Murder Ballads
American music has a long tradition of murder ballads. These songs, whether blues, hillbilly, bluegrass, Cajun, Norteno, or any other genre, have one thing in common: each was inspired by an actual murder.
“Tom Dooley” is the best known. The song tells the tale of Dula, a young man from North Carolina who was hanged in 1865 for the murder of his fiancé.
“Stagger Lee” is another song that has survived the ages. It’s based on an incident one winter night in a St. Louis saloon when Stack Lee shot Billy Lyons dead.
The narratives behind “Ella Speed” and “Little Delia” are supported by news accounts as well as court and police records. The murder that inspired “Betty and Dupree” was splashed across the front pages of Atlanta newspapers for the better part of two months.
The bluegrass standard “Pretty Polly” may have the strangest history of all. Researchers have discovered a link suggesting that this Polly might have been Jack the Ripper’s first victim.
Murder ballads are history lessons combined with morality plays. And they make the grade as good music, the best of the lot sung to the most moving melodies, bloody murder and all.
