On Denis Leary’s No Cure for Cancer album, released in 1993, the first track was a dirty musical ditty called “Asshole.” Given the profane title and lyrics, the song was unexpectedly popular, getting regular play on MTV and reaching number two on the Australian music charts.

The song was Leary’s ode to the everyman, “just a regular Joe with a regular job … your average, white suburbanite slob.” The song’s protagonist likes football and porn and books about war — and when he’s bored, he gets his kicks by being an asshole just to piss people off. Among his offenses:

I drive really slow in the ultra-fast lane

While people behind me are going insane

I use public toilets and I piss on the seat

I walk around in the summer time, saying, “How about this heat?”

Sometimes, I park in handicapped spaces

While handicapped people make handicapped faces

You get the idea,...