Songs About Charles Whitman, The Infamous Tower Sniper | Playlist 🎧

1. Kinky Friedman, “The Ballad of Charles Whitman”

Sold American • Vanguard • 1973

“He was sitting up there for more than an hour / Way up there on the Texas tower / Shooting from the twenty-seventh floor / He didn’t choke or slash or slit them…”  Country musician Kinky Friedman is ‘one of a kind’ – understatement.  Of course, so is the guy he sings about, Charles Whitman…  But for now, let’s focus on Mr. Friedman, shall we? Sandra Brennan (AllMusic) characterizes Friedman as “Texas country’s Jewish clown prince, gonzo songwriter, and surprisingly heartfelt balladeer.”  Brennan goes on to say that he’s “Capable of writing smart and perceptive tunes about life’s other side, but he’s best known for pointedly satirical numbers that revel in creative lowbrow humor and sharp satire.” Fair enough!

For Friedman’s first appearance on a The Musical Hype true crime playlist, he arrives with a B-A-N-G. What better way to commence this brief playlist about the infamous University of Texas tower sniper than with a murder ballad? Just in case you were unaware, a murder ballad is a ballad that depicts with dark subject murder – crime and murder – and narrativizes it.  That’s exactly what Friedman does on his classic murder ballad, “The Ballad of Charles Whitman,” which originally appears on his album, Sold American (1973).

As the excerpted lyrics from the first verse suggest, Friedman narrativizes the infamous shootings by Charles Whitman.  With each verse, the listener is given another portion of the story. On the second verse, Friedman sings, “He picked up his guns and went to school / … They’d never seen an Eagle Scout so cruel.” On the third verse, he sings, “He put on a bold and brassy show / The Chancellor cried, ‘it’s adolescent / And of course, it’s most unpleasant / But I gotta admit, it’s a lovely way to go.’” Wow!

Among the most notable verses are four and seven. On the fourth verse, Friedman references Whitman’s brain tumor, as well as his .36 magnum gun.  The brain tumor has naturally raised questions, best stated by the title of the embedded article: How Responsible are Killers with Brain Damage.  Obviously, it is a complex matter, something that Micah Johnson explores superbly in the 2018 Scientific American article:

…Understanding of free will allows us to ask more sophisticated questions about the connection between the brain and criminal behavior when evaluating cases like Charles Whitman’s. Instead of just pointing to the obvious fact that an action had a neural cause (every action does!), we can ask whether a person’s specific neurologic injury impaired the psychological capacities necessary for free will…

Returning back to the contents of Friedman’s murder ballad, the seventh verse depicts the actions occurring in the midst of the impending hellacious affair:

“Some were dying, some were weepin’
Some were studying, some were sleepin’
Some were shouting, ‘Texas, number one,’
Some were running, some were fallin’
Some were screaming, some were bawlin’
Some thought the revolution had begun.”

2. Insane Clown Posse, “The Tower”

The Tempest • Psychopathic • 2015

“There’s a psychopath, way up in the tower somewhere / And when they think they outta range [gunshot] poofs they hair.” Veteran hip hop duo Insane Clown Posse tackle darkness on “The Tower” (The Tempest), a 2015 song that is clearly inspired by Charles Whitman.

“…I barricaded the tower doors, safe this place ain’t
Up to the top, I can see the whole planet it would seem
The sun is beatin’ on my head as I’m living my horror dream
Upchucked a couple times then I finally took aim
The man is chattin’ on his cell phone, I splattered his brain.”

Obviously, there weren’t cell phones back in 1966… Again, one must remember that this is a record that is INSPIRED by the event, not a blow-by-blow depiction. But just as a reminder, the real life, former military sniper took the lives of 16 innocent victims.

“I’m finally at war again, only I ain’t takin’ orders
200 yards below, I’m taggin’ targets small as quarters
Marksman, sniper, military precision
Spotlight on the tower, tryin’ to nullify my vision…”

3. Harry Chapin, “Sniper”

Sniper and Other Love Songs • Atlantic • 1972

“He heads towards the tower that stands in the campus / He goes through the door, he starts up the stairs / The sound of his footsteps, the sound of his breathing / The sound of the silence when no one was there…” Grammy-nominated folk-rock singer/songwriter Harry Chapin continues this dark list with another disturbing joint about Charles Whitman.  Over the course of 10 dynamic minutes, the late Grammy-nominated musician doesn’t explicitly cite Whitman, but bases “Sniper” on him.

“He laid out the rifles, he loaded the shotgun
He stacked up the cartridges along the wall
He knew he would need them for his conversation
If it went as it, he planned, then he might use them all…

Bill Whedon was questioned as stepped from his car
Tom Scott ran across the street but he never got that far
The police were there in minutes, they set up barricades
He spoke right on over them in a half-mile circle
In a dumb struck city his pointed questions were sprayed...”

4. Macabre, “Sniper in the Sky / Charles Whitman”

Sinister Slaughter / Behind the Walls of Sleep • Nuclear Blast • 2000 

“He killed his wife and mother, then packed up his supplies / Like food and guns and ammo and went out taking lives.” Macabre has been “delivering quality murderous music since 1985,” according to their website. They are definitely renowned for their satirical approach regarding serial killers, mass murderers, and such. I say all that to say, it should come as no surprise that they tackle Whitman on “Sniper in the Sky / Charles Whitman,” which appears on the album Sinister Slaughter / Behind the Walls of Sleep.

“At the school observatory, he went to the top
And killed sixteen people before he could be stopped.”

Macabre, like the other musicians on this list, remind us of the details of the infamous happenings of August 1, 1966.

“Charles Whitman was the school tower hitman
Charles Whitman shot at people and hit them
Charles Whitman had a brain tumor in his head
Charles Whitman was the cause of eighteen people…
He kept on shooting people, the police they tried and tried
To kill Charles Whitman, the sniper in the sky
They finally snuck up on him, surprised him at the top
Then Charles Whitman was gunned down by a cop.”

5. Deathday, “Charles Joseph Whitman”

Deathday (EP) • desire / Deathday • 2013

Who is Deathday for those unfamiliar with them? Well, they are a Los Angeles neo post-punk band, comprised of Giovanni Guillén, Alex Guillén, Patrick Covert, and Joevanie Lopez.  For the purpose of SONGS ABOUT CHARLES WHITMAN, THE INFAMOUS TOWER SNIPER, they provide yet another song about Whitman. “Charles Joseph Whitman” appears as the third track off of the band’s debut EP, Deathday. Giovanni sings, in addition to providing samples and synthesizer, Alex also handles synthesizer and tapes, while Joevanie holds down the drums.  Notably, the drumming is intense on this record, which features very few lyrics.

“Running up with guns to the top of the tower
When the skies rained steel on a summer day
Skies were clear, the sun shed tears
Blood spoiled on the floor
And they shot him.”

That pretty much sums things up.  Whitman’s name isn’t dropped explicitly, besides the song title itself, but this is clearly about his poor choices.  Of course, fittingly, Deathday makes it clear he was shot. Not only did Whitman kill others on August 1, 1966 (including his wife and mother), he died that day too.

“And they shot him
Again! And Again!”

6. Church of Misery, “Road to Ruin (Charles Whitman)”

Early Works Compilation • Emetic • 2010

“Under cruel sunshine on 1966 / Take a look to clear blue sky / My sanity has gone / I killed my mother at midnight / Then stab my wife too death / Ready for a final solution / Now I got a gun…” Hmm, sounds like the actions of one awful Charles Whitman, imparted through song by Church of Misery. Tatsu Mikami (bass) is the sole original member of Church of Misery, which experienced its fair share of lineup changes since its inception in 1995. According to Greg Prato of All Music, Church of Misery was among the first doom metal bands from Japan.

The rare song at hand, “Road to Ruin (Charles Whitman),” appears on the band’s compilation, Early Works Compilation, reissued stateside in 2010. Like many Church of Misery songs, there are clips involving the respective crime.  In this case, a news anchor prefaces the sung vocals about the most insensitive deviant.  After that, the music, set in a minor key, captures the horrible acts of Mr. Whitman, much like the aforementioned and undermentioned lyrical excerpt.

“My final day of summer
With my rifle, up to the tower
Take a look down to the ground
To searching for my target
15 people had died
Here, there, and everywhere
No reason to kill someone
I just pull the trigger.”