Songs about killing women: over horses, infidelity or by accident

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Mattie Groves (traditional)
Delilah (Tom Jones)
Red Headed Stranger (Willie Nelson)

― Idont'wannago, Tuesday, 11 January 2005 21:59 (twenty years ago)

Delia's Gone (traditional? anyway the Johnny Cash one)

― Daniel Peterson (polkaholic), Tuesday, 11 January 2005 22:02 (twenty years ago)

Neil Young "Down By The River"

― Shakey Mo Collier, Tuesday, 11 January 2005 22:02 (twenty years ago)

guns n roses, "used to love her"

― fact checking cuz (fcc), Tuesday, 11 January 2005 22:03 (twenty years ago)

warren zevon, "excitable boy"

― fact checking cuz (fcc), Tuesday, 11 January 2005 22:03 (twenty years ago)

Bob Dylan - In Search of Little Sadie
Bob Dylan - Little Sadie

― LSTD (answer) (sexyDancer), Tuesday, 11 January 2005 22:04 (twenty years ago)

hendrix: hey joe
new order: 1963

― grimly fiendish (grimlord), Tuesday, 11 January 2005 22:04 (twenty years ago)

geto boys - mind of a lunatic

― weasel diesel (K1l14n), Tuesday, 11 January 2005 22:05 (twenty years ago)

the beatles "run for your life"

― donut christ (donut), Tuesday, 11 January 2005 22:05 (twenty years ago)

Pretty Polly in all mutations (incl. Nirvana)

― LSTD (answer) (sexyDancer), Tuesday, 11 January 2005 22:07 (twenty years ago)

morrissey, "margaret on the guillotine"

― fact checking cuz (fcc), Tuesday, 11 January 2005 22:09 (twenty years ago)

Can't forget the bluegrass standard, "Omie Wise":

Oh, listen to my story, I'll tell you no lies,
How John Lewis did murder poor little Omie Wise.

He told her to meet him at Adams's Springs.
He promised her money and other fine things.

So, fool-like she met him at Adams's Springs.
No money he brought her nor other fine things.

"Go with me, little Omie, and away we will go.
We'll go and get married and no one will know."

She climbed up behind him and away they did go,
But off to the river where deep waters flow.

"John Lewis, John Lewis, will you tell me your mind?
Do you intend to marry me or leave me behind?"

"Little Omie, little Omie, I'll tell you my mind.
My mind is to drown you and leave you behind."

"Have mercy on my baby and spare me my life,
I'll go home as a beggar and never be your wife."

He kissed her and hugged her and turned her around,
Then pushed her in deep waters where he knew that she would drown.

He got on his pony and away he did ride,
As the screams of little Omie went down by his side.

T'was on a Thursday morning, the rain was pouring down,
When the people searched for Omie but she could not be found.

Two boys went a-fishin' one fine summer day,
And saw little Omie's body go floating away.

They threw their net around her and drew her to the bank.
Her clothes all wet and muddy, they laid her on a plank.

Then sent for John Lewis to come to that place --
And brought her out before him so that he might see her face.

He made no confession but they carried him to jail,
No friends or relations would go on his bail.

― Tantrum The Cat (Tantrum The Cat), Tuesday, 11 January 2005 22:10 (twenty years ago)

the beatles "run for your life"

though that one's only threatening to kill her. and it's a borrowed threat, the lyric coming entirely from elvis presley's "baby, let's play house."

― fact checking cuz (fcc), Tuesday, 11 January 2005 22:10 (twenty years ago)

polly vaughn--folk song wherein a dude shoots polly vaughn, mistaking her for a swan. not a good alibi, but he gets points for originality.

― tylerw, Tuesday, 11 January 2005 22:12 (twenty years ago)

Where the Wild Roses Grow - Nick Cave/Kylie Minogue

― ailsa (ailsa), Tuesday, 11 January 2005 22:13 (twenty years ago)

lots of people before hendrix (and a few after): hey joe
faster pussycat - shooting you down
ac/dc - dirty deeds done dirt cheap
aaron neville - over you
pete winfield - eighteen with a bullet
david allen coe - suicide
g.b. grayson - ommie wise
bobby gentry - ode to billie joe
richard marx - hazard
coon creek girls - pretty polly
everly brothers - down in the willow garden
fsk - lonely river rhine
your mom too - roger williams in america
louvin brothers - knoxville girl

― chuck, Tuesday, 11 January 2005 22:13 (twenty years ago)

oops xp on ommie wise and pretty polly i guess. but still.

― chuck, Tuesday, 11 January 2005 22:14 (twenty years ago)

and of course:

eminem - kim

― chuck, Tuesday, 11 January 2005 22:17 (twenty years ago)

that Eminem one

haha xpost

― Stevem On X (blueski), Tuesday, 11 January 2005 22:17 (twenty years ago)

They're Hanging Me Tonight - Marty Robbins

― Garibaldianne (Garibaldianne), Tuesday, 11 January 2005 22:19 (twenty years ago)

Wow, that was creepily easy.

― Idont'wannago, Tuesday, 11 January 2005 22:21 (twenty years ago)

eminem, "stan"
eminem, "'97 bonnie and clyde"

― fact checking cuz (fcc), Tuesday, 11 January 2005 22:25 (twenty years ago)

Suicide - Frankie Teardrop
Lou Reed - Street Hassle

― LSTD (answer) (sexyDancer), Tuesday, 11 January 2005 22:25 (twenty years ago)

chuck, surely hazard is more about *not* killing a woman? i figure the boy is innocent - he seems so sincere!

― weasel diesel (K1l14n), Tuesday, 11 January 2005 22:30 (twenty years ago)

Shangri-La's - You Can Never Go Home Anymore
(matricide through heartbreak)

― LSTD (answer) (sexyDancer), Tuesday, 11 January 2005 22:39 (twenty years ago)

i think the guy in hazard is what they call an "unreliable narrator," but only he knows for sure, i guess. and speaking of "hazard", duh:

bruce springsteen - nebraska

also, though i already mentioned these on the "rape song" thread, i believe they all apply here (maybe even more than there) as well:

husker du - diane
mekons - karen
john anderson - july the 12th, 1939

― chuck, Tuesday, 11 January 2005 22:54 (twenty years ago)

"hazard:'s words, so others can decide for themselves:

My mother came to hazard when I was just seven
Even then the folks in town said with predjudiced eyes
That boy’s not right
Three years ago when I came to know mary
First time that someone looked beyond the rumors and the lies
And saw the man inside

We used to walk down by the river
She loved to watch the sun go down
We used to walk along the river
And dream our way out of this town

No one understood what I felt for mary
No one cared until the night she went out walking alone
And never came home
Man with a badge came knocking next morning
Here was I surrounded by a thousand fingers suddenly
Pointed right at me

I swear I left her by the river
I swear I left her safe and sound
I need to make it to the river
And leave this old nebraska town

I think about my life gone by
And how it’s done me wrong
There’s no escape for me this time
All of my rescues are gone, long gone

I swear I left her by the river
I swear I left her safe and sound
I need to make it to the river
And leave this old nebraska town

― chuck, Tuesday, 11 January 2005 22:56 (twenty years ago)

moloko - mother

― sibsi (sibsi), Tuesday, 11 January 2005 23:03 (twenty years ago)

The woman in Street Hassle isn't murdered: she overdoses.

― shookout (shookout), Tuesday, 11 January 2005 23:09 (twenty years ago)

Handsome Family - "My Beautiful Bride"

― zaxxon25 (zaxxon25), Tuesday, 11 January 2005 23:16 (twenty years ago)

Bobby Bare Jr.'s very long band name - Valentine

― Michelle, Tuesday, 11 January 2005 23:23 (twenty years ago)

xypost: counts as accidental killing?

― LSTD (answer) (sexyDancer), Tuesday, 11 January 2005 23:27 (twenty years ago)

Johnny Cash - Cocaine Blues

"shot her down because she made me sore / I thought I was her daddy but she had five more"

― Michelle, Wednesday, 12 January 2005 00:21 (twenty years ago)

Cher kills the the gypsy queen in "Dark Lady"!

Also, "Pieces of April" (it's a mourning in May, you know)

― Joseph McCombs (Joseph McCombs), Wednesday, 12 January 2005 06:24 (twenty years ago)

patti smith - "summer cannibals"

― j blount (papa la bas), Wednesday, 12 January 2005 07:13 (twenty years ago)

kristin hersh's "murder, misery and then goodnight" has a number of songs in which women are murdered, usually by being tossed in a river.

― fortunate hazel (f. hazel), Wednesday, 12 January 2005 07:38 (twenty years ago)

"goodnight irene"

― Shmool McShmool (shmuel), Wednesday, 12 January 2005 07:44 (twenty years ago)

"There is Something on Your Mind (Pts. 1 & 2)," Bobby Marchan

― Rickey Wright (Rrrickey), Wednesday, 12 January 2005 08:14 (twenty years ago)

"North Wind," Houston Wells and the Marksmen

― chime_on, Wednesday, 12 January 2005 16:52 (twenty years ago)

Pat Hare - "I'm Gonna Murder My Baby"

― Mr. Snrub, Wednesday, 12 January 2005 17:09 (twenty years ago)

Smiths - "Nowhere Fast"

"Each sensible child will know what this means."

― Patrick Michael, Wednesday, 12 January 2005 18:55 (twenty years ago)

Down On The Banks Of The Ohio - Blue Sky Boys

― o. nate (onate), Wednesday, 12 January 2005 18:59 (twenty years ago)

David Geddes (sp?), "Run Joey Run"

"And here's the last words Julie said: 'Daddy please don't, it wasn't his fault ...' "

― Joseph McCombs (Joseph McCombs), Wednesday, 12 January 2005 19:07 (twenty years ago)

Neko Case - "Make Your Bed" ("Make your bed the river, young girl (x2)/ I know you can't swim but I'll tuck you in/ Make your bed the river young girl"): an exercise in writing a traditional-style murder ballad, a la "Poor Ellen Smith," "Banks of the Ohio," "Little Sadie," "Knoxville Girl," "Pretty Polly," "Tom Dooley," etc. Besides the Kristen Hersh set prev. mentioned, there's a Nick Cave album called Murder Ballads with originals as well as stuff like "Stagger Lee."

A better question might be how many songs we can come up where a woman kills a man. Dixie Chicks, "Goodbye Earl." And?

― carl w (carl w), Wednesday, 12 January 2005 22:59 (twenty years ago)

Sugar - A Good Idea

― o. nate (onate), Wednesday, 12 January 2005 23:00 (twenty years ago)

Jamie's Got a Gun, at least in the video

― LSTD (answer) (sexyDancer), Wednesday, 12 January 2005 23:05 (twenty years ago)

Woman kills a man: Cher's "Dark Lady" again. Also Vicki Lawrence, "The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia." And almost "Thin Line Between Love and Hate."

― Joseph McCombs (Joseph McCombs), Wednesday, 12 January 2005 23:26 (twenty years ago)

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