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'Locked Up' by Akon -

Akon has actually done time behind bars, and this song is about his imprisonment. "'Cause I'm locked up (they won't let me out)."

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'I Fought the Law' by The Clash -

This song, originally recorded by The Crickets but later popularized by British punk rockers The Clash, talks about "breakin' rocks in the hot sun" because "I fought the law and the law won."

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'Jailhouse Rock' by Elvis Presley -

Perhaps one of the most famous (and danceable) songs about being locked up, 'Jailhouse Rock' is a upbeat and really fun tune.

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'Folsom Prison Blues' by Johnny Cash -

The Man in Black's song was very controversial, but nonetheless became a huge hit. Years later, 'At Folsom Prison' was the first album ever recorded in a maximum security prison.

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'San Quentin' by Johnny Cash -

Though many other Johnny Cash songs resonated with those locked up behind bars. He even wrote a song about another prison—San Quentin—and performed in quite a few prisons throughout his career.

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'Hurricane' by Bob Dylan -

This Dylan track is about the tragic life story of boxer Rubin "Hurricane" Carter, who was wrongly convicted of murder.

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'Band on the Run' by Paul McCartney & Wings -

This 1974 song has the former Beatle singing "Stuck inside these four walls / Sent inside forever / Never seeing no one."

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'Chain Gang' by Sam Cooke -

This 1960 classic goes: "That's the sound of the men / Working on the chain gang / All day long they work so hard / Till the sun is going down / Working on the highways and byways / And wearing, wearing a frown / You hear them moaning their lives away."

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'Jailbreak' by Thin Lizzy -

Yes, this classic tune by Irish rockers Thin Lizzy is about a jailbreak. "Tonight there's gonna be trouble / Some of us won't survive / See the boys and me mean business / Bustin' out dead or alive."

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'Black Steel in the Hour of Chaos' by Public Enemy -

This hip-hop tune describes a successful (and violent) jailbreak of an inmate who managed to drag along 52 other inmates with him.

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'Jailbreak' by AC/DC -

This classic Bon Scott-era tune is one of the Aussie rockers' most famous songs. As for the theme of the hit, the clue is in the title. Unfortunately, it was an unsuccessful jailbreak, and the inmate was killed by a prison guard.

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'Fish in the Jailhouse' by Tom Waits -

This Tom Waits song introduced us to inmates Peoria Johnson and Dirty Ol' Joe, and their plan of escaping jail using a fishbone.

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'Murder Was the Case' by Snoop Dogg -

This 1993 gangsta rap anthem, produced by Dr. Dre, mentions a trip to Chino, where the California Institution for Men is located.

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'You Know What They Do to Guys Like Us in Prison' by My Chemical Romance -

We're not sure if the song is about emo kids, but the lyrics are pretty wild. "My cellmate's a killer, they make me do push-ups in drag," sings Gerard Way.

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'Women's Prison' by Loretta Lynn -

Lynn sings about a woman who shot dead her "darlin'" after she caught him cheating. She goes on to describe this woman's tragic life in prison until the moment she is electrocuted to death.

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'Rusty Cage' by Soundgarden -

"I'm gonna break my rusty cage and run," sang Chris Cornell in 1991.

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'Prison Song' by System of a Down -

This song heavily criticizes the prison system and how the drug on wars failed.

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'Mama Tried' by Merle Haggard -

This 1968 country song also deserves a place on the list. "And I turned 21 in prison, doing life without parole / No one could steer me right but mama tried."

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'London Dungeon' by Misfits -

The American punk rockers released this tune in 1982, based on their experience of being arrested in London, England.

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'Ol' Red' by Blake Shelton -

This song tells the tale of an inmate who befriends a warden and his dog.

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'18 and Life' by Skid Row -

'18 and Life' is a song about Ricky, a teenager who accidentally shot his friend and is convicted of murder.

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'Knoxville Girl' by The Louvin Brothers -

The song is about being punished for a brutal murder. "I'm here to waste my life away down in this dirty old jail / Because I murdered that Knoxville girl, the girl I loved so well."

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'Prison Grove' by Warren Zevon -

Zevon's song is a poignant account of prison life. "Dug in, hunkered down / Hours race without a sound / Gonna carry me to where I'm bound / Looking down on Prison Grove."

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'High Cost of Living' by Jamey Johnson -

Johnson's country tune is about a recovering drug addict inmate regretting his past mistakes. "I had a job and a piece of land / My sweet wife was my best friend / But I traded that for cocaine."

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'Billy Austin' by Steve Earle & The Dukes -

Billy Austin is the narrator that tells his life story in this song, and how he ended up behind bars on death row.

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'Weighted Down' by Skip Spence -

Spence struggled with mental health problems in the late '60s and even spent some time in mental wards. This song was written about this time.

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'Chains' by Patty Loveless -

You can hear some hope in Loveless' tune. "Chains, chains, shackles and chains / No matter what it takes some day I'm gonna break these." She may have been talking about the "prison" of love though.

See also: Bands whose members left right before success

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