The authorities do not know exactly how many people have been killed warbling “My Way” in karaoke bars over the years in the Philippines, or how many fatal fights it has fueled. But the news media have recorded at least half a dozen victims in the past decade and includes them in a subcategory of crime dubbed the “My Way Killings.”

That is from a very entertaining and interesting story in the New York Times today that is ostensibly about the “My Way Killings” in the Philipines, but really covers the worldwide phenomenon of karaoke related violence and also the culture of the Philipines, and all in an amazingly short space of words too.

It goes without saying these murders are all very sad and tragic, and that these crimes are all disturbing… But you can’t help find some twisted humor in the absurdity of John Denver driving someone into a murderous rage:

Karaoke-related killings are not limited to the Philippines. In the past two years alone, a Malaysian man was fatally stabbed for hogging the microphone at a bar and a Thai man killed eight of his neighbors in a rage after they sang John Denver’s “Take Me Home, Country Roads.” Karaoke-related assaults have also occurred in the United States, including at a Seattle bar where a woman punched a man for singing Coldplay’s “Yellow” after criticizing his version.

Advertisement