Murder is something portrayed very frequently in the arts, although probably in literature more often than any of the others. So as you’d imagine, a multitude of artists (generally
angst-fuelled alternative rock bands) have written songs about killing and
slaying and a whole manner of that sort of thing. For this week’s post, I’ve
picked out my favourite songs about the unlawful killing of a person.
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| Sonic Youth sung about controversial themes regularly in their music. |
The Curse of
Millhaven – Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
A large amount of Nick Cave’s work documents homicide and
the like. In fact, the Aussie once released an album on the topic- 1996’s Murder Ballads. The Curse of Millhaven is Cave’s 7 minute long account of the tale
of Loretta- a fourteen year old serial killer living in Millhaven, who kills
the rich men, the poor men and even the professor’s terrier. Often cited as one
of Cave’s finest and most sadistic tracks,
The Curse Of Millhaven is a fast paced, yet slightly catchy ballad that
cannot be overlooked by anyone.
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| The sleeve for Death Valley 69 |
Thurston Moore is a man of many interesting interests and
fascinating fascinations, one of which being Charles Manson, and the Manson
family. In Sonic Youth’s ’85 debut single, Moore writes about the Manson family’s
brutal murder of Sharon Tate, wife of Roman Polanski. As well as Moore’s
vicious snarls, the song features Lydia Lunch on backing vocals, whose blood
curdling hollering creates a really sinister atmosphere. Although Death Valley ’69 is primitive compared
to the group’s later work, it’s a must hear for anyone.
Sister Ray – The Velvet
Underground
Although the earlier two songs are an account of unlawful
death, the Velvets’ Sister Ray is a stunning
depiction of the aftermath of a murder. Lou Reed once described Sister Ray as a story set at a New York
house which stars eight different characters. In this, someone is murdered and
no one does anything about it because everyone is off their face on smack
and/or crack. The song is completely improvised and goes on for a visceral seventeen
minutes- each second very necessary.
Rusholme Ruffians - The Smiths
The Smiths have never been afraid to sing about the darker aspects of miserable Manchester, and Rusholme Ruffians. This song is about a stabbing at a county fayre, according to Moz "only adds to the excitement". It's best heard on the Rank live LP, where it's featured in a medley with a cover of Presley's His Latest Flame. The song is also notable for Rourke's fantastic bassline, and Marr's country-inspired guitar playing. Definitely the highlight of the band's second album, Meat Is Murder.
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| The original artwork for Headache EP; it was swiftly replaced |
Grinder – Big Black
Big Black, like Nick Cave, have written a large amount of
songs about murder and other aspects of the darker side of American culture
(listen to Jordan, Minnesota for more
of that), so choosing a Big Black murder ballad was a bit of a toughie. In the
end I went for Grinder, from the EP Headache (the EP itself has a mug shot
of a shotgun suicide victim as its cover art, post-shooting). In Grinder,
the character portrayed by Steve Albini’s snarling vocal is the murderer. Someone
takes Albini’s tools, but fails to take his trusty grinder; this causes the
murderer to pursue and kill the foolish thief in one of industrial-rock’s
greatest songs. Elsewhere on the Headache EP, there are even more songs of a similar ilk, namely the brutal opener, My Disco; a song about a surgeon stamping his new-born to death. Genius.
Somebody Got Murdered
– The Clash
An obvious choice, of course, but Somebody Got Murdered is one of the more overlooked Clash songs. Sandinista! was snuffed at by a large percentage
of the music press upon release, because apparently 36 is a few too many songs
for an album. Even though that might be slightly
true, Sandanista! has some absolute
crackers on it, namely Shepherd’s
Delight, the Magnificent Seven and Somebody
Got Murdered. Strummer wrote the latterly mentioned Somebody Got Murdered in disgust, after seeing the victim of a
shooting’s carcass gracing the floor of a London car park. Strummer’s lyrics
are incredibly powerful; especially “somebody’s
dead forever” which once more proves his prowess as a songwriter.
Now, I’ll be the first person to admit that I’m not a huge
fan of the Beatles. However, they did write some fantastic songs, and release
some amazing albums. One of those fantastic songs is Maxwell’s Silver Hammer from the amazing Abbey Road. There is some debate over whether the silver hammer of
Maxwell is about an actual murder, but personally I believe it is. Some say
that it’s about sex, or drugs, or something of a similar ilk. But I believe
that the incident in the song alludes to the murder of Joe Orton, the English playwright,
who was beaten to death by his (male) lover with nine hammer blows to the head,
which is quite the contrast to the upbeat sound of the song, don’t you think?
Let’s Lynch The
Landlord – The Dead Kennedys
We’ve already had a song by the greatest punk band of all
time on the countdown (The Clash), but the murder mixtape wouldn’t be complete
without a song from the greatest post punk
band of all time, would it? Let’s Lynch
The Landlord is a track from the Dead Kennedys stunning debut album Fresh Fruit For Rotting Vegetables which
is much more humorous in joking about the homicide of Biafra’s bastard landlord
than the aforementioned songs. Jello Biafra and co, with this song, have written
another song about defying those that exploit the proletariats in the most
extreme ways, and I have to say, it’s very catchy. Probably more catchy than it
should be anyhow.
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| Liddle Towers |
The Murder of Liddle Towers – Angelic Upstarts
In the late seventies, punk bands were popping up here there and everywhere. This was especially the case in London, as the city yielded the Clash, Sham 69 and of course the Angelic Upstarts. The Murder of Liddle Towers is a song based on; you guessed it, the murder of Liddle Towers. Liddle Towers was an amateur boxing coach murdered under police custody the year before AU’s conception.
Wave of Mutilation –
Pixies
The Pixies song that lends itself to the name of their
greatest hits is also, arguably, the closest thing they ever wrote to a murder
ballad. The song is, probably, about a phenomenon in Japan where businessmen
would drive their cars into the sea, with their families present. Despite this,
it sounds every bit as serene as Where is
my Mind? and lacks the ferocity of any of the work that Pixies released
prior to Doolittle.
That concludes my somewhat gruesome post, which I probably should have made at Halloween or something, but I
thought it might be of some sort of interest to a few people. Also it’s
something I’ve wanted to do ever since I joined FIBLAR. Anyway, please post anything
I’ve missed out in the comments, because I’d be really interested to hear from
everyone else.
(written by Calum Cashin)
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