“The Hell Song” by Sum 41

"The Hell Song" went out on February 10, 2003, as the second single from Does This Look Infected?, and under its Canadian pop-punk sprint Sum 41 are wrestling with something heavy. Deryck Whibley wrote it after learning that a friend had contracted HIV, and he said the song came out almost by itself, in something like half an hour. Former drummer Steve Jocz later said the friend was still in good health as of 2024.

With Greig Nori producing, it barrels ahead, all buzzing guitars and a big, shouted chorus that turns dread into adrenaline. Marc Klasfeld shot the video in Los Angeles as a concert played by dolls and action figures wearing the band's faces, in front of a Lite-Brite screen spelling out their name. It made the top 40 in the UK, Ireland and Italy, and went gold in America in 2015.

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