"Earl Had to Die: The 20 Greatest Country Songs Depicting the Act of Killing Your Partner"
Murder ballads have always been a significant part of traditional country music. Although they are not as common in today's country music scene, there is still a collection of exceptional songs about men murdering their female romantic partners. On the other hand, songs about women who commit such acts are less frequent but still exist in country music. We have compiled a list of these songs to showcase their presence.
We had to consider certain parameters when selecting the songs for this list, which led us to eliminate some obvious choices. Our focus was to include only one song per artist, which means that even though Carrie Underwood and Miranda Lambert have multiple murder songs in their catalogs, we could only include one from each. Songs like "Before He Cheats," "Church Bells," "White Liar," and "Kerosene" are all exceptional revenge anthems, but ultimately, we had to prioritize bigger songs that ended up taking their spots in the final cut.
The criteria for making it onto this list of murder songs were quite specific. Only murders with at least one male victim were considered, which unfortunately excluded Ashley McBryde's "Martha Divine," even though it is widely regarded as one of the best modern murder songs in the genre. 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 the final list.
Here we have compiled a collection of the most extraordinary and wicked country songs that revolve around the idea of killing someone. Take a look at the gallery below to discover our top choices for revenge-themed songs and lesser-known tracks that delve into the topic of murder, particularly related to eliminating a man from your life (or persuading someone else to do it for you). Keep reading and don't forget to share in the comments if we overlooked your favorite song about getting rid of your man.
Earl Must Perish: The Top 20 Country Songs Depicting the Act of Killing Your Partner
Acknowledgment: Carena Liptak
Additional Content from Taste of Country
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