"Earl Had to Die: The 20 Greatest Country Songs About Killing Your Man"
Traditional country music often includes murder ballads as a prominent theme. Although they are not as common nowadays, there is still a considerable selection of excellent songs about men killing their female partners. On the other hand, songs about women committing murder are not as frequent, but don't worry, country music has its fair share of such songs, and we have compiled a list to showcase them.
We had to consider a few factors when creating this list. One of them was only including one song per artist, which meant that popular country singers Carrie Underwood and Miranda Lambert, who both have multiple songs about murder in their repertoire, only got one spot each. Although songs like "Before He Cheats," "Church Bells," "White Liar," and "Kerosene" are all fantastic revenge anthems, they were ultimately overshadowed by even more popular songs and didn't make it into the final selection.
The topic was focused enough to further limit the selection. In order for a murder to be included in this list, it had to involve at least one male victim. Therefore, Ashley McBryde's "Martha Divine," despite being a standout contemporary murder song in the genre, was not eligible. Other notable mentions include Willie Nelson's "Red Headed Stranger" and The SteelDrivers' "If It Hadn't Been for Love," but they also did not make it onto this list.
What remains is a truly remarkable and wicked collection of the most powerful songs in country music that express the desire to harm someone. Take a look at the images below to discover our choices for the top revenge songs and lesser-known tracks that focus on the theme of murder, specifically targeting the man in your life (or persuading someone else to do it for you). Keep reading, and don't forget to tell us in the comments if we overlooked your favorite song about getting rid of your man.
Earl's Demise: The Top 20 Country Songs Depicting Getting Rid of Your Partner
Gallery Credit: Carena Liptak
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