Songs Based On True Crimes That Were Ripped From The Headlines

The Lyrics: 

Polly wants a cracker

Maybe she would like some food

She asked me to untie her

A chase would be nice for a few

The Inspiration: In 1987, a 14-year-old girl was abducted from the Tacoma Dome in Tacoma, WA, by Gerald Friend who had recently been released from prison on parole. Friend drove the girl around in his van before taking her back to his home where he assaulted and tortured her. She eventually escaped, and Friend was arrested.

In a 1991 interview with NME, Kurt Cobain explained why he wrote Polly from Friend's point of view. Cobain said:

The problem with groups who deal with r*pe is that they try to educate women about how to defend themselves. What really needs to be done is teaching men not to r*pe. Go to the source and start there.

Cobain and his bandmates also commended the 14-year-old's perseverance.

The Lyrics:

As he came into the window

Was a sound of a crescendo

He came into her apartment

He left the bloodstains on the carpet

She ran underneath the table

He could see she was unable

So she ran into the bedroom

She was struck down, it was her doom

The Inspiration: The refrain in “Smooth Criminal” of “Annie, are you okay?” made some believe the song was in reference to the CPR dummy Michael Jackson kept in his studio. However, Jackson's older brother, Jermaine Jackson, revealed after the singer's death that the song was about serial killer Richard Ramirez. Ramirez terrorized the Los Angeles and San Francisco areas from 1984 to 1985 and became known in the media as the Night Stalker. Ramirez was a serial r*pist who murdered at least 13 people. He was known for breaking in through windows as referenced in the song.

“Smooth Criminal” was released as a single in 1988 from Jackson's 1987 album Bad. Ramirez was convicted on 43 charges in September 1989, less than a year after the single's release.

The Lyrics:

There's a killer on the road

His brain is squirmin' like a toad

Take a long holiday

Let your children play

If you give this man a ride

Sweet family will die

Killer on the road, yeah

The Inspiration: Released in 1971, Jim Morrison and Ray Manzarek based “Riders on the Storm” off of Billy Cook's 1951 killing spree. Cook was hitchhiking across the United States and murdered six people over three weeks, including a family of five. Cook had also kidnapped a man who managed to escape. Cook was later arrested and given the death penalty. He died in San Quentin's gas chamber in 1952.

The Lyrics:

I'm talkin' 'bout the midnight rambler

Did you see me jump the garden wall?

I don't give you a hoot of warning

Dressed up in my black cat cloak

I don't see the light of the morning

I'll split the time the cockerel crows

The Inspiration: From 1962 to 1964, 13 women were killed in Boston by Albert DeSalvo, better known as the Boston Strangler. Four years later during a vacation on the Amalfi coast, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards wrote a song about the serial killer. “We were on a holiday in Italy. In this very beautiful hill town, Positano, for a few nights," Jagger recalled in an interview:

Why we should write such a dark song in this beautiful, sunny place, I really don’t know. We wrote everything there – the tempo changes, everything. And I’m playing the harmonica in these little cafes, and there’s Keith with the guitar.

“Midnight Rambler” was recorded during The Rolling Stones' Beggars Banquet sessions but wasn't released until 1969 on their Let It Bleed album.

The Lyrics: 

Cold was the night, hard was the ground

They found her in a small grove of trees

Lonesome was the place where Georgia was found

She’s too young to be out on the streets

Why wasn’t God watching?

Why wasn’t God listening?

Why wasn’t God there for Georgia Lee?

The Inspiration: The body of 12-year-old Georgia Lee Moses was found in a wooded area in South Petaluma, CA, on August 22, 1997. Moses had gone missing nine days earlier on August 13 from her home in Santa Rosa, but her disappearance never made it into the news. Moses's murder has never been solved and many have blamed police for not giving her case adequate attention because she was Black and lived in poverty. 

Tom Waits was a resident of Petaluma at the time and wrote “Georgia Lee” for his 1999 album Mule Variations. A statue in Moses's honor stands outside the Petaluma City Hall.

The Lyrics:

I know my rights, I've been here all day and it's time

For me to go, so let me know if it's alright

I just can't take this, I swear I told you the truth

She couldn't scream while I held her close

I swore I'd never let her go

The Inspiration: On August 26, 1986, Robert Chambers strangled 18-year-old Jennifer Levin and became known in the media as “The Preppy Killer.” Chambers attempted to focus the blame on Levin, who he claimed assaulted her but was eventually found guilty of first-degree manslaughter.

The Killers' lead singer, Brandon Flowers, had been interested in the case for years, especially Chambers's admission during police interrogation that Levin “was a friend of mine.” Flowers wrote the song “Jenny Was A Friend of Mine” from Chambers's point of view during the police interview. The song appeared on the band's seminal Hot Fuss album.