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Murder Was the Case
Some music genres are perfect for talking about death, murder and other morbidities. Someone always seems to be getting stabbed in opera. Rock and country artists often tell stories that end in the bloody demise of a drifter or a lover. Death metal has death written right in its title. The Beatles’ character Maxwell Edison was a serial killer who used his silver hammer to snuff folks out. The husband in Nirvana’s “Where Did You Sleep Last Night” ends up beheaded in the woods. Even milquetoast Taylor Swift has a 2020 song called “No Body, No Crime” that deals with the disappearance of a wife killer. Nick Cave has created a long and successful career on the myriad ways to kick the bucket or have your own bucket kicked. (My personal favorite song about murder and/or death is without question Talking Heads’ brilliant and twitchy “Psycho Killer”.).
Talking about such topics is generally a white artist thing, but some Black musicians have songs about death and murder nestled in their discography. When Bob Marley was with the original Wailers, he sang about how he pulled out a gun and killed a law enforcement agent in “I Shot the Sheriff”. (He was being metaphoric, of course.). Billie Holiday gave us the haunting "Strange Fruit" describing Black bodies lynched and strung up on poplar trees. Nina Simone sang about death in “Ballad of Hollis Brown” while The Lionel-less Commodores scored their only hit with their tribute to dead legends Marvin Gaye (who was murdered) and Jackie Wilson on “Night Shift”. But for the most part, Black artists steer clear of death and murder in their songs because we are easily spooked and are scared that singing about such things will conjure up ghosts, goblins and the devil hisdamnedself.
Here are my picks for the top 5 songs about death and murder by Black artists, accompanied by three honorable mentions. This list does not include any rap artists since most of them don’t rap about anything but death and murder.
(Honorable Mention #1)
“Blood on the Dance Floor” by Michael Jackson
Cause of Death: Stabbing, figuratively
Victim: A friend of Michael
I don’t think Michael would ever sing about death literally in his music, but he had been on a precarious roll since adulthood when it came to portraying women either as victims of violence (“Smooth Criminal”) or, more often, as scandalous perpetrators of evil deeds (“Dirty Diana,” “Walk Right Now,” “Heartbreak Hotel,” “Dangerous,” “Billie Jean,” and others). On “Blood on the Dance Floor,” someone finally gets stabbed—metaphorically, at least. Instead of Annie, or Diana, or Sefra and Sue, or every girl that Mike knew, this time it’s Susie who’s got your number, ain’t your friend, and took you under with seven inches in. Susie is yet another woman out to get him—and all his boys—but this time she shows up at the club brandishing a knife, ready to leave the dance floor smeared with blood.
It’s probably for the best that the remix album that housed this track was mostly ignored by fans, because it never made much sense that MJ was so negative toward women when some of his best friends were Liz Taylor and Princess Diana—two swell gals by most accounts.
5. “Together Again” by Janet Jackson
Cause of Death: Not disclosed
Victim: Janet’s gay friend
The Velvet Rope was Janet’s “all-this-immense-fame-and-fortune-has-made-me-bitter-and-depressed” album. If I remember correctly, Janet had dedicated the nonsingle track “Where Are You Now” on her previous album janet. to a dead pet in the liner notes. The song itself, though, was really about a lost love—not death. But “Together Again” is clearly a tribute to a dead, non-furry friend. She mentions they’ll see each other again in heaven, and that this friend is smiling down on her from there at this very moment. Unlike most of the songs on The Velvet Rope, “Together Again” doesn’t take on any dark hues—it’s actually a celebration, like Janet almost can’t wait to meet the Grim Reaper so she and her friend can Cabbage Patch through the Pearly Gates together.
The Zoloft Janet didn’t last long, because on her follow-up album All For You, Janet was spitting mad—not depressed—about her earthbound husband. A man she probably wished were dead.
(Honorable Mention #2)
“Sometimes It Snows in April” by Prince and the Revolution
Cause of Death: Gunshot
Victim: Christopher Tracy
Even though I was one of the unfortunate people who bought tickets and saw Under the Cherry Moon when it came out in theaters, I had to use ChatGPT to remember how Christopher Tracy died. “Sometimes It Snows in April” is sung from the perspective of a man (Prince) mourning the death of his friend Christopher Tracy (also Prince). This is kinda similar to when Aretha Franklin took the role of "Eleanor Rigby", the dead woman in her Beatles cover. Performed with little more than a piano, guitar, and the somber harmonies of Wendy and Lisa, I’ve never really liked the song—it always felt like a metabolism killer stuck at the end of the Parade record. Of course, it took on a much deeper meaning after Prince’s untimely death on April 21, 2016, transforming into an eerie epitaph for one of music’s most incredibly gifted—and most conflicted—talents.
Adding to Prince’s mystique is the fact that the song was recorded on April 21, 1985, and that he was found dead in his elevator exactly 31 years later. Prince hated elevators and even referenced them ominously in “Let’s Go Crazy,” warning us not to let the “de-elevator” bring us down. Prophetic. And spooky as it wanna be.
4. “Cold Feet” by Tracy Chapman
Cause of Death: Apparent Shooting
Victim: Unnamed man (song’s protagonist)
Tracy Chapman’s not really an R&B artist, but whatever. It doesn't really matter because she’s Black and that’s good enough for me. Chapman can sho’ ‘nuff tell a story, that’s for sure. On her comeback album aptly titled “New Beginning”, Chapman takes almost six minutes to tell listeners about a lonesome loser who finally meets a woman in adulthood. He’s so smitten and in love with her that he promises to do everything to provide a better life for her. But the most he can do is toil the earth for a pittance, seeing little dividends for his hard work. His friends easily persuade him to join them in a get-rich-quick scheme which appears to be a robbery of some sort. Before the whole thing is over, the poor man ends up six-feet under by the end of the song, but Tracy does not tell us who killed him or how. My guess is that he was Black and done in by the trigger-happy po-po.
3. “Too High” by Stevie Wonder
Cause of Death: Drug overdose
Victim: Unnamed woman (song’s protagonist)
Quality-wise, “Too High” is my number one on several lists. But since this countdown is more about theme than execution, Stevie will have to settle for the number three spot with this absolute banger that opens his Innervisions album. Wonder sings the chorus from the perspective of the junkie, and the verses as a narrator trailing the girl’s descent into addiction. She keeps taking hits, complaining that she “ain’t touched the sky” and “ain’t left the ground,” but then turns around and hopes she “never ever come[s] down.” Which one is it? Does Stevie know how drugs work? By the end of the song, she’s dead—a grim finale foreshadowed by those eerie “do-do-do’s” sprinkled throughout the track. Of course, we feel bad about her demise, but if there’s a silver lining, it’s that she got a permanent, funky-ass tribute from one of the greatest songwriters of all time. Not everyone gets a Stevie Wonder eulogy.
2. “Another Lonely Christmas” by Prince and the Revolution
Cause of Death: Pneumonia or strep
Victim: Prince’s girlfriend
It’s actually pretty interesting that Prince didn’t sing more directly about death in his music. He regularly alluded to mass destruction via atomic bombs—at least once per album—over six straight records from Dirty Mind to Parade, but during his commercial peak, he rarely tackled topics like murder or the death of a specific person. One notable exception is “Another Lonely Christmas,” the B-side to “I Would Die 4 U.” In this somber track, Prince is drinking banana daiquiris until he goes blind on the seventh anniversary of his lover’s death. She passed away on December 25th, and apparently, Prince hasn’t made a single new friend to spend Christmas with since. Her parents can’t even agree on what killed her (“Your father said it was pneumonia, your mother said it was strep. The doctor said you were dead and I, I say it’s senseless”). All Prince knows is that as long as he can hear her smiling from above, she won’t hear his tears as he drinks himself into oblivion every year. No, it’s not exactly “Have a Holly Jolly Christmas,” but honestly, I don’t see why we can’t start ringing in the holidays every year with “Another Lonely Christmas” instead of that stupid Mariah Carey song.
Honorable Mention #3
“Janie Got A Gun” by Aerosmith
Cause of Death: Patricide
Victim: Janie’s father
I had to go outside of R&B for this one because even though white artists sing about death and murder all the time, this song is one of the most poignant to hit the pop charts, reaching number four at the time of its release. The original lyrics are horrific, describing how a father “raped a little bitty baby”. When she got older, she had to “put a bullet in his brain” for the appalling things he put her through. The inspiration from the song came from stories lead singer Steven Tyler heard during one of his many stints in rehab. He sympathizes with the ladies in a song that takes sides. Murder is a last resort, but in the case of “Janie”, most listeners would agree that her decision was the best one, even though she will need to face the consequences for her crime. We are all happy that she left this earth with one fewer piece of scum, as there is no life form lower than a person who sexually abuses children and animals.
1. “Bits and Pieces” by Van Hunt
Cause of Death: Murder by ax
Victim: Lover
In “Bits and Pieces”, a cheeky Van Hunt reminisces about how he slowly lured a woman into his life. After they fall in love, things go sour between them so he makes the hasty move of taking “an ax to our well-made plans”. He now must find a new lover, but the relationship won’t be the same as the one he just severed. He knows that the authorities will come looking for his former lover, but they won’t locate all of her, “just a few scattered bits and pieces”. We already know that Van Hunt is a clever and sarcastic artist and a song like this is meant to provoke and not be taken seriously, like when Prince sang about fucking his own sister back in 1980.
But at the same time, should we be concerned about Halle Berry’s safety? Does she even know about this song? If her aim is to Die Another Day, she may need to pack a bag and catch a Greyhound.
