Thanks in part to the influence of Appalachian folk, hillbilly and Western swing, country music has always addressed some pretty dark subject matter. Sure, there are songs about cheating, fighting and stealing, but it's those even darker tunes about killin' that are the guiltiest of pleasures. They're also among the most popular — trying to count the number of times murder is alluded to in country's storied history is, like James Joyce said of eternity, akin to moving a beach one grain of sand at a time.
To be a bona fide country murder tale, the song must have a homicide (or two), a narrative and, of course, possess that distinctive country sound. Ergo, "Murder Was the Case" wouldn't qualify. Likewise, simply mentioning the capital offense does not a murder ballad make — there needs to be action. Here then are 10 country murder songs that best sum up the sub-genre.
A murder is committed while the narrator — who's apparently the killer's doppelgänger — is in bed with his best friend's wife. Everyone and their mother has covered this song (including my mother). And everyone wonders why in the world the narrator would choose death over just confessing to a lesser crime. That must've been some friendship. Now he's six feet under, his lover is forced to hide her grief, her husband is without a best buddy, and the real murderer is still on the loose!
The Louvin Brothers, "Knoxville Girl"
This song is the best example of Appalachian roots on the early country scene. Unfortunately the word "femicide" was coined because of stories like these from the 19th century. Perhaps if our narrator had just popped the question, there would have been no murder. But murder he does and with such description. Perfect harmonies describing a vicious killing is sort of like china dolls: beautiful and creepy.
Dixie Chicks, "Goodbye Earl"
"Goodbye Earl" is a true murder ballad performed by women, for a change, that shocked the country airwaves in 2000. The lyrics and video leave little to the imagination: Wanda is beat up by her husband, Earl, just two weeks after their wedding. Mary Ann flies to her rescue and helps plot Earl's demise: death by poisoned black eyed peas. They do a Dexter-worthy job of hiding his body and then start a lucrative business selling ham and jam. And, most importantly, they "don’t lose any sleep at night." A song as sassy as Natalie Maines herself.
Johnny Horton, "When It's Springtime in Alaska (It's Forty Below)"
This 1959 cautionary tale by noted story-singer Horton ("The Ballad of New Orleans") flips the murder ballad script by retelling the action from the point of view of the victim — not the killer or some omnipresent third party. In this case, the poor soul makes the mistake of "dancing" with the wife-to-be of a goon named "Big Ed." Horton ends each verse with "it's forty below," setting up the mother lode of all payoffs in the final line.
Lyle Lovett, "L.A. County"
Like a scene out of Quentin Tarintino's revenge opus Kill Bill, a bride and her groom get shot right there in the chapel on their wedding day. Other folks might have a different definition for "old friend," as Lovett refers to his .45 in the lyrics, and it's unclear if the narrator was even jilted by the girl, but the gruesome final scene guarantees anything but a white wedding.
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