I love a good murder ballad. So much so that it worries my wife sometimes. There’s just something about a song that crams sin, repentance, and retribution into three minutes.

So here’s a violent slice of American musical tradition.

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds “Stagger Lee”
You’ve gotta go some to find a song with more profanity and violence than this one. Definitely not work-friendly.

The Handsome Family “Knoxville Girl”
I absolutely love the Handsome Family. A husband a wife who write some fantastic goth-country-folk music, they also have a deft touch with traditional tunes.

The Pine Valley Cosmonauts with Otis Clay “Banks of the Ohio”
This is from volume two of The Executioner’s Last Songs, a series of three CDs sold to benefit the fight against the death penalty. All of the songs are about crime, death, and punishment and feature the Cosmonauts with various guest performers.

Muleskinner Jones “How Come That Blood On Your Coat Sleeve?”
I wish that this guy would quit with the jokey singing voice, but he’s done some pretty demented stuff over his career. His original song “Death Row Hoedown” is really out there.

Stevie Wonder “Frankie and Johnny”
I have my doubts whether this is Stevie Wonder, but that’s how the song is labeled. If it really is it must be from the “Little Stevie” child-prodigy portion of his career. And if it is, then it’s pretty bizarre to have a kid singing about lovers killing each other.