eMusic has an article up called
The 13 Grisliest Murder Ballads of All Time.
Now, this includes both traditional songs and not (Eminem's "Stan" is on there), But seriously, any list of the grisliest murder ballads that includes legitimate folk songs but not
Long Lankin or
Child Owlet -- possibly the most violent of the Child canon -- is not to be
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In the original, she was no doubt a Jew's daughter, because they were the go-to race for blaming things on back in the day.
I wouldn't put it on a list of the most extreme or anything, but it's worth mention, coming as it does in the middle of a CD of songs about Old Mister Rabbit and the like. It must have opened the eyes of a few kids - and parents.
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That's exactly the case -- the English version of the song is called "Little Sir Hugh," which clarifies its basis in the legend of Hugh of Lincoln.
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Have you ever heard Ewan MacColl's version of "Sheath and Knife"? It's one of the most chilling things I've ever heard.
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I don't know if it's technically a murder ballad, but "Fair Helen of Kirkconnell" is wonderfully creepy: a man's lover is shot by his enemies and then she haunts him, trying to get him to die and join her.
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In the meantime, I have lots of DreamWidth invite codes.... (I'd miss you if I parted ways with LJ completely)
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My two favorite murder ballads are "The Curse of Millhaven" (as you said, 'Wild Roses' is totally not the grisliest song on that album) and a song called "Neighbour Boy" by a Norwegian singer called Janove Ottesen. It's not technically a murder ballad, if only because the murder is only hinted at, but still. It's about a man who rapes & kills a woman he knew as a child, and then hangs himself for it. Lyrics - http://bit.ly/tcRZU0
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