In each season of Billions, at least one episode has featured a song and t-shirt of a metal band that are Axe’s favorites. (Even an Axe-less Season 6 featured Mötley Crüe’s “Wild Side“.)
The writers of Billions make purposeful choices with music placement, so we know that these decisions are made to tell a story, shine a light on who the character is, or to set a tone. Gingersnap and I were holding out Season 7 will finally be the year of Iron Maiden but it was not to be. However, I do believe that somewhere out in the multiverse Bobby Axelrod is rocking a “Number of the Beast” t-shirt while listening to “Hallowed Be Thy Name” right before pulling the trigger on a billion dollar deal.
Now that the series in over, let’s take a look back at a man and his music.
There are many things that Bobby Axelrod and I have in common: New York born and bred; working class backgrounds; very non-traditional road to Wall Street; our love of gambling leading us to our career paths. However, the one thing that has always been my favorite commonality is our love for heavy metal bands and their music. Heavy Metal is not the most well known genre of music, so let’s explore Bobby Axelrod and his music and what it says about him.
Metal is very misunderstood: devil worship, drugs, biting the heads of bats, or just screeching guitars may come to mind if you say the words “heavy metal”. But, it is so much more than that! For the past few seasons, I have used mostly Black Sabbath lyrics to open (and in some cases close) my “From the Trader’s Desk” recaps. (Other metal bands have been sprinkled in.) In most cases, if I hadn’t referenced it to Sabbath, you’d have wondered what philosopher or poet I was quoting. Metal lyrics are some of the best I have ever heard; they tell stories of pain, loss, confusion, success, etc. – lyrics that would certainly resonate with a young man from Yonkers whose Dad has up and left, and whose home life is full of conflict.
S1: Episode 2 “Naming Rights” & Episode 4 “Short Squeeze”
Master of puppets I’m pulling your strings
Twisting your mind and smashing your dreams
Blinded by me, you can’t see a thing
Just call my name, ‘cause I’ll hear you scream
“Mater of Puppets” – Metallica
We get our first glimpse of Axe the metal-head in “Naming Rights” when he shows up to buy out the Eads family for the rights to put his name on a building with a Metallica “Master of Puppets” t-shirt on. Not only is this Axe being his most unconventional, but it’s also a way of showing that he is still that kid from Yonkers who has made it big, and fuck you to whomever doesn’t like it! It’s also a revenge thing, as the patriarch of the Eads family fired a 16 year-old Axe as a caddy at a golf club, (I’m sure that kid cranked up Metallica nice and loud after that!) and he’s here to remind them of what happens when you screw Axe!
In “Short Squeeze” we see Axe and his love for Metallica in action when he and his childhood friends take his private jet to Canada to see the band live.
I can just imagine a 16 year old Axe: Ginger mullet, black motorcycle jacket, very faded Metallica t-shirt, jeans ripped at the knees, and black high top Chuck Taylor All-Stars sneakers, hanging out with his buds in a friend’s Yonkers basement, playing cards and listening to metal music on cassette tapes. How can I get that detailed? Well, that was me and my friends (except we were in a basement in Brooklyn, playing darts). We were all metal-heads (still are). And I know how exciting it is to see your favorite band 30 years later with your best mates. Our old group got together in March of 2014 and we all went to see Black Sabbath at the Barclay’s Center in Brooklyn. (Alas, we didn’t fly private – most of us got there by subway!) It’s a chance you just don’t miss.
The song Metallica is singing during the concert is “Master of Puppets” (hello again!) which is a song about addiction (and a damn fine song if you ask me). If you read the lyrics, it is about something controlling you and making your life miserable. This song would totally resonate with Axe: all the pressure, and the deals, always having to come out on top of every trade – has the desire, the rush, the need to always win become his master? Yes, he has a private jet, beautiful homes, billions of dollars, but at what cost? It’s a very powerful song (http://www.lyricsfreak.com/m/metallica/master+of+puppets_20092140.html) and the lyrics are fitting for this episode and for the path Axe has taken in general.
S2: Episode 4 “The Oath”
What do you mean, “I hurt your feelings”?
I didn’t know you had any feelings.
What do you mean, “I ain’t kind”?
I’m just not your kind.
“Peace Sells” – Megadeth
In this episode, Axe wants to buy an NFL team, but needs to spruce up his image in order to be accepted by the powers that be that will be making the decision to grant him that privilege. In order to do that, he agrees to sign “The Giving Oath” to look more philanthropic. All the while, Axe is battling Chuck (who would have guessed?) in a class action suit. Chuck and Axe will meet for a deposition at Axe Capital and face off.
As Axe readies for battle, Megadeth’s “Peace Sells” plays in the background. I remember my best friend Brenda and I listening to this album (yes, we listened to it on a turntable) in my room in 1986. So, when the song plays, I’m 16 again. But back to Axe: it is interesting that when picking his “battle armor” this is the shirt he chooses. As much as the message is “I’d like peace, but really…” it also brings him back to his roots. He’s that Yonkers kid again and here is someone trying to challenge him. I notice that every time Axe is challenged in one way or another, he becomes that tough boy again. He literally transforms. The way he talks, the way he moves. Here is where the brilliance of Damian Lewis shines. Just those little differences and he is not Axe the hedge fund king, he is Axe, the kid who worked for everything he has ever gotten, and will fight tooth and nail to keep it!
S3: Episode 5 “All the Wilburys”
There’s no need to have a reason
There’s no need to wonder why
It’s a part of me that tells you
Oh, don’t you ever, don’t ever say die
Never, never, never say die again
“Never Say Die” – Black Sabbath
Axe showing his metal side in this episode was very personal for me, since it has been something I had been dreaming of that finally came to fruition!
Back in March 2017, in our “What we are looking forward to (and not so much) in Billions Season 3”, and in various tweets, I wished for Bobby Axelrod to show some love to my favorite band of all time, Black Sabbath. I even photo shopped Axe in the shirt I’d like to see him in (it’s one of the many I own; check out my IG page for a glimpse of my collection!!).
When I found out (thank you GingerSnap!) that Axe was going to finally be in a Sabbath shirt, I was beyond excited! And to have the creator of the show, Brian Koppelman say he was waiting for me to see it, well, I just about cried!!
The cherry on top of my Black Sabbath sundae? A chance to talk to (and thank) Brian Koppelman about our mutual love of Sabbath (he likes Sabbath with Ronnie James Dio, me not as much), at the Super Fan screening of the S3 finale (while poor Damianista looked on having no clue as to what we were talking about!). I told him how listening to Sabbath during my chemo sessions really helped get me through the hours of sitting there while all these chemicals were being pumped through my body, and that seeing that Sabbath shirt on Axe was really emotional for me. He totally got it! It was so great to express my gratitude to him. Thank you again, Mr. Koppelman!
A triumphant Axe parades into Axe Cap to the tune of “Never Say Die” by Black Sabbath! What else would a victorious kid from Yonkers wear but a Black Sabbath “Master of Reality” t-shirt to confirm his bad-ass self is back! Of course Axe is a Sabbath fan; it’s the natural progression from his love for Metallica and his appreciation for Megadeth. He’s now going old-school, as Sabbath is considered by many the fathers of heavy metal (don’t come at me with the Led Zeppelin or Deep Purple argument!) Axe has lived to fight another day, because the boy from Yonkers is always a fighter, and will never give an inch – he’ll never say die! It’s nothing but high-fives and cheers for the returning King.
Once again, we see how Axe chooses to be viewed while triumphantly returning to his domain – something from his childhood. No matter what age Axe is, no matter how successful, he will always be the rebel who has a chip on his shoulder when he looks in the mirror.
S4: Episode 1 “Chucky Rhoades Greatest Game”
If you like to gamble, I tell you I’m your man,
You win some, lose some, all the same to me,
The pleasure is to play, makes no difference what you say,
I don’t share your greed, the only card I need is The Ace of Spades
“Ace of Spades” – Motörhead
Season 4 for Axe opens with Motörhead’s “Ace of Spades” blaring in the background. With its thrash metal tempo, we know it’s “Battle Axe” time!
Knowing what we know about Axe, it makes sense he would be a Motörhead fan. Their lyrics typically cover such topics as war, good versus evil, abuse of power, promiscuous sex, substance abuse, and, most famously, gambling; the latter theme being the focus of “Ace of Spades“.
I have always said that trading is legalized gambling. What Axe does is gambling on an extremely high level. Season 4 saw him gamble with money of course, but he gambled the possibility of happiness with Rebecca away as well.
The thing about gambling is that you can win some of the time, but in the end, the house always wins.
S5: Episode 3 “Beg, Bribe, Bully“
If you suddenly see
What has happened to me
You should spread the word around
And tell everyone here
That it is perfectly clear
They can sail above it all on what they’ve found
“Long Live Rock ‘n’ Roll” – Rainbow
The scene in which Axe wears his Rainbow Rising t-shirt may have been my favorite of the first half of Season 5. Not only do we have Axe giving us his best Gordon Gekko impression, but we have Axe, the unapologetic capitalist schooling the children, literally!
I also love the juxtaposition of Axe wearing a hoodie, metal shirt and Nikes while lecturing at an elite, stuffy private school. And, the basic mic drop with the kids erupting into controlled chaos while “Long Live Rock ‘n’ Roll” blares in the background was glorious.
The writers once again fooled me with their choice of song. Although Axe is wearing a Rainbow Rising shirt, they chose a song from the band’s third studio album, also named “Long Live Rock ‘n’ Roll“.
Here’s why would Axe be wearing a Rainbow shirt:
Rainbow is a band that Axe would have listened to, as they are contemporaries of Black Sabbath and pioneers of neoclassical metal.
Rainbow was formed by former Deep Purple (another band Axe would definitely be a fan of!) guitarist Ritchie Blackmore and led by Ronnie James Dio (who would later replace Ozzy Osbourne in Black Sabbath). Drummer Cozy Powell is also part of the band, who would also join Black Sabbath in the late 80’s. Powell also played with Brian May, who is best mates with Tony Iommi of Black Sabbath. You see -all roads lead to Sabbath!!
The writers placing Rainbow in the “Bobby Axelrod Hall of Fame of Metal T-Shirts” is not a surprise, as you have read above, Mr. Koppelman likes Dio! “Rising” is considered Rainbow’s best album by many, with Dio’s voice and Blackmore’s guitar work at their prime.
S7: Episode 10 “Enemies List“
Angel of Death
Monarch to the kingdom of the dead
Angel of Death – Slayer
Leading into Season 7 I made a few predictions of what metal band t-shirt Axe would wear: AC/DC – “Back In Black“, Iron Maiden – “Number of the Beast” and Judas Priest -“You’ve Got Another Thing Comin’“. All these songs have lyrics that could have certainly fit a scene of Axe making his triumphant return.
I did not have Slayer‘s “Angel of Death” on my metal bingo card. Slayer is an American thrash metal band along the lines of Metallica, Megadeth and Anthrax. We know Axe loves Metallica and Megadeth from previous episodes, so why was Slayer never on my radar you ask? It’s purely personal – I’m not the biggest fan! They are decent and the guitar playing is good (fun fact, guitarist Kerry King played on the Beastie Boys‘ “Licensed to Ill” album and was in the “No Sleep Till Brooklyn” video), but I’d rather listen to Anthrax or Metallica. The band’s lyrics were a bit too dark for me, and the loser skinheads in the neighborhood loved them, so I stood clear.
When we see Axe in his Slayer shirt and mandatory metalhead black leather motorcycle jacket, we know it’s war. He shows up at Lincoln Center, crashing the U2 concert for “Prince 2024”. The contrast of Axe in his leather jacket and metal shirt, and Prince in his tux is stark, but also deliberate. Axe is a street fighter from the streets of Yonkers vs Prince who is a middle-class suburban phony.
Prince made the fatal mistake of trying to destroy someone Axe cares about, Wendy, and that is when the Angel of Death is unleashed. Axe’s “plus 1” is Derek, Andy Prince’s “friend with benefits” who was sprung out of a Chinese prison on a swap for Kai Huang Liu, the NFT fraudster from earlier in the season. Prince will leave Wendy alone, and Derek will stay silent and not tell the world about Prince’s open marriage.
Axe is now “wide fucking awake” and plans to rain blood on Prince. Axe has won this battle, and now he and his crew are going to get to work and plan to win the war.
Axe wore two more band shirts in the final episodes- Guns ‘N Roses in “Axe Global” and Metallica in “Admirals Fund” but no accompanying songs were featured. That was a first!
So, as we say goodbye to Axe (for now at least), let’s hope he keeps sporting his metal t-shirts, keeps making money, and keeps rocking!
