To celebrate passing 30,000 views with little to no idea of how to do social marketing of this blog, here's one of my favourites. I believe it was the third thing I ever had web-published, the first one I pitched to a faceless Internet website editor. The first two were an essay on Arrested Development and Actors in Need of a Kick Start, respectively. But this one was the first accepted pitch and I think is indicative of my writing; serious subject matter with an absurd twist. Enjoy and thanks!
To be clear, this article does not condone murder. Using the word ‘murder’ in any state, be it past, present, or future tense on your Facebook status will create no amount of issues somewhere down the line so it’s best to never use it. Ever. Or do it, double ever. There is a little-used caveat for artists because they can pretend to do it consequence-free as poetic license. It’s in the Artist’s Charter (near the back).
At one time singers use to be story-tellers, using words to say things that didn’t involve the repetitive use of the word ‘baby’ as song filler. Great songs told stories of love, redemption, war, and with an occasional thought-provoking commentary on religion and civilization even if it was a 17 minute song that sounded like gibberish. Very few songs were created about the darker things of life.
Those that were uplifting had staying power. For instance, during all my limited 2 hours of research I could find no uplifting songs about the Spanish Inquisition but everyone knew the words to ‘Happy Birthday to You’, the copyright of which is currently owned by Warner music group bringing in an estimated $2 Million USD yearly in royalties, which means just saying that out loud I now owe them some money. So, to make what most all artists crave (royalties) the more radio-friendly the better. Yet, what if you want to express the darker side of your artistic license?
In today’s world, there are still relatively few songs about murder that make it onto the radio, being such a hot potato of a subject. When it does happen, there’s something about noticing your partner/moody best friend/Mom humming along to a song on the radio about killing a man that makes you really look at them in a new and different (albeit worrisome) light.
Yes, there are quite a few murder-themed songs out there by bands with heavy guitars wailing metal angst in any number of it’s sub-genres. And yes, they could use more publicity and quite a few songwriters are in need of extensive therapy (looking at you, Eminem) but that’s what the comments section down below is for. This is primarily a list for those artists that have spent hours and hours singing about killing someone and thinking ‘man, this could be on the top of the charts one day.’
The simple rules of this list is that the songs must be in the 1st person (so excluding songs like Pumped Up Kicks, I Don’t Like Mondays, and Stan) and should still be heard on the radio today.
9. Jenny Was A Friend of Mine – The Killers
The Killers shot out of Las Vegas like a gambler who just waged his family on a pair of aces and lost. They released Hot Fuss in 2003 and among the number of singles on the album there was this one that never really became a single, but was the first song on the album, leading into the rest of a very musically-tight album. The song is quite evidently about a friend of the singer’s named Jenny. No big whoop. If you were born in the seventies or eighties, you knew a girl named Jenny. You may even remember her number.
With a sound reminiscent of Duran Duran and a plodding, melodious base line the simple line of ‘come on come on come on’ gives a nice little hook to this story of a perhaps
ambiguous murder. Either he is giving her a really big hug or else he is choking the life out of her.
Although he denies in the song that there is a motive…come on, her name was Jenny. Lead singer Brandon Flowers has since gone on record after it’s release as saying this is part of his ‘Murder Trilogy’, the other two ‘confessional songs’ being ‘Leave the Bourbon on the Shelf’ and ‘Midnight Show’. So, points for obsessive detail, Mr. Flowers.
8. Delilah – Tom Jones
The idea for this article started while ‘researching’ Tom Jones for a previous article. While listening to a live version of ‘Delilah’ he sang at Glastonbury, my attention was caught by the enthusiastic crowd drolly going ‘ha ha ha hah’ at a certain cue. It sounded fun and peculiar I wondered what was the reason for this outburst. So I listened again to the lyrics and realized ‘holy crap, Tom Jones just sang about going all Sid Vicious on a woman‘.
Now we all know Tom Jones would never kill a woman on purpose with a knife (but he could kill her accidentally with his sex-bomb manliness). A lot of musicians go through their whole career without actually truly killing anyone (and then get away with it) but artistic license does grant them some special privileges, especially if it’s catchy. Delilah is no exception.
In the song Tom Jones stands outside Delilah’s apartment as she’s going all Tom Jones on a new guy. The next morning, she opens the door, sees him standing there, laughs in his face and Tom knifes her. But not really, because again, he’s Tom Jones.
7. I Shot The Sheriff – Bob Marley
Well, there ain’t no denying Bob’s guilt here, it’s right in the title. However, let’s be clear just to avoid a second murder charge; he did not shoot the deputy. This single made the rounds in the early 70′s and despite containing pretty much the same theme as the radio-unfriendly song Cop Killer, released by the Ice-T led band, Body Count in 1992 it didn’t matter what the lyrics were, hippie chicks would sway-dance to it at music festivals throughout the world.
It could be argued that the difference in the two songs is that Bob’s version, later covered quite famously by Eric Clapton, just sounded much more tourist friendly. And frankly, Marley didn’t give one the impression that he was going to knife you in the kidneys when you weren’t looking, unlike Ice-T at the time.
Cop Killer’s most famous cover is this one by John Maus, who can be safely be stated is no Eric Clapton and the similarities end. Despite the press, Cop Killer never made it onto the charts while Bob can still be heard to this day providing musical ambiance in the front of badly researched Mexican themed restaurants.
6. Goodbye Earl – Dixie Chicks
This may be a bit of a cop-out to my previously mentioned guidelines as this is not really sung in the first person. However, there are three girls in the Dixie Chicks band and whenever i hear it I always associate the murderers as being the other two girls in the band. So really this is a song about all three of them, it’s just the singer is more of an observer, guilty by association, like Colin Farrell in Seven Psychopaths.
This song and video is told in the classic story sense and quite easy to follow along and full of once famous Hollywood-types. Two BFF’s graduate high school, one leaves town and the other marries a douche bag. The other comes back to help get rid of her BFF’s domestic abuse problem.
The song lets you know that there is nothing wrong with a good ol’ fashioned justified killing Southern US style and how to do it. Feed your abusive husband some poisoned black eyed peas (not the musical group), roll him up in a tarp and throw him in a lake.
5. Psycho Killer – Talking Heads
The fact this was 1978 and is sung in both French and English and if anything, it makes the viewer wonder if this song really is about the bassist who actually appears to be thinking about murder throughout the video, perhaps because of the fashion of the day.
Another song that is played frequently by radio stations still trying to retain some their once cool edge despite squeezing it between the One Direction Hour and Justin Beiber sing-a-longs, it manages to maintain it’s cool by being, as far as I could find, the only bilingual song about a murderer. And not just any justified revenge murder, it’s psycho murder.
The lyrics are a fragmented mess of a person’s mind, which fits the title. David Byrne mentioned that he was thinking of Alice Cooper when he wrote it and the original opening of the song was a verse about the protagonist committing a murder or two but was omitted from the final version. The rest of the song is the experience after, which explains the new opening verse and summarily the feeling of running away. I’m guessing to France.
4. Folsom Prison Blues – Johnny Cash
A staple of any ‘Best Of’ Johnny Cash’ mix, Folsom Prison Blues was one of Johnny’s biggest hits off of his first album. He penned it after watching a documentary on Folsom Prison while in the army and while trying to think of the worst reason to kill a man, he came up with one of the most memorable lines ever about murdering
He went on to sing this song for a captive audience at Folsom Prison, a special concert set up for the inmates which was recorded live and went on to become one of his better selling albums in later years. While the cheering at the line ‘just to watch him die’ sounds authentic enough and probably expected, it was revealed that the cheering was added in post-production. The prisoners were told to be on their best behavior, fearing reprisals from the guards if they didn’t walk the line.
Of course, the song is told by the perspective of a prisoner of Folsom Prison who’s main activity in the jail is listening daily to a train going by and wondering who is on that train. All he wants is to get back on the outside and on that train, far away from Folsom Prison. A perfect song for the voice of Johnny Cash, accompanied by a tight walking bass line.
3. Used to Love Her – Guns N’ Roses
From the band that brought us Sweet Child O’Mine, Welcome to the Jungle and November Rain it was easy to overlook this little ballad that was on their EP Lies, released before Axl truly started to develop signs he was going bat-shit crazy.
While it could be stated that this isn’t about murder but euthanasia (specifically when there are rumors that the song is actually about Axl’s dog), it’s hard to overlook the obvious that he fully confesses to, that there is a body buried in his backyard. But it’s just so nice to sing along to with the simple chord structure you might totally miss the connection until you hear yourself singing it while your significant other is rapidly dialing the police on her phone.
2. Man Down – Rihanna
When one thinks murder suspect, one doesn’t think Rihanna so I prefer this version by Walk Off The Earth, a Canadian band that apparently has more success doing covers than the original artists. You may have already heard of them covering Goyte’s ‘Somebody I Used to Know’ and also how to make the most out of their one guitar.
The song gets right into it, not messing about here. The Killer obviously feels remorseful about what’s been done and what he fears will happen. The evidence is all there in the song, the place, the murder weapon, witnesses, the events leading up to the shooting. This song is a prosecutor’s wet dream of a confession.
But like I said, Rihanna isn’t really one someone visualizes as going to the extremes of shooting someone (given her history) but give that situation to some long-haired Canadian who just wants to be left alone and play music for bus fare, then sure…what the heck. As a bonus, listening to those rum pum pum pums does put one in the mood of being on vacation and ordering a nice Pina Colada to enjoy in the sun.
1. Bohemian Rhapsody – Queen
The greatest rock/ballad/opera/rock crossover of all time, Bohemian Rhapsody told the story of a simple man who killed a man. It was perhaps the greatest thing to come out of the seventies and made for a great start to Wayne’s World.
The long running time and smooth transitions in rhythmic and harmonic tempos made for a song that was easy to forget was all one long piece of music regarding the murder of a man and the trial and judgement of the murderer’s soul with the devil. Freddie Mercury’s voice puts us at ease as the story unfolds creating a sense of compassion and loneliness for this man who obviously knows he’s in the wrong.
Then the changes happen and everybody starts singing along to the ‘trial’ portion of the song, although most of us have no idea what we are singing, it sounds great in a crowd. It’s the only time Gallileo has been mentioned so enthusiastically outside of science class as well.
Everybody in the history of the world who ever listened to this gets pumped up when the ‘trial’ portion really gets underway (for visual evidence, see Wayne’s World link) and then to top it off, the kicker comes in and the outburst of guitars brings us back to the world of rock and roll. A subtle fade out and we are left exhausted and relieved, touched by the magic that was Freddie Mercury in a song about love, death and redemption. Long live Freddie…
Which songs about murder have we missed? Let us know in the comments section below.
BONUS;
Country Death Song, Violent Femmes
I feel shame that I forgot this wonderful upbeat bit of macabre from my most favourite band through the later years of high school; The Violent Femmes.
The song is a simple yet complex story of a farmer who murders one of his family, in this case his youngest daughter. The walking bass line and wailing voice of Gordon Gano completes a great story of a murder/suicide of the most tragic kind; a father killing his young daughter. Follow the thought process as the singer talks of losing his mind with the great line; I'm thinking and I'm thinking until there ain't nothing I ain't thunk.
Everything else is just spoiler.
Fun Fact; I first heard the Violent Femmes back in Grade 8, mistaking them for my cool Big City cousin's band. He had the first 4 songs (including the classic Add It Up) on a mixed cassette tape which also had a couple of his demo songs on it. For two years I thought his band was amazing.
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