While musicians have always sung about love, they have also sung about hatred, retribution, and murder. These homicidal stories are frequently inspired by a lover’s treachery or the desire to kill. In any case, murder songs have been a part of traditional culture for as long as people have sung them. We look back at the 10 Murder Ballads You Never Realized Were Great:
“Long Black Veil,” by Lefty Frizzell
Danny Dill and Marijohn Wilkin’s “Long Black Veil,” composed by country star Lefty Frizzell, takes the protagonist till his death. The storyteller is wrongly convicted of murder, despite the fact that he was engaged in a relationship with his best friend’s wife at the time the incident occurred. He commits suicide rather than reveal his cover tale.
The song was famously performed by Johnny Cash, and you can listen to the Dave Matthews Band’s rendition here.
“Goodbye Earl” by The Chicks
This Chicks masterpiece recounts the tale of Mary Ann and Wanda, two dearest friends from high school. After graduating, she married Earl, who proved to be physically violent to Wanda. So Mary Ann traveled up from Atlanta, and it took no time for them to decide, Earl must die.
“The Night The Lights Went Out In Georgia,” by Vicki Lawrence
Listen carefully for “The Night The Lights Went Out In Georgia.” A man simply known as “Brother” had just come back from a trip to Candletop. Andy, his best buddy, informed him that his wife was cheating with a man called Seth, and in a rapid one-two blow, Andy says, to admit the truth, I’ve been with her myself. At this moment, Brother is understandably enraged. So Brother rushes to face Andy, only to discover that he had been murdered with a shotgun. Andy is sentenced to death for a crime he was not responsible for.
Listen to Reba’s rendition of the tune to figure out who killed Andy.
“Two Black Cadillacs” by Carrie Underwood
We’d like to know who injured Carrie Underwood, or what real crime shows she watches. First, there was the homicidal wife and misteress in “Two Black Cadillacs,” and then there was the violent husband in “Church Bells” who suddenly died. Both tale songs have incredible lyrics and show how far Underwood can take her art.
“Ballad of Hollis Brown” by Bob Dylan
Let us present you to the crime narrative of Hollis Brown, which Bob Dylan wrote as folk music in 1963.
Brown was overwhelmed by poorness: rodents ate his flour, his kids just can not cease weeping, and his well had run dry. So he paid his every dollar on seven shotgun rounds, and you may tell what happened after that.
“no body, no crime” by Taylor Swift featuring HAIM
Swift tells the narrative in a chillingly appealing country-pop song featuring the sister group HAIM. (It’s also worth noting that the lady slain in “no body, no crime” has the same name as Este Haim, the bassist, and singer in HAIM.
“Jenny Was A Friend Of Mine” by The Killers
Robert Chambers’ savage slaying of Jennifer Levin in 1986 prompted Brandon Flowers and Mark Stoermer, Killers members and composers, to create “Jenny Was A Friend Of Mine.” Chambers stated throughout the trial that he possessed no motivation for the killing given that he and Levin were “friends” at the time the crime occurred.
“Delia’s Gone” by Johnny Cash
The American murder song inspired on an actual murder is Johnny Cash’s “Delia’s Gone,” initially published in 1962 and then reissued in 1994. The song “Delia’s Gone” was most probably influenced by the death of 14-year-old Delia Green in Savannah, Georgia, in 1900. “Delia’s Gone,” much like most folk tunes, was a tale ballad that has been handed down through generations before it hit the Man in Black.
“Stan” by Eminem
For a justified reason, Eminem has been widely regarded as one of the finest rappers. He brings his expertise to places where others are frequently afraid to tread. And “Stan” is an example of Eminem’s most gloomy, yet wonderful, tracks. “Stan,” from Eminem’s 2000 record The Marshall Mathers LP, is a narrative about an imaginary Eminem superfan. Stan the diehard fan gets obsessed with Eminem, and after he does not receive a response to his emails, he kills himself and his pregnant fiancée.
“Nebraska” by Bruce Springsteen
Nebraska, Bruce Springsteen’s 1982 record, created a somber atmosphere for the remainder of the record, which largely comprised tracks about suffering people and crooks. The film “Nebraska” was based by the 11 killings that happened in Nebraska and Wyoming in 1958. The offenders in all 11 crimes were binge murderer Charles Starkweather and his adolescent lover, Caril Ann Fugate, and the former was condemned to death following conviction. (While Fugate never murdered personally, she did accompany her deadly boyfriend.)