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  • 'Dead Man' By Pearl Jam  on Random Most Harrowing Songs About Execution

    (#9) 'Dead Man' By Pearl Jam

    The Lyrics

    Every lift of my hand 

    Coffee cup and back

    Is magnified by the things I've done

    The things I've seen 

    The things I've caused

    I'm a dead man walking

    The hammer that I once brung down now hovers over me

    Cast a shadow across, onto me

    The Story: "Dead Man" seems to be sung from the perspective of an inmate facing capital punishment who laments the fact that he is confronted by the hammer he "once brung down."

    Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder is, in fact, an anti-capital punishment advocate, and he performed at a 1998 benefit, "Not In Our Name: Dead Man Walking - The Concert," which raised funds to fight against capital punishment. Vedder recorded another anti-capital punishment song, "The Long Road," with Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan for the 1995 film Dead Man Walking.

  • 'Execution Day' By Meat Loaf on Random Most Harrowing Songs About Execution

    (#15) 'Execution Day' By Meat Loaf

    The Lyrics:

    Voices like locusts keep smothering me

    Twisting and turning my senses like a cyclone at sea

    Don't touch me now, won't let you crucify me

    You ain't no damn jury, you can't pass no sentence on me

    The Story: Rock legend Dick Wagner wrote "Execution Day" for Meat Loaf, which was released on his 1986 album Blind Before I Stop. The track is sung from the perspective of a condemned man who laments his impending demise. He uses biblical imagery to accuse his executioners of crucifying him, and passing a sentence they have no right to. 

  • Let Him Dangle on Random Most Harrowing Songs About Execution

    (#5) Let Him Dangle

    • Elvis Costello

    The Lyrics

    Well it's hard to imagine it's the times that have changed

    When there's a murder in the kitchen that is brutal and strange

    If killing anybody is a terrible crime

    Why does this bloodthirsty chorus come round from time to time

    Let him dangle

    The Story: Elvis Costello wrote "Let Him Dangle" in response to 19-year-old Derek Bentley's trial and ultimate demise as a result of his 1952 crime.

    Bentley suffered from epilepsy and reportedly had an IQ of only 66. He and another teen, Chris Craig, were attempting to rob a warehouse when police caught them. According to police accounts, Bentley yelled, "Let him have it, Chris," and Craig subsequently fired at the officers, wounding one and ending another. Later, Bentley denied saying these words, but both Bentley and Craig were convicted. 

    Craig, who was only 16 at the time of the misdeed and therefore too young to receive a capital sentence, was eventually released from prison. Bentley was hanged in 1953 despite public protests. In 1993, Bentley received a posthumous pardon.

  • 'Walking Down Death Row' By Pete Seeger on Random Most Harrowing Songs About Execution

    (#6) 'Walking Down Death Row' By Pete Seeger

    The Lyrics

    Singing down death row

    To each separate human cell - one billion, two, or three

    If you'd only stick together, you'd not be here

    If you could love another's child

    If you could love another's life like your own, you'd not be here

    And if only this you could believe

    You still might, you might still be reprieved

    The Story: Pete Seeger was a well-known civil rights activist throughout much of his life. He adapted the song that became the civil rights movement's anthem, "We Shall Overcome." But Seeger has a couple of challenging folk ballads up his sleeve, including 1966's "Walking Down Death Row." 

    The song follows a singer who, while walking down death row, laments what has happened to the prisoners but also tries to offer a message of hope. 

  • 16 on Death Row on Random Most Harrowing Songs About Execution

    (#7) 16 on Death Row

    • Tupac Shakur

    The Lyrics:

    Bye bye, and I got no place to go

    Where you find me? 16 on Death Row

    Dear mama, they sentenced me to death

    Today's my final day, I'm countin' every breath

    The Story: Tupac "2Pac" Shakur's "16 On Death Row" was released posthumously as part of the album R U Still Down? which featured a great deal of the late rapper's work left behind after his untimely demise. His mother released the album in 1997. 

    "16 On Death Row" warns kids what can happen as a result of "glamorous young thugs living the high life in a mean world that they'll never admit to their part in making," as described by Rolling Stone2Pac's lyrics caution that the narrator "turned to a life of crime" because he came from "a broken family," telling the sorrowful tale of a teen wrecked by unfair circumstances. 

  • Gallows Pole on Random Most Harrowing Songs About Execution

    (#4) Gallows Pole

    • Led Zeppelin

    The Lyrics

    Your brother brought me silver

    Your sister warmed my soul

    But now I laugh and pull so hard

    And see you swinging on the gallows pole

    The Story: Led Zeppelin adapted their haunting song about a maiden pleading for someone to free her from the gallows pole from a traditional tune recorded by blues guitarist Leadbelly as "Gallis Pole." The earliest version of the song is centuries old and is titled "The Maid Freed from the Gallows."

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About This Tool

The death penalty has always been a hot topic in countless ballads, rock, folk tunes, and rap. Many famous music artists portray the hanging scenes in their songs that are rarely seen. From goth rocker Nick Cave to metal legends Metallica and Iron Maiden, some of them use the executioner as inspiration to create many excellent musical works.

We have collected the 15 most harrowing songs about the executioner with the random tool, such as Sing Me Back Home, Ride the Lightning. The singers and songwriters lamented such a painful demise in the song. Welcome to leave the message and share your thoughts.  

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