# Songs about killing **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 25, 2002, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-killing/105607 "2002-04-25T19:09:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![gallows\_fodder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8c91f0/32.png) [@gallows\_fodder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gallows_fodder)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2002, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-killing/105607/1 "2002-04-25T19:09:48Z")
So I’m home sick with the flu today, and I start thinking about death. Then I start thinking about murder. Then I start thinking about songs about murder. This is where you come in! Let’s list all the songs about murder that we can think of. The murder should occur within the timeframe of the song, either in the narration or “off-stage.” No songs about, like, some guy who happened to kill someone in the past (I’m thinking of some Tom Waits songs), unless the murder is an important plot-point in the song. Dig? I’ll start. All the songs on Nick Cave’s **Murder Ballads** album Tom Waits – “The Fall of Troy,” “Murder in the Red Barn,” “Georgia Lee” Firewater – “The Circus” Pedro the Lion – “A Mind of Her Own,” “Never Leave a Job Half Done” Neko Case – “Furnace Room Lullaby” Lots of Scratch Acid and Jesus Lizard songs – “Lay Screaming,” “Crazy Dan,” “Horse,” “Mistletoe,” “Skull of a German,” “Puss” (maybe…unclear if the girl dies), etc. PJ Harvey - “A Perfect Day Elise” The Cure – “Killing an Arab,” “Like Cockatoos” (maybe) Bob Dylan – “The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll” Nirvana – “Polly” The Police – “Murder by Numbers” Velvet Underground – “Murder Mystery” Elvis Costello – “Kinder Murder” (maybe…what \* is \* this song about, anyway?) Ice-T – “Cop Killer” Jimi Hendrix – “Hey Joe” Jelly Roll Morton – “Aaron Harris Blues” (Traditional) – “Tom Dooley” Billie Holiday – “Strange Fruit” (Dunno but Ella Fitzgerald sings) – “Miss Otis Regrets” Doc Watson – “Little Omie Wise” That’s all I can think of now. Your turn! ---
**Author:** ![gallows\_fodder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8c91f0/32.png) [@gallows\_fodder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gallows_fodder)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2002, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-killing/105607/2 "2002-04-25T19:17:45Z")
More: Bob Marley – “I Shot the Sheriff” (Traditional) – “Mack the Knife” Johnny Cash – “Delia’s Gone” And dadgummit, there’s like 12390802384 blues songs about murder, and I can’t think of any titles… ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2002, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-killing/105607/3 "2002-04-25T19:21:56Z")
“Frankie and Johnny” “I’ll Be Glad When You’re Dead, You Rascal, You” “I Hold Your Hand In Mine” (Tom Leher) “At the Copa” Does “Killing Me Softly With His Song” count? ---
**Author:** ![Reeder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Reeder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeder)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2002, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-killing/105607/4 "2002-04-25T19:22:54Z")
**Riders on the Storm** …The Doors ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2002, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-killing/105607/5 "2002-04-25T19:37:22Z")
“Hey Joe” - Jimi Hendrix & many others “Down in the Willow Garden” - Art Garfunkel & many others “Night Prowler” - AC/DC “Down By the River” - Neil Young “Folsom Prison Blues” - Johnny Cash “18 and Life” - Skid Row “Weille Waille” - old Irish folk song, covered by many artists “Johnny 99” - Bruce Springsteen “Saturday Night Special” - Lynyrd Skynyrd ---
**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:** [April 25, 2002, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-killing/105607/6 "2002-04-25T19:39:02Z")
Guns N Roses - “I Used to Love Her”. Queen - “Bohemian Rhapsody”. Ice T - “Colors”. Johnny Cash - That song with the line "I killed a man in Reno just to watch him die. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2002, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-killing/105607/7 "2002-04-25T19:40:52Z")
“Janie’s Got a Gun” - Aerosmith “Nebraska” - Bruce Springsteen “Ticking” - Elton John ---
**Author:** ![Fish42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/4da419/32.png) [@Fish42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fish42)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2002, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-killing/105607/8 "2002-04-25T20:00:01Z")
Warren Zevon: “Excitable Boy” and “Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner” The Rolling Stones: “Midnight Rambler” Bob Dylan: “Hurricane” Rod Stewart: “The Killing of Georgie (Pts 1 & 2)” Cher: “Dark Lady” Tom Jones: “Delilah” Vickie Lawrence: “The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia” Bruce Springsteen: “Point Blank” Porter Waggoner: “The Cold Hard Facts of Life” The Boomtown Rats: “I Don’t Like Mondays” Sonny Boy Williamson: “Your Funeral, My Trial” Richard & Linda Thompson: “Shoot Out the Lights” and “Did She Jump or Was She Pushed?” The Band: “Long Black Veil” The Doors: “The End” The Beatles: “Maxwell’s Silver Hammer” Cypress Hill: “How Could I Just Kill a Man” Pat Hare: “I’m Gonna Murder My Baby” [Earns bonus points for Hare actually carrying out the threat in real life.] ---
**Author:** ![auntie\_em](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5e9695/32.png) [@auntie\_em](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/auntie_em)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2002, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-killing/105607/9 "2002-04-25T20:09:18Z")
Carole King – “Smackwater Jack” Julie Brown – “The Homecoming Queen’s Got A Gun” ---
**Author:** ![jk1245](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/49beb7/32.png) [@jk1245](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jk1245)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2002, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-killing/105607/10 "2002-04-25T20:11:27Z")
“Where did you sleep last night” aka “In the Pines” - Leadbelly (made famous by Nirvana) “Cop Killer” - Ice-T (Body Count, actually) “The Devil’s Right Hand” -Steve Earle “Dead Man Walking” and “Atlantic City” - Springsteen Pretty much any Geto Boys song (or just about any “gangsta” rap song) ---
**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:** [April 25, 2002, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-killing/105607/11 "2002-04-25T20:14:49Z")
“Stagger Lee” by Lloyd Price ---
**Author:** ![Kilt-wearin\_man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/82dd89/32.png) [@Kilt-wearin\_man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kilt-wearin_man)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2002, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-killing/105607/12 "2002-04-25T20:18:10Z")
If you don’t know the title, don’t try to list the song… Here’s what I came up with, without really trying, and not mentioning songs already listed. **Johnny Cash** Don’t Take Your Guns To Town Highway Patrolman **Marty Robbins** Big Iron El Paso They’re Hanging Me Tonight Running Gun **The Chieftains** Lilly of the West (with Mark Knopfler) **Sting** I Hung My Head ---
**Author:** ![dweezil](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3ec8ea/32.png) [@dweezil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dweezil)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2002, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-killing/105607/13 "2002-04-25T20:24:44Z")
The Ballad of Tom Joad (Parts I and II) by Woody Guthrie Also, “Stagger Lee,” or “Stackalee” or (insert six doxen spellings here) is a really old folk song and although many many people have recorded versions, I don’t believe anyone knows the original artist. As are various songs about: Tom Dooley Jesse James John Hardy Cole Younger Frankie and Albert Also, “Death Cell 'Rounder Blues” is pretty damn good. And do you count “John Henry” as murder (by awful corporate technocrats)?? ---
**Author:** ![MachV](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@MachV](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MachV)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2002, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-killing/105607/14 "2002-04-25T20:32:32Z")
Warren Zevon - Werewolf in London (Fish42, you left this one off? Or would this fall under the “when animals attack” category?) Golden Earring - Twilight Zone Pink Floyd - Two Suns in the Sunset (hey, if that ain’t mass murder, I don’t know what is) Geto Boys - Scarface ---
**Author:** ![Purd\_Werfect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e47c2d/32.png) [@Purd\_Werfect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Purd_Werfect)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2002, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-killing/105607/15 "2002-04-25T20:39:21Z")
Though I’ve never heard it confirmed, a listening to the lyrics of “Alison” by the Almighty Elvis Costello sure seems to suggest the song is about offing your former squeeze. “I think somebody better put out the big lights, 'cause I can’t stand to see you this way.” Indeed. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Angel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d26b3c/32.png) [@Johnny\_Angel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Angel)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2002, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-killing/105607/16 "2002-04-25T21:13:47Z")
**dweezil** wrote: > [@](#): > > “Stagger Lee,” or “Stackalee” or (insert six doxen spellings here) is a really old folk song and although many many people have recorded versions, I don’t believe anyone knows the original artist. Just chalk it up to `traditional.’ If my memory serves, and it probably doesn’t, tales of Stack-o-Lee (another variant I’ve seen, that I kind of like because it allows me to make spurious comparisons to Tam O’Shanter and the likes) go at least back to 1860, and there is apparently some dispute about where in Missouri the alleged events allegedly took place. **gallows fodder** wrote: > [@](#): > > Tom Waits – “The Fall of Troy,” “Murder in the Red Barn,” “Georgia Lee” Not to mention: Romeo is Bleeding Potter’s Field Small Change A Sweet Little Bullet from a Pretty Blue Gun Walking Spanish ---
**Author:** ![PhiloVance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e19adc/32.png) [@PhiloVance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhiloVance)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2002, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-killing/105607/17 "2002-04-25T21:24:57Z")
I’m not sure, but was ‘Mack the Knife’ about murder. IIRC, it was. 😕 ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2002, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-killing/105607/18 "2002-04-25T21:29:34Z")
How about the ancient ballad, “Lord Randall”? On a more contemporary note: “Another One Bites the Dust” and "Bohemian Rhapsody"by Queen “Run Joey Run” by David Geddes “Dark Lady” by Cher (she shoots her boyfriend and the gypsy she had just visited) ---
**Author:** ![Minor\_Irritant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e495f1/32.png) [@Minor\_Irritant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Minor_Irritant)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2002, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-killing/105607/19 "2002-04-25T22:04:54Z")
AC/DC - “Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap” Does it still count if they’re getting paid for it? Metallica - “Whiskey in the Jar” It’s an old Irish drinking song, but I have no idea whether it’s actually been recorded by anyone else. Band who escapes me at the moment - “Timothy” Was he already dead? Lorne Greene - “Ringo” Yes, THAT Lorne Greene. And “Bohemian Rhapsody” is about murder? I didn’t think it was about anything. ---
**Author:** ![Ich\_Bin\_s](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e9c0ed/32.png) [@Ich\_Bin\_s](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ich_Bin_s)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2002, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-killing/105607/20 "2002-04-25T22:06:19Z")
My pathetic contribution: **Steel Pole Bath Tub** - Pirate 5 **Nick Cave** - Jangling Jack **Nick Cave / Johnny Cash** - Mercy Seat Whoa, there are lots. I’m looking thru my records tonight… [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-killing/105607.md?page=2)