Songs About Crime Trivia Quiz

Answer: Tom Dooley

In 1866, Laura Foster was murdered. Her fiancee, Tom Dula, was blamed and ultimately hanged for the crime. A poet named Thomas C. Land wrote a song about this murder and hanging. The song went on to be covered by many musicians. The musicians who recorded the most well-known version of the song are one of my favorite musical groups: The Kingston Trio. Their version of the song became a number one hit in five different countries in 1958 and it propelled the Kingston Trio to superstardom. The Kingston Trio were one of the most popular musical groups in the world from 1958-1964, then the Beatles came to the U.S. and the Kingston Trio were forgotten. However, their influence is legendary, having been an influence on bands such as the Eagles, ABBA, the Bee Gees, and David Crosby.

Some people believe that Dula wasn't actually the murderer. Foster had a cousin named Anne Melton, who once dated Dula and was jealous that Foster was engaged to Dula. Melton was tried for the crime and acquitted because Dula said she was innocent Some people believe that Melton was actually the killer and Dula was just sacrificing himself for her.

Answer: 99 to Life

"99 to Life" is an interesting song. At first it leads you to believe that the narrator just broke up with his girlfriend because she cheated on him("I'm broken-hearted, I'm a broken man. Driven by anger, on that night I ran. I had me a woman, I thought she'd be true."). Then you learned that she died, and the narrator may have been wrongfully blamed for her death ("Now she's gone and left me, you know her life is through. Lonely weekends, baby lonely nights. The judge he gave me 99 to Life"). Then finally, the narrator admits that he did it ("I killed my baby, I killed her with my knife").

Social Distortion have sold more than three million albums worldwide, making them one of the best-selling punk rock bands of all time. Most of their songs are about hard times. Singer/songwriter Mike Ness has said that he had a rough childhood and he's lucky to be alive and not in prison while many of his friends ended up in prison or dead.

Answer: Floyd the Barber

In "Floyd the Barber," from Nirvana's first album "Bleach," the narrator goes to a barber shop for a hair cut. There, he gets tied to a chair, is raped and cut up. Kurt Cobain said that all the characters in this song are from the "Andy Griffith" show.

With over 50 million albums sold worldwide, Nirvana is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential bands of all time.

Answer: E. Watson

Edgar Watson was a murderer who lived in the 19th Century. He fled to Chokoloskee because it had a reputation for being a refuge for outlaws. It didn't turn out to be a refuge for him. He was murdered by a crowd there. The story of his murder is told in the Decemberists' song, "E. Watson" from their EP "Long Live the King," which is a collection of B-sides that were written for, but didn't make it on, their 2011 album "The King is Dead," which went to number one on the Billboard top 200 albums chart.

Answer: Renegade

"Renegade" is about a man who was sentenced to death by hanging, and he is running as far away from his home as he can so he can't be found and he can stay alive. This song starts off as a quiet song, but then it suddenly turned into a rocker. This is one of Styx's most popular songs and is often used as their concert closer. The Pittsburgh Steelers often play this song at Heinz Field.

Answer: Midnight Show

The Killers told a story over three songs, which they call "The Murder Trilogy." The story is told out of order, the first song in the story is "Leave the Bourbon on the Shelf," which was released on their 2007 album "Sawdust." The second song is "Midnight Show," which is the tenth song on their first album "Hot Fuss." The third and final song in the story is the first song on the first album, "Jenny Was a Friend of Mine."

"Leave the Bourbon on the Shelf" is about the reasons of the murder.
"Midnight Show" is about the murder.
"Jenny Was a Friend of Mine" is about the murderer lying to the police.
"Mr. Brightside," contrary to what some people believe, is not related to this story at all.

The question asked which song did the actual murder happen in, so the correct answer is "Midnight Show."

Answer: Killers

Iron Maiden are a heavy metal band from England in the 1980s. They have a lot of songs about crime. The reason for this is probably because, as they sang, "The evil that men do lives on and on."

"Killers" is a song about a psychotic killer and what's going through his mind. The album that it's on is the last album to feature Paul Di'Anno as the lead singer. Shortly afterwards, Bruce Dickinson became Iron Maiden's lead singer. Dickinson was the singer throughout most of the band's career, but some fans prefer Paul.

Answer: Desperado

Alice Cooper was known for a brand of rock called "Shock rock." He wore black-and-white make-up and wrote many songs about psychopaths. His fourth album, which many people consider to be his best album, was called "Killer" and it's about several different killers and their different motives and ways of killing.

"Desperado" is about a priest who doesn't act the way a priest should act.

"Under My Wheels" is about a man who's being bugged by a woman constantly and he's tired of it. He responds by running her over with his car.

"Dead Babies" is about parents who kill their baby not intentionally, but by neglecting her.

"Killer" is about a man who has killed many different people: judging by the sound effects he has killed children, babies, women, and men. He sees nothing wrong with what he has done and does not understand why he's about to be punished.

Answer: Folsom Prison Blues

"But I shot a man in Reno just to watch him die."

Johnny Cash sympathized with prisoners, and even sometimes performed concerts in prison. He released a live album called "Live From Folsom Prison," where he opened with this song. Standing up for prisoners' rights is an unpopular thing to do, but Johnny said he did it because prison just makes people worse. He said people are treated terribly in prison and they come out worse than before they went to prison.

Answer: 18 and Life

Skid Row were a popular heavy metal band in the late 1980s. Their self-titled first album was certified five times platinum. That album had three major hits: the three possible answers to this question minus "Rattlesnake Shake." The most popular song of them all was "18 and Life." The title refers to the age he was when he committed the crime, and how long he will be in prison.

The crime itself isn't mentioned until near the end, when singer Sebastian Bach screams "That child blew a child away!"