# 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:** 4
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2006, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murder-songs/381548/61 "2006-11-24T05:32:48Z")
Mama, just killed a man Put a gun against his head pulled my trigger, now he’s dead… Are you ready, Are you ready for this Are you hanging on the edge of your seat Out of the doorway the bullets rip To the sound of the beat Another one bites the dust She’s a killer queen… ---
**Author:** ![DataZak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ea666f/32.png) [@DataZak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DataZak)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2006, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murder-songs/381548/62 "2006-11-24T06:11:40Z")
_Janie’s Got A Gun_ by Aerosmith ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2006, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murder-songs/381548/63 "2006-11-24T06:37:03Z")
I shot the sheriff But I did not shoot the deputy ---
**Author:** ![picunurse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2006, 9:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murder-songs/381548/64 "2006-11-24T09:06:23Z")
_Maxwell’s Silver Hammer_ from Abbey Road (that would be the Beatles, for you kids. 😃 ) ---
**Author:** ![mamboman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecb155/32.png) [@mamboman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mamboman)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2006, 10:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murder-songs/381548/65 "2006-11-24T10:45:24Z")
Country Standard “Miller’s Cave” (perfomed by Gram Parsons, amongst others) has a particularly casual double homicide - “they laughed at me until I shot ‘em. Put their cheatin’, schemin’ bones in Miller’s cave” Did Hank Williams ever write a murder song? mm ---
**Author:** ![minionkat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@minionkat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minionkat)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2006, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murder-songs/381548/66 "2006-11-24T12:17:05Z")
_Country Death Song_ - The Violent Femmes I gave her a push, I gave her a shove. I pushed with all my might, I pushed with all my love. [LYRICS DELETED BY MODERATOR] ---
**Author:** ![KRC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/45deac/32.png) [@KRC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KRC)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2006, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murder-songs/381548/67 "2006-11-24T12:25:44Z")
“John Hardy was a desperate little man He carried two guns every day. He shot a man by the West Virginia line They watched John Hardy get away, Poor boy, They watched John Hardy get away.” I don’t know who wrote it but Leadbelly sang a couple different versions. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2006, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murder-songs/381548/68 "2006-11-24T12:58:06Z")
Beasts of Bourbon **Psycho** Olivia Newton John \*\* Banks of The Ohio \*\* Cowboy Junkies \*\*Murder, Tonight In The Trailer Park \*\* Neil Young \*\* Down By The River \*\* Tom Waits \*\*Murder In The Red Barn \*\* Randy Newman **Lucinda** Adam & The Ants \*\*Killer In The Home \*\* The Beautiful South **Woman In The Wall** ---
**Author:** ![Staggerlee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/staggerlee/32/3134_2.png) [@Staggerlee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Staggerlee)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2006, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murder-songs/381548/69 "2006-11-24T13:35:56Z")
[QUOTE=JXJohns] Stagger Lee by Lloyd Price \*“Stagger Lee,” said Billy, "Oh, please don’t take my life! "I’ve got three hungry children, “And a very sickly wife.” Stagger Lee shot Billy Oh, he shot that poor boy so hard That a bullet went through Billy And broke the bartender’s bar.\* [/QUOTE] Do you feel lucky? Well, _do_ ya? ---
**Author:** ![Staggerlee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/staggerlee/32/3134_2.png) [@Staggerlee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Staggerlee)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2006, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murder-songs/381548/70 "2006-11-24T13:40:03Z")
[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] He’s singing from the point of view of the devil, so maybe not so much a murderer, more a _‘Carnage Facilitator’_.. ---
**Author:** ![cosmosdan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a6a055/32.png) [@cosmosdan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cosmosdan)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2006, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murder-songs/381548/71 "2006-11-24T13:49:03Z")
[QUOTE=Kythereia] 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: [/QUOTE] those are the lyrics you should have posted before. Still, since the figure singing is Satan I’m not sure it’s murder in the sense of one person killing another. I suppose Satan might take credit for every murder ever committed considering the lyrics. ---
**Author:** ![cosmosdan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a6a055/32.png) [@cosmosdan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cosmosdan)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2006, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murder-songs/381548/72 "2006-11-24T13:53:10Z")
[QUOTE=Sternvogel] [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). [/QUOTE] OHHHHHHH I stand corrected. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2006, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murder-songs/381548/73 "2006-11-24T14:23:04Z")
[QUOTE=don’t ask] Olivia Newton John \*\* Banks of The Ohio \*\* Neil Young \*\* Down By The River \*\* \*\* [/QUOTE] I combined the two in Neil Young’s **Ohio** ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2006, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murder-songs/381548/74 "2006-11-24T14:26:43Z")
Moderator Interjects: Quoting song lyrics is subject to fair usage. See: [FAQ - Rules for Posting at the Straight Dope Message Board](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=384736) and note Post #3 … and see [Forum Rules: PLEASE READ](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=343601) and especially Post #2. You may quote a line or two from a song, and provide a link to a website that has permission to quote the full lyrics. Please be careful about this: we don’t want other people quoting our material without permission, and therefore we don’t want folks on our message boards to be quoting others without permission. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2006, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murder-songs/381548/75 "2006-11-24T14:54:24Z")
**Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)** by Sonny Bono. _Bang bang you shot me down Bang bang I hit the ground Bang bang that awful sound Bang bang my baby shot me down_ ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2006, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murder-songs/381548/76 "2006-11-24T15:36:50Z")
“Cocaine Blues” by Johnny Cash > [@](#): > > Early one morning while making my rounds… > I took a shot of cocaine and I shot my woman down. > I went right home and I went to bed. > I stuck that loving .44 beneath my head. Bob Marley’s “I Shot the Sheriff”, whose age-old question was answered by the Kingston Trio in “Bad Man’s Blunder” > [@](#): > > Well, early one evening I was rollin’ around. > I was feelin’ kind of mean. I shot a deputy down. > Strollin’ on home and I went to bed. > Well, I laid my pistol up under my head. The Boss’ “Murder Incorporated” > [@](#): > > Everywhere you look now > Murder incorporated > Down on your knees > Murder > Everywhere that you turn its murder > Murder > Everywhere you look there’s murder. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2006, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murder-songs/381548/77 "2006-11-24T15:39:45Z")
And another blues classic, “Frankie and Johnny”: > [@](#): > > Well, Frankie lifted up her kimono dress > And she drew out a little .44. > She shot three times, three times she shot him > Right through that hardwood door. > Yeah, she shot her man, > But he been doin’ her wrong. ---
**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, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murder-songs/381548/78 "2006-11-24T15:56:41Z")
[QUOTE=cosmosdan] those are the lyrics you should have posted before. [/QUOTE] I’m trying to avoid an unfairly snappish response here, because I’m very tired and stressed and it’s hell-week at school right now, but I assumed everyone would have familiarity with the song itself–it’s pretty popular. Sorry if the shorthand didn’t make it clear. I _do_ consider it a murder song–one person (or being, or entity, what have you) responsible for the taking of the life of another person. ---
**Author:** ![Bambi\_Hassenpfeffer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Bambi\_Hassenpfeffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bambi_Hassenpfeffer)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2006, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murder-songs/381548/79 "2006-11-24T16:14:11Z")
10,000 Maniacs’ [I’m Not the Man](http://www.uppercutmusic.com/artist_0/10000_maniacs_lyrics/im_not_the_man_lyrics.html) > [@](#): > > But I’m not the man. > He goes free as the candle vigil glows > As they burn my clothes > As the crowd cries, “Hang him slow!” > And I feel my blood go cold, > He goes free. > > Call out the KKK, they’re wild after me. > And with that frenzied look of half-demented zeal, > They’d love to serve me up my final meal. This song doesn’t actually mention the murder, but it’s implied. The song’s actually about the miscarriage of justice after the fact. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2006, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murder-songs/381548/80 "2006-11-24T16:17:56Z")
More Johnny Cash. “I Hung My Head” > [@](#): > > Early one morning with time to kill > I borrowed Jeb’s rifle and sat on the hill > I saw a lone rider crossing the plain > I drew a bead on him to practice my aim > My brother’s rifle went off in my hand > A shot rang out across the land > The horse he kept running, the rider was dead > I hung my head, I hung my head “Sam Hall” > [@](#): > > I killed a man, they said; so they said. > I killed a man, they said; so they said. > I killed a man, they said an’ I smashed in his head. > An’ I left him layin’ dead, > Damn his eyes! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murder-songs/381548.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murder-songs/381548.md?page=5)