“Wake Up Dead” by Megadeth

"Wake Up Dead" led the charge for Megadeth's Peace Sells... but Who's Buying? in 1986, a Dave Mustaine song, words and music, about a cheating man creeping back into the house he shares with his partner, certain she'll kill him if she ever finds out about the other woman. Mustaine has said it came from his own life: homeless and living with a girlfriend while in love with someone else, he eventually cleared out, convinced she meant to do him in.

Mustaine sings lead and plays guitar alongside Chris Poland, David Ellefson plays bass and adds backing vocals, Gar Samuelson drums, and Mustaine produced it with Randy Burns. Penelope Spheeris shot the video: a stage caged in wire, fans storming it, surfing the crowd and scaling the fence, everything bathed in blue. It became a concert staple, and ranks as the band's sixth most-played song live.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.