# Songs About Crime **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 24, 2009, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-crime/518722 "2009-11-24T01:36:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2009, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-crime/518722/21 "2009-11-24T02:42:50Z")
**Robbery, Assault and Battery** “Robbery, Assault and Battery” - Genesis ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2009, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-crime/518722/22 "2009-11-24T02:44:02Z")
> [@KneadToKnow](#): > > Mack the Knife Covers murder and theft, at least. Prostitution, arguably. Rape, arson, and probably a few others, depending on the version. And a crime not yet covered… Necrophilia: Cold Ethyl - Alice Cooper I Love The Dead - Alice Cooper Dead Girls - Voltaire UNDEAD necrophilia: Zombie Prostitute - Voltaire Night of the Loving Dead - Lordi ---
**Author:** ![Civil\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d78d45/32.png) [@Civil\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Civil_Guy)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2009, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-crime/518722/23 "2009-11-24T02:46:11Z")
Murder: “Tom Dooley” - folksong …and probably hundreds more “Ride Like The Wind” by Christopher Cross Billy Joel did one about Billy the Kid, I think… ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2009, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-crime/518722/24 "2009-11-24T02:49:08Z")
All excellent. Love the Tom Lehrer and the Muppets. **Murder** : “Cocaine Blues” - Johnny Cash (also drug abuse) “Delia’s Gone” - Johnny Cash “Rum to Whiskey” - Murder City Devils “Hey Joe” - Jimi Hendrix Experience “Ohio” - Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2009, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-crime/518722/25 "2009-11-24T02:50:21Z")
Killing of people by freezing them to death; cannibalism - _The Candy Machine_ by Zager & Evans. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2009, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-crime/518722/26 "2009-11-24T02:52:40Z")
From “Chicago”: \*Cell Block Tango When You’re Good to Mama We Both Reached for the Gun \* And about half the songs from “Sweeney Todd.” ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2009, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-crime/518722/27 "2009-11-24T02:54:23Z")
**Capital Murder** : “The Road Goes on Forever,” Robert Earl Keen **Burglary, Assault with a Deadly Weapon and/or Murder** : “Take the Money and Run” - Steve Miller Band ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2009, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-crime/518722/28 "2009-11-24T02:55:23Z")
Apparently I need to give Zager & Evans a second look. ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2009, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-crime/518722/29 "2009-11-24T03:14:35Z")
Yes, their songs may on the surface seem like typical late-'60s psychedelic-pop, but the lyrics are ridiculously gruesome (when they’re not simply ridiculous.) ---
**Author:** ![Zjestika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/8edcca/32.png) [@Zjestika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zjestika)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2009, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-crime/518722/30 "2009-11-24T03:36:06Z")
Cannibalism: The Buoys- Timothy. Written by Rupert Holmes, aka the Pina Colada song guy. Child killin’: Violent Femmes- Country Death Song ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2009, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-crime/518722/31 "2009-11-24T03:41:45Z")
[_Murder_–David Gilmour](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=duu1s3qA2l8) ---
**Author:** ![Fionn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Fionn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fionn)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2009, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-crime/518722/32 "2009-11-24T03:48:43Z")
Every song on Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds’ _Murder Ballads_ Nick Cave’s “Idiot Prayer” seems to be about a man being executed for murdering his wife or girlfriend ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2009, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-crime/518722/33 "2009-11-24T03:51:44Z")
Rats, missed the edit window–I linked to the edited version of Gilmour’s\* Murder.\* The full-length version (with his great guitar solo) is [here](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0xBwpMrCLhk). ---
**Author:** ![freckafree](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/freckafree/32/3050_2.png) [@freckafree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/freckafree)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2009, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-crime/518722/34 "2009-11-24T03:54:25Z")
Lordy, folk music is full of them. Tom Dooley has already been mentioned. How about [Long Black Veil](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7pjvVQJcH60), Flora (the Lily of the West), and Banks of the Ohio? ---
**Author:** ![koeeoaddi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/koeeoaddi/32/408_2.png) [@koeeoaddi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koeeoaddi)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2009, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-crime/518722/35 "2009-11-24T03:56:59Z")
**Murder** _With a Gun_ - Steely Dan _Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll_ - Bob Dylan _Matty Groves_, _Long Black Veil_, _Lily of the West_ and a zillion other traditional folk songs and Child ballads **Prostitution** _Raised on Robbery_ - Joni Mitchell _Easy Money_ - Rickie Lee Jones **Psycho killers** _Excitable Boy_ - Warren Zevon _Angie Baby_ - Helen Reddy **Smuggling** _Treetop Flyer_ - Steven Stills _Smuggler’s Blues_ - Glenn Frey _Coming Into Los Angeles_ - Arlo Guthrie oh, …and **littering** _Alice’s Restaurant_ - Arlo Guthrie ---
**Author:** ![StoutHearted](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2bfe46/32.png) [@StoutHearted](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StoutHearted)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2009, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-crime/518722/36 "2009-11-24T03:57:26Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > From “Chicago”: > > \*Cell Block Tango > When You’re Good to Mama > We Both Reached for the Gun > \* > And about half the songs from “Sweeney Todd.” Dammit! Once again, you take the words from my mouth. Don’t change! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2009, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-crime/518722/37 "2009-11-24T04:06:15Z")
Insane murderer Aisha by **Death in Vegas** Damage I’ve done - **Heads** ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2009, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-crime/518722/38 "2009-11-24T04:13:13Z")
> [@Maserschmidt](#): > > The Curse of Millhaven, Nick Cave - arson, mass murder. You want [a single album](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_Ballads) or [an entire genre?](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_ballad) ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2009, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-crime/518722/39 "2009-11-24T04:29:09Z")
Or you can go to the source, same as the folkies of yore: [Anthology of American Folk Music - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthology_of_American_Folk_Music) ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2009, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-crime/518722/40 "2009-11-24T04:29:17Z")
> [@koeeoaddi](#): > > oh, …and **littering** > _Alice’s Restaurant_ - Arlo Guthrie And creating a nuisance. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-crime/518722.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-crime/518722.md?page=3)