Naked Authors

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

Ten Most Wanted: Crimes in Song

1. A No-Frills Version of "Folsom Prison Blues"



2. The Kingston Trio on "The Eternal Triangle..."



3. Olivia Newton-John takes out an unfaithful boyfriend



4. The Widow Who Knew Too Much...



5. The History of Violence



6. To the same tune, "Dulce et Decorum Est..."



7. Jackson Browne and Lady White



8. Furry Lewis sings about Frankie and Johnnie:



9. Bob Marley will only cop to one shooting:



And, finally

10. I'm not sure whether the bigger crime is that described in the lyrics or the ones committed by Bob Mackie



Anybody else have a favorite crime immortalized in song?

17 Comments:

Anonymous Rae said...

Ooh, such fun....

I like Ella's version of "Miss Otis Regrets" an awful lot.

(And have to admit, I like the Mick Jagger / Chieftains version of "Long Black Veil" a bit better than Dave and Emmylou ;-)

5:29 AM  
Blogger DebbyJ said...

Lyle Lovett's L.A. County. No one pulls a gun and blows an ex-girlfriend away at her wedding quite like Lyle.

5:30 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

As cheesey as it is, "The Night The Lights Went Out In Georgia " just because. A Country Music Classic!
mbh

6:57 AM  
Blogger Brett said...

"Desperate Times," by Charlie Robison.

"Used To Love Her," G 'n R

"Shades Of Gray," Robert Earl Keen

"Copperhead Road," Steve Earle

"The Road Goes On Forever," REK

Dunno why it is that awful crimes so often make for great songs.
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B

8:28 AM  
Blogger Louise Ure said...

Miranda Lambert's "Crazy Ex-Girlfriend"

8:38 AM  
Blogger Louise Ure said...

And of course ... "Alice's Restaurant," although that wasn't much of a crime.

8:38 AM  
Blogger StitchStash said...

Delurking with these humble submissions...
"Down By the River" by Neil Young (murder)
"Bohemian Rhapsody" by Queen (murder)
"Kid Charlamagne" by Steely Dan (drug dealing)

-Lucy (Dobbs '82)

9:55 AM  
Blogger Daisy said...

"Papa Loved Mama" by Garth Brooks:
Features probably the only murder-by-big rig in modern popular music.

This isn't the official video, but it totally should be:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=vTE6t3zj6U0

10:05 AM  
Anonymous Rae said...

Ooh, thought of two more:

"Goodbye Earl", Dixie Chicks, and that Billie Joe McAllister / Tallahassee Bridge song from back in the day.....

10:22 AM  
Blogger Brett said...

Oh, and "Delia's Gone," as sung by Johnny Cash.

Yeah, it's a feel-good springtime singalong.
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B

12:08 PM  
Anonymous James O. Born said...

Dave matthews Long Black Veil cover is on my MP3 player and I listen to it five times a week.

Good job, Cornelia.


Jim

12:51 PM  
Anonymous Andi said...

i second "Goodbye, Earl". I wrote an article about country music a while back and got onto quite a distracted sidebar about revenge songs. And will offer one that most folks don't know, since this was a great local group.
Ranch Romance's "The Buckaroo"
Garth Brooks "The Thunder Rolls"
Martina McBride "Independence Day"

And on a slightly different note, "The Homecoming Queen's Got a Gun" ("Johnny? Wull, like, who's JONNNY?") by Julie Brown (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b8hxCpAdCJI)

I alas, HATE "Long Black Veil" as it tends toward that nasal whininess in too many renditions. But I gotta admit to a secret liking for "The Night The Lights Went Out in Georgia" too.

LOVE the no-frills "Folsom Prison Blues". Love it.

And for all of us who grew up with "Tom Dooley", let's spare a thought for John Stewart of the Kingston Trio who died 1/21/08

1:27 PM  
Anonymous Paul said...

Should we be concerned about your bloodthirsty taste in popular music?

1:40 PM  
Blogger Cornelia Read said...

Oh, so sad about John Stewart, Andi!

I also love Goodbye Earl, and should have included that one. Plus Alice's Restaurant is a perennial favorite. I can just about recite the entire massacree.

And welcome, Lucy! Always great to see a Dobbs chick, online or otherwise

1:41 PM  
Blogger Mark Terry said...

I was thinking almost anything by Britney Spears since it's pretty much a crime against music everytime she sings.

2:08 PM  
Blogger Marianne said...

"Delilah" sung sexily by Tom Jones.

"Dark Lady" sung by Cher.

Both damn good. :-D

Cheers,
Marianne

2:49 PM  
Blogger Fran said...

"Down in the Willow Garden" by Art Garfunkel. It's such a sweet sounding, gentle little song, right up until you listen to the lyrics.

And for revenge, "Up Until Then" by John Gorka, another happy, up-tempo song with violence.

8:36 PM  

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