# 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:** 2
**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, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-killing/105607/21 "2002-04-25T22:13:34Z")
Another I just remembered - “Country Death Song” by the Violent Femmes ---
**Author:** ![Beadalin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@Beadalin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beadalin)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2002, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-killing/105607/22 "2002-04-25T22:22:15Z")
“Once Upon A Daydream” by The Police “Aisha” by Death in Vegas You’re right, **PhiloVance**. “Mack the Knife” for sure. That’s all I got. ---
**Author:** ![Kaitlyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/73ab20/32.png) [@Kaitlyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kaitlyn)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2002, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-killing/105607/23 "2002-04-25T22:31:13Z")
“Hazard” by Richard Marx “Straight Time” by Bruce Springsteen “Galveston Bay” Bruce Springsteen “Cadillac Jack” by Clint Black “The Thunder Rolls” (live version) Garth Brooks “Papa Loved Mama” by Garth Brooks “Murder in the Trailer Park” by Cowboy Junkies “Renegade” by Styx “The Killing of Georgie” Rod Stewart > [@](#): > > And “Bohemian Rhapsody” is about murder? I didn’t think it was about anything. This is from memory, so forgive me if the lyrics are not exact: “Mama, just killed a man. Put my gun against his head, pulled my trigger, now he’s dead.” ---
**Author:** ![Junior\_Spaceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Junior\_Spaceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Junior_Spaceman)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2002, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-killing/105607/24 "2002-04-25T22:36:50Z")
There’s a bunch more **Nick Cave** songs: - Sonny’s Burning (Birthday Party) - Deep In The Woods (BP) - 6" Gold Blade (BP) - Hamlet (BP) - Your Funeral, My Trial (after the murder … still a great song :p) - Deanna - City of Refuge (just after the murder) Also, “Long Time Man” by Tim Rose (also by Nick Cave), even though it’s set after the murder, recounts the events in detail. Some others… **Velvet Underground** - Sister Ray. Also, “The Gift” has an accidental killing. **Iron Maiden** : - Killers - Murders In The Rue Morgue - Iron Maiden - The Trooper - Invaders - Run To The Hills - The Assassin (etc). Come to think of it, there’s thousands of Heavy Metal songs that fit the bill here ;). ---
**Author:** ![chief](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df788c/32.png) [@chief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chief)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2002, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-killing/105607/25 "2002-04-25T23:01:06Z")
“Killer Is Me” - Alice in Chains ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2002, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-killing/105607/26 "2002-04-25T23:32:17Z")
“Once”, by (of all bands) Pearl Jam, is about a serial killer who murders prostitutes. The song is the centerpiece of a trilogy of songs about this murderer. The first, “Alive”, deals with his formative years, and the last, “Footstepse”, his ultimate execution. I always figured that The Stooges’s “Ann” ended in blood, but I couldn’t prove it from the lyrics. Speaking of Iggy Pop, he is the featured vocalist on the Death in Vegas song “Aisha”, which is definately about a murderer. He says so right at the beginning! ---
**Author:** ![Nocturne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/9fc348/32.png) [@Nocturne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nocturne)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2002, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-killing/105607/27 "2002-04-25T23:55:38Z")
Better Than Ezra: Summerhouse Porcelain One More Murder Teenager (possibly…) Bruce Springsteen: Nebraska GGFH: Room 213 X: Johnny Hit and Run Paulene ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2002, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-killing/105607/28 "2002-04-25T23:58:18Z")
The Toadies – “Possum Kingdom.” It’s sort of about murder – in a vampire kind of way. ---
**Author:** ![Maeglin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8baadc/32.png) [@Maeglin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maeglin)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2002, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-killing/105607/29 "2002-04-26T00:32:47Z")
Pretty much any song by Funkervogt, especially The Killing Fields. Likewise with Velvet Acid Christ. ---
**Author:** ![widdershins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f0a364/32.png) [@widdershins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/widdershins)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2002, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-killing/105607/30 "2002-04-26T01:01:13Z")
“You All Look Alike” - The Byrds. Sung from the dying man’s perspective. “The Letters” - King Crimson. Alludes to a murder/suicide. “Ohio” - CSN&Y “Tired Eyes” - Neil Young “Jeannie Needs A Shooter” - Warren Zevon _The Red Headed Stranger_ album - Willie Nelson ---
**Author:** ![Neil](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/839c29/32.png) [@Neil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neil)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2002, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-killing/105607/31 "2002-04-26T01:18:13Z")
The good ol’ Primus tune, “My Name is Mud” “We had our words, a common spat, so I kissed him upside the cranium with that aluminum baseball bat.” In Sublime’s Santeria, the narrator wants to kill the guy his girlfriend’s been fooling around with, if that counts. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2002, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-killing/105607/32 "2002-04-26T01:48:27Z")
“Jeremy”-Pearl Jam (Yeah, it’s about suicide, but it’s still a story and it happens in the end). “Delia’s Gone”, Johnny Cash ---
**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 26, 2002, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-killing/105607/33 "2002-04-26T12:57:43Z")
These are great! Here are more: The Damned – “Thrill Kill” Mark Lanegan (or traditional?) – “Little Sadie” Boomtown Rats – “I Don’t Like Mondays” Elvis Costello – “Let Him Dangle” Joy Division – “Atrocity Exhibition” Bruce Springsteen – “Nebraska” > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Lamia \* > \*\*I always figured that The Stooges’s “Ann” ended in blood, but I couldn’t prove it from the lyrics. \*\* There are so many songs like that! Every Swans song I can think of, for example, is full of bloody, destructive imagery, but it doesn’t seem like anybody literally is killed in the stories. Dang. ---
**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 26, 2002, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-killing/105607/34 "2002-04-26T12:59:18Z")
(Sorry, **Nocturne,** I didn’t see your “Nebraska” listing.) ---
**Author:** ![Mersavets](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/aca169/32.png) [@Mersavets](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mersavets)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2002, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-killing/105607/35 "2002-04-26T13:07:58Z")
‘Waltzing Matilda’ ‘Kill Americans’ TISM (It’s a joke and not an actual exhortation to kill Americans) ‘Killing in the Name of’ and ‘Bullet in the Head’ both by Rage Against the Machine ‘Sunday, Bloody Sunday’ U2 ‘I was only Nineteen’ Goanna ---
**Author:** ![Why\_A\_Duck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/13edae/32.png) [@Why\_A\_Duck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Why_A_Duck)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2002, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-killing/105607/36 "2002-04-26T13:16:31Z")
How 'bout: Red Right Hand by Nick Cave ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2002, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-killing/105607/37 "2002-04-26T13:26:15Z")
Motley Crue: You’re All I Need Garth Brooks: Mama’s in the Graveyard, Papa’s in the Pen ---
**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 26, 2002, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-killing/105607/38 "2002-04-26T13:34:34Z")
Ah, but in **Red Right Hand** , no one dies in the song. “Well, why is his hand red, then?” Wellll, maybe he killed someone in the past, but, hey, he could have also touched some wet paint. The song doesn’t say. ---
**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 26, 2002, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-killing/105607/39 "2002-04-26T14:26:14Z")
Oh! I got one! **Public Enemy** - Black Steel in the Hour of Chaos **MC 900 Foot Jesus** - Real Black Angel **Rocket from the Crypt** - Killy Kill ---
**Author:** ![Judith\_Prietht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b19c9b/32.png) [@Judith\_Prietht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Judith_Prietht)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2002, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-killing/105607/40 "2002-04-26T15:07:40Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Minor Irritant \* > **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.** Thin Lizzy, I believe. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-killing/105607.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-killing/105607.md?page=3)