"Earl Had to Die: The 20 Most Noteworthy Country Songs Depicting the Act of Killing Your Partner"
Traditional country music often includes murder ballads as a significant theme. Although these types of songs are not as common in modern times, there is still a collection of exceptional songs that portray men killing their female romantic partners. On the other hand, songs depicting women committing such acts are less frequent, but fret not, as the country genre also offers numerous songs on that subject. And we have compiled a list to demonstrate it.
We eliminated certain contenders from this list based on specific criteria. Our focus was on including only one song per artist, which meant that even though Carrie Underwood and Miranda Lambert have multiple murder songs in their collections, they were only given one slot each. Songs such as "Before He Cheats," "Church Bells," "White Liar," and "Kerosene" are all excellent revenge anthems, but ultimately, other songs that were even more popular took precedence and were included in 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 meant that Ashley McBryde's "Martha Divine," despite being an exceptional modern murder song in the genre, did not qualify. 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 meet the requirements to make it onto this list.
We have curated a collection of the most remarkable and wicked songs in country music that revolve around the idea of killing someone. Take a look at our selection of the best revenge songs and lesser-known gems that focus on the theme of murder, particularly murdering the man in one's life or persuading someone else to do it for them. Keep reading and don't forget to share your favorite song about getting rid of your man in the comments if we overlooked it.
Earl's Demise: The Top 20 Country Songs Depicting the Act of Eliminating Your Partner
Gallery Attribution: Carena Liptak
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