Yep, crime tales get their own segment. The murder ballad is a classic format, and the broader category of the crime song is as well. These are essentially musical crime fiction, with the unquestionably guilty as their protagonists. Johnny Cash had a lot to say about sympathy for the murderer, but he doesn’t appear in this segment—that would have been too easy.
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Good Corn Liquor by The Steeldrivers
I’ve been itching for a way to get The Steeldrivers in here somewhere. This is a song about moving moonshine during prohibition. With an old school style and a purposefully dated subject matter, this is another song that sounds like it should be older than it actually is. It’s also one where, despite the actions of the character it concerns, the police are pretty unambiguously the bad guys here, calling back once again that thread of political passion that runs through bluegrass. Honorable mention goes to If It Hadn’t Been For Love, where it is the singer who did wrong, and he certainly knows it.
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Georgia Law Man by Poor Man’s Poison
A tragic Bonnie and Clyde-esque love story about an impulsive couple making bad decisions together. Running away together, sure, but robbing all those banks was a mistake.
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The narrator here is easily the least sympathetic of the bunch. His motives are unabashedly selfish. He seems proud of it as he commits the most heinous acts possible in pursuit of personal enrichment. Total bastard. Catchy song. This, my friends, is the difference between a likeable character and an interesting one.
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We’re back in the land of righteous outrage. Even though the first chorus kind of gives it away, the direction this takes by the end still feels very surprising. It’s just so stark when it finally happens. The community is sick of these guys.
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Dead Man’s Isle by The Dead South
Don’t let the grim title fool you, this song is hilarious actually. The Dead South spins a tale of a half remembered drunken night, the next day’s regret, and a dog driving a car. Somehow, I had to listen to this a couple of times before I caught that last part, but yep, it’s right there, plain as day. Dog driving a car. Never shoulda’ let that dog drive.
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NEXT TIME: Story time the third, That Good Spooky Shit. I finally embraced the ghostiness that was sneaking in earlier. I only have three of these left after that, and then this series will be done. One of them is short, too, so we’re edging close to the finale.
I goofed this one and skipped spooky time in the post order. In the next post, The Wistful Love Songs Are Back. Spooky Time became the post after that one. My bad.
Dramatic Pause 
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