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The Philosophy of Murder Ballads


Why, why, why, Delilah?

Murder ballads cut the fingerprints off this convention, whack it several times with a cricket bat, and heave its bleeding body into the River Hudson. Dalez and Sizer go on to cite a smattering of other studies in support of the claim that, when push comes to shove, a song’s music tends to nudge listeners towards the mood it expresses—more so than the accompanying lyrics. (David Boonin’s book Dead Wrong: The Ethics of Posthumous Harm is apparently the best exploration of this issue, and discussed many of the objections you might already be thinking of.)

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