00:00In the case of that song, it's been completely taken out of context.
00:05Welcome to WatchMojo.
00:07And today, we're looking at tracks that were unfairly accused of influencing or causing horrific acts and tragedies.
00:19Night Prowler, ACDC.
00:23By 1985, Richard Ramirez was established as one of the era's most horrific killers.
00:28These serial killings, once confined to the near Los Angeles area, are now spread over 500 miles from San Francisco
00:34to Orange County.
00:35He'd committed over a dozen slayings along with a slew of other violent crimes, earning him the nickname Night Stalker.
00:41Ramirez was allegedly a fan of ACDC, particularly a track that happened to be close to his moniker, Night Prowler.
00:50Somewhere o'clock strikes midnight.
00:54Although the 1979 tune had nothing to do with this spree,
00:57His admittance, combined with its seemingly dark lyrics and themes, caused a massive controversy.
01:03The group was decried by fearful parents, leading them to assert that it was about a boy sneaking into his
01:08girlfriend's room, not murder.
01:10ACDC. Some people say that stands for Antichrist Devil's Child. Does it?
01:15It came from the back of my sister's sewing machine.
01:19Sewing machine?
01:20Yeah. You know, it's on any electrical appliance.
01:23Despite their defenses, they still made the call to permanently pull it from their live performances.
01:28I'm your life!
01:30It's power!
01:33Crawling to show love!
01:36Ronnie. Metallica.
01:38It may have been written with another crime in mind, but the band had no clue what their track would
01:43later become associated with.
01:44Screw it, Docs! Quiet Town! Small time boy! Big time brown!
01:50Metallica's 1996 song, Ronnie, is believed to be about a 1995 shooting in Washington State.
01:56Yet, Ronald Patuch claimed he thought it was actually about him, after taking the lives of his mother and an
02:03unrelated child in 2002.
02:05The lyrics are about a boy who keeps to himself before snapping and going on a rampage.
02:16Patuch stopped taking his medication after hearing it, and later claimed that it was always in his head leading up
02:22to his act.
02:22The prosecutors and juries saw through his story, leading to him being sentenced to decades behind bars, and the tune
02:29being exonerated.
02:30Let's stand the sun today!
02:37Exit U2.
02:38In the late 1980s, actress Rebecca Schaefer had a bright career ahead of her.
02:44Sandra, what's wrong? What is it?
02:47Mom, my life is so dumb. What have I got to show for it? Nothing.
02:51That is, until her stalker, Robert John Bardo, appeared at her door in 1989 and took her life.
02:58He showed up with a very sharp knife.
03:01His defense attorney claimed that he had been influenced by the song Exit by U2.
03:11The lyrics depicted thoughts from the mind of a serial killer, and it was taken so seriously at the time
03:17that it was played mid-trial.
03:23The moment the track began, Bardo began dancing in his seat and bopping along to the music.
03:28A mental health professional even argued that Bardo had interpreted it to be about him.
03:32Bono has gone on to say that he doesn't feel guilty, but as a result, they didn't play Exit live
03:38for decades.
03:45For more breakdowns of compelling cases and musical coincidences,
03:49scan the QR code on the screen to join WatchMojo's 24-7 live stream.
03:58Bodies. Drowning Pool.
04:00No artist writes a song hoping it'll result in the deaths of multiple people.
04:04Drowning Pool is no exception.
04:12The musicians have stated that Bodies is about mosh pit culture,
04:16but that hasn't stopped the lyrics from being horrifically misinterpreted.
04:19In 2003, Joshua Cook listened to it while shooting his adoptive parents.
04:24That's what I was listening to as I left my room.
04:26In 2011, Jared Lee Loeffner shot 19 people and slayed six in an attack aimed at then-representative Gabby Giffords.
04:36The tune was found in his Favorites playlist on YouTube, leading to speculation that it influenced his act.
04:42The band spoke out against that claim, insisting that it was never meant to be violent.
04:51While they aren't to blame, it proves how entertainers have little control over how their work is taken.
05:04Better by you, better than me.
05:07Judas Priest.
05:08Even when a song isn't originally by an artist, they can still be accused of nefarious intent.
05:13You can find a way to ease my passion.
05:18Judas Priest can attest to this with their 1978 cover of spooky tooth's Better By You, Better Than Me,
05:24leading to them being accused of influencing a 1990 death pact between James Vance and Raymond Belknap.
05:31Everybody.
05:33Everybody knows who.
05:35Their families sued the band for millions, claiming that they had hidden a subliminal message via backmasking,
05:41encouraging fans to take their own lives.
05:47Vance himself claimed they were murderers.
05:50Lead vocalist Rob Halford testified in their defense,
05:52and even pointed out that it wouldn't make any sense for them to convince their listeners to die.
05:56Luckily, the judge agreed, and it was ruled that they weren't responsible for the tragedy.
06:01It's better by you, it won't matter to me.
06:07Jeremy.
06:08Pearl Jam.
06:09Even songs with clear messages can be misinterpreted.
06:12Pearl Jam realized this following the release of their 1992 single, Jeremy.
06:17At home, Darwin pictures of mountaintops with him on top.
06:24While the track itself was based on two tragedies, a self-inflicted death and a school shooting,
06:30and decried violence, the ambiguous video led many to believe that it ended with the subject killing his classmates.
06:36Clearly I remember, picking on the boy.
06:41It seems Barry Lukaitis was in that group, with the then 14-year-old taking the lives of three people
06:47in 1996.
06:50Jeremy's spoken.
06:52During the trial, it was claimed that he was influenced by the visual interpretation
06:56and used it for ideas on how to carry out the attack.
07:06While the band luckily evaded any legal repercussions,
07:09Lukaitis was sentenced to life behind bars,
07:11which was solidified by a resentencing in 2017.
07:16None of you should have had to go through that.
07:17And it was because I was stupid and because I was pathetic.
07:21Only because I was weak.
07:23Suicide Solution.
07:24Ozzy Osbourne.
07:26While it's understandable that a grieving family would want to find any cause for their loved one's self-inflicted death,
07:32blaming arts isn't the way to go about it.
07:34Wine is fine, but whiskers were gone.
07:38On his debut album, Ozzy Osbourne includes this track,
07:42which served as a warning to those with self-destructive habits.
07:45However, that interpretation was ignored following the 1984 demise of John McCollum.
07:50Evil thoughts and evil doings.
07:55His parents sued, alleging that he'd been listening to the song at the time of his passing
07:59and that it encouraged listeners to take their lives.
08:02What we'd really like to achieve would be that the record companies and the so-called artists would take their
08:10moral responsibilities
08:11and not write, sing, manufacture, and sell this type of trash.
08:17The suit was dismissed, but two more were brought forward in 1990,
08:20following the self-driven deaths of two teenagers.
08:24Breaking laws, knocking doors, but there's no one at home.
08:28Those were also thrown out, making it clear that the law assigned no blame to Osbourne or his piece.
08:35Take me away tomorrow
08:42Helter Skelter, The Beatles
08:44When I get to the bottom, I go back to the top of the slide
08:48First stop and I turn, I'm gonna go for a ride
08:51Who could have guessed that a song made with the main goal of not being soppy
08:55would be associated with one of the most infamous murders of the 20th century?
08:59Certainly not The Beatles
09:00They had no idea that Charles Manson told his followers that 1968's Helter Skelter
09:10supported a theoretical race war he concocted
09:13or that it would lead to the brutal deaths of eight people.
09:17One of Charlie's basic creeds is that there is no crime, there is no sin, that it's all just a
09:24game,
09:25and that God's getting ready to pull down the curtain on this game.
09:30The words Helter Skelter were even written in blood at the scene of one of the crimes.
09:35Look out, Helter Skelter
09:39John Lennon and Paul McCartney had both spoken out against Manson,
09:43with the latter lamenting that it had inadvertently inspired evil acts.
09:47Those involved were sentenced to life in prison,
09:49and while the tune bears no responsibility,
09:52it's been permanently linked to that fateful night.
10:01Have any of your favorite songs ever been unfairly blamed for a horrific event?
10:05Let us know in the comments below.
10:07Let us know in the comments below.
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