in this cage. While our lives are often shielded, we're in our own protective bubbles, or protective helmets like the one Thom wears, if we look a little harder we can see all the corruption, lies, manipulation, etc. that is going on in the world, often run by huge yet nearly invisible organizations, corporations, and 'leaders'. It's a very hopeless song because it reflects real life.
Album art
Head > Heels
Ed Sheeran
“Head > Heels” is a track that aims to capture what it feels like to experience romance that exceeds expectations. Ed Sheeran dedicates his album outro to a lover who has blessed him with a unique experience that he seeks to describe through the song’s nuanced lyrics.