"Earl Must Perish: The Top 20 Country Songs Depicting the Act of Killing Your Partner"
Murder-themed songs have long been a prominent feature in traditional country music. Although they may not be as common today, there is still a substantial collection of exceptional songs that revolve around men eliminating their female romantic companions. On the other hand, songs illustrating women taking the life of their partners are less frequent but still exist in the country genre. And we have compiled a list to showcase these songs.
We eliminated some obvious choices for this list based on a few criteria. We decided to include only one song per artist, so even though Carrie Underwood and Miranda Lambert have multiple songs about murder in their music collections, they were only given one spot each. Songs such as "Before He Cheats," "Church Bells," "White Liar," and "Kerosene" are all excellent revenge anthems, but in the end, more popular songs took precedence over them and they didn't make the final selection.
The theme of the list was quite specific, which helped to further narrow down the selection. In order for a murder song to be included, it had to involve at least one male victim. Unfortunately, this meant that Ashley McBryde's "Martha Divine," despite being a fantastic modern murder song in the genre, didn't make the cut. It's worth mentioning honorable mentions such as Willie Nelson's "Red Headed Stranger" and The SteelDrivers' "If It Hadn't Been for Love," but they also didn't make it onto this list.
What remains is an outstanding and wicked compilation 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 selection of the most impactful songs about seeking revenge and lesser-known gems that revolve around the idea of killing a man, either by oneself or by persuading someone else to do it. Keep reading, and don't forget to share in the comments if we overlooked your favorite song about getting rid of a man.
Earl's Demise: The Top 20 Country Songs Depicting the Act of Eliminating Your Partner
Credit for Gallery: Carena Liptak
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