My Favorite Lawyer Songs

I ran into a friend I hadn't seen for some time, and he told me he really enjoyed a column I'd done a few months back about lawyer movies.  So, I decided to go back to the pop culture well and come up with a list of lawyer songs.  I have to admit, not as many options came to mind, and I eliminated some that might seem obvious.  For example, Warren Zevon's "Lawyers, Guns and Money" didn't make the cut.  Great song, but it only mentions lawyers in passing.  The same goes for "Lawyers in Love" by Jackson Browne.  There's no real discussion of the legal process there.   

My list contains songs that put the lawyer, or at least the legal process, front and center.  The lyrics obviously are the focus, but the tunes backing the words are outstanding as well.

My first song is "My Attorney Bernie" by Dave Frishberg.  Backed by a jazzy piano, the song is a grateful client's tribute to his omnipresent lawyer.  As he sings – "Bernie tells me what to do.  Bernie lays it on the line.  Bernie says we sue, we sue.  Bernie says we sign, we sign."  I wish my clients were that fond of me.

My second song is "Johnny 99" from Bruce Springsteen's "Nebraska" album.  It's a dark number about a guy who loses his job at an auto plant and winds up killing a night clerk.  The Judge – "Mean John Brown" – proposes to sentence the guy to 99 years (hence the title "Johhny 99").  But Johnny stands up and proceeds to argue for the death penalty – for himself.  I think this proves the axiom "a person who represents himself has a fool for a lawyer" about as well as anything.  Check out the live version on YouTube, which features some outstanding guitar work by Nils Lofgren.  

Song number 3 is "Hurricane" by Bob Dylan.  It tells the story of Rubin "Hurricane" Carter's murder conviction.  According to the song, that conviction was a gross injustice, and indeed, although it took 20 years,  Carter was freed on a petition for habeas corpus.  In granting the petition, the Federal Judge stated, the prosecution had been "predicated upon an appeal to racism rather than reason, and concealment rather than disclosure." It's also worth noting that this song spurred litigation.  Patty Valentine, who appears in the lyric "and Miss Patty Valentine just nodded her head" apparently verifying the untruthful account of Alfred Bello and Arthur Dexter Bradley, sued Dylan for defamation.  She contended the lyric made it sound like she was in on the conspiracy to convict Carter.  A Florida based federal court, however, found that Dylan's lyric was a substantially true account of the events and Patty Valentine lost. 

Lefty Frizzell wrote the next song, but I am more familiar with the version by Roseanne Cash on her excellent album "The List."  It's entitled "The Long Black Veil."  And it tells the story of a man accused of a murder he didn't commit.  The problem is the man doesn't want to tell the judge that he'd been with his best friend's wife that night.  And for reasons not explained in the song, the wife doesn't bother to come forward and exonerate the poor guy. Indeed, while he is about to be hanged, the song tells us, "she stood in the crowd and shed not a tear."  That's cold.  The lyrics contain the words "alibi" and "scaffold."  I did a Google search and as far as I can tell, it's the only song that contains both words. Impressive.

The last song is "The Wig He Made Her Wear" by the Drive By Truckers.  It's based on a true story of a Tennessee woman who killed her husband, an apparently upstanding preacher.  But at the trial, the jury learned he was abusive. He "berated her about everything." And he made her do things that "made her feel ashamed."  This included making her "dress slutty before they had sex."  At the trial, the defense showed the jury what he made her wear – and "there was an audible gasp in the courtroom that day."  Her murder charge was reduced to voluntary manslaughter.  Good lawyering I'd say.

As always, my list isn't intended to be comprehensive.  If I missed a good one, please let me know.