When an artist writes a song, it’s a very personal thing until it’s recorded and released into the world…once that happens, the artist has no more control over. It becomes the psychic property of whoever hears it.
That means everything about the song is open to highly personal interpretations and perceptions about what it really means.
This is why music touches us so deeply. We pick up on the feelings held by the songwriter and those feelings may help us figure out what’s going on in our heads and hearts The artist has zero control over that—and sometimes, there are unintended consequences.
There are people out there who are already living on a knife’s edge. They’re angry, depressed, disturbed, and maybe mentally ill…and then suddenly, something—often something completely innocuous—comes along and sends them spiraling toward the horrific and the evil.
It might be a movie. It could be a video game. Maybe it was a book they read. Or maybe it was a song that somehow got stuck inside their head…the person begins to obsess over the lyrics or the singer…perhaps they’re able to decode what they think is a secret message directly solely at them. And every once in a while, that person is moved to act.
Let me give you an example. David Berkowitz, the Son of Sam killer, shot eight people in New York City in the summer of 1976, The man had plenty of issues, but when he heard the song “Rich Girl” by Hall & Oates, he knew he had a target for his rage: young women. A Hall and Oates song inspired an infamous serial killer? Yep.
John Wayne Gacy was a pedophilic serial killer with at least 33 victims. He was into Elton John, Bob Dylan, Neil Diamond, and REO Speedwagon.
There are others like Gacy and Berkowitz, evil, twisted people who took their cues from song. I call this episode “Murder Ballads (and Other Deadly Songs).” And what you’re about to hear is not pretty.
Songs heard on this show:
- Nick Cave and Kylie Minogue, Where the Wild Roses Grow
- U2, Exit
- Linkin Park, In the End
- Metallica, Ronnie
- Drowning Pool, Bodies
- Slipknot, Psychosocial
- The Killers, Jenny Was a Friend of Mind
- Interpol, Evil
Here’s Eric Wilhite’s playlist.
- 102.1 The Edge/Toronto – Sunday night at 7pm
- Q107/Toronto – Sunday night at 9pm
- Live 88-5/Ottawa – Saturdays at 9am and Sundays at 6pm.
- 107.5 Dave-FM/Kitchener – Sunday nights at 11pm
- FM96/London – Sunday nights at 8pm
- Power 97/Winnipeg – Sunday nights at 10am and 10pm
- 107-3 The Edge/Calgary – Sundays at 10am and 10pm
- Sonic 102.9/Edmonton – Sunday at 8am and 8pm
- The Zone/Victoria – Sunday at 8am and 9pm
- The Fox/Vancouver – Sundays at 10anm and 10pm
- Surge 105/Halifax – Sunday at 7pm
- WAPS/WKTL The Summit/Arkon, Canton, Cleveland, Youngstown – Mon-Fri at 9pm
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