The Philosophy of Murder Ballads

I do love me some murder ballads, and not just the Nick Cave album. Murder, Misery, and Then Good Night, the endless covers of "Knoxville Girl" (Rachel Brooke does a great one), Trailer Bride and some early Neko Case ("Make Your Bed").

It's more or less an offshoot for my affection for the "downbeat lyrics, upbeat music" from the thing in the 80s UK music scene, more or less exemplified by The Smiths but taking root elsewhere, like the Canadian "Echo Beach." Something might sound cheerful, even jaunty, then you crack it open for the melancholy inside. A bit like good absinthe: a sweet start and then a bitter finish.

All the other kids with their pumped up kicks follow notes, follow notes, rather than the lyrics.

I don’t see that there is -necessarily- a conflict between jubilation and darkness. It’s a matter of perspective, I suppose.