# Murder songs **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 23, 2006, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murder-songs/381548 "2006-11-23T15:01:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Kythereia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e8c25b/32.png) [@Kythereia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kythereia)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2006, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murder-songs/381548/41 "2006-11-23T21:48:41Z")
_Please allow me to introduce myself I’m a man of wealth and taste I’ve been around for a long, long years Stole many a man’s soul and faith…_ ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2006, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murder-songs/381548/42 "2006-11-23T22:10:35Z")
Let’s not forget “I Don’t Like Mondays,” by the Boomtown Rats. Snopes gives us a little background [here](http://www.snopes.com/music/songs/mondays.asp#add): > [@Snopes](#): > > On 29 January 1979, 16-year-old Brenda Ann Spencer opened fire on children arriving at Cleveland Elementary School in San Diego from her house across the street, killing two men and wounding eight students and a police officer. Principal Burton Wragg was attempting to rescue children in the line of fire when he was shot and killed, and custodian Mike Suchar was slain attempting to aid Wragg. > > Spencer used a rifle her father had given her as a gift. As to what impelled her into this form of murderous madness, she told a reporter,‘‘I don’t like Mondays. This livens up the day.’’ The song itself, if you’ve never heard it, is quite a pleasant little melody with tinkling piano, a soothing vocal line, and references to “Daddy” and “Sweet Sixteen.” If you had it on in the background, you’d probably not notice it. But its beginning innocence and hints at something to come only makes it all the more jarring when the vocal gets edgier and we get to this verse: _All the playing’s stopped in the playground now She wants to play with her toys a while. And school’s out early and soon we’ll be learning And the lesson today is how to die…_ ---
**Author:** ![Labdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/439d5e/32.png) [@Labdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labdad)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2006, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murder-songs/381548/43 "2006-11-23T22:49:31Z")
A couple by Steve Earle come to mind. **Billy Austin** : “I held up a filling station Like I’d done a hundred times The kid done like I told him He lay face down on the floor guess I’ll never know what made me Turn and walk back through that door The shot rang out like thunder My ears rang like a bell No one came runnin’ So I called the cops myself Took their time to get there And I guess I could’a run I knew I should be feeling something But I never shed tear one” And **Taneytown** : “I ran down Division Street Some of them boys followed me Down to the railroad track Four of them and I can’t fight But I had my old Randall knife I cut that boy and I never did look back” Although, in fairness to the narrator of **Taneytown** , you could say the killing was in self defense. ---
**Author:** ![cosmosdan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a6a055/32.png) [@cosmosdan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cosmosdan)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2006, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murder-songs/381548/44 "2006-11-23T23:07:40Z")
[QUOTE=Kythereia] _Please allow me to introduce myself I’m a man of wealth and taste I’ve been around for a long, long years Stole many a man’s soul and faith…_ [/QUOTE] Um…I don’t think this is a murder song. And this lyric doesn’t indicate murder. You did read the OP right? :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![teemingONE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b4bc9f/32.png) [@teemingONE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teemingONE)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2006, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murder-songs/381548/45 "2006-11-23T23:13:35Z")
**Kim** by Eminem ---
**Author:** ![cosmosdan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a6a055/32.png) [@cosmosdan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cosmosdan)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2006, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murder-songs/381548/46 "2006-11-23T23:14:24Z")
In the other thread I mentioned a lyric from MArty Robbins El Paso “One night a wild young cowboy came in. Wild as the west Texas wiiiiinnnnddd Dashing and daring a drink he was sharing with wicked Felina the girl that I loved. So in anger I chanlleged right for the love of this maiden Down went his hand for the gun that he wore My challenge was answered in less than a heartbeat. The handsome young stranger lay dead on the floor.” I never quite understood why a gunfight in a salloon was considered murder but sho nuff, later he is killed by a posse while trying to make it to Rose’s back door. And I thought he loved Felina :eek: Marty had another called Big Iron in which a Texas ranger kills an outlaw so I guess that’s not really a murder song. ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2006, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murder-songs/381548/47 "2006-11-23T23:16:05Z")
Harry Chapin’s Sniper ---
**Author:** ![cosmosdan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a6a055/32.png) [@cosmosdan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cosmosdan)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2006, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murder-songs/381548/48 "2006-11-23T23:16:50Z")
OOO here’s a good one. "Hungry as hell no food to eat And Joe said that he would sell his soul For just a piece of meat Water enough to drink for two And Joe said to me, I’ll take a swig And then save some for you Timothy, Timothy Joe was looking at you Timothy, Timothy god what did we do" ---
**Author:** ![cosmosdan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a6a055/32.png) [@cosmosdan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cosmosdan)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2006, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murder-songs/381548/49 "2006-11-23T23:32:06Z")
One song I liked and thought was very out of place in country music. A man excused from the army in 44 for medical reasons is called a coward by the local towns folk {maybe the whole county} and one day he extracts revenge. The song is called [Turn It On, Turn It On, Turn It On](http://www.sing365.com/music/lyric.nsf/Turn-It-On-Turn-It-On-Turn-It-On-lyrics-Tom-T-Hall/EB0CC7604FA1038348256E2A00319717) > [@](#): > > John blew the dust from his old 44 put two holes in Milton’s head > When Johnny walked off to get some more shootin’ done > That old Cold Spring was a runnin’ with red > [@](#): > > Next guy he met was a Steagall boy and the boy had a hammer in his hand > John said son you should’ve built yourself a box > Cause you’re aheaded for the Promised Land > Steagall fell down to his knees to pray and he cried Lord Johnny please don’t shoot > Before he got half way to sayin’ amen well old John shot him out of his boots > [@](#): > > Word went out thru the County that old John had lost his head > The people were running and screaming there were seven of ‘em layin’ there dead How about **Tickin** ’ by John and Taupin. > [@](#): > > You’d knifed a Negro waiter who had tried to calm you down > Oh you’d pulled a gun and told them all to lay still on the ground > [@](#): > > Promising to hurt no one, providing they were still > A young man tried to make a break, with tear-filled eyes you killed > [@](#): > > Oh they pleaded to your sanity for the sake of those inside > “Throw out your gun, walk out slow just keep your hands held high” > But they pumped you full of rifle shells as you stepped out the door > Oh you danced in death like a marionette on the vengeance of the law Taupin is a brilliant lyricist. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Rieux](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Dr.Rieux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Rieux)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2006, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murder-songs/381548/50 "2006-11-23T23:33:07Z")
“I Never Picked Cotton” by Roy Clark. ---
**Author:** ![cosmosdan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a6a055/32.png) [@cosmosdan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cosmosdan)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2006, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murder-songs/381548/51 "2006-11-23T23:49:33Z")
I could be wrong but isn’t 1 out of 3 rap “songs” about murder?? and then there’s Wierd Als Thats the night Santa went crazy. Murder for laughs. or Everybody Run, the HomeComing Queen has a gun. by Downtown Julie Brown > [@](#): > > Debbie’s smiling and waving her gun > Picking off cheerleaders one by one > Oh Buffie’s pompom just blew to bits > Oh no, Mitzie’s head just did the splits > God, my best friend’s on a shooting spree > Stop it, Debbie, you’re embarrassing me > How could you do what you just did > Are you having a really bad period ---
**Author:** ![Batsinma\_Belfry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ea5d25/32.png) [@Batsinma\_Belfry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Batsinma_Belfry)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2006, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murder-songs/381548/52 "2006-11-24T01:00:17Z")
_Pretty Polly_ by Ralph Stanley. > [@](#): > > Oh Willie, Little Willie, I’m afraid to of your ways > Willie, Little Willie, I’m afraid of your ways > The way you’ve been rambling you’ll lead me astray > > Oh Polly, Pretty Polly, your guess is about right > Polly, Pretty Polly, your guess is about right > I dug on your grave the biggest part of last night ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2006, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murder-songs/381548/53 "2006-11-24T01:06:51Z")
[QUOTE=Rick] Harry Chapin’s Sniper [/QUOTE] You reminded me. Harry Chapin’s “Bummer” would also count, I think, since the song’s protagonist dies in a hail of police gunfire at the end of the song. [interviewed neighbor]Y’know, Harry was always such a quiet and polite singer/songwriter, kind of shy but a nice fellow. How he ever came to write _these_ songs, I have no idea. [/interviewed neighbor] 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Enginerd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/bcef8e/32.png) [@Enginerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enginerd)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2006, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murder-songs/381548/54 "2006-11-24T01:43:17Z")
[QUOTE=Labdad] A couple by Steve Earle come to mind. And **Taneytown** : “I ran down Division Street Some of them boys followed me Down to the railroad track Four of them and I can’t fight But I had my old Randall knife I cut that boy and I never did look back” Although, in fairness to the narrator of **Taneytown** , you could say the killing was in self defense. [/QUOTE] As _Taneytown_ continues, the narrator escapes, but the crowd finds another young black man and lynches him for the crime commited by the singer. _Month went by without a word Somebody down the holler heard About that boy they hung He begged those men to spare his life But I dropped my bloody Randall knife He picked it up so they thought he was the one_ Earle’s _Billy and Bonnie_, _the Devil’s Right Hand_, _Justice in Ontario_ and _Copperhead Road_ also feature murders and/or lynchings. It’s probably a good thing old Steve can get all that out by writing songs. It’s (IMO) one of his weaker songs, but Dylan’s _the Lonesome Death of Hattie Caroll_ is about a murder in Baltimore. The Grateful Dead have done a lot of them as well - the afore-mentioned _Stagger Lee_, _Dupree’s Diamond Blues_, _Mexicali Blues_, _El Paso_, _Jack Straw_, _Me and My Uncle_… They’ve got an awfuly violent catalog for a bunch of hippies. ---
**Author:** ![Unregistered\_Bull](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3da27b/32.png) [@Unregistered\_Bull](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unregistered_Bull)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2006, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murder-songs/381548/55 "2006-11-24T02:14:38Z")
[QUOTE=cosmosdan] In the other thread I mentioned a lyric from MArty Robbins El Paso “One night a wild young cowboy came in. Wild as the west Texas wiiiiinnnnddd Dashing and daring a drink he was sharing with wicked Felina the girl that I loved. So in anger I chanlleged right for the love of this maiden Down went his hand for the gun that he wore My challenge was answered in less than a heartbeat. The handsome young stranger lay dead on the floor.” I never quite understood why a gunfight in a salloon was considered murder but sho nuff, later he is killed by a posse while trying to make it to Rose’s back door. And I thought he loved Felina :eek: Marty had another called Big Iron in which a Texas ranger kills an outlaw so I guess that’s not really a murder song. [/QUOTE] Feleena, another Marty Robbins song also has her suicide after his death. _Feleena knelt near him, to hold and to hear him When she felt the warm blood that flowed from the wound in his side He raised to kiss her and she heard him whisper “Never forget me - Faleena it’s over, goodbye.” Quickly she grabbed for, the six-gun that he wore And screamin’ in anger and placin’ the gun to her breast Bury us both deep and maybe we’ll find peace And pullin’ the trigger, she fell 'cross the dead cowboy’s chest._ He had several songs dealing with death from murder, suicide, and accident. ---
**Author:** ![Kythereia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e8c25b/32.png) [@Kythereia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kythereia)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2006, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murder-songs/381548/56 "2006-11-24T02:59:35Z")
[QUOTE=cosmosdan] Um…I don’t think this is a murder song. And this lyric doesn’t indicate murder. You did read the OP right? :dubious: [/QUOTE] Yes, I did. Please to be reading all of the lyrics [here](http://www.lyricsfreak.com/r/rolling+stones/sympathy+for+the+devil_20117881.html) , and especially: > [@](#): > > I stuck around at St. Petersburg > When I saw it was a time for a change > Killed the czar and his ministers > Anastasia screamed in vain > > I rode a tank > Held a general’s rank > When the Blitzkrieg raged > And the bodies stank ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Rieux](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Dr.Rieux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Rieux)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2006, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murder-songs/381548/57 "2006-11-24T03:07:14Z")
[QUOTE=Spoons] You reminded me. Harry Chapin’s “Bummer” would also count, I think, since the song’s protagonist dies in a hail of police gunfire at the end of the song. [/QUOTE] As does the young man in Elton John’s “Ticking.” ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2006, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murder-songs/381548/58 "2006-11-24T03:07:58Z")
[Murder was the Case (that they gave me)](http://www.lyricsdomain.com/19/snoop_dogg/murder_was_the_case_remix.html) by Snoop Dogg. The fascinating thing about this song is that Snoop Dogg was actually tried (and acquitted) for murder in 1993. His bodyguard was represented by Johnnie Cochran. ---
**Author:** ![Sternvogel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Sternvogel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sternvogel)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2006, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murder-songs/381548/59 "2006-11-24T03:42:12Z")
[QUOTE=cosmosdan] or Everybody Run, the HomeComing Queen has a gun. by Downtown Julie Brown [/QUOTE] [Downtown Julie Brown](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Downtown_Julie_Brown) is not the woman who sang [_The Homecoming Queen’s Got a Gun_](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julie_Brown). ---
**Author:** ![gredbioz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/6a8cbe/32.png) [@gredbioz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gredbioz)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2006, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murder-songs/381548/60 "2006-11-24T03:46:06Z")
[QUOTE=cosmosdan] I could be wrong but isn’t 1 out of 3 rap “songs” about murder?? [/QUOTE] Why the quote marks around “songs”? But, yes since you ask, yes, rap has its fair share of murder songs, just like rock, country, blues, jazz, folk and nearly every other form of music does. Let’s take a look at a couple: **[Murs - Walk Like a Man](http://www.sing365.com/music/lyric.nsf/Walk-Like-A-Man-lyrics-Murs/E094D55B3B8C2DF24825718E00120DAC)** In the first verse, Murs explains he no longer carries a gun: _Now I’m all punked up with a steroid trigger Cause most of y’all are easy just some paranoid niggaz Used to walk with a gun but I never did use it What’s the point of holdin’ heat if you ain’t gon’ shoot it_ In the second verse, Murs recounts a late summer night when he and a friend get into an argument with another man: [LYRICS DELETED BY MODERATOR] In the third verse, a year later, Murs finds a chance at revenge after visiting his friend’s graveside: [LYRICS DELETED BY MODERATOR] In the final chorus, however, Murs explains that though he thought he had the solution, he is "haunted by remorse, " and he “wished he hadn’t done it.” But let’s not get bogged down in moralism. Just as entertaining is the gleeful thuggish nihilism of Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg’s cop-killing **[Deep Cover](http://www.songmeanings.net/lyric.php?lid=3530822107858632757)**: _Six fo’ five was the time on the clock, When me and my homey bailed in the parking lot._ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murder-songs/381548.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murder-songs/381548.md?page=4)