Random Country Songs With Surprisingly Dark Meanings (15 items)

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  (#1) Knoxville Girl - The Louvin Brothers

  "Knoxville Girl" is perhaps one of the most famous country songs on the planet, and you'd never guess from the lush harmonies that it's about a nefarious deed. The lyrics, however, depict a gruesome scene that happens during what seems like a romantic walk between two lovers. The song's second verse clearly describes the incident, but that's overcome by the upbeat and rhythmic guitar strumming in the background:

  She fell down on her bended knees, for mercy she did cry
  "Oh Willy dear, don't kill me here, I'm unprepared to die"
  She never spoke another word, I only beat her more
  Until the ground around me within her blood did flow

  Never before has something so gruesome been sung in such perfect harmony.
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  (#2) You Are My Sunshine - Gene Autry

  Most of us are familiar with the refrain of Gene Autry's "You Are My Sunshine." At this point, it's a de facto nursery rhyme and mothers across the country sing the chorus to soothe their crying babies. In reality, those babies should probably keep crying because this isn't the sweet love song we all believe it to be. Instead, it's a gutting, desperate plea to a lover who has left the singer for another man, and it contains a bit of a threat if you listen to more than just the chorus:

  I'll always love you and make you happy
  If you will only say the same
  But if you leave me to love another
  You'll regret it all some day

  Just as it's been sung by many mothers as a lullaby, other artists have recorded this song, including Jimmie Davis and Johnny Cash.
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  (#3) The Thunder Rolls

  • Garth Brooks

  No song that has a happy ending ever started with the sound of rolling thunder and such an ominous tone. Add in the lyrics, "He's heading back from somewhere that he never should have been" and you know something is about to go down. Over the course of the song, a wife goes from worrying about her husband making it home in the storm alive to realizing he's been out cheating: "And the lightnin' flashes in her eyes." 

  This song is apparently so dark that Brooks allegedly left out the third verse to make it more commercially viable, though he still performs it at his concerts. In this deleted verse, the woman decides to take fateful action against her husband: "'Cause tonight will be the last time she'll wonder where he's been."
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  (#4) Whiskey Lullaby

  • Brad Paisley, Alison Krauss

  On the surface, Brad Paisley's "Whiskey Lullaby" seems like your average tale of country heartbreak, until you realize that the main character drinks himself to an early grave. If that isn't dark enough, the lover who broke his heart ends up with the same fate because of the guilt. The melody is light, but Paisley's lyrics are much more foreboding:

  He put that bottle to his head and pulled the trigger
  And finally drank away her memory

  Bill Anderson and Jon Randall, who wrote the song, had to practically beg Paisley to record the song, saying , "It wasn't exactly like people were running up and down Music Row looking for double suicide drinking songs." Regardless of the disturbing message, the song hit No. 3 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart.
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  (#5) Better Dig Two

  • The Band Perry

  The Band Perry's hit "Better Dig Two" belongs on a horror movie soundtrack, but not because of its perfectly plucked banjo. This modern country hit transforms marriage into a literal life sentence. In fact, one of the members of the Band Perry told CBS Philly:

  I think the card that our mother got for our dad for Valentine’s Day probably sums it up best. It’s a picture of these two skeletons with giant red hearts, and it said "'til death do us part is for quitters." And that’s what "Better Dig Two" is about - absolute lifetime commitment.

  The most telling lines that this is, in fact, a dark ballad come toward the end:

  If the ties that bind ever do come loose
  If forever ever ends for you
  If that ring gets a little too tight
  You might as well read me my last rights
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  (#6) Why They Call It Falling

  • Lee Ann Womack

  Lee Ann Womack has a knack for making every song feel floaty and inspirational, and "Why They Call It Falling" starts off feeling very uplifting, saying that falling in love feels like "walkin' on the ceilin'." But by the end of the song, she's describing love much differently:

  It's like a knife
  Through the heart
  And it all comes apart 

  She continues:

  It's a hole
  It's a cave
  It's kind of like a grave
  When he tells you that he's found somebody new 

  While it's not super clear whether she or her ex-love perishes, few songs have turned from intense joy to overwhelming misery so quickly. 
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  (#7) Creepin' - Eric Church

  Eric Church's upbeat and fast-talking song seems to be just another heartbreak song, but this one is a bit seedier than most. He's not only describing a descent into madness now that his lover is gone - okay, maybe not your typical asylum-type madness, but not being able to get her out of his head - but he's also describing all the ways he's tried to drown out her memories, and they're not... healthy. He mentions whiskey, caffeine, and controlled substances. He gets so deep into one of them that by the end of the song he almost ODs:

  Just last night I saw the light,
  At the end of that tunnel on the other side,
  Thought I found my way outta this pain,
  Only to find your memory train 

  Take your pick for which one you think brought him to that fate, but the come-down if he survives is going to be brutal either way.
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  (#8) Pictures From Life's Other Side

  • Hank Williams

  According to Rolling Stone, "Pictures from Life's Other Side" is a tale as old as time. The original dates back to the 19th century; it was covered by Woody Guthrie in 1944 and popularized by Hank Williams in the '50s. For a song that's stood the test of time, it sure is dark.

  "Pictures from Life's Other Side" conjures images of people moments from the end - a mother and child who drown in a river, and an old woman who perishes all alone. It doesn't really get more depressing than that.
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  (#9) They're Hanging Me Tonight - Marty Robbins

  Marty Robbins's 1959 country hit offers the unique perspective of a man awaiting his punishment after slaying his ex-lover and her new man. During the first few stanzas, Robbins never distinctly mentions the misdeed. He sings about Flo's absence in the most casually heartbroken way:

  I begged her not to go
  But another man had changed her mind
  So I said goodbye to Flo 

  Later, you find out the narrator followed her and her new man and took them both out. At least in this ballad, the narrator seems to feel bad about it. 
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  (#10) Delia's Gone - Johnny Cash

  Like most of Johnny Cash's songs, "Delia's Gone" feels like a ballad about a typical heartbreak, but there's nothing typical happening here. The reason Delia can't be his wife isn't because she broke up with him and left town, it's because she was "cold and mean," so he ended her. Not only is the premise incredibly creepy, but it's also actually based on a real story, and the song gets extremely graphic about Delia's suffering with the lyrics:

  First time I shot her
  Shot her in the side
  Hard to watch her suffering
  But with the second shot she died 

  It's all pretty hard to swallow, but Cash somehow makes the scene seem casual. By the end of it, his sorrowful, deep voice has you almost feeling sympathetic toward the narrator, as if it was just your typical breakup ballad.
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  (#11) Country Death Song - The Violent Femmes

  The Violent Femmes rose to fame with their quirky, upbeat tunes, and the melody that accompanies this song is no different, but it's sure no "Blister in the Sun." The melody embodies the same whimsy as their previous releases, but the lyrics are painfully dark. Essentially, this song is about a man who loses his mind, pushes his daughter to her demise, and then offs himself in his barn once he realizes the damage that does to his psyche:

  Nothing for a man to do but sit around and think
  Well, I'm a-thinkin' and thinkin', 'til there's nothin' I ain't thunk
  Breathing in the stink 'til finally I stunk
  It was at that time, I swear I lost my mind
  I started making plans to kill my own kind

  Maybe it's a tongue-in-cheek play on the enormous amount of country murder ballads that exist. You never really know with the Femmes' wild sense of humor.
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  (#12) Ghost in This House - Alison Krauss

  There's no other way to describe the Allison Krauss ballad "Ghost in This House" than absolutely haunting. From her slow, quiet voice to the actual lyrics, few melancholy country songs can touch this level of devastating heartbreak. Essentially, she's saying that her ex left her with almost none of her left: "You took my body and soul."

  Maybe the ghost is literal, maybe not. Either way, listeners are left shivering a little by the end.
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  (#13) Goodbye Earl - The Dixie Chicks

  The Dixie Chicks have a certain knack for singing about domestic disputes in way that seems overwhelmingly upbeat. "Goodbye Earl" showcases their talents for hiding disturbing lyrics in a catchy pop song, but the fans seem to be in on the joke. As one YouTube commenter proclaimed, "This video clip sets a terrible example for young women to follow. Much higher standards need to be followed when disposing of bodies."

  If you haven't figure it out by now, Earl totally gets whacked. Given that ending, it's not super surprising that a lot of radio stations refused to play the hit when it first came out.
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  (#14) Midnight in Montgomery

  • Alan Jackson

  Alan Jackson's 1992 hit "Midnight in Montgomery" isn't your average ghost story. It's a tale about the ghost of Hank Williams, and there's nothing more perfect to spook fellow country fans. Jackson pays homage to Williams by setting the scene on New Year's Eve, which is the day Williams got sick on his way to a show before passing the next day.

  The creepiest line? "Then the wind picked up, he was gone, was he ever really there?"
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  (#15) Church Bells - Carrie Underwood

  We already know Carrie Underwood has no qualms about slashing the tires of her cheating boyfriend, but "Church Bells" takes the darkness to a whole new level. While the strumming of a banjo and the rest of the band is rather happy-sounding, and the song tells the story of a couple that looks perfect from the outside. But we know that's hardly ever the case:

  But Ken was always getting way too drunk
  Saturday night, after a few too many
  He came home ready to fight
  And all his money could never save Jenny
  From the devil living in his eyes

  It was all bruises, covered in makeup
  Dark sunglasses
  And that next morning, sitting in the back pew
  Praying with the baptist

  Eventually, she "slips something in his Tennessee Whiskey", but "he hit a woman for the very last time." Rather brilliantly, Underwood likens church bells at a wedding to church bells at a funeral. 'Til death do you part! This isn't the first song Underwood has recorded where life-altering vengeance takes place, either. Her album Blown Away has two tracks with just as ominous an ending.

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