I’ve been mulling this over a while. I teach a lot of criminal law classes and the odd criminal justice course and while there are a ton of movie and TV show clips to use in classes as examples I’ve not yet been able to use music in a course — though I’m noodling the idea constantly. Anyway — I am not talking drug songs so no Cocaine or rap records about cheeba, ganja, et al. I’m talking prison, cops, murder, etc. Here’s my top 10 (in no particular order) feel free to contribute:
1. Thin Lizzy — Jailbreak
2. Johnny Cash — Folsom Prison Blues
3. Junior Brown — Highway Patrol
4. Johnny Cash — Cocaine Blues
5. Marty Robbins — They’re Hangin’ Me Tonight (no video of Marty singing, but this is a recording of him put to pics):
6. Bruce Springsteen — Nebraska — I don’t how he captured a serial killer in song, but he nailed it.
7. Bruce Springsteen — Highway Patrolman (Springsteen’s Nebraska album is really dark)
8. Robert Johnson — 32-20 Blues
9. Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds — The Mercy Seat
10. U2 — Exit — Live in Denver from Rattle and Hum the film
I purposely left out Jailhouse Rock and I Fought the Law and about a million Johnny Cash and cowboy songs, I Shot the Sheriff.
Enjoy!
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How about this one?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1f139QxRkX0
“I’m makin’ money and I’m havin’ fun with my
Radar Gun, Radar Gun
With my brand new Radar Gun”
Shaft!
Who’s the black private dick
That’s a sex machine to all the chicks?
(Shaft!)
You’re damn right
Who is the man
That would risk his neck for his brother man?
(Shaft!)
Can ya dig it?
Who’s the cat that won’t cop out
When there’s danger all about
(Shaft!)
Right on
You see this cat Shaft is a bad mother–
(Shut your mouth)
But I’m talkin’ about Shaft
(Then we can dig it)
He’s a complicated man
But no one understands him but his woman
(John Shaft)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jR5kDcmCXpg
What, like you knew I wouldn’t be bringing my boys into the mix.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZbKwF36o3JA&feature=related
Oh, Nebraska the only great bleak Springsteen.
Ah Shaft… that is a great one.
Radar gun… good one.
the night the lights went out in georgia.
Shotgun Blues by Kenny Wayne Shepherd. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tADpgP4Nh2U
One of These Days (not sure if he did the original) by Joe Bonamassa
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNiYiwLyrco
“Jeannie Needs a Shooter” by Warren Zevon and Bruce Springsteen. Either the studio recording on “Bad Luck Streak in Dancing School” or the live version on “Stand in the Fire.” The film noir touch of your finding the story is narrated by a dead or dying man is chilling, as is the Edipal betrayal at the end. Heard Zevon sing this at the Fox in Denver in August 2000. How I miss him.
“Sing Me Back Home” by Mary Robbins. Also “Life in Prison.” The Byrds did great recordings of both. I know, only one Marty. You could have filled the whole list with Marty Robbins.
Good lord, sorry, I meant Merle Haggard. Had “They’re hanging me tonight” on my mind.
Long Black Veil — Chieftans w Mick Jagger
Gallows Pole — Plant and Page
I Fought The Law
Somewhere They Can’t Find Me — Simon and Garfunkel
Excellent call with Zevon, Charles. Thanks as well for getting my head in noir mode, ’cause there’s few finer than Mr. Stanard Ridgway in that department, including this one that even fits the category:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XLXLEghUgo0
Don’t know some of these oldies and you said no gangsta rap?? Okay, leaves me out.
Although, unfortunately, that damn I Fought the Law & the Law Won is now running around in my head.
Mama Tried — Merle Haggard. This one fits the category, but you have to wait until the chorus to really know where it’s going — and then it hits you like a ton of bricks:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jxQbvSjQy9A
Thought of another great Haggard tune. As a guy who actually did prison time, I guess he pulls these off well.
Lonesome Fugitive: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V_fUvEUmyNI
“I’d like to settle down, but they won’t let me. A fugitive must be a rolling stone.”
Speaking of Zevon and serial killers, how about “Excitable Boy?” “After ten long years they let him out of the home/(Excitable boy, they all said)/So he dug up her grave and made a bridge from the bones/(Excitable boy, they all said)”
There’s also Zevon’s “Send Lawyers, Guns and Money.” “I went home with a waitress/The way I always do/How was I to know/She was with the rebels too”
I mentioned it here a few weeks ago, but “My Last Meal” really is a great, blues song. It’s about a death row inmate choosing his last meal.
I’m sure I’ll post ten more comments to this post…
Oh, the Soggy Bottom Boys’ version of “In the jailhouse now” from “Oh Brother, Where Art Though” is fantastic! And Tim Blake Nelson does his own vocals, unlike the talent-challenged Clooney.
Is Seeger’s “Betty Lou” about a girl getting out of prison, or was she simply grounded? Anyway, great tune.
I don’t believe it’s been mentioned, but “Midnight Special” is truly a classic prison song. I think it’s almost mandatory that it be on any top ten list of prison songs.
I know Floyd already nailed “Cocaine Blues,” but that’s another one that I think is beyond debate. It simply has to be in the top ten.
Louis Jordan’s “Saturday Night Fish Fry” is a great police related song too.
A rent party gets busted up by the cops. Great, great tune.
Oh Man, “Riot in Cell Block Number Nine” is a true classic! http://www.pagliaro.ca/lyrics/riot.htm
I don’t know for sure, but I always assumed “Jailhouse Rock” was a stepchild of this song. Great song!
Oh, and Outlaw13 nailed it with “Shaft.” Any top 10 song list about any genre or theme should automatically have Haye’s “Shaft” on the list. Top 10 Baroque Symphonies? #8: “Theme from Shaft.” Top 10 Be-Bop Tunes? #6: “Theme from Shaft.”
As far as TV theme’s go, the “Theme from Baretta” is the “Shaft” of network television. Sammy Davis, Jr. “Don’t do the crime, if you can’t do the time…And keep your e-e-e-e-e-e-e-ye, on the sparrow!”
I love the inclusion of Mercy Seat. Good to see that appreciatiion for Nick Cave has made its way even to Threedonia.
The whole Album of Murder Ballads is fraught with choice examples I would say.
If you’re looking for something a little newer as well, The Decemberists have a great tune (pretty good live recording here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzKY1MmQZFc.)
Does Steve Miller Band’s “Take the Money and Run” not count?
Of course, you’ve got all the good ole Irish tunes Like the Black Velvet Band where a young chap gets bamboozled into a crime by pretty lady only to end up transported to Tasmania. Old school Dubliners here:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8cnzstOtW2k
Or even better, updated by the Dropkick Murphy’s:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BsjqRqMCWoY
Could go on, but thats my two cents for now.
Moderation?
JM… I don’t know what happened. Must be the links in the comment or something. You’re the first non-robo commenter to get moderated. You were the dolphin in out tuna net. So sorry.
Dropkick Murphy’s State of Massachusetts is a good one too…
Hey Joe by Jimi Hendrix…
Always thought of myself as a bit of a dolphin…
I thought the line in “Lawyer’s, Guns and Money” was “she’s with the RUSSIANS, too.” But maybe that’s just me. Zevon learned a great lesson from that song: “Never go on vacation.”
JohnFN,
Not sure. I thought it was Rebels. The Russians weren’t kidnapping anyone in the 80′s, were they? Doesn’t some other lyric in the song intimate that he’s in Central or South America?
Where’s Eric P.?!
Dolphin in our tuna net?! I love the taste of dolphin; a nice DLT, dolphin, lettuce and tomota sandwich… I thought we were specifically trolling for dolphin!
John Milton,
That Decemberists song rocks, it’s been on my list of songs to purchase from iTunes for awhile. I hate you for being more clever than me and recognizing its mandatory inclusion for this list.
So, just so we’re clear on the Rufus hatred; I hate Floyd today for coming up with a post idea that’s broken all site records for comments. I hate John Milton today for citing the Decemberists on my own blog. Who’s got next?
Late to the party (new job’s got me relatively internet-less these days), but not sure about the Zevon/Central America/Russian thing. I do know Tom Petty’s “Rebels” is severely underrated.
Since E.P. let us down I resorted to Google. It is “Russians,” so JohnFN wins the day. However it occurs in Havana, so that’s probably where I got the idea it was a Central America theme. So I guess he’s mixed up with Russians in Cuba.
Hard to believe Warren Zevon is dead. He always seemed young.
Johnny Cash, great pick for #2. This is an awesome top ten list. You should post this on my buddy’s site http://www.toptentopten.com/.
[...] Songs celebrating the exploits (no pun intended) of those on the wrong side of the law have a long history. [...]
i think he is looking for songs that tie into criminological theories and not just songs that talk about crime. There seems to be a big difference from my findings. A lot of songs can mention this crime or shooting this victim, but the theory as to why it happens is not always apparent in lyrics. One such song is by Johnny Paycheck called “I’m the only hell my momma ever raised.” two theories I found in that is the conflict-pathway theory and possibly social learning theory.
I’m surprised that no one has thought about Hurricane, by Bob Dylan.
And penuchi gets the award for reaching the furthest back in time (2 years) to make a relivant comment on a thread. Well done Sir! I for one salute you.
Don’t forget “Don’t Take Me Alive” (Steely Dan), “Hey Joe,” (Jimi Hendrix), “Down by the River”, (Neil Young) …so many others!!
And Floyd, if you still read this..I am a criminal justice teacher too! I came across your site looking for more songs- I am going to have the kids (high school) look up my list (it’s OLD for them) and have them list what criminal charges would be appropriate in each song, or what aspect of CJ we’ve studied is in them. (Neil Young’s song would be a murder confession, etc), and then add one song of their own to the list.
Hey you have to get creative!
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When David Crosby was in prison – he started a prison band – and found out that the warden HATED this song. So they played EXTRA long versions of it. ;0)
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And we have a new winner in the newest comment to the oldest thread, congrats…annon!