It's true, there are still murder songs and sometimes they make it to the radio. I wanted to make a broader point though. There was a time, not too long ago, when it was accepted that songs would be written about actual disasters, murders and triumphs as well. There are several enduring songs written about the Titanic. If someone wrote a song about the recent Russian submarine disaster it would probably be considered bad taste. The O. J. Simpson case is so loaded with controversy that a serious song about it would probably not even be played on folk shows. Yet, apparently, there will be a made-for-TV movie about it and nobody is disturbed by that.

I know there are exceptions, "Wreck of the Edmond Fitzgerald" was a hit and Dylan's "Hurricane" got mainstream airplay for example. In general, though, the public is too cool for songs about real events. When and why did this happen?