"Earl Had to Die: The 20 Greatest Country Songs About Murdering Your Partner"
Murderous songs have always been an important part of traditional country music. Although they are not as common nowadays, there is still a collection of exceptional songs that focus on men killing their female romantic partners. However, it is less frequent to find songs that depict women committing murder. But don't worry, the country genre also offers a substantial number of songs about women who take the life of their partners, and we have compiled a list to showcase them.
We had to consider a few factors to narrow down the options for this list. Our main criterion was to include only one song from each artist, so even though Carrie Underwood and Miranda Lambert have multiple murder songs in their repertoire, we could only choose one from each. Songs like "Before He Cheats," "Church Bells," "White Liar," and "Kerosene" are fantastic revenge anthems, but in the end, we had to prioritize other songs that had a greater impact and popularity, leading them to be excluded from the final selection.
The criteria for making it onto this list of murder songs was quite specific. Only murders with at least one male victim were considered, which unfortunately disqualified Ashley McBryde's "Martha Divine" even though it is considered 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 it onto this list.
What remains is a remarkable and wicked compilation of the most powerful songs in country music that revolve around killing someone. Take a look at the selection below to discover our top choices for revengeful songs and lesser-known gems that focus on the idea of murdering the man in your life, or persuading someone else to do so. Keep reading and don't forget to inform us in the comments if we overlooked your favorite song about getting rid of your man.
Earl's Demise: The Top 20 Country Songs Portraying the Act of Killing Your Partner
Credit for the Gallery: Carena Liptak
Additional content from Taste of Country
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