Aren't they also (at least some of them) funny on some level? Or is this a completely unintended effect of reading a folk form from the distance of here and now?
Incongruence between lyrycis and music might contribute to that (the combination is absurd), while humour is a way (some) people and arguably some cultures use to process very negative emotions and undesirable situations (laughing at abusers, even in systemic extreme situations eg secret police, occupying armies, prison guards in totalitarian systems etc, removes some of the mental if not physical power from them; and leaving aside historical atrocity, there used to be A LOT of domestic violence jokes around before that kind of thing became unacceptable).
Of course as you say it could be also seen as kicking down, to use a non-violent example, I always found "Jolene" hilarious and while it's not a murder ballad, it FEELS like one in the stomping jolly music/ pitiful pleading lyrics contrast.
How do we view murder adjacent songs (Janie's Got a Gun), or revenge songs (... can't think of an example)? I suspect the emotions evoked by this music are more complicated than is usually considered. Sort of like humans, themselves.
Aren't they also (at least some of them) funny on some level? Or is this a completely unintended effect of reading a folk form from the distance of here and now?
Incongruence between lyrycis and music might contribute to that (the combination is absurd), while humour is a way (some) people and arguably some cultures use to process very negative emotions and undesirable situations (laughing at abusers, even in systemic extreme situations eg secret police, occupying armies, prison guards in totalitarian systems etc, removes some of the mental if not physical power from them; and leaving aside historical atrocity, there used to be A LOT of domestic violence jokes around before that kind of thing became unacceptable).
Of course as you say it could be also seen as kicking down, to use a non-violent example, I always found "Jolene" hilarious and while it's not a murder ballad, it FEELS like one in the stomping jolly music/ pitiful pleading lyrics contrast.
really well written, such an enjoyable read
:))
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZDgp1Z3EPVU
Mack the Knife is a good song in this genre.
How do we view murder adjacent songs (Janie's Got a Gun), or revenge songs (... can't think of an example)? I suspect the emotions evoked by this music are more complicated than is usually considered. Sort of like humans, themselves.