Thought of changing to Orange mate? Have your spine chilled by this selection of creeps and weirdos, and that's just the band members.....read on
This blog contains a good list of the top songs about psychos and got me thinking about the tunes that get me singing in the shower like Janet Leigh....about murrrrderrrrrr.....
1) Ted, Just Admit It by Jane’s addiction
The absolute mother load of murder songs mainly because it does not simply glorify or condemn but makes a larger point about the connections between murder, rape, violence towards women and men’s attitude to women. It starts as a plea to Ted Bundy to name all his victims after his 70’s killing spree. It then looks into the media’s prurient fascination with murderers giving them an undeserving celebrity, particularly the urbane Bundy, and the fundamental violence inherent in the sex act. All set to a jazzy dub like steam of sound.
Most murderous bit:
And then he came
Now sister's
Not a virgin anymore
Her sex is violent...
2) Diane by Husker Du
While it sounds like it was recorded by a band trapped in the trunk of a car being driven to the desert to be "whacked" its murkyness adds to the sinister tale that unfolds. Based on the true kidnap and murder of waitress Diane Edwards by Joseph Ture in 1980, the Huskers contrast a bleak journalistic retelling of the crime from the killer's view point during the verse with an anguished howling chorus.
Most murderous bit:
"We could cruise down Robert Street all night long
But I think I'll just rape you, and kill you instead"
3) Excitable Boy by Warren Zevon
Hairy alchoholic Zevon was the turd in the punch bowel in the glitzy world of 1970’s LA singer songwriters. Surrounded by such vapid "cocaine cowboys" like The Eagles his songs could not have been farther from his contemporaries, chronicling rapists, mercenaries and…shudder…. lawyers. This deceptively jaunty ditty roles along merrily enough until the protagonist randomly bites an usherette in the leg in the dark of the cinema. The girly backing vocals, someone’s idea of making it “commercial”, instead make the whole thing even more bezerk. Zevon’s other hit was called “Werewolves of London” and he used to beat up his wife.
Most murderous bit:
After ten long years they let him out of the home
Excitable boy, they all said
And he dug up her grave and built a cage with her bones
Excitable boy, they all said
4) The Ballad Of TV Violence by Cheap Trick
Virtually all of Da Tricks first three albums are sugarcoated power pop with lyrics about pedophiles, suicide and ELO. Most slip by due to the catchy melodies and big riffs but this song really does sound like it was sung and written by a nut job. It took them years to have a hit….unsurprisingly. Killer riff!
Most murderous bit:
I need some rope, it’s my only hope
After twenty or so I just don't know
I was the lonely boy
5) Mind of a Lunatic by Geto Boys
There are a shovel load of rap tracks that are about killing, I could do a whole separate list. But this is the most famous hip hop song specifically about a serial killer rather than a gangland gun battle. Really all the other songs in this list wither compared to the ranting tirade of explicit splatter contained within. Most of their other stuff was equally graphic with one of their album covers featuring a dwarf rapper with his eye poked out....ewwwwww.
Most murderous bit, the whole fucking thing, but this is the most printable stanza:
Cross the line, your ass is mine
I don't give a fuck if you're 9 or 99
Blind, crippled, and crazy, don't faze me
Your funky ass will be pushin up daisies
6) Nebraska - Bruce Springsteen
I don’t give a fuck for the Boss generally but this wintery folk song works because it is shorn of his usual chest beating and really kills, forgive the pun, with the final stanza, see below. Based on the killing spree of Charles Starkweather and Caril Ann Fugate which also formed the inspiration for the excellent film “Badlands”, basically the best film ever made kids….apart from Shrek 2 obviously.
Most murderous bit:
They declared me unfit to live
Said into that great void my soul'd be hurled
They wanted to know why I did what I did
Well sir I guess there's just a meanness in this world.
7) Gary Gilmore’s Eyes by The Adverts
A bit of levity with this punk classic. Based on the story of murderer Gary Gilmore who asked for his body to be donated to science after his, requested, execution. It imagines the fate of the person who is donated his eyes in a bizarre transplant, subsequently driven to madness by the visions his new eyes show him.
Most murderous bit:
A murderer's been killed,
And he donates his sight to science.
I'm locked into a private ward.
I realise that I must be...
Looking through Gary Gilmore's eyes.
8) Psycho Killer by Talking Heads
Undoubtedly the most famous song about a psycho. Singer David Byrne even looked a bit like Anthony Perkins in “Psycho”, and his strange muttered delivery reminds you of all the times you are stuck on the tube with the guy who just wants to be your friend, all the way until Bank…..Oddly the band Husker Du came up with their name when jamming on this song, they could not remember the weird verse that is in French so they started calling out other foreign phrases instead. “Husker Du” meaning “do you remember” in Swedish.
Most murderous bit:
When I have nothing to say, my lips are sealed.
Say something once, why say it again?
9) Diary of a Madman by Gravediggaz
I forgot this classic! A hilarious theremin driven nightmare that works like a horror film in music. It starts with a court scene, each of the group's four rappers in the dock stepping up to recount their crimes. Each rap becomes ever more demonic and graphic ending with the court in uproar possessed by evil spirits....a little juicier than "Yellow" by Coldplay don't ya thunk?
Most murderous bit:
And they nailed my hands and feet to the form of a cross
Ah I cry as the blood drips inside of my eye I refuse to die
Visions of hell tormented my face
So i chewed my fucking arm off and made my escape
10) Midnight Rambler by The Rolling Stones
Well it just fucking rocks!
Most murderous bit:
I'll stick my knife right down your throat, baby
And it hurts!
I could have had tracks by Nick Cave and Alice Cooper but well...they are shite...
Maningrey
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