"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 in modern country music, there is still a collection of exceptional songs about men killing their female romantic partners. However, it is less frequent to find songs that depict women killing their male partners. Nonetheless, the country genre still offers several songs on this topic, and we have compiled a list to showcase them.
Several factors eliminated some clear contenders for this particular list. Our main criterion was to choose only one song per artist, which resulted in Carrie Underwood and Miranda Lambert, both country stars with multiple murder songs in their repertoire, only receiving one slot each. Although songs like "Before He Cheats," "Church Bells," "White Liar," and "Kerosene" are all exceptional revenge anthems, ultimately, larger songs took precedence and excluded them from the final selection.
The topic was defined in a way that made it more specific and limited the selection even more. In order for a murder song to be included in this list, it had to involve at least one male victim. Therefore, even though Ashley McBryde's "Martha Divine" is considered one of the best modern murder songs in the genre, it couldn't be included. Other notable mentions, such as Willie Nelson's "Red Headed Stranger" and The SteelDrivers' "If It Hadn't Been for Love," also didn't make the cut for this list.
What remains is a collection of the most remarkable and sinister songs in country music that express a desire to harm or kill someone. Take a look at the list below to discover our choices for the most impactful revenge songs and lesser-known tracks focused on the theme of murder, particularly targeting the man in one's life or seeking someone else to carry out the act. Keep reading and don't forget to share in the comments if we overlooked your preferred song about eliminating your partner.
Earl's Demise: The Top 20 Country Songs Portraying the Act of Killing Your Partner
Image Credits: Carena Liptak
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