Jump to content

Murder Ballads


johnny

Recommended Posts

  • Replies 50
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

Have you ever considered coming over here and showing my wife just how to appreciate her wonderful husband - I don't think she knows !?! You'll be well paid and looked after ... :cool: :laughing:

I wasn't talking to you , Farin ... :laughing: :laughing:

Edited by Guest
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Murder ballads, or just murder songs ? I think you'd get a lot more replies if you changed it to that, Johnny. A ballad is basically a light, simple song having two or more verses, that tells a story. Just a suggestion !

I sorta was talking about ballads. I really wanted to know if anyone else knew any other murder ballads. You know, songs that do tell a story....

Edited by Guest
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 months later...

#1: Where the Wild Roses Grow ~ Nick Cave & the bad Seeds feat. Kylie Minogue

#2: Nur einen Kuss ~ Die Ärzte

a bit corny, but...

[spoilerq:1]translation of the lyrics[/spoilerq]

[spoilera:1]Just a kiss

Just a kiss - that's all I want from you

The summer was short, the winter is coming soon

If you don't kiss me, maybe you'll stay alone

and who wants to be alone in wintertime?

I got my kiss and gave her my heart in turn

Soon after that a stranger came to our town

(but I believed in love)

I don't know what she saw in him

(and I believed in love)

She began to take an interest in him

we were a couple - what could happen?

but soon the tides were turning

With the first snow we were no longer together

(but I believed in love)

because the strange man came and took her away from me

(nonetheless I believed in love)

for a few weeks she was shining with happiness

then he went away and said he would soon be back

she was still waiting by the time spring came

The grass became green, she became pale and thin

('cause she believed in love)

because every day she sat crying at the window

(much too big was her love)

maybe she thought of him when she finally died?

I put a red rose on her grave

tell me, what can you still rely on in this world?

month after month I was travelling through the country

(I had nothing else left to do)

it was almost autumn when I found him at last

(there stood her great love)

I invited him for a drink until it was dark

He wasn't (walking) steady anymore, but he didn't sense anything of the danger

Until I tied him to the tree

the full moon was rising, my knife was cold like him

(tell me, do you believe in love?)

"Do you remember? It wasn't so long ago..."

(that's the price for your love)

I cut the stranger open, just a little bit

and got my heart back from him

then I returned home, but I never kissed again

('cause I don't believe in love anymore)

never again

(in love anymore)

never again

nevermore...[/spoilera]

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Here's one from the early part of the 20th century.

Frankie and Johnny

Frankie and Johnny were sweethearts,

Oh, Lord, how they could love,

Swore to be true to each other,

True as the stars above,

He was her man

he wouldn't do her wrong.

Frankie went down to the corner,

Just for a bucket of beer,

She said, "Oh, Mister Bartender,

Has my loving Johnny been here,

He is my man,

He wouldn't do me wrong."

I don't want to cause you no trouble,

Ain't gonna tell you no lies,

I saw your lover an hour ago,

With a girl namd Nellie Bly,

He was your man,

But he's doing you wrong.

Frankie looked over the transom,

She saw to her suprise,

There on a cot sat Johnny

Making love to Nellie Bly,

He is my man, and he's doing me wrong.

Frankie drew back her kimona,

She took out a little forty-four,

Root-to-toot three time she shoot

Right through that hardwood door,

She shot her man,

He was doing her wrong.

Bring out your rubber-tired hearses,

Bring out your rubber-tired hacks,

I'm taking my man to the graveyard

But I ain't gonna bring him back,

Lord, he was my man, And he done me wrong.

Bring out a thousand policemen,

Bring 'em around today,

To lock me down in the dungeon cell

And throw that key away,

I shot my man, He was doing me wrong.

Frankie said to the warden,

"What are they going to do?"

The warden, he said to Frankie,

"It's electric chair for you,

'Cause you shot your man, he was doing you wrong."

This story has no moral,

This story has no end,

This story just goes to show

That there ain't no good in men,

He was her man, And he done her wrong.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I remember this one from my childhood but can't remember who sang it back then. I googled it and found a song very similar by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds (never heard of them) but a lot of the song was changed.

There is one more verse but I can't remember it. If you like the song and want the last verse I'll ask my mom she'll remember. I know it's about the guy sitting in a jail cell but can't remember the exact words. I just got off work and am to tired to think :crazy:

"Knoxville Girl"

I met a little girl in Knoxville

A town we all know well

And every Sunday evening

In her home I'd dwell

We went to take an evening walk

About a mile from town

I picked a stick up off the ground

And I knocked that fair girl down

She fell down on her bended knees

For mercy she did cry

"Oh Willy, dear, don't murder me here for

I'm unprepared to die"

She never spoke another word

I beat her more and more

Until the ground around me

Her precious blood did spill

I took her by her golden curls

I dragged her down and down

and threw her in the river

That runs through Knoxville town

Go there, go there, you Knoxville girl

With your dark and roving eyes

Go there, go there, you Knoxville girl

You can never be my bride.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now

×
×
  • Create New...