Earl Must Perish: The 20 Finest Country Songs Depicting the Act of Killing Your Partner
In the realm of classic country music, murder ballads hold a significant place. Although they may not be as common nowadays, there is still a rich collection of exceptional songs that narrate the act of men killing their female romantic companions. While it is less frequent, country music also offers a fair share of songs portraying women who commit murder. And we have compiled a list to showcase them.
We eliminated certain obvious choices for this list based on a few criteria. Our main rule was to include only one song per artist, so even though Carrie Underwood and Miranda Lambert are known for their murder-themed songs, we only included one song from each of them. While songs like "Before He Cheats," "Church Bells," "White Liar," and "Kerosene" are all excellent revenge anthems, they were eventually surpassed by even more popular songs and didn't make it into the final selection.
The theme of the list was quite specific, which helped to further narrow down the choices. In order for a murder song to be included, it needed to have at least one male victim. Therefore, despite being considered one of the best modern murder songs in the genre, Ashley McBryde's "Martha Divine" did not make the list. 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 cut for this list.
The remaining content is a remarkable and wicked compilation of the most powerful songs in country music that express a desire to harm someone. Take a look at the images below to discover our choices for the top revenge songs and lesser-known tracks that revolve around the topic of murder, particularly when it involves killing a male partner (or persuading someone else to do it on your behalf). Keep reading and don't forget to inform us in the comments if we overlooked your preferred song about eliminating your man.
Earl Had to Die: A Compilation of the Top 20 Country Songs Depicting the Act of Killing Your Partner
Image Credit: Carena Liptak
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