Get hundreds of great playlists like this on the Rhapsody Radish.
Songs About Serial Killers
Listen to this playlist here.
Serial killers are a subject of great fascination in America. There are scores of best selling books and box office hits based on these abominations of society. Their popularity is fueled by both a natural morbid curiosity and the desire to be scared just for the thrill of it. A serial killer is defined as someone who has perpetrated multiple murders with the victims usually being unknown to the killer. The phrase "serial killer" first appeared in the 1970s and is credited to either Robert Ressler (FBI) or Dr. Robert Keppel (arguments exist on who actually coined the term). It was meant to help distinguish murderers who claim victims over a long period of time from those who claim multiple victims at once (mass murderers). A third type of multi-person killer is a spree killer.
Serial killers usually have a “cooling-off” period in between killings and many times lead what appears to be a normal life. Indeed, this is probably another reason why they fascinate us. Sexual abnormalities are also involved in many cases.
Serial killers are in a different category than those whose actions are spurred by greed, jealousy or for political / religious reasons.
Some serial killers revel in the notoriety they receive, as the newest captured freak has displayed: BTK. Would we have less serial killing if the media did not give them the attention they so desire? It’s a good question and not one we can answer here. One thing we know for sure is that serial killers have unfortunately achieved “cult” status in many subcultures.
Of course, the subject of serial killers has also made its way into music. Some are sung from the perspective of the killer or from the victim, others are stories based on a fictional monster, while still others are about real life killers like Jeffrey Dahmer or Richard Speck. The following playlist contains songs about serial killers, which are taken from a diverse range of musical genres. Enjoy, but not too much…
Article comments
— go to most recent comments1 - Chris Beaumont
Half of ICP's catalog. ;>
2 - Robert
I am ignorant. Who is ICP?
3 - Chris Beaumont
The Insane Clown Posse, a rap group with a large following and cartoonishly violent lyrics. They are in an area where you love them or hate them, not much in between. Plus if you look close you can get a positive messgae from them. Strange but true!
Thay have been arounfd for going on 15 years.
4 - janine
No Nick Cave?
5 - JR
Maxwell's Silver Hammer - Beatles
6 - Robert Burke
Yea, maybe the whold "Murder Ballads" album, and The beatles, I would have never thought of that, it's to happy sounding. Good call.
7 - Al Barger
"My Fondest Childhood Memories" by Macy Gray, in which she, yes, fondly recalls murdering her parents' paramours.
Also, I don't see that "I Love the Dead" is about being a killer. The narrator appears to be a necrophiliac slipping into the morgue or something. In some people's minds that might be worse, actually, but it's not the same.
8 - Robert
I disagree about "I Love The Dead"
The lyrics say
"I love the dead before they're cold,
Their blueing flesh for me to hold."
Since the lyrics say "before they're cold" this means he actually did the killing himself. And he has obviousl done it more than once. ie: Serial Killer
9 - Aaron, Duke De Mondo
what about Charlie Manson's own music? which is, (whisper it), alarmingly good.
10 - Robert
That's a different list. That would be "Song By Serial Killers"
Probably a short list and very hard to research.
11 - Aaron, Duke De Mondo
Robert, this is true. i hear Ted Bundy did a nice My Prerogative, mind.
12 - Tan The Man
Blue Oyster Cult - (Don't Fear) The Reaper... I mean the grim reaper is a serial killer too, right?
13 - Al Barger
I don't know there Robert, you're hanging an awful lot on just the phrase "before they're cold."
14 - Aaron, Duke De Mondo
Sufjan Stevens has a number about John Wayne Gacy on his latest record, also. a fantastic number, right there.
15 - Robert
huh? Not sure what you mean there Al. It's pretty freakin' straight forward. If the body is not cold, the only explaination is that the victim died recently. Pretty basic reading comprehension stuff here guy.
Unless of course, Alice's antagonist just happens to stumble upon the recently dead on a regular basis.
16 - Robert
I haven't heard the new Sufjan Stevens yet. It's getting some seriously good reviews. I better get on it.
17 - Robert
The Grim Reaper is not a Serial Killer he's the personification of death thtough an anthropomorphic figure. So that's another list. "Songs About the personification of death thtough an anthropomorphic figures"
18 - Pete Blackwell
"Gary Gilmore's Eyes" by the Adverts is one you overlooked. Fantastic '77 UK punk.
19 - El Bicho
AC/DC's Night Prowler.
Richard Ramirez referenced it.
20 - Vern Halen
There's an old compilation reissued as a CD box set a few years back called The Anthology of American Folk Music - it's on Smithsonian/Folkways Records. Most of the songs were recorded in the late 1920's to early 1930's, and a good portion of them are songs about premeditated murders & other heinous crimes. I don't recall if there are any serial killers mentioned in particular, but it shows that the murder motif has been present in American popular music for a very long time.
21 - Jeff Davidson
nice list!
22 - Aaman
The "Natural Born Killers" soundtrack
23 - drone
"Speakerphone", by the Virgin-Whore Complex. It's about the Zodiac Killer, with actual excerpts from letters read..
24 - Carabosse
Not all of these are technically serial-killer-specific, but this is my own true-crime mix.
Psycho Killer Talking Heads
Murder By Numbers The Police
Ted, Just Admit It Jane's Addiction
Terror Couple Kill Colonel Eleven Shadows (covering Bauhaus)
Mr .44 The Electric Hellfire Club
Too Bad MC 900' Jesus and DJ Zero
Gary Gilmore's Eyes The Adverts
Jonestown Concrete Blonde
Midnight Rambler The Rolling Stones
Red Right Hand Nick Cave
Excitable Boy Warren Zevon
Serial Killer Blues David J
Hey Man, Nice Shot Filter
I Don't Like Mondays Boomtown Rats
The Homecoming Queen's Got A Gun Julie Brown
25 - Bob A. Booey
What about "Your Body is a Wonderland" by John Mayer?
Oh, and don't forget "Hip to be Square" by Huey Lewis and the News. Anyone who's watched "American Psycho" knows what I'm talking about. That movie reclaimed that song from "Back to the Future" forever.
The Filter song is not about serial killers. They can deny it all they want, but it's about Cobain.
That is all.