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A Soundtrack For Murder

Ever since I was a kid, I’ve been fascinated with books and movies about serial killers, mass murderers, and true crime. Not in an admiring “I can’t wait to grow up and murder someone” kind of way, but more of a morbid obsession with what exactly makes them tick. You could put every fictional monster ever created in front of me, but none could frighten me as much as a person with a psychotic mind. To think that someone just as human as yourself could one day flip to the “dark side” and commit such atrocities… it boggles the mind. And the most frightening thing is that you never know who until it happens. It’s not like monsters and zombies, which you would be able to identify from a mile away. No, these people look like everyday people… just like you and me. And it could be one of us. And that, folks, is what I call scary. Not long-haired Japanese ghosts, not mutant rednecks, and not even Satan himself. The human mind is what gives me nightmares.

So in honor of this freaky obsession, I’ve put together a special playlist about murderers and murder, both real and fictional. And here it is… your Soundtrack For Murder:

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Sufjan Stevens – John Wayne Gacy, Jr.

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Woody Guthrie – Pretty Boy Floyd

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Serge Gainsbourg & Brigitte Bardot – Bonnie And Clyde

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The Lucksmiths – World Encyclopedia of Twentieth Century Murder

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Talking Heads – Psycho Killer

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Landscape – Norman Bates

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The Police – Murder By Numbers

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Greenskeepers – Lotion

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Swans – Killing for Company

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The Smiths – Suffer Little Children

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Jane’s Addiction – Ted, Just Admit It…

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Sonic Youth – Death Valley ’69 (with Lydia Lunch)

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Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds – The Curse of Millhaven

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Johnny Cash – Folsom Prison Blues

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The Beatles – Maxwell’s Silver Hammer

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The Rolling Stones – Midnight Rambler

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AC/DC – Night Prowler

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Death In Vegas – Aisha (Feat. Iggy Pop)

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Motorhead – Jack the Ripper

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Slayer – Dead Skin Mask

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Cannibal Corpse – Addicted to Vaginal Skin

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Macabre – Mr. Albert Fish (was Children Your Favorite Dish)

  • TolgarNYC

    While listening to the songs I’m reading the background stories about those killers and their murders. Some creepy stories there, should keep me captivated for hours. Thanks!

    Personally I like those lyrics the most that capture the psychological hell and darkness that these killers are in. Like the Swans’ song about Dennis Nilsen who killed boys to have his way with their corpses. Some dark and fascinating stuff.

  • http://hypem.com fascinated

    These are classy, nice!

  • http://twitter.com/hells_horses Mr Hobbs

    Great post. I share a similar fascination with serial killers and how they can do the things they do. I’ve been listening to Perfume Genius a lot recently, he has a beautiful song called ‘Lookout, Lookout’ about the child killer Mary Bell. Really good.

  • http://www.erikwallace.com Erik Wallace

    Three additions I’d recommend: Neko Case, Deep Red Bells – Blitzen Trapper, Black River Killer and The Lemonheads, Knoxville Girl.

    Great playlist!

  • Joris

    missing Bruce Springsteen’s ‘Nebraska’, and Leadbelly’s ‘John Hardy’, two confronting first-person accounts

  • http://fororchestra.com/ Walt Ribeiro

    What Soundtrack for Murder would be complete without Slayer? They’re music is fun to arrange and remix – and these other songs are perfect for the mixtape

  • Pingback: Death In Vegas // Aisha « Perdidos en la Música

  • thea stamatelos

    best post ever.

  • thea stamatelos

    i would recommend the birthday party for the sequel to this post – deep in the woods?  

  • Pingback: AC/DC “Night Prowler”…Plus The Beatles, Rolling Stones, Talking Heads, The Smiths, The Police, Jane’s Addiction, and More « Rock God Cred

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