"Earl Had to Die: The 20 Greatest Country Songs about Killing Your Man" highlights the significance of murder ballads in traditional country music. Although they are not as common nowadays, there still exists a collection of exceptional songs about men murdering their female romantic partners. However, it is rarer to find songs that depict women committing such acts. Nevertheless, the country genre has not overlooked this theme, and we have compiled a list of such songs to showcase their existence.
In order to create this list, we eliminated certain contenders based on a few criteria. Specifically, we decided to include only one song per artist. This means that even though Carrie Underwood and Miranda Lambert have multiple songs about murder in their collections, we only included one from each of them. Songs like "Before He Cheats," "Church Bells," "White Liar," and "Kerosene" are all excellent revenge anthems. However, in the end, we had to exclude them because there were even more popular songs that deserved a spot on the final list.
The criteria for the list of murder songs were quite specific, requiring that each song have 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 did not qualify. Additionally, honorable mentions should be given to Willie Nelson's "Red Headed Stranger" and The SteelDrivers' "If It Hadn't Been for Love," but they were also not included in this list.
Presented here is a remarkable and wicked collection of the most powerful songs in country music that convey the desire to harm or kill someone. Take a look at the gallery below to discover our choices for the top revenge songs and lesser-known tracks that revolve around the theme of murder, particularly targeting men in relationships (or persuading someone else to do the deed on your behalf). Keep reading, and don't forget to inform us in the comments if we overlooked your favorite song about eliminating your significant other.
Earl Had to Go: The Top 20 Country Songs About Eliminating Your Partner
Image Credit: Carena Liptak
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