There is an interesting sub-genre of the traditional ballad known as Murder Ballads. A murder ballad typically recounts the details of a fictional or true crime — who the victim is, why the murderer decides to kill him or her, how the victim is lured to the murder site and the act itself — followed by the escape and/or capture of the murderer. Often the ballad ends with the murderer in jail or on their way to the gallows, occasionally with a plea for the listener not to copy the evils committed by the singer. Some murder ballads tell the story from the point of view of the murderer, while others tell the tale of the crime from the point of view of the victim.
In 1996 Nick Cave released an album, Murder Ballads, which combined both traditional murder ballads with original ballads, all with very macabre, but fascinating, stories to tell.
My favourites, with a bit of an explanation of the song are:-
1. “Song of Joy” is a story of a man whose wife Joy and their three children, Hilda, Hattie and Holly, are murdered -
Joy had been bound with electrical tape
In her mouth a gag
She’d been stabbed repeatedly
And stuffed into a sleeping bag
In their very cots my girls were robbed of their lives
Method of murder much the same as my wife’s
Method of murder much the same as my wife’s
It was midnight when I arrived home
Said to the police on the telephone
Someone’s taken four innocent lives
The Narrator portrays himself as the victim of the crime, but the song itself strongly suggests a connection between the killer’s continuing murder spree and the widower’s seemingly aimless wandering; either he is the killer and murdered his wife and 3 daughters, or at the very least their murders have turned him into a killer too -
And so I’ve left my home
I drift from land to land
I am upon your step and you are a family man
Outside the vultures wheel
The wolves howl, the serpents hiss
And to extend this small favour, friend
Would be the sum of earthly bliss
Do you reckon me a friend?
* The sun to me is dark *
* And silent as the moon *
Do you, sir, have a room?
Are you beckoning me in?
2. “Stagger Lee” is based on a traditional song about the African-American murderer of the same name. Cave’s version draws most of the lyrics from a 1967 transcription published in the 1976 book The Life: The lore and folk poetry of the black hustler.
“SHOT IN CURTIS’S PLACE
“William Lyons, 25, coloured, a levee hand, living at 1410 Morgan Street, was shot in the abdomen yesterday evening at 10 o’clock in the saloon of Bill Curtis, at Eleventh and Morgan streets, by Lee Sheldon, also coloured.
“Both parties, it seems, had been drinking, and were feeling in exuberant spirits. Lyons and Sheldon were friends and were talking together. The discussion drifted to politics, and an argument was started, the conclusion of which was that Lyons snatched Sheldon’s hat from his head.
“The latter indignantly demanded its return. Lyons refused, and Sheldon drew his revolver and shot Lyons in the abdomen [...] When his victim fell to the floor, Sheldon took his hat from the hand of the wounded man and coolly walked away.”
- St Louis Globe-Democrat, December 26, 1895.
Nick Cave’s version is quite graphic, and while portraying Stagger Lee as a truly nasty creature, doesn’t give too much of a back story -
“I’ll stay here till Billy comes in, till time comes to pass
And furthermore I’ll fuck Billy in his motherfucking ass”
Said Stagger Lee
“I’m a bad motherfucker, don’t you know
And I’ll crawl over fifty good pussies just to get one fat boy’s asshole”
Said Stagger Lee
Just then Billy Dilly rolls in and he says, “You must be
That bad motherfucker called Stagger Lee”
Stagger Lee
“Yeah, I’m Stagger Lee and you better get down on your knees
And suck my dick, because If you don’t you’re gonna be dead”
Said Stagger Lee
Billy dropped down and slobbered on his head
And Stag filled him full of lead
3. “The Curse of Millhaven” is a song of a mad girl, Lottie, whose “eyes are green” and “hair is yellow”. She describes the deaths of townsfolk, pointing out how “all God’s creatures, they’ve all got to die”. It is then revealed, in the failed stabbing of Mrs. Colgate, that Lottie is in fact the killer. She goes on to confess being responsible for quite a number of deaths, including many that were believed to be accidents. She is quite proud of her deeds, and is happy to admit she’s a monster -
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
4. “Death Is Not the End” is the final song on the album and features several vocalists, such as Anita Lane, Kylie Minogue, PJ Harvey, and Shane McGowan, each singing a verse of this Bob Dylan cover. It is also the only song that doesn’t feature a death or murder -
And all your dreams have vanished
And you don’t know what’s up the bend
Just remember that death is not the end
Not the end, not the end
Just remember that death is not the end
When the storm clouds gather round you
And heavy rains descend
Just remember that death is not the end
And there’s no-one there to comfort you
With a helping hand to lend
Just remember that death is not the end
Not the end, not the end
Just remember that death is not the end
This may appear to be a rather grim topic to write about, and the songs even darker to listen to, but it really isn’t, especially if you know what influenced each track and listen to each song as a story told in a lyrical manner.