The good folks over at scatterplot also endured a bit of a blogging dry spell recently, broken by belle lettre's post requesting readers' favorite songs about sociology. I have shamelessly
So, tell me: Do you have any good songs that illustrate criminological topics/theories/concepts? (Velma hinted about this very topic a few months ago, and I seem to recall that Patch was working on compiling such a list at one time. Is that still true, Patch?)
Me? I'd say that pretty much the entire discography of Johnny Cash is relevant to criminologists. In fact, on my mental list of "things I'd like to write a published article about after I am tenured," the relevance of Johnny Cash's music to the study of crime is at the top of my list. (This paper even has a working title: "The Man in Black: Popular Culture's Foremost Criminologist".) A small sample, by topic:
Murder/Capital Punishment:
"25 minutes to Go"
"Joe Bean"
"Long Black Veil"
Incarceration:
"Folsom Prison Blues"
"I Got Stripes"
"San Quentin"
"Starkville City Jail"
Drug Abuse:
"Cocaine Blues"
Domestic Violence
"Delia's Gone"
(and, of course, "Cocaine Blues")
And those are just the ones I can think of off the top of my head!
OK, so now it's your turn: what's your favorite criminological song? It can be pop, rock, country, hip-hop, Broadway -- whatever springs to mind. (And feel free to link to the lyrics and/or video on YouTube if one is available.) Perhaps if we get enough good suggestions we can create a compilation CD!
P.S. Speaking of music, hopefully everybody got the reference in the post title...
4 comments:
I had a student in a deviance and social control course I taught this past summer talk about the hip hop artist Papoose and his song "Law Library" which comes in three parts. It's an attempt to educate people (especially urban, African American youth) of their rights when confronted by police, which for many is rather common. Here's the link to the YouTube video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KelDeJMbV_0
I was ordered to post a comment to this, so here goes. I will list songs from my favorite band, The Grateful Dead. I know what you're thinking...isn't the entire premise of the Dead the use of illegal mind-altering Schedule 1 Narcotics? Work with me though. This list is by no means exclusive.
Casey Jones--illegal drug use
Friend of the Devil--ballad of a fugitive attempting to run from the long arm of the law
Truckin--consent to a search
Brown-Eyed Women--bootleg whiskey and family crime enterprises
Me & My Uncle--armed robbery and murder
Jack Straw--train robbery and murder
Mexicali Blues--underage Mexican prostitution and murder (anyone seeing a pattern here?)
Dupree's Diamond Blues--armed robbery and capital punishment. This one also interjects gender issues as Dupree commits his crimes in order to impress his female companion...I call second author on that one
Mama Tried (original lyrics by Merle Haggard)--I will leave the precise classification to you PhDs out there but the gist is as follows. Young man turns "21 in prison doing life without parole. No one could steer me right but Mama tried, Mama tried. Mama tried to raise me better, but her pleading, I denied. That leaves only me to blame cause Mama tried." I am sure there is a criminological theory out there to classify this; if not, I call dibs on it.
Yes - Pap and I have been compiling a list of songs relevant to specific criminological theories over the past several years. I have a folder with about 50 songs that are somehow related to crime. As most of you know, I am partial to the 80s and early 90s:
Laura Branigan "Self-Control" (GTC)
Skee-Lo "I Wish" (Strain)
NWA "Straight Outta Compton" (Disorganization)
Vanilla Ice "Ice Ice Baby" (That song is so good it should be criminal!)
You get the drift. Back to work...
Okay, great post. First off, I've never heard of Papoose, but it seems like I should know him!!
Second, who the heck is Laura Branigan :)
Third, here are a few from Patch's and my list:
50 Cent - Heat - Rational Choice
Aerosmith - Janie's Got A Gun - Murder, Child Abuse
Billy Joel - Only the Good Die Young - Hedonistic Calculus
Blink 182 - Adams Song - Suicide
Bon Jovi - Its My Life - Rational Choice Theory
We should just play music in our Crim/CJ class for a week, and talk about each song. That would rule.
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