10 Songs You Had No Idea Are Based On Terrible Crimes

8. Sufjan Stevens €“ John Wayne Gacy Jr

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=otx49Ko3fxw Even though the killer's name is right there in the title of the song, Sufjan Stevens' soft, lilting voice and melancholy acoustic melodies normally leads one to think of John Wayne Gacy Jr as something of a song about depression. In many ways it is, but the comparisons it makes are based on something truly terrible. John Wayne Gacy (who was also known as the Killer Clown) was an American serial killer who sexually assaulted and murdered at least thirty-three teenage boys and young men over a six year period. Throughout the song Stevens' details the life of Gacy, describing his parents and the world he grew up in, before revealing the horrifying number of murders he committed. The narrator of the song is terrified to admit thatthey might feel a connection to Gacy, whether justified or not.
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Commonly found reading, sitting firmly in a seat at the cinema (bottle of water and a Freddo bar, please) or listening to the Mountain Goats.