12 Songs About Jack the Ripper | Playlist 🎧

1. Judas Priest, “The Ripper”

💿Sad Wings of Destiny • 🏷 KOCH • 🗓1976

Well, this seems fitting.  A legendary English heavy metal band, Judas Priest, performs a song (“The Ripper”) about an English serial killer.  Of course, as aforementioned, we assume Jack the Ripper was English, but he was never captured, so we don’t know. There’s been plenty of speculation that another serial killer, H.H. Holmes was Jack the Ripper – from Chicago, Illinois.  Regardless, Judas Priest superbly capture the frightening, mysterious nature of the nameless terror of London.

“You’ll soon shake with fear
Never knowing if I’m near
I’m sly and I’m shameless
Nocturnal and nameless
Except for ‘The Ripper’
Or if you like, ‘Jack the Knife.’

Also appears on 🔽:

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2. Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, “Jack the Ripper”

💿Henry’s Dream • 🏷Mute • 🗓 1992

🎵“Jack the Ripper” concludes the 1992 studio album by 🎙Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, 💿Henry’s Dream.  It’s one hellish joint to say the least.  There are two characters in this particular tale – a woman and a man.  From the perspective of the narrator, the man, the woman is horrible to the nth degree.

This is apparent from the jump: “I got a woman / She rules my house with an iron fist.” The problem is, “Jack the Ripper” also opens the door to considering the narrator to be suspect.

“She screams out Jack the Ripper
Every time I try to give that girl a kiss.”

“Jack the Ripper” can be interpreted a number of different ways.  It’s clear there’s an awful, dysfunction relationship, but is it merely the woman’s fault, or is the narrator actually Jack the Ripper? We’d never know because we never found out who Jack the Ripper was!

Also appears on 🔽:

🔗 🎧  Chilling Songs About Serial Killers, Take 3

3. Morrissey, “Jack the Ripper”

💿World of Morrissey • 🏷 Reprise • 🗓 1995

Interestingly, 🎵“Jack the Ripper” isn’t the first musical encounter 🎙Morrissey has experienced with serial killers. Back in 1984, as the frontman of 🎙The Smiths, he sang 🎵“Suffer Little Children,” a song about Ian Brady & Myra Hindley. Lyrically, Morrissey eerily captures the perversion of Jack.

To his victim, The Ripper says:

“Crash into my arms
I want you
You don't agree
But you don't refuse
I know you.”

He continues on in darkness, asserting his intentions for his victim.  He seems to play up the fact that she’s a prostitute, hence, she’s “low on the totem pole.” He notes her tiredness, but the sleep he has in mind is deadly.

“And I know a place
Where no-one is likely to pass
Oh, you don't care if it's late
And you don't care if you're lost
And oh, you look so tired
But tonight you've presumed too much
Too much, too much
And if it's the last thing I ever do
I'm gonna get you.”

Morrissey nails the stealth and invincibility of Jack the Ripper.

“And no one knows a thing about my life
I can come and go as I please
If I want to I can stay
Or if I want to I can leave
Nobody knows me, nobody knows me.”

4. Benediction, “Down on Whores”

💿The Dreams You Dread • 🏷Nuclear Blast • 🗓1995

“Take the eyes, take the head, leave them all for dead!” What a statement British death metal band 🎙Benediction makes about women, in the context of serial killer Jack the Ripper and their song, 🎵“Down on Whores.”  To reiterate for the millionth time, the women that Jack killed in 1888 were indeed prostitutes, often referred to as whores.  Throughout “Down on Whores,” that exactly how Dave Ingram references them too.

“May comes and goes in the dark of the night
He kisses the whores and gives them a fright
And the Doctors will get all the blame
But it's only May playing his dirty game.”

Ingram and Benediction accurately reference Jack writing about his crimes, even if his identity was never revealed. 

“When I cut her
Kissed for a while
Shall I write and tell them
Peace of mind.”

Unfortunately, there was no “peace of mind” during the span of the murders.

“Left her for dead
There was thrill
All whores feel the shining knife.”

5. Sigh, “In the Mind of a Lunatic”

💿Scenario IV: Dread Dreams • 🏷Cacophonous • 🗓1999

“Lunatic, you are just a maniac / Lunatic, on thoughts you do react / Lunatic, death is your domain / Lunatic, you’re the man with rotten brains.” Ah, Japanese metal band 🎙Sigh gets in on the serial killer coverage. Before the aforementioned quote from 🎵“In the Mind of a Lunatic,” the band starts the story with Jack the Ripper buying a girl for pleasure.

“A man is searching for a girl to get him through the night
And with a smile he gets a lady for he knows his price is right
Off they go into an alley it's just around the bend
But one's not coming back for the Ripper's loose again.”

Sigh goes on to expound on the man’s intentions.  Also, like many of the artists on this list, great emphasis is placed on the worthlessness of the victims.  That shouldn’t be the case, despite their profession, but social status is STILL more important than it should be.

“Deep does cut the knife into another lady's life
For a man is killing off the corner whores
And with a steady hand he creeps around the land
This slashing fiend does bring a scene of gore
From top down to the bottom his victims feel the knife
For with precision and great care they have been cut
The horror of their faces are now stuck in scenes of fright
From the brutal acts committed on these sluts.”

Fittingly, the mystery of Jack the Ripper is also addressed.

“The town is drenched in murder while the whores are drenched in blood
And London has no clue, who is this beast?
In time, the killings ended but the case was never solved
And the curious they never went away
But no one was ever named for the crimes of Jack the Ripper
It's a mystery that's lasting till this very day.”

6. Animal Collective, “Unsolved Mysteries”

💿Strawberry Jam • 🏷Domino • 🗓2007

Unlike most of the bands on this list, Animal Collective isn’t a death metal band but rather, an experimental pop/rock collective.  Much of “Unsolved Mysteries” has little to do with Jack the Ripper explicitly, until the end.  It focuses on the innocence of youth and how drastically humans can/do change as they become adults.

“‘Oh, look at me,’ that sweet boy’s plea
His mother cried, ‘My child’s tied his laces’ 
Why must we move on from such happy lawns
Into nostalgia’s palm and feed on the traces.”

A perfect example of the poorer qualities of human beings as a whole occurs on the following lyric:

“The blood in the dark will attract the sharks
Who are not violent we all got hungry bellies.”

So, where does Jack come into play? Essentially, Animal Collective use the serial killer to show an extreme example of what a human can become.  While the identity of Jack the Ripper is an unsolved mystery, so is the manifestation of a serial killer from an innocent child.

“And what a surprise to look in those eyes
To find suddenly he is Jack, the Ripper
Too suddenly he was Jack, the Ripper
...He stopped crying like a child
She stopped crying like a child
Jack, the Ripper.”

7. Lordi, “Blood Red Sandman”

💿The Monsterican Dream • 🏷The End • 🗓2004

On 🎵“Blood Red Sandman,” Finnish metal band 🎙Lordi concocts its own hellish serial killer: Blood Red Sandman.  However, the band seems inspired by the infamous Jack the Ripper.  The best evidence of arrives on the first verse of the song. 

“They call me the Leather Apron
They call me Smiling Jack
They pray to the heavens above
That I would never ever come back.”

“Leather Apron” and “Smiling Jack” were nicknames for Jack the Ripper.  Beyond this, Lordi uses its own creativity to depict the evil Blood Red Sandman.

“Once again
There is pain
I bring flames
I bring cold
I’m the Blood Red Sandman
Coming home
On this unholy night
I will make you my own...”

8. Screaming Lord Sutch & The Savages, “Jack the Ripper”

💿Til the Following Night • 🏷Rollercoaster • 🗓2015

“There’s a man who walks the streets of London late at night / The Ripper, Jack the Ripper / With a little black bag that’s oh-so tight / The Ripper, Jack the Ripper.” There are far fewer more entertaining songs about serial killers than “Jack the Ripper” by 🎙Screaming Lord Sutch & The Savages. Screaming Lord Sutch & The Savages were a British rock band from the 1960s.  In 1963, the band first gave the world a glimpse into the evils of Jack the Ripper, in the most tongue-n-cheek way possible.

“He's got a big black cloak hangin' down his back
The Ripper, Jack the Ripper
That's one big cat I just hate to fight
The Ripper, Jack the Ripper
When he walks down the streets
Every girl he meets he says; is you name Mary Kelly?”

They accurately nail the fact that Jack the Ripper was never caught.

“Scotland Yard will never catch him, he's too clever
He's much too clever.”

9. Whitechapel, “The Somatic Defilement”

💿The Somatic Defilement • 🏷Metal Blade• 🗓2007

Jack the Ripper is known for the Whitechapel murders.  Fittingly, Tennessee metal band 🎙Whitechapel tackles Jack the Ripper throughout the course of their debut album, 💿The Somatic Defilement, which was released in 2007.

“Captivating with sadistic intentions to exalt the carrion
Holding onto faith like it would help me anyway
Up on my feet. Vehemence takes over as I pave the way to anatomical feast
Severing the ties I once endured to understand why it is that I crave the dead...”

Like we envision The Ripper to be himself, Whitechapel deliver a heaping dose of hellishness throughout the course of the title track.

“I find a sense in mal-practicing the common ways
Wallowing in claret. I long for such salvation
For when I’m through. I shall wear you pride upon my lips 
Songs of the dead will eternally be chanted...”

Like many metal bands, they get specific with the blackness.  Here, that blackness is the abuse of The Ripper, and it’s gross to the nth degree.

“An injection of sodium thiopental applied
Your eyes are getting heavy now. I smell your fear
Delusions and paranoia are setting in
Control in my hands. I now shall purge
With the saw I maim. By the saw I live
Inhaling fumes of the putrid festered funk
As I drain the throbbing cysts from the gangrenous vagina The Mordant reek is overtaking every inhalation
The nausea is overwhelming. I stop to heave...”

10. Macabre, “Jack the Ripper”

💿Murder Metal • 🏷Nuclear Blast• 🗓2003

For doom metal band 🎙Macabre, there is a song for every serial killer. Literally – it’s their thing. 🎵“Jack the Ripper” hails from their 2003 album, 💿Murder Metal.  The penultimate cut, it’s a good one – and a dark one.  It’s taken from the perspective of Jack.  Notably, Macabre starts things off with his inability to be caught.

“Dear boss, I keep on hearing
That the police have caught me
But they won’t fix me just yet
I have laughed
When they looked so clever
And talk about being
On the right track.”

From there, Macabre continues on with the narrative – “Leather apron,” whores, and of course, murder.

“That joke about leather apron
Gave me real fits
I am down on whores
And I shan’t quit ripping them
Till I do get buckled
Grand work the last job was
I gave the lady no time to squeal.”

11. Gorerotted, “To Catch a Killer”

💿Only Tools and Corpses • 🏷Metal Blade• 🗓2003

British death metal band 🎙Gorerotted was something else.  To say the least, the song titles from their 2003 album, 💿Only Tools and Corpses, are hellish.  Some examples include 🎵“Zombie Graveyard Rap Bonanza,” 🎵“Fuck Your Arse with Broken Glass” (ouch!), and 🎵“Can’t Fit Her Limbs in the Fridge.” These song titles make 🎵“To Catch a Killer,” our highlighted record, sound tame. It’s not.

First of all, “To Catch a Killer” doesn’t solely focus on Jack the Ripper.  There are sections dedicated to John Wayne Gacy, Jeffrey Dahmer, Ted Bundy, Fred West, and John George Haigh.  For our purposes, however, we’ll focus on Jack. The lyrics are as follows:

“Do they who I am? I don't think they do
Then I'll send them a liver to give them a clue
I'll send them a letter and write it in blood and tell them about the things I've done.”

Gorerotted may be insane themselves, but they paint quite the portrait of Jack the Ripper, employing a dual-lead vocalist line up – Ben McCrow and Jason Merle.  Sigh, it’s double the darkness. 

Also appears on 🔽:

🔗 🎧A Most Gruesome Soundtrack to John Wayne Gacy

🔗 🎧 Chilling Songs About Serial Killers, Take 3

🔗 🎧 Gacy: Soundtrack to a Murderous Clown

12. Motörhead, “Jack the Ripper”

💿March or Die • 🏷Sony• 🗓1992

Concluding this most dark playlist is English hard rock/ heavy metal band 🎙Motörhead.  Like their colleagues, they seem to have the narrative and vibe of Jack the Ripper on lockdown.  🎙Lemmy and company are brilliant as they describe how victims should act as Jack prepares to kill them.

“Don't be acting crazy
Don't you cause a riot
Stand very still, keep very quiet.”

Motörhead also references the ability for the concealment of Jack’s identity – a popular part of all Ripper tunes.

“You'll never see the face
Of the man in the window
Your heart begins to race
He's the one to spring you a surprise
The ripper, master of disguise
...See into the mind, see into the brain
Try to find out the reasons
That Jacky's out again
Slipping and sliding
Don't even try to hide
Just like your shadow
Breathing at your side.”