# Let's kill people, music-like! **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 10, 2005, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-kill-people-music-like/303169 "2005-05-10T03:04:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_It_s_That_Guy)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2005, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-kill-people-music-like/303169/21 "2005-05-10T12:07:02Z")
So “Alison” is sung from the point of view of a stalker/killer? I never thought about it that way! ---
**Author:** ![Uvula\_Donor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e19adc/32.png) [@Uvula\_Donor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uvula_Donor)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2005, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-kill-people-music-like/303169/22 "2005-05-10T12:29:10Z")
“The Awakening” from Alice Cooper’s **Welcome to my Nightmare** : _Suddenly I realize I see it all through real eyes, These crimson spots are dripping from my hands…_ “I Shot the Sheriff” by Bob Marley (or the cover by Clapton) Does “Excitable Boy” by Warren Zevon count? It’s a third-person POV instead of first-person. ---
**Author:** ![RancidYakButterTeaParty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/53a042/32.png) [@RancidYakButterTeaParty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RancidYakButterTeaParty)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2005, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-kill-people-music-like/303169/23 "2005-05-10T12:37:21Z")
I think this would qualify: Primus’ My Name is Mud. “We had our words, a common spat Then I cracked him up side the cranium with an aluminum baseball bat”. Don’t know if he died or not, but attempted murder for sure. ---
**Author:** ![counsel\_wolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/65b543/32.png) [@counsel\_wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/counsel_wolf)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2005, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-kill-people-music-like/303169/24 "2005-05-10T12:56:24Z")
> [@Superdude](#): > > Care to add to my list? Another Johnny Cash song: Delia’s Gone “If I hadn’t have shot poor Delia, I’d have had her for my wife” “First time I shot her, I shot her in the side” and so on… ---
**Author:** ![Labdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/439d5e/32.png) [@Labdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labdad)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2005, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-kill-people-music-like/303169/25 "2005-05-10T13:05:18Z")
What about “Hey Joe?” Granted, it’s not all in first person, but “I’m goin’ down to shoot my old lady - I caught her messin’ round with another man.” And then the immortal “Yes, I did, I shot her. You know I caught my old lady messin’ 'round the town. And I gave her the gun, I shot her!” ---
**Author:** ![Zabali\_Clawbane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/ecd19e/32.png) [@Zabali\_Clawbane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zabali_Clawbane)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2005, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-kill-people-music-like/303169/26 "2005-05-10T13:30:04Z")
“ **I shot the Sheriff** ” Bob Marley. What about The Cure’s “ **The Same Deep Water As You** ”? To me it tells of a mermaid luring a man out to sea where he drowns for love of her. Poe’s “ **Angry Johnny** ” may fit your criteria. ---
**Author:** ![Draelin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce73a5/32.png) [@Draelin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Draelin)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2005, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-kill-people-music-like/303169/27 "2005-05-10T13:40:52Z")
Tom Lehrer has a song called “I Hold Your Hand In Mine,” about killing his sweetheart and cutting off her hand as a souvenir. I remember my dad singing this song when I was _reeeeeeally_ little, and I think it might have something to do with my morbid turn of mind. 🙂 For the third-person murders, Lehrer also had one called “The Irish Ballad,” about a young woman killing her entire family in creative ways. And there’s always my favorite Beatles song, “Maxwell’s Silver Hammer.” ---
**Author:** ![woodstockbirdybird](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/woodstockbirdybird/32/7905_2.png) [@woodstockbirdybird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/woodstockbirdybird)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2005, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-kill-people-music-like/303169/28 "2005-05-10T13:55:51Z")
> [@Big Bad Voodoo Lou](#): > > So “Alison” is sung from the point of view of a stalker/killer? I never thought about it that way! Me either, until somebody (on this board, I think) brought up that interpretation. Adds a whole other layer to the song. ---
**Author:** ![Tentacle\_Monster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ba9def/32.png) [@Tentacle\_Monster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tentacle_Monster)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2005, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-kill-people-music-like/303169/29 "2005-05-10T13:57:44Z")
> [@Phase42](#): > > I also like a cheesy heavy metal band called Manowar. I’m sorry, Manowar is not cheesy. They hold the Guinness World Record for Loudest Concert Ever. They wrote an 8-part, 26-minute epic about the Siege of Troy. Orson freakin’ Welles narrated one of their songs a week before he died. GWAR is cheesy. Manowar is not. Getting back on topic: The Mothers of Invention, _My Guitar Wants To Kill Your Mama_. ---
**Author:** ![woodstockbirdybird](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/woodstockbirdybird/32/7905_2.png) [@woodstockbirdybird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/woodstockbirdybird)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2005, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-kill-people-music-like/303169/30 "2005-05-10T14:03:20Z")
> [@Tentacle Monster](#): > > I’m sorry, Manowar is not cheesy…They wrote an 8-part, 26-minute epic about the Siege of Troy. I suppose we disagree about the definition of “cheesy”, because that pretty much qualifies, IMHO. ---
**Author:** ![ddgryphon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8c91f0/32.png) [@ddgryphon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ddgryphon)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2005, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-kill-people-music-like/303169/31 "2005-05-10T14:10:43Z")
> [@counsel wolf](#): > > Another Johnny Cash song: Delia’s Gone > > “If I hadn’t have shot poor Delia, I’d have had her for my wife” > “First time I shot her, I shot her in the side” > > and so on… You failed to quote my favorite line from that: First time I shot her, I shot her in the side. Hard to watch her suffer, but with a second shot she died ---
**Author:** ![Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_It_s_That_Guy)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2005, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-kill-people-music-like/303169/32 "2005-05-10T14:38:10Z")
There is a whole folk music tradition of “murder ballads” that several of the aforementioned artists like the Violent Femmes, Nick Cave, and even Tom Lehrer are all paying tribute to. One could even argue that the more violent, lurid hip-hop is an extension of this musical tradition. And one more murder song that comes to mind, the jangly, twangy, rockabilly-inflected “Little Sadie” by the Canadian band The Sadies. ---
**Author:** ![Scribble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scribble/32/3317_2.png) [@Scribble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scribble)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2005, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-kill-people-music-like/303169/33 "2005-05-10T14:49:00Z")
How about the bluegrass classic “Pretty Polly”? And I’m suprised to see that no-one’s yet suggested Aerosmith’s “Janie Got a Gun.” ---
**Author:** ![Fat\_Chance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8baadc/32.png) [@Fat\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fat_Chance)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2005, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-kill-people-music-like/303169/34 "2005-05-10T14:56:02Z")
> [@woodstockbirdybird](#): > > Me either, until somebody (on this board, I think) brought up that interpretation. Adds a whole other layer to the song. Loved and listened to that song (Allison) for years before I really noticed what it was about. Now a much more obvious, and dark Elvis Costello murder song has got to be Psycho: He kills his ex and Jackie White He kills (or at least attempts to kill) Johnny - but it seems Johnny’s pup survives He kills Betty Clark with a wrench He kills Mama ---
**Author:** ![kayT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayt/32/3633_2.png) [@kayT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayT)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2005, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-kill-people-music-like/303169/35 "2005-05-10T15:01:59Z")
Talking Heads’ **Take me to the River** appears to be someone asking to be murdered. “Put me in the water…washing me down” ---
**Author:** ![Try\_As\_I\_Might](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ea666f/32.png) [@Try\_As\_I\_Might](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Try_As_I_Might)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2005, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-kill-people-music-like/303169/36 "2005-05-10T15:03:42Z")
maybe a missed it, but I would add murder by numbers by the Police ---
**Author:** ![stpauler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@stpauler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stpauler)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2005, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-kill-people-music-like/303169/37 "2005-05-10T15:29:26Z")
Check out the album “Songs from my Funeral” by Snakefarm. They cover classic murder-folk ballads in a trip-hop-folky kind of way. Included gems are “Banks of the Ohio”, “Frankie and Johnny” and “Tom Dooley”. John Wesley Harding has a couple of tunes about murder: **Punch 'n Judy** _The radical gentleman Complained about my bell I said it was an organ And I rang that thing like hell The Objector backed me up on Any name I said it is And guess which one of them will live_ **Sussex Ghost Story** _After I had killed my wife And by the jury been acquitted I resolved to change my life And try to lead a life less wicked I roamed around From town to town In search of some employment But it was here I settled down_ **Edward** _Oh it’s too red for your grey mare’s blood Son, come tell to me Then, it’s the blood of me own dear brother He wouldn’t ride with me, with me He wouldn’t ride with me._ ---
**Author:** ![Stark\_Raven\_Mad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Stark\_Raven\_Mad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stark_Raven_Mad)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2005, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-kill-people-music-like/303169/38 "2005-05-10T15:31:57Z")
Ooo! I forgot Tom Jones’ **Delilah**! _At break of day when that man drove away, I was waiting I cross the street to her house and she opened the door She stood there laughing I felt the knife in my hand and she laughed no more_ ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2005, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-kill-people-music-like/303169/39 "2005-05-10T15:42:03Z")
> [@Tentacle Monster](#): > > I’m sorry, Manowar is not cheesy. They hold the Guinness World Record for Loudest Concert Ever. They wrote an 8-part, 26-minute epic about the Siege of Troy. Orson freakin’ Welles narrated one of their songs a week before he died… Hey, don’t get me wrong - I’ve been a fan since 1983, and I have almost all of their albums (missing the latest). Maybe “cheesy” wasn’t the right word. Melodramatic, perhaps? ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2005, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-kill-people-music-like/303169/40 "2005-05-10T15:56:16Z")
> [@kayT](#): > > Talking Heads’ **Take me to the River** appears to be someone asking to be murdered. > “Put me in the water…washing me down” Sounds like baptism to me. How about: **"Nebraska" - Bruce Springsteen** _I saw her standing On her front lawn Just a twirlin’ her baton Me and her went for a ride, Sir And ten innocent people died_ (Based on the true story of Charlie Starkweather, as fictionalized in the movie _Badlands_.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-kill-people-music-like/303169.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-kill-people-music-like/303169.md?page=3)