Who doesn't love a good murder ballad?

[opiate69]

On one of our first dates, my wife and I saw a woman do this song a capella at a local open mike...we had never heard it before, so we asked her what it was... then went and bought the CD the next day... stunningly beautiful. From one of the darkest (but most amazing) albums of the 90s.

[rug]

1. Pretty Polly

&feature=fvwrel

He courted Pretty Polly about half of last night
yes, he courted Pretty Polly about half of last night
and he left her next morning before it was light

Pretty Polly, Pretty Polly, come take a ride with me
Pretty Polly, Pretty Polly, come take a ride with me
before we get married some pleasures to see

Well, she jumped up behind him and away they did go
yes, she jumped up behind him and away they did go
over the hills and to the valley below

And they rode a little bit further and what did they spy
yes, they rode a little bit further and what did they spy
but a newly dug grave with a spade lying by

Oh, Willy, oh, Willy I'm afraid of your ways
Oh, Willy, oh, Willy I'm afraid of your ways
I'm afraid you might lead my body astray

Pretty Polly, Pretty Polly, you're thinking about right
Pretty Polly, Pretty Polly, you're thinking about right
I've been digging on your grave the best part of last night

Well, she threw her arms around him and she trembled with fear
Oh, she threw her arms around him and she trembled with fear
but he threw her to the ground and she broke into tears

Well, he plunged the knife in her and her heart's blood did flow
Lord, he plunged the knife in her and her heart's blood did flow
and down in the grave Pretty Polly did go

He threw a little dirt over her and started off for home
yes, he threw a little dirt over her and started off for home
leaving nobody there but the wild birds to mourn

And now it's to the devil young Willy must pay
yes, it's now to the devil young Willy must pay
for he's killed Pretty Polly and then he ran away

[opiate69]

2. nice one!

And.... more Nick Cave -

&feature=related

They call me The Wild Rose
But my name was Elisa Day
Why they call me it I do not know
For my name was Elisa Day

From the first day I saw her I knew she was the one
As she stared in my eyes and smiled
For her lips were the colour of the roses
They grew down the river, all bloody and wild

When he knocked on my door and entered the room
My trembling subsided in his sure embrace
He would be my first man, and with a careful hand
He wiped the tears that ran down my face

CHORUS

On the second day I brought her a flower
She was more beautiful than any woman I'd seen
I said, 'Do you know where the wild roses grow
So sweet and scarlet and free?'

On the second day he came with a single rose
Said: 'Will you give me your loss and your sorrow?'
I nodded my head, as I layed on the bed
He said, 'If I show you the roses will you follow?'

CHORUS

On the third day he took me to the river
He showed me the roses and we kissed
And the last thing I heard was a muttered word
As he stood smiling above me with a rock in his fist

On the last day I took her where the wild roses grow
And she lay on the bank, the wind light as a thief
As I kissed her goodbye, I said, 'All beauty must die'
And lent down and planted a rose between her teeth

[Brigid]

3. "Delilah" by Tom Jones.

My mother used to love Tom Jones and played his records a lot back in those days.

[opiate69]

4. oooh, good call...

my grandfather used to sing this song in the car all the time when I was a little kid... have you seen the live at Cardiff Castle clip? HIs band freakin' rocks these days! lol

[Art_from_Ark]

20. I remember that song from the "This Is Tom Jones" TV show

One of my many favorites from 1968

[opiate69]

5. One more Nick Cave then I promise I'll find other artists lol

This song always makes me think of the old 50s or 60s movie The Bad Seed"

I live in a town called millhaven
And it's small and it's mean and it's cold
But if you come around just as the sun goes down
You can watch the whole town turn to gold
It's around about then that I used to go a-roaming
Singing la la la la la la la lie
All god's children they all gotta die
My name is loretta but I prefer lottie
I'm closing in on my fifteenth year
And if you think you have seen a pair of eyes more green
Then you sure didn't see them around here
My hair is yellow and I'm always a-combing
La la la la la la la lie
Mama often told me we all got to die
You must have heard about the curse of millhaven
How last christmas bill blake's little boy didn't come
Home
They found him next week in one mile creek
His head bashed in and his pockets full of stones
Well, just imagine all the wailing and moaning
La la la la la la la lie
Even little billy blake's boy, he had to die
Then professor o'rye from millhaven high
Found nailed to his door his prize-winning terrier
Then next day the old fool brought little biko to school
And we all had to watch as he buried her
His eulogy to biko had all the tears a-flowing
La la la la la la la lie
Even god's little creatures, they have to die
Our little town fell into a state of shock
A lot of people were saying things that made little sense
Then the next thing you know the head of handyman joe
Was found in the fountain of the mayor's residence
Foul play can really get a small town going
La la la la la la la lie
Even god's children all have to die
Then, in a cruel twist of fate, old mrs colgate
Was stabbed but the job was not complete
The last thing she said before the cops pronounced her
Dead
Was, my killer is loretta and she lives across the
Street!
Twenty cops burst through my door without even phoning
La la la la la la la lie
The young ones, the old ones, they all gotta die
Yes, it is i, lottie. the curse of millhaven
I've struck horror in the heart of this town
Like my eyes ain't green and my hair ain't yellow
It's more like the other way around
I gotta pretty little mouth underneath all the foaming
La la la la la la la lie
Sooner or later we all gotta die
Since I was no bigger than a weavil they've been saying i
Was evil
That if bad was a boot that I'd fit it
That I'm a wicked young lady, but I've been trying hard
Lately
O fuck it! I'm a monster! I admit it!
It makes me so mad my blood really starts a-going
La la la la la la la lie
Mama always told me that we all gotta die
Yeah, I drowned the blakey kid, stabbed mrs. colgate, i
Admit
Did the handyman with his circular saw in his garden shed
But I never crucified little biko, that was two junior
High school psychos
Stinky bohoon and his friend with the pumpkin-sized head
I'll sing to the lot, now you got me going
La la la la la la la lie
All god's children have all gotta die
There were all the others, all our sisters and brothers
You assumed were accidents, best forgotten
Recall the children who broke through the ice on lake
Tahoo?
Everyone assumed the warning signs had
Followed them to the bottom
Well, they're underneath the house where I do quite a bit
Of stowing
La la la la la la la lie
Even twenty little children, they had to die
And the fire of '91 that razed the bella vista slum
There was the biggest shit-fight this country's ever seen
Insurance companies ruined, land lords getting sued
All cause of wee girl with a can of gasoline
Those flames really roared when the wind started blowing
La la la la la la la lie
Rich man, poor man, all got to die
Well I confessed to all these crimes and they put me on
Trial
I was laughing when they took me away
Off to the asylum in an old black mariah
It ain't home, but you know, it's fucking better than
Jail
It ain't such bad old place to have a home in
La la la la la la la lie
All god's children they all gotta die
Now I got shrinks that will not rest with their endless
Rorschach tests
I keep telling them they're out to get me
They ask me if I feel remorse and I answer, why of
Course!
There is so much more I could have done if they'd let
Me!
So it's rorschach and prozac and everything is groovy
Singing la la la la la la la lie
All god's children they all have to die
La la la la la la la lie
I'm happy as a lark and everything is fine
Singing la la la la la la la lie
Yeah, everything is groovy and everything is fine
Singing la la la la la la la lie
All god's children they gotta die

[opiate69]

6. Old school....

&feature=related

[pinboy3niner]

7. Jimi Hendrix - 'Hey Joe' (at Woodstock)

&feature=related

[Manifestor_of_Light]

8. Die Moritat vom Mackie Messer, sung by Bryn Terfel

Literal English translation from German:

And the shark, he has teeth
And he wears them in his face
And Macheath, he has a knife
But the knife you don't see

On a beautiful blue Sunday
Lies a dead man on the Strand
And a man goes around the corner
Whom they call Mack the Knife

And Schmul Meier stays missing
As do some rich men
And his money has Mack the Knife,
On whom they can't pin anything.

Jenny Towler was found
With a knife in her chest
And on the wharf walks Mack the Knife,
Who knows nothing about all this.

And the minor-aged widow,
Whose name everyone knows,
Woke up and was violated
Mack, what was your price?

And some are in the darkness
And the others in the light
But you only see those in the light
Those in the darkness you don't see

But you only see those in the light
Those in the darkness you don't see



MACK THE KNIFE (Original version).

Und der Haifisch, der hat Zähne
Und die trägt er im Gesicht
Und MacHeath, der hat ein Messer
Doch das Messer sieht man nicht.

Ach, es sind des Haifischs Flossen
Rot, wenn dieser Blut vergießt!
Mackie Messer trägt 'n Handschuh
Drauf man keine Untat liest.

An der Themse grünem Wasser
Fallen plötzlich Leute um!
Es ist weder Pest noch Cholera
Doch es heißt: MacHeath geht um.

An 'nem schönen blauen Sonntag
Liegt ein toter Mann am Strand
Und ein Mensch geht um die Ecke
Den man Mackie Messer nannt.

Und Schmul Meier bleibt verschwunden
Und so mancher reiche Mann
Und sein Geld hat Mackie Messer
Dem man nichts beweisen kann.

Jenny Fowler ward gefunden
Mit 'nem Messer in der Brust
Und am Kai geht Mackie Messer
Der von allem nichts gewußt.

Wo ist Alfons Glite, der Fuhrherr?
Kommt das je ans Sonnenlicht?
Wer es immer wissen könnte
Mackie Messer weiß es nicht.

Und das große Feuer in Soho
Sieben Kinder und ein Greis
In der Menge Mackie Messer, den
Man nicht fragt und der nichts weiß.

Und die minderjährige Witwe
Deren Namen jeder weiß
Wachte auf und war geschändet
Mackie, welches war dein Preis?

Und die Fische, sie verschwinden,
Doch zum Kummer des Gerichts
Man zitiert am End den Haifisch,
Doch der Haifisch weiß von nichts

Und er kann sich nicht erinnern
Und man kann nicht an ihn ran,
Denn ein Haifisch ist kein Haifisch
Wenn man nicht beweisen kann.

[pinboy3niner]

9. Based on an actual murder: The Kingston Trio - 'Tom Dooley'

[pinboy3niner]

10. Frankie and Johnny

This has been covered by everyone from Pete Seeger to Louis Armstrong and Elvis to Johnny Cash, but here's an early version...

&feature=related

[RiffRandell]

11. The Police "Murder By Numbers"

Synchronicity was a great album. I saw them on that tour.

[Manifestor_of_Light]

18. I saw them in 83 on their last tour too. In Houston. Synchronicity.

Most people don't write songs about Carl Jung, but Sting did.

I gave up on rock and roll after the Police broke up.

UB40 opened for them. They were a one hit wonder with "Red Red Wine".

[baldguy]

12. Johnny Cash - Delia's Gone

[MrsBrady]

13. No Angel Knows

No Angel Knows by Slaid Cleaves.
He's from Austin, TX by way of Maine.
He's wonderful.

That's Michael O'Conner who's playing with him.

[LeftishBrit]

15. Banks of the Ohio

http://www.lyricsmode.com/lyrics/j/joan_baez/banks_of_the_ohio.html

[KG]

16. Johnny Ray Dupree

[KG]

17. Mary Brown

[opiate69]

19. Some great responses while I was at work... thanks =)

[Art_from_Ark]

21. Don't get stuck in a mine with "Joe" and the singer

Timothy, Timothy, Joe was looking at you
Timothy, Timothy, God, what did we do?

[Doc_Technical]

22. Art Garfunkel- Down in the Willow Garden

[RZM]

23. Swervedriver, 'Last Train To Satansville'

Great song. It's told from the perspective of the murderer as he's sitting in jail for killing a woman who dumped him.

[chollybocker]

24. Miss Otis Regrets - Cole Porter

Ethel Waters' version (lyrics within):

[jobycom]

25. Long Black Veil--here by Johnny Cash and Joni Mitchel