# 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:** 6
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2006, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murder-songs/381548/101 "2006-11-26T19:48:21Z")
[QUOTE=whitetho] Sunny burns down her house, but I don’t think anyone was physically harmed. [/QUOTE] I don’t know. She mentions vengeance and a list of names. She mentions getting the kids and “she’s out there on her own again.” I always assumed her husband was inside snoozing. :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Thin\_Ice](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/aeb1de/32.png) [@Thin\_Ice](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thin_Ice)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2006, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murder-songs/381548/102 "2006-11-26T23:36:53Z")
The song Time To Live from the album Salisbury by Uriah Heep: “…They say I killed a man But I never told them why… I know I’d do it all again Yes, I would I know I’d do it all again” ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2006, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murder-songs/381548/103 "2006-11-27T02:13:12Z")
**Unfinished Sympathy** _I Killed Her But That’s Not the Point_ The lyrics aren’t anywhere on line I can find, but they’re aproximately “Two fingers on the line, there goes a [the?] little life bang bang she’s dead enough for…” **Better Than Ezra** _One More Murder_ “Saturday night, shots ring out, Add one to the body count.” **Augustana** _Bullets_ “She’s shaking in the car with the gun in her hands Falling over love and a sweet romance And I ain’t never thought it could come down to this A bullet in my head, with the sweetest kiss It’s in my head” **Le Tigre** _Bang Bang_ "In New York the shooting of another unarmed black man raises further questions about NYPD tactics. On Friday an undercover policeman shot and killed Patrick Doorsman. Murder is murder Why’re they confused? Another man dead I read it in the news " **Dope** _Die Motherfucker Die_ “I’ll be sorry so you said, Well I’m not sorry Bang you’re dead! Die Motherfucker Die Die Motherfucker Die!” \*\*22 20s \*\* **Shoot Your Gun** “show me there are some tears behind your eyes oh baby won’t you cry? why’d you have to kill to feel alive?” **Kirsty MacColl** _Can’t Stop Killing You_ “See I feel no pleasure And I feel no pain So what else can I do? I can’t stop killing you…” _the rest of the lyrics make me think the “I” is a serial killer, but YMMV_ ---
**Author:** ![flickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7bcc69/32.png) [@flickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flickster)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2006, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murder-songs/381548/104 "2006-11-27T02:41:02Z")
“Do You Call That A Buddy” “Careless Love” ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2006, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murder-songs/381548/105 "2006-11-27T02:50:56Z")
[QUOTE=Miss Purl McKnittington] [“The Highwayman”](http://litterature.historique.net/highwayman.html), based on a poem by Alfred Noyes and sung by Loreena McKennitt, among others. I guess Bess’ death would technically be a suicide, but not in the way you usually think of suicide. It’s included in a collection of traditional English ballads I have from , but was apparently written in 1906 and set to music sometime after that. Let’s hear it for for insta-history. [/QUOTE] According to her [website](http://www.quinlanroad.com/explorethemusic/bookofsecrets.asp?id=106) Loreena McKennitt did the abridging and put the poem to music. Regardless of how you consider Bess’ death, you have to agree that the highwayman’s death qualifies > [@](#): > > when they shot him down on the highway, > Down like a dog on the highway, > And he lay in his blood on the highway, ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2006, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murder-songs/381548/106 "2006-11-27T03:40:38Z")
**Family Snapshot** by Peter Gabriel > [@](#): > > Four miles down the cavalcade moves on > Driving into the sun > If I worked it out right > They won’t see me or the gun This song is supposed to be based on the diary of the person who shot George Wallace, so it isn’t quite murder, but not for lack of trying. ---
**Author:** ![ErinPuff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dbc845/32.png) [@ErinPuff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ErinPuff)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2006, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murder-songs/381548/107 "2006-11-27T03:48:11Z")
“Culling of the Fold” (among others) by The Decemberists > [@](#): > > Ply her heart with gold and silver > And take your sweetheart down to the river > > Dash her on the paving stones > It may break your heart > To break her bones > But someone’s got to do the culling of the fold ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2006, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murder-songs/381548/108 "2006-11-27T06:43:45Z")
[QUOTE=Rick] According to her [website](http://www.quinlanroad.com/explorethemusic/bookofsecrets.asp?id=106) Loreena McKennitt did the abridging and put the poem to music. Regardless of how you consider Bess’ death, you have to agree that the highwayman’s death qualifies > [@](#): > > when they shot him down on the highway, > Down like a dog on the highway, > And he lay in his blood on the highway, [/QUOTE] Wait a minute. Wasn’t the highwayman an outlaw? I thought the term itself meant “outside the protection of the law,” and that such a one could be killed without penalty, meaning it wouldn’t be a murder. ---
**Author:** ![Kizarvexius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/da6949/32.png) [@Kizarvexius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kizarvexius)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2006, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murder-songs/381548/109 "2006-11-27T16:52:05Z")
A couple of oldies… **_Springtime In Alaska_ by Johnny Horton** I was as innocent as i could be I didn’t know Lil was Big Ed’s wife-to-be He took out his knife and he gave it a throw When it’s springtime in Alaska I’ll be six feet below **_Flora_ by Peter, Paul & Mary** I stepped up to my rival My dagger in my hand I seized him by the collar And I ordered him to stand All in my desperation I stabbed him in his breast I killed a man for Flora The Lilly of the West And if an imaginary execution counts as murder, I give you **_The Criminal Cried_ from _The Mikado_ (by Gilbert & Sullivan, of course)** He shivered and shook as he gave the sign For the stroke he didn’t deserve When all of a sudden his eye met mine And it seemed to brace his nerve. For he nodded his head and kissed his hand And he whisteled an air did he As the sabre true cut cleanly through His cervical vertebrae, his vertebrae. ---
**Author:** ![feppytweed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/feppytweed/32/4280_2.png) [@feppytweed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/feppytweed)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2006, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murder-songs/381548/110 "2006-11-27T17:01:44Z")
\*\*Down the River \*\*by Chris Knight (not Peter Brady) ---
**Author:** ![Ceejaytee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ceejaytee/32/2956_2.png) [@Ceejaytee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ceejaytee)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2006, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murder-songs/381548/111 "2006-11-27T17:09:38Z")
**Sleep Come Free Me** –James Taylor: Now the state of Alabama says I killed a man The jury reached the same conclusion I remember I was there With a tire iron in my hand The rest is all confusion ---
**Author:** ![DeVena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dec6dc/32.png) [@DeVena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeVena)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2006, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murder-songs/381548/112 "2006-11-27T19:11:45Z")
Hoyt Axton’s **Della and the Dealer** Yeah, the Dealer was a killer; he was evil and mean, And he was jealous of the fire in her eyes. He snorted his coke through a century note, And he swore that Boone would die. And the stage was set when the lights went out, There was death in Tucson town. Two shadows ran for the bar back door, But one stayed on the ground. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_Draper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Don\_Draper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_Draper)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2006, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murder-songs/381548/113 "2006-11-27T20:07:13Z")
Grateful Dead’s **That’s It for the Other One** : The other day they waited, the sky was dark and faded, Solemnly they stated, “He has to die, you know he has to die.” All the children learnin’, from books that they were burnin’, Traffic’s **John Barleycorn** : There were three men come from the West Their fortunes for to try, And these three made a solemn vow: “John Barleycorn must die.” Grace Slick’s **Silver Spoon** : Stay out the kitchen children The cook is cleaning his gun He just got back from the open markey - shooting his food on the run. Joni Mitchell’s **Pirates of Penance** : I was at sea I tell you I was Nowhere near the mentioned murder place Hot Tuna’s **99 Year Blues** : Gotta .38 special man and .45 frame You know the thing don’t miss 'cause I got dead aim Got dead aim, got dead aim Got dead aim, got dead aim And of course the Doors’ **the End** : Father Yes son? I want to KILL you… (The “love generation” certainly were fixated on violent death, huh?) ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2006, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murder-songs/381548/114 "2006-11-27T20:23:14Z")
[QUOTE=The New and Improved Superman] Traffic’s **John Barleycorn** : There were three men come from the West Their fortunes for to try, And these three made a solemn vow: “John Barleycorn must die.” [/QUOTE] Actually, nobody is murdered in this song. The only things that are killed are brain cells (courtesy the song’s title “character”). 😉 ---
**Author:** ![mrklutz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ebca7d/32.png) [@mrklutz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mrklutz)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2006, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murder-songs/381548/115 "2006-11-27T21:08:41Z")
**Boot Hill** fits the bill nicely (I only know Stevie Ray Vaughan’s version, but I seem to recall it being an older song than that.) _Look up on the wall baby Hand me down my shootin’ iron Call your mother long distance Tell her to expect your body home_ ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2006, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murder-songs/381548/116 "2006-12-17T04:23:28Z")
[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: [/QUOTE] Felina was a barmaid at Rose’s Cantina, so that’s where he was going to meet her. ---
**Author:** ![Boulter\_s\_Canary](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e79b87/32.png) [@Boulter\_s\_Canary](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boulter_s_Canary)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2006, 9:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murder-songs/381548/117 "2006-12-17T09:37:57Z")
[QUOTE=cosmosdan] Taupin is a brilliant lyricist. [/QUOTE] Another John/Taupin song: _Some punk with a shotgun killed young Danny Bailey In cold blood, in the lobby of a downtown motel Killed him in anger, a force he couldn’t handle Helped pull the trigger that cut short his life…_ ---
**Author:** ![Manduck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manduck/32/256_2.png) [@Manduck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manduck)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2006, 10:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murder-songs/381548/118 "2006-12-17T10:44:21Z")
Neil Young: _Down by the river / I shot my baby_ ---
**Author:** ![RetroVertigo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b38774/32.png) [@RetroVertigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RetroVertigo)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2006, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murder-songs/381548/119 "2006-12-17T18:15:46Z")
**Blind Melon** _Skinned_ > [@](#): > > I’ll make a shoehorn outta your skin > I’ll make a lampshade of durable skin > And oh, don’t you know that I’m always feelin’ able > When I’m sittin’ home and I’m carving out your navel If I remember correctly is a song about Ed Gein. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2006, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murder-songs/381548/120 "2006-12-20T21:36:56Z")
Two by Porter Wagoner: “The Cold, Hard Facts of Life” and “The Ballad of George Leroy Chickashea,” the latter being about a guy who (I kid you not) was “part White, part Black, part Indian” and “carried a .38, a switchblade, and a tomahawk.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murder-songs/381548.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murder-songs/381548.md?page=7)