I never knew about some of these!

Awesome Songs about Serial Killers!

Because what better way to pay tribute to a favorite mass murderer or two?

"Dirty Frank" by Pearl Jam: The chief inspirations for this infectious, PJ "Lost Dog" are the Red Hot Chili Peppers (with whom Pearl Jam were touring) and famed murderer/cannibal Jeff Dahmer. Dahmer's "murders were particularly gruesome, involving acts of forcible sodomy, necrophilia, dismemberment, and cannibalism", according to Wikipedia. Of course, eating the bodies is quite simply the most infective way to dispose of the bodies, a fact that Vedder clearly comprehends in this possessed vocal performance (cannibalism is the sincerest form of flattery!). Esssentially, Pearl Jam were fantasizing that their bus driver at the time was a murderer of similar methods and turn-ons, and the result is a strangely upbeat moment for a band known for taking themselves too seriously. Key lyric: "Wanted a pass. So she relaxed. Now the little groupie's getting chopped up in the back."


"Son of Sam" by Elliott Smith: It is my humble opinion, and you may feel free to disagree, that David Berkowitz (popularly known as Son of Sam) set an unreachable standard for serial killers of the past and present. Get this: He went around killing folks (generally a given for serial killers) and then blamed it on the mother****ing neighbor's dog! It's a demon dog; possessed by satan! Gave me orders! How can one outdo that? It can't be done. And you know he ain't lying with a story like that. And then he went to jail and found Jesus and all that jazz...Yes, Mr. Berkowitz is without doubt my favorite serial killer.

Anyway, perhaps dear Elliott may seem an unlikely candidate to set this drama to song, what with his Beatle-esque harmonies and poignant piano melodies, though, in the wake of his troubled demise, it's no secret Smith harboured a darker side. The song is both melodic and foreboding, depicting a "king for a day", "acting on orders from above." The climax comes when Elliott casually declares, "I'm a little like you, more like Son of Sam." The most effective serial killer anthems are the ones that manage to somehow sympathize with our blood-thirsty protagonist, portraying monsters as the humans they once were. More about that later.



"John Wayne Gacy, Jr." by Sufjan Stevens This haunting ode to a tragic madman is similar to Smith's "Son of Sam" in that it portrays the killer as an actual person, with actual emotions and jobs and families and 08uq3tqtr398408itqe9i0t90i4ojt49o-grjmo4t235...

Perhaps the most striking about the song is how absolutely lovely it is to a non-English speaking person. Rustling acoustic guitars and various string instruments make this a beautiful offering on a masterpiece filled with them.

"The neighbors, they adored him for his humor and his conversation..."

Gacy was well-loved at the neighborhood block parties he threw, dressing up as Pogo the Clown and entertaining the children. Children who knew not of the 27 boys ("with their cars, summer jobs") he buried, murdered and raped underneath the floor of his house (not necessarily in that order). Sufjan understands this horrifying reality lying underneath a harmless, even charming demeanor. He was reportedly a model prisoner, though. A blood clot in his brain caused by a swing set accident ("When the swingset hit his head..."). Possibly sexually abused by an uncle.

Also a parallel to the aforementioned "Son of Sam" is the frightening ending to the song - a haunting anti-climax in which Stevens admits that...

"...in my best behavior
I am really just like him
Look beneath the floorboards
For the secrets I have hid" Yeah! Rock Lobster!



"Ted, Just Admit It..." by Jane's Addiction: Perhaps the most bizarre inclusion on this list, Perry Farrell and the game kick it about Ted Bundy over a midly creepy, seven-minute funk jam. Bundy sometimes followed murder with rape. Sometimes the other way around. The exact bodycount is unknown, though Bundy ha admitted to over thirty murders, all young women. Like Gacy, "Bundy was frequently described as educated and charming. His personal friends and acquaintances would remember him as a handsome and articulate young man" (Wikipedia).

"Ritual de lo Habitual" remains their peak, their chief accomplishment, yet some could argue they never quite returned to the twisted vibe and dark pleasures of "Ted, Just Admit It..." Some highlights from Farrell's manic ode to a disturbed gentleman:

"Everybody's so full of **** (everybody, everybody, everybody, everybody, everybody...)"

"Showed me everybody
naked and disfigured
Nothing's shocking...
And then he came, now sister's not a virgin anymore
Her sex is violent! Sex is vy-oh-lent!"

"I am the killer of people
You loook like a meatball
I'll throw away your toothpick
and ask for your forgiveness"





"Charlie Manson Blues" by The Flaming Lips: Okay, so technically he wasn't a serial killer. Not a murderer at all, in fact - merely convicted of Conspiracy to Commit the infamous Tate-LaBianca murders. The "Helter Skelter made me do it!" biz is almost as wild as Son of Sam's shtick, so I figured he deserved a place here. Bite me.

"Charlie Manson Blues" is the Lips numerous 90's opus's in incubus, complete with hilarious "lalalalala" and "Hoo! Ha! Hoo! Ha!" background harmonies. Wayne moans about slipping into Charlie Manson Blues over a riff so simplistic it's almost complicated. Certainly among the highlights on the fun yet underdeveloped reverb-city of full-length debut "Hear It Is". "I'm a stupid-dressed Jesus son!"



"Psycho Killer" by The Talking Heads: Nah, I don't know who it's about either. I am a bit of a freak for Talking Headcheese and couldn't resist. Byrnes switches between English and French, vaguely assuming the role of a paranoid killer, unable to accept the implications of his crimes. The "Stop Making Sense" version is superior to the album version, by the way.

"Midnight Rambler" by The Rolling Stones: The song's about Albert DeSalvo, better known as the Boston Strangler, who molested and strangled thirteen single women throughout the early sixties. He was found murdered in the infirmary of Walpole State Prison in 1973; his killer remains a mystery.

The Stones' tribute is soaked in even more blood, sweat and Jagger-guts than usual. The guitar drips with dirty blues and the chilling harmonica helps to set the mood. Jagger vaguely describes the sneaky pusuits of a "midnight rambler, leaving footprings up and down your hall."

"I'll stick my knife right down your throat, baby, and it hurts!"

(Notice how many of these songs assume that inevitable first person tense? Eek.)


"Nebraska" by Bruce Springsteen: Ah, another first person. I'll be honest witchoo: I can't remember the last time I sat through the "Nebraska" album. It's depressing and dry, none for me, thanks. When I'm in the mood, I opt for Neil's "Tonight's the Night" ten times out of nine.

The title track remains a highlight, and pretty ****ing uninviting opener. Bruce takes the character of Charles Starkweather, a disgruntled "spree killer" who murdered 11 victims during a road trip with a girlfriend (thirteen years old, no less!) in the late fifties. Perhaps it's no surprise for Charles to be a wee bit bitter - he was cursed with a birth defect, Genu varum, causing his legs to be slightly deformed, in addition to a speech impediment. In addition to this song, Starkweather inspired "Natural Born Killers", along with numerous Stephen King novels. His life motto? "Dead people are all on the same level."

Back to the song. "Me and her went for a ride sir and ten innocent people died...Through to the badlands of Wyoming, I killed everything in my path." Bruce tells it how it is over a fading harmonica moan, essentially giving an autobiographical account of Starkweather's life, from his first murders to his experiences in jail. It seems many of these serial killer songs have utterly ingenious final lines. "Nebraska"'s closing statement may very well take the cake:

"They wanted to know why I did what I did.
Well, sir, I guess there's just a meanness in this world."

Depressing as balls in a coconut patch. Born in the USA!
(Sorry, can't find a mugshot for this one, but this picture's quite groovy:)


"Arcarsenal" by At The Drive-In: Like Pearl Jam's "Dirty Frank", this 2000 At The Drive-In punk assault deals with Jeffrey Dahmer, though his screams seem to indicate that Cedric doesn't find it very funny. "I'd really like to meet him!" he ejaculates over drum spazzes and cutting guitar gasps, leading to an intense reprise of "Have you ever tasted skin?" Delicious homestyle taste!


Obligatory bonus song that isn't about serial killers in the least:

"Shimmy Shimmy Ya" by Ol' Dirty Bastard: I got back from seeing "Knocked Up" and immediately hunted for the name of the song playing over the opening credits and subsequently listened to it over and over and over. Best piano loop ever. Who gives a **** about songs about serial killers? It mentions "psycho killer Norman Bates", so close enough. I like it raawwww!