The Mix Tape Ten (New and Improved!!)

Just like John Cusack, I love the idea of a good mix-tape. I've kind of been having a hard time coming up with anything for this consistently so I was trying to think of a good way to do this column and then I thought: "I'll have other people do it!" "What a great idea, Scott!" "Thanks!"

So, for Round 1 of this new take on the series I am enlisting the help of one of my favorite musician folks. He weighs in with a list highlighting our descent into Halloween madness.

Jamie Barnes isn't your average singer-songwriter. He's actually good! Seriously though, Jamie weaves haunting narratives together with his pensive guitar playing. He has put out 3 critically-acclaimed records and is currently on the sonaBLAST Records roster with folks like The Old Ceremony and Ben Sollee. I can thankfully also call him a good friend and his heart is somehow even bigger than his talent. He's a good dude. Here he makes his mark with his Top 10 Murder Ballads.




Murder Ballads and other tragic songs by Jamie Barnes

#1 "Where the Wild Roses Grow" - Nick Cave off of Murder Ballads. It'd be hard not to include Cave on this list. This is the song that should be the primary wikipedia entry for the genre.







#2 "Nebraska" - Bruce Springsteen off of Nebraska. Cuz its boss.









#3 "Caleb Meyer" - Gillian Welch off of Hell Among the Yearlings. Best song about rape retribution.








#4 "Clara" - Scott Walker off of The Drift. Not so much a murder ballad as it is an account of an execution. Mussolini and his mistress are the subject matter in this creepy yarn complete with a session percussionist punching a slab of meat. Can't imagine what that smelled like in the recording studio.






#5 "Poor Edward" - Tom Waits off of Alice. Again - a stretch as far as topic wise. But its about a man taking his demise into his own hands after succumbing to the taunts of the second head that grew atop his shoulders! Creepy!!! Along with Cave, Waits is one of the founding fathers of the genre.





#6 "Outlaw Song" - Sixteen Horsepower off of Folklore. - brilliant adaptation of this traditional tune. Ends with the kick ass line: "Two were dead before they could move - that's my name. "







#7 "Stabbed in the Heart" - Jim White off of Wrong-Eyed Jesus. What sounds like a cliche metaphor is actually a literal chest puncture wound.







#8 "Until The Morning Comes" - Tindersticks off of Waiting for the Moon. A dark, gruesome text hidden amongst a sweet lullaby delivery. Wonderful!








#9. "Duk Koo Kim" - Sun Kil Moon off of Ghosts of the Great Highway. A historical accident - not a murder. Ray Mancini killed his South Korean opponent in a boxing match...No one tells such a yearning, heartbreaking story like Kozelek does.





#10. "Yeah, Oh Yeah!" - Magnetic Fields off of 69 Love Songs. A humorous one to end with to avoid 100% melancholy. Only Stephen Merritt can make you laugh while reciting a dialog between dueling lovers. This also ends with a blade in the aorta.





Honorable Mention: "Hey Joe" - Jimi Hendrix off of Are You Experienced? - Everybody did this song back in the day...but no one owned it like Jimi.