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Music Playlist: Songs About Serial Killers

Music Playlist: Songs About Serial Killers
Wayne Rooney  |  by blogcritics.org. All rights reserved. 11.05 | 5:19

Serial killers are a subject of great fascination in America. There are scores of best selling books and box office hits based on these abominations of society. Their popularity is fueled by both a natural morbid curiosity and the desire to be scared just for the thrill of it.

A serial killer is defined as someone who has perpetrated multiple murders with the victims usually being unknown to the killer. The phrase "serial killer" first appeared in the 1970s and is credited to either Robert Ressler (FBI) or Dr. Robert Keppel (arguments exist on who actually coined the term).

It was meant to help distinguish murderers who claim victims over a long period of time from those who claim multiple victims at once (mass murderers). A third type of multi-person killer is a spree killer.
Serial killers usually have a "cooling-off" period in between killings and many times lead what appears to be a normal life.

Indeed, this is probably another reason why they fascinate us. Sexual abnormalities are also involved in many cases.
Some serial killers revel in the notoriety they receive, as the newest captured freak has displayed: BTK.

Would we have less serial killing if the media did not give them the attention they so desire? It's a good question and not one we can answer here. One thing we know for sure is that serial killers have unfortunately achieved "cult" status in many subcultures.


Of course, the subject of serial killers has also made its way into music. Some are sung from the perspective of the killer or from the victim, others are stories based on a fictional monster, while still others are about real life killers like Jeffrey Dahmer or Richard Speck. The following playlist contains songs about serial killers, which are taken from a diverse range of musical genres.

Enjoy, but not too much...


Please add and songs about serial killers that you are aware of , which did not make the list, in the comments.
Half of ICP's catalog. ;>

I am ignorant.

Who is ICP?

The Insane Clown Posse, a rap group with a large following and cartoonishly violent lyrics. They are in an area where you love them or hate them, not much in between.

Plus if you look close you can get a positive messgae from them. Strange but true!
Thay have been arounfd for going on 15 years.


Yea, maybe the whold "Murder Ballads" album, and The beatles, I would have never thought of that, it's to happy sounding. Good call.
by Macy Gray, in which she, yes, fondly recalls murdering her parents' paramours.


Also, I don't see that "I Love the Dead" is about being a killer. The narrator appears to be a necrophiliac slipping into the morgue or something. In some people's minds that might be worse, actually, but it's not the same.


"I love the dead before they're cold,
Their blueing flesh for me to hold."
Since the lyrics say "before they're cold" this means he actually did the killing himself. And he has obviousl done it more than once.

ie: Serial Killer
what about Charlie Manson's own music? which is, (whisper it), alarmingly good.
That's a different list.

That would be "Song By Serial Killers"
Probably a short list and very hard to research.
Robert, this is true. i hear Ted Bundy did a nice My Prerogative, mind.


Blue Oyster Cult - (Don't Fear) The Reaper...

I mean the grim reaper is a serial killer too, right?
I don't know there Robert, you're hanging an awful lot on just the phrase "before they're cold."
Sufjan Stevens has a number about John Wayne Gacy on his latest record, also.

a fantastic number, right there.
huh? Not sure what you mean there Al.

It's pretty freakin' straight forward. If the body is not cold, the only explaination is that the victim died recently. Pretty basic reading comprehension stuff here guy.


Unless of course, Alice's antagonist just happens to stumble upon the recently dead on a regular basis.
I haven't heard the new Sufjan Stevens yet. It's getting some seriously good reviews.

I better get on it.
The Grim Reaper is not a Serial Killer he's the personification of death thtough an anthropomorphic figure. So that's another list.

"Songs About the personification of death thtough an anthropomorphic figures"
"Gary Gilmore's Eyes" by the Adverts is one you overlooked. Fantastic '77 UK punk.
Richard Ramirez referenced it.


There's an old compilation reissued as a CD box set a few years back called The Anthology of American Folk Music - it's on Smithsonian/Folkways Records. Most of the songs were recorded in the late 1920's to early 1930's, and a good portion of them are songs about premeditated murders other heinous crimes. I don't recall if there are any serial killers mentioned in particular, but it shows that the murder motif has been present in American popular music for a very long time.


"Speakerphone", by the Virgin-Whore Complex. It's about the Zodiac Killer, with actual excerpts from letters read..


Not all of these are technically serial-killer-specific, but this is my own true-crime mix.
What about "Your Body is a Wonderland" by John Mayer?
Oh, and don't forget "Hip to be Square" by Huey Lewis and the News.

Anyone who's watched "American Psycho" knows what I'm talking about. That movie reclaimed that song from "Back to the Future" forever.
The Filter song is not about serial killers.

They can deny it all they want, but it's about Cobain.
The entire In Absentia album by Porcupine Tree is about a kid that grows up to be a serial killer.
The Filter song is about a Pennsylvanian politician in the late 80s -- -- who killed himself with a gun at a press conference in front of cameras that kept filming as he died.

The video is widely available on the Internet and also appears in the music video for the Filter song. It made my mix because of the incident's notoriety and because it sounded right. :-)
(The first link goes to Wikipedia, the second link goes to a page with the Dwyer footage.

)
I got one for you. It is called "Wrath of the Ripper" by Grim Reaper. I know most people haven't listened to them, but they had some talent.


Wasn't sure which URL you'd want (got several), so this is my personal website. Before visiting, be aware that it contains erotica (no picture porn though) of a varied and graphic nature--het and slash.
Don't forget 'My Sweet Angel' by The Toadies.

I mean, it's a slasher movie, minus the actual special effects. The chorus is, "Do you wanna die?" I love it.

Yes, I'm twisted. I also love their 'Tyler', which could very well be about an embryonic serial killer. I mean, he's an obsessed stalker, breaking into a girl's house to rape her.

That could EASILY progress to murder, and with Tyler, it doesn't sound like it would (or possible isn't now) a single event.
Both great songs. Nice playlist.


"I'm All Out of Love," Air Supply
"The Heart of Rock and Roll," Huey Lewis and the News
"What's Love Got to Do With It," Tina Turner
"Cheeseburger in Paradise," Jimmy Buffet
Sombody resuscitated this thread I see, so I'll just add an oldie but goodie that leaps to mind: "Hillside Strangler" by F-Word.
Scribe, the Toadies song you're talking about is actually called "Possum Kingdom". As far as anyone can tell, it may well be about vampirism, but does not really qualify as a song about serial killers, per se.


However, an excellent song (along the lines of "A Collection") is a song called "Jigsaw Girl", which is about a guy who keeps parts of his ex-lover (hinted that he's murdered her), such as her hair, dress, and her hand...

in a box! Creepy.
i dont know if this qualifies.

hang down your tom dooley your about to die. recorded by the kingston trio!
God Bless by Combichrist is a great techno song (and it also mentions us Canadians only popular killers Paul Bernardo and Karla Holmoka), and Pogo the clown by dog fashion disco, which I think is stupid, kinda swing style, but figured I would mention it
What about Lunatic Fringe by Tom Cochrane and Red Rider?


Pogo the Clown, by Dog Fashion Disco
Alright, the song was mentioned once before, but it's amazing and is a MUST for this list:
The artist is amazing as well as this song.
Ignatius D'Lusional, Scribe is right- Possum Kingdom is about the notorious serial killer Ted Bundy. The namesake of the song is derived from Possum Kingdom Lake in Texas, where Bundy is believed to have murdered women.

The song is very hinting of vampirism, but I think that is just reflecting Bundy's insanity.

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    Keywords: Serial Killers, Serial Killer, About Serial, Songs About, About Serial Killers, Possum Kingdom, What About, Filter Song, Grim Reaper, Songs About Serial
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