Mama! Just Killed A Man. Songs Of Crime And Punishment

Everything by Johnny Cash

 

Everything by Robber Smith, the Krooks, the Police and the Killers.

 

See also the album 'Power, Corruption and Lies'.

 

Breaking the law, breaking the law…

 

One of my personal favourites from Johnny's back catalogue of gloom

 

Or "Murder"

 

Stick it up Mister!
Hear what I say Sir!

54-46 was my number.

 

Didn't he do 'ghost in my house?' That's an amazing tune. If I didn't hate dancing, that would be my go to dance floor request

Dusty was also there.

 

He did, and I absolutely agree, it’s fantastic.

 

Yeah again, if I didn't despise the very concept of dancing, I'd be into Northern Soul nights.

 

His first big hit was ‘Gotta See Jane’ which I bought when it came out.

If you want to revel in songs about death and murder, listen to some of the tracks on various ‘folk rock’ albums.

 

I'd not seen this 'til Moog mentioned it on the storytelling thread so thought I'd add one or two (and then a couple more.)
They're rabbit holes these bloody music threads!

Warren Zevon - 'Prison Grove'

Spoiler: Lyrics

An icy wind burns and scars
Rushes in like a fallen star
Through the narrow space between these bars
Looking down on Prison Grove
Dug in, hunkered down
Hours race without a sound
Gonna carry me to where I'm bound
Looking down on Prison Grove
Iron will hard as rock
Hold me up for the fateful knock
When they walk me down in a mortal lock
Out on Prison Grove
Shine on
All these broken lives
Shine on
Shine the light on me
Knick knack, paddy wack
They say you'll hear your own bones crack
When they bend you back to bible black
Then you'll find your love
Some folks have to die too hard
Some folks have to cry too hard
Take one last look at the prison yard
Goodbye, Prison Grove
Shine on
All these broken lives
Shine on
Shine the light on me
Come on, oh, oh
Come on, oh, oh
Oh, oh
Oh, oh
Come on, oh, oh
Hey, oh, oh
Come on, oh, oh
Hey, oh, oh

 

Similar to Prison Grove...

Iron & Wine - 'Free Until They Cut Me Down'

Spoiler: Lyrics

When the men take me to the devil tree
I will be free and shining like before
Papa don't tell me what I should've done
She's the one who begged me
"Take me home"

When the wind wraps me like the reaper's hand
I will swing free until they cut me down
Papa don't tell me what I could've done
She's the one who begged me
"Take me home"

When the sea takes me like my mother's arms
I will breathe free as any word of God
Papa don't tell me what you would've done
She's the one who begged me
"Take me home"

 

Possibly my favourite murder ballad

Neko Case - 'Furnace Room Lullaby'

Spoiler: Lyrics

All night, all I hear, all I hear's your heart
How come, how come

I twisted you over and under to take you
The coals went so wild as they swallowed the rest
I twisted you under and under to break you
I just couldn't breathe with your throne on my chest

All night, all I hear, all I hear's your heart
How come, how come

So far under the bed
Into the beams you've gone
I've gone, you've gone

I'm wrapped in the depths of these deeds that have made me
I can't bring a sound from my head though I try
I can't seem to find my way up from the basement
A demon holds my place on earth 'till I die

All night, all I hear, all I hear's your heart
How come, how come

So far under the bed
Into the beams you've gone
I've gone, you've gone

All night, all I hear, all I hear's your heart

 

A Bob Dylan wannabe but it's still pretty good

Ian Noe - 'Letter To Madeline'

Spoiler: Lyrics

Looked like a hundred guns, held on me
Hunkered by the shed, a Detroit general and company,
A callin' boy come out, we have you jailed
Beside the buck shot door, I stood still,
Wondering how the hell the bastards found me
In those hills and clinging to a letter that I wished I'd mailed

Oh rest easy Madeline, I'm bringing down the bank
Across this flooded county line
And when I get home we'll have a grand old time
But don't you shed no tears, or be surprised
If you get the word, that your wild man's up and died
Just set me up a stone on that high hillside

Now in the pouring snow, sad but swift
I headed down the highway
Hopin' that the burden of my blues would lift
And prayin' that whiskey would keep me brave
But I got caught in the cold
Looking like a hobo without no mercy from the road
And feeling like a dead man without a grave

Oh rest easy Madeline, I'm bringing down the bank
Across this flooded county line
And when I get home we'll have a grand old time
But don't you shed no tears, or be surprised
If you get the word, that your wild man's up and died
Just set me up a stone on that high hillside

Oh my, oh my
Well bloodied up and chained
My legs pinned down
I woke to find my fate in the hands of four men
Gathered around, cursing for the bag they knew I'd hid
And the more they stomped and moaned, the more I prayed
Feelin' every spark flyin' off of that file and their rusted blade
Said better think it through this is your last chance kid

Oh rest easy Madeline, I'm bringing down the bank
Across this flooded county line
And when I get home we'll have a grand old time
But don't you shed no tears, or be surprised
If you get the word, that your wild man's up and died
Just set me up a stone on that high hillside

 

Who hasn't caved in the head of the girl we loved so?

The Handsome Family - 'Knoxville Girl'

Spoiler: Lyrics

I met a liitle girl in Knoxville, a town we all know well
And every Sunday evening, out in her home, I'd dwell
We went to take an evening walk about a mile from town
I picked a stick up off the ground and knocked that fair girl down

She fell down on her bended knees, for mercy she did cry
"Oh Willy dear, don't kill me here, I'm unprepared to die"
She never spoke another word, I only beat her more
Until the ground around me within her blood did flow

I took her by her golden curls and I drug her round and around
Throwing her into the river that flows through Knoxville town
Go down, go down, you Knoxville girl with the dark and rolling eyes
Go down, go down, you Knoxville girl, you can never be my bride

I started back to Knoxville, got there about midnight
My mother, she was worried and woke up in a fright
Saying "dear son, what have you done to bloody your clothes so?"
I told my anxious mother I was bleeding at my nose

I called for me a candle to light myself to bed
I called for me a handkerchief to bind my aching head
Rolled and tumbled the whole night through, as troubles was for me
Like flames of hell around my bed and in my eyes could see

They carried me down to Knoxville and put me in a cell
My friends all tried to get me out but none could go my bail
I'm here to waste my life away down in this dirty old jail
Because I murdered that Knoxville girl, the girl I loved so well

Just too many to post so I'll leave it there

 

I like Warren Zevon.

 

Only ever knew Werewolves of London from him. Which I love.

 

Dem a Murderer

 

Death Letter Blues

One of the great tracks from a founder of the blues . Not strictly about murder but Son House did do time for murder as a younger man so that gets him in .

 

Not quite on the same level as murder but nicking a pair of shoes from C &A is still a crime nonetheless.