"Outlaw" ballads thread (favorites)

Post by **The Yosemite Bear** » 2007-12-12 05:46pm

well It's been a constant for the last few centuries of making songs that celebrate the Criminal, so what are your favorites?

mine: (since I can't really choose a top five in order)

a: Guns of Brixton- The Clash
b: Ghost of Tom Joad - Woodie Gutherie
c: Wiskey in the Jar - Traditional Irish, though the american version where the protagonist escapes to fight in the Civil War is good too.
d: Wild Continental Boy - Traditional Austrialian
e: Highwayman - Loreena McKennit (yes, I know it's from a poem)
f: The Coast of Barbaree - Traditional Sea Chantey (it's about PIRATES!!!)

oh and how badly would RIAA react to people performing public domain outlaw ballads, in front of their offices?

Crazedwraith · Post by **Crazedwraith** » 2007-12-12 06:00pm

Can it be a fictional criminal?

I don't suppose the Ballard of Jayne counts?

Though I do recall the one about Whiskey in Jars is pretty good to. I can't remember what happpened at the end of the version my parents play most often...

Post by **The Yosemite Bear** » 2007-12-12 06:06pm

depends the majority end with:

The protagonist is in jail awaiting his trip to the Gallows
The protagonist joins the military to escape the Gallows dies fighting a long way from home.
He get's shot by the Captain/Col.
He get's killed trying to escape
He begs for someone to tell his brother (the revolutionary) to help him
he joins his brother the revolutionary (and probably dies)
While awaiting the Gallows Laments that he didn't die a revolutionary like his older brother.
escapes to america and dies fighting the confederates

(why is it that the Irish can't write a song with a happy ending?

Metatwaddle · Post by **Metatwaddle** » 2007-12-12 11:39pm

Crazedwraith wrote:Can it be a fictional criminal? I don't suppose the Ballard of Jayne counts?

Oh man, that was a fantastic episode.

I was laughing my ass off.

Anyway, I like Billy Joel's "Ballad of Billy the Kid". It's actually the only one I can think of right now.

Hawkwings · Post by **Hawkwings** » 2007-12-13 02:00am

How about Aaron Copland's "Billy the Kid"?

hawkwind · Post by **hawkwind** » 2007-12-13 06:15am

I was always partial on Newry Highwayman.

J.

CaptainChewbacca · Post by **CaptainChewbacca** » 2007-12-13 11:27am

The Yosemite Bear wrote: (why is it that the Irish can't write a song with a happy ending?

They wouldn't know what one feels like.

Drewcifer · Post by **Drewcifer** » 2007-12-14 12:42pm

Steve Earle's Billy Austin:

My name is Billy Austin
I'm Twenty-Nine years old
I was born in Oklahoma
Quarter Cherokee I'm told
Don't remember Oklahoma
Been so long since I left home
Seems like I've always been in prison
Like I've always been alone

Didn't mean to hurt nobody
Never thought I'd cross that line
I held up a filling station
Like I'd done a hundred times
The kid done like I told him
He lay face down on the floor
guess I'll never know what made me
Turn and walk back through that door

The shot rang out like thunder
My ears rang like a bell
No one came runnin'
So I called the cops myself
Took their time to get there
And I guess I could'a run
I knew I should be feeling something
But I never shed tear one

I didn't even make the papers
'Cause I only killed one man
but my trial was over quickly
And then the long hard wait began
Court appointed lawyer
Couldn't look me in the eye
He just stood up and closed his briefcase
When they sentenced me to die

Now my waitin's over
As the final hour drags by
I ain't about to tell you
That I don't deserve to die
But there's twenty-seven men here
Mostly black, brown and poor
Most of em are guilty
Who are you to say for sure?

So when the preacher comes to get me
And they shave off all my hair
Could you take that long walk with me
Knowing hell is waitin' there
Could you pull that switch yourself sir
With a sure and steady hand
Could you still tell yourself sir
That you're better than I am

My name is Billy Austin
I'm twenty-nine years old
I was born in Oklahoma
Quarter Cherokee I'm told

Adrian Laguna · Post by **Adrian Laguna** » 2007-12-14 06:40pm

The Beastie Boys - Paul Revere

Coiler · Post by **Coiler** » 2007-12-14 07:57pm

"I Fought the Law"

Post by **The Yosemite Bear** » 2007-12-14 08:48pm

well you know how the guy who wrote that song died?

the LAPD says he was found in his driveway, burned to death. The official cause is scuicide....

Adrian Laguna · Post by **Adrian Laguna** » 2007-12-17 08:33pm

I didn't mention it because I thought The Duchess would, but since she doesn't seem interested in doing so:

Renegade by The Styx is really awesome.

Imperial Overlord · Post by **Imperial Overlord** » 2007-12-17 08:39pm

"Skeeter and the Monkey Man" by the Travelling Wilbourys.