"Earl Had to Die: A List of 20 Country Songs About Killing Your Partner"
Murder ballads have always been a prominent feature in classic country music. Although they may not be as common now as they were in the past, there are still many great songs about men killing their female partners. While songs about women committing murder are less frequent, country music still has a significant number of them, and we have a list to showcase them.
Several factors eliminated certain contenders from being included on this list. We made sure to only include one song per artist, which meant that Carrie Underwood and Miranda Lambert, both country music stars with multiple songs about revenge, each only had one song featured. While songs like "Before He Cheats," "Church Bells," "White Liar," and "Kerosene" are all excellent revenge anthems, they were ultimately edged out by bigger hits in the final selection process.
The theme was focused enough to limit the selection even more. In order for a murder song to be included, it needed to involve a male victim, which meant that songs like Ashley McBryde's "Martha Divine" didn't qualify, despite being highly regarded in the genre. Other noteworthy 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.
The remaining songs are truly impressive and villainous, a collection of the best songs in country music about killing a man. Take a look through the gallery to see our choices for the top revenge songs and hidden gems on the topic of murder – particularly, killing 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 Had to Die: A Collection of 20 Top Country Songs About Taking Revenge on Your Partner
Image Credit: Carena Liptak
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