MeFi Music
In which I attempt to write a new Murder Ballad. I’ve covered a few Murder Ballads including one for this month’s “Traditional” challenge.
With all the great renditions of various ballads trickling in this month, I thought I’d try to write my own.
As far as I can tell, the format always seems to go something like this:
-Story is told in first person past-tense by the narrator, who is also the murderer.
-Narrator perceives that he has been slighted or shamed in some way by the victim who is usually his child/girlfriend/wife.
(Or perhaps he just loves them too much.)
-Narrator leads the unsuspecting victim into the woods or “up a hill” or somewhere far away from safety.
-Sometimes victim pleads for his or her life.
-Narrator murders victim in a base fashion; there’s some poetic bloodiness in the lyric.
-Someone is named “Willie.”
-Body disposal, if not thrown down a well.
-Remorse
-Incarceration and summing up!
I did a bit of a cheat in that I didn’t stick to the verses-only construct. I have a kind of pseudo-chorus after every 2 verses. So kill me.
