These songs didn't shy away from difficult topics. Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’ll be discussing tunes with lyrical roots in true crimes.
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00:00Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we'll be discussing tunes with lyrical roots and true
00:12crimes.
00:21Let Him Dangle – Elvis Costello The beginning of Let Him Dangle by Elvis Costello
00:26just sounds rather ominous, doesn't it?
00:33The brooding piano and shuffling backbeats serve as atmospheric counterpoints to Costello's
00:39scathing criticism of capital punishments, as the singer describes the unlawful execution
00:44of Derrick Bentley in 1953.
00:51Bentley was pardoned posthumously in 1993 for the murder of a policeman, one that was
00:57actually committed by the former's accomplice, Christopher Craig.
01:07Although it's clear that Derrick Bentley did commit a burglary, the Lord Chief Justice
01:11presiding over the case claimed that Bentley was mentally aiding Craig's actions, and
01:17he was hanged for his crime.
01:24The Ripper – Judas Priest There have been numerous odes to Jack the
01:29Ripper within the annals of recorded music.
01:39This goes double for hard rock and heavy metal acts, with groups like Thin Lizzy and Judas
01:44Priest all crafting macabre odes to, as Priest singer Rob Halford poetically alludes, Jack
01:51the Knife.
01:57Priest's The Ripper is one of the band's early classics from their 1970s period, a
02:02time when the band's metallic might was still being forged in classic rock steel.
02:13The tune slithers and crawls in darkness, much like the titular Ripper himself, while
02:18Halford's sky-high vocals howl at the heavens with an immense charm and power.
02:28Bullet – Misfits There's no denying the punk pedigree of
02:33Glenn Danzig and the Misfits when it comes to this rather lurid recounting of the John
02:38F. Kennedy assassination.
02:45Texas is the reason that the President's dead sings Danzig, as the Misfits put their
02:50pedal to the proverbial metal with Bullets.
02:58The tune is brief and was notable for the graphic cover art that adorned initial 7-inch
03:03record pressings back in 78.
03:10Bullet doesn't really care about getting the facts of the case right, but instead does
03:14what all good punk rock does, it thrills and offends in equal measure.
03:25Suffer Little Children – The Smiths It's true that there was more than a bit
03:30of controversy behind Suffer Little Children by the Smiths, even back during its initial
03:35release.
03:40The subject matter of underage death is never easy, and parents of the victims were upset
03:46at the naming of some victims of the Moore's Murders from 1965.
03:58It should be said, however, that Smith singer Morrissey did enjoy a relationship with one
04:03of the victims' mothers, Anne West.
04:10This was after a meeting between the two asserted that Suffer Little Children was intended as
04:15tribute to the deceased children, as opposed to any sort of celebratory ode to the killers.
04:23Deep Red Bells – Nico Case There's a morbid beauty to the vocals of
04:28Nico Case that belies the grim subject matter of her song, Deep Red Bells.
04:37The spirit of classic murder ballads looms large over Case's ghostly vocals as Deep
04:42Red Bells tells the tale of Gary Ridgeway, also known as the Green River Killer.
04:52The production here is spacious and cavernous as Case's voice echoes over the valley of
04:57reverberating guitar and percussion.
05:05Deep Red Bells feels simultaneously indie, yet also kind of post-punk in execution, the
05:11kind of tune Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds might have written back in the 80s or 90s.
05:26The Night Chicago Died – Paper Lace Every generation enjoys their fair share of
05:31novelty songs, but not all of them arrive armed with such a bullet-riddled backstory.
05:44The story told within the lyrics of Paper Lace's The Night Chicago Died is fictional,
05:49but it's based upon real-life facts.
05:52The shootout that occurs within the song is between the Chicago PD and members of Al Capone's
05:57gang.
06:01The actual inspiration for this song was the 1929 St. Valentine's Day Massacre.
06:07Here, five members of George Buggs Moran's Northside gang were shot execution-style by
06:13Capone Associates, alongside two other Moran affiliates.
06:24Two of the alleged perpetrators were disguised as police officers, adding to the surprise
06:29nature of the attack.
06:37Claudine – The Rolling Stones Speculation runs rampant through Claudine by
06:42The Rolling Stones.
06:48Cut from their emotional rescue sessions, the song discusses the crime, trial, and aftermath
06:54of singer-actress Claudine Lange.
06:57Lange was formerly married to vocalist Andy Williams, but it was the alleged accidental
07:02shooting of her boyfriend, Olympic skier Spider Savage, that put her in front of a court.
07:13It was stated that Lange fatally shot Savage by accident, and she was given only a fine
07:18and 30 days jail time for the incident.
07:24Furthermore, Lange was allowed to choose her days of incarceration, which she served on
07:32weekends.
07:33Later, the defendant would marry her defense attorney, Ron Austin, after her relationship
07:38blossomed during the trial.
07:40Austin was married to somebody else during the time.
07:47Georgia Lee – Tom Waits Darkness is certainly no stranger to the
07:51music of Tom Waits.
07:53This goes double for the singer's latter-day period, such as his excellent 1999 album,
07:59Mule Variations.
08:08It was on the track listing for this record that we find Georgia Lee.
08:12Waits' sandpaper vocals resonate with mourning, as the song's plaintive balladry almost feels
08:18like a funerary rite.
08:25This is sad, tragic stuff that echoes the actual crime at hand – Georgia Lee Moses'
08:31shocking murder and the disappearance of her killer back in 1997.
08:39The career of Tom Waits always seemed to vacillate between unique experimentalism and old-school
08:45bluesy balladry.
08:47Georgia Lee is definitely the latter, and underlines the helplessness felt by those
08:52a little girl left behind.
08:58Death Valley 69 – Sonic Youth featuring Lydia Lunch
09:02It's sort of fitting that both the music video and the actual recording sessions for
09:07Death Valley 69 by Sonic Youth sound so ugly.
09:15This is intentional, of course – a chaotic and heavy approach by one of Noise Rock's
09:21founding fathers.
09:22Death Valley 69 was inspired by the Tate-LaBianca murders committed by the Manson family, and
09:28the accompanying video features some fittingly gruesome visuals.
09:38The combination of Sonic Youth's aggressive instrumentation and guest vocalist Lydia Lunch's
09:43caterwauling feels ritualistic, feral, almost sexual in its lured worship of darkness.
09:57Death Valley 69 is the sound of the disaffected, the detached, and the disturbed, but you'll
10:03never forget its seductive rhythm.
10:12Polly – Nirvana The musical arrangements of Polly by Nirvana
10:17are nothing if not simple.
10:26The minimal amount of riffs and effort put into this song actually allow its lyrics to
10:30take the lead, since Nirvana member Kurt Cobain was inspired to write the tune after reading
10:35a newspaper.
10:43The subject of Polly is specifically in reference to a 1987 abduction and assault committed
10:49by a paroled ex-con by the name of Gerald Friend.
11:01Friend had already served a sentence for a similar crime committed back in 1960, and
11:06this repeat offense resulted in the victim suing Washington State for allowing Friend
11:11back into society in the first place.
11:18Jenny Was A Friend Of Mine – The Killers It's strange that Jenny Was A Friend Of Mine
11:23wasn't released as a single from The Killers' debut LP, Hot Fuss, back in 2004.
11:34The album led with this track after all, but perhaps it's the song's true crime origins
11:39that initially kept it from receiving the music video treatment.
11:47Brandon Flowers was inspired to write Jenny Was A Friend Of Mine after reading out the
11:51defense of one Robert Chambers, also known as the Preppy Killer.
11:56This crime from 1986 shone a light into the darker sides of those who, on the surface
12:01at least, appeared to fit in nicely within societal modes.
12:12Co-composer Mark Stormer's amazing bassline drives the song, which envelops the listener
12:17with a similar sounding, slick form of sleazy darkness.
12:29I Don't Like Mondays – The Boomtown Rats Why are we so obsessed with what killers have
12:35to say in the aftermath of their crimes?
12:43Brenda Ann Spencer was only a teenager when she told a reporter, I Don't Like Mondays,
12:49after she committed a deadly 1979 school shooting.
12:55Spencer's rampage left two dead and nine injured at Grover Cleveland Elementary School,
13:04and it was this quote that inspired Bob Geldof and his band The Boomtown Rats to compose
13:09a song.
13:17The music video for I Don't Like Mondays features a schoolroom setting, and the results
13:22juxtapose dark visuals and pop musicality in a surreal, strange manner.
13:27It's memorable viewing, to say the least.
13:34Nebraska – Bruce Springsteen Nebraska is the Bruce Springsteen album for
13:39people who don't like Bruce Springsteen.
13:48This comes down to the album's stripped-down arrangements, dark subject matter, and intimate
13:52sounding recording style.
13:54Songs like the grim and atmospheric title track couldn't sound further removed from
13:58the boss's born-to-run heyday, a true example of Springsteen's artistry and refusal to
14:04be pigeonholed.
14:09Lyrically, Nebraska follows the infamous crime spree and eventual execution of Charles Starkweather,
14:17who killed 11 people alongside his accomplice and girlfriend, Carol Ann Fugate.
14:23Both were teenagers, the latter only 14 years of age during the couple's 1958 rampage.
14:32Springsteen's confessional tone and performance allows for Nebraska to feel like a secret
14:39confession – an inner monologue into the life of a killer.
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15:07Hurricane – Bob Dylan The world regards Bob Dylan as one of rock
15:12music's finest lyricists, and songs like Hurricane make this label easy to understand.
15:21This song is impeccably written, with an attention to repetition and hooky melodies
15:30that allow its lyrical defense of one Reuben Carter to rise to the forefront.
15:42The Hurricane was unjustly imprisoned for a barroom triple homicide back in 1966, and
15:49Dylan's tune sharply asserts the boxer's innocence.
16:00There are a lot of verses to digest here, but the journey's worth every step.
16:04While each chorus stabs the heart of injustice with Dylan's pen of poignant lyricism,
16:09Hurricane truly deserves every inch of its legendary status.
16:21Are you aware of any deep cut true crime inspirations behind our favorite songs?
16:26Let us know in the comments!