Murder Ballads: Nick Cave and His Approach to Killing in Song

Abstract

Violence and murder have a strong cultural currency the implications of which should be pursued by those with an interest in law and society, crime, and justice. Murder ballads are songs about death and killing with a history stretching back to the nineteenth century. Drawing out the major themes of this genre can help scholars gain a handle on how murder has been treated in popular culture, thereon providing an enhanced understanding of the human condition. As an example of such examination, 2016 marked the t e tieth a i e sa of Ni k Ca e a d the Bad "eeds Murder Ballads, their most famous and, perhaps, defining album. More than any other Bad Seeds album, Murder Ballads captures the essence of a band at its most comfortable in exploring the dark and taboo; violence, killing, death. In producing a whole album on murder, the band left a calling card by which the wider public could define them. This paper will explore the album by considering its key themes and, in so doing, reflect on the need to understand the use of murder in such popular music. The use of murder and death in popular music has not been properly studied yet offers potential social insight for several fields of study such as law, criminology and psychology. In particular, little considered issues around the treatment of murder in popular culture such as humour are identified, while others that require greater attention such as attitudes to women are also given due consideration.

This Is Not a Drill: Towards a Sonic and Sensorial Musicriminology

“…That is not to say criminology and related fields have not had interest in music and its clear cultural and social relevance in exploring social harms, resistance, redemption and criminalisation. For example Kauzlarich (2012) and Kauzlarich and Awsumb (2017) have highlighted music’s role in protest, resistance and post-colonial policing (also see Martin, 2019); Lee (2010) has explored the role music plays in correctional settings; Hamm (1993) has explored music’s role in recruitment to skinhead Neo-Nazi groups; Ferrell et al (2008) have traced music’s complex association with a range of deviant and resistance cultures, highlighting inter-alia the confusion between rap music and the so-called ‘street gangs’; Linnemann and McClanahan (2017) have similarly explored this slippage in relation to ‘straight edge’ subcultures; Newman (2017) has analysed the pleasures and desires wrapped up in violent or salacious crime story-telling; Muzzatti (2004) has explored the vilification of musicians and scape-goating of music as a cause of violence; Ilan (2020) has used drill music to explore street cultures, where music often highlights the meaning of obscured language, values and rituals; research has also identified how rap lyrics are now often used as evidence in criminal cases featuring musicians, with disproportionately negative outcomes for young black men (Nielson et al, 2019; Rykajdo, 2020). Indeed, there has been a body of scholarship that has focused on hip-hop and gangsta rap, right through to drill music, highly relevant to the current paper 1 .…”

“…This has not gone unrecognised. Newman (2017: 96) has stated that ‘use of murder and death in popular music has not been properly studied, yet it offers potential social insight for several fields of study such as law, criminology, and psychology’. He goes on to note that other cultural attitudes, such as those toward women, could also be far better explored in popular music than they have been (also see Brook et al, 2006).…”