This topic has probably already been discussed, but I guess an update wouldn't hurt. Plus if it has I couldn't find the thread. And I know how much the folks on this forum like to talk music.

Anyway, what songs do you listen to to get ready, hyped up, for trial?

I'm thinking of making a cd to listen to on the way to work on trial days and need some good suggestions...

It's cliche' but it works...

AC/DC Tunderstruck

Bawitdaba by Kid Rock

After trial I like, "I fought the law and the law won."

Enter Sandman (Metallica).
Or, given my recent luck in pretrial hearings, one for the judge: All You Ever Do Is Bring Me Down (The Mavericks)

Some post-trial possibilities:

30 Days in the Hole (Humble Pie)
In a family law case: She Got the Gold Mine (I Got the Shaft) (the late, great Jerry Reed) or
Galaxie 500 (The Reverend Horton Heat)
Folsom Prison Blues (the man in black)
Judgment Day (Van Hagar)
In the Jailhouse Now (Jimmie Rodgers)
And, of course, Jailhouse Rock.

The Theme from Patton

Theme from Patton is greatness. Did that one today.

Friends in Low Places!

I have to agree with David -- Bawitdaba by Kid Rock, but if Perry Mason were a prosecutor, Ozzy would have shot.

Like Brumley, I have listened to Enter Sandman to inspire on the drive to the opening argument. I also have begun many murder trial openings being inspired by selections on Guns and Roses first album, Appetite for Destruction. They are rather high octane rockers.

That one cd can fulfill most inspirations for prosecutors of violent and senseless crimes with the variety of material presented, from murderer to psychopath.

The band was very messy, but their debut album remains one of the all-time classics. GNR never duplicated it's success with their later albums, but they spawned legions of imitation. Hard to believe it was released over 20 years ago.

Here's a few accolades for the album, from wiki:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Appetite_for_Destruction

-In 1989 Rolling Stone ranked Appetite for Destruction as the 20th best album of the 1980s.
-The same magazine later ranked it at sixty-one on their list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.
-In 2001, Q magazine named Appetite for Destruction as one of the 50 Heaviest Albums of All Time.
-In 2003, VH1 named Appetite for Destruction the 42nd Greatest Album of All Time.
-It was ranked 18 in Spin magazine's "100 Greatest Albums, 1985-2005".
-Kerrang! magazine recently compiled a 100 Greatest Rock Albums Ever list of which Appetite for Destruction was ranked #1.
-Rolling Stone recently devoted their cover to the album's 20th Anniversary, July 2007.
-The album was ranked 32 on Rock Hall of Fame's 'definitive 200' album list, developed by the NARM, the National Association of Recording Merchandisers.

[This message was edited by Greg Gilleland on 10-22-08 at .]

I like the think opposing lawyers hear Darth Vader's theme when I walk into court. I'd guess I'd rather be associated with Patton, except that the Aggie's already have that number; UT's Wabash Cannonball never inspired me.

I would like to think that lawyers (especially those from out of town) hear in their heads "Welcome to the Jungle" when I walk into the courtroom. More probably, they hear the theme song to "Pee Wee's Playhouse," though.

I always wanted the theme to Silverado piped in as I finished closing argument. Never have been able to pull it off.

[This message was edited by Scott Brumley on 10-22-08 at .]

I like Silverado. That's a good 'un. Especially for the white hats from the western half of the the state.

Noone has mentioned the theme from "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly"...

Kid victim cases require top volume Aerosmith, Janie's Got a Gun, on the way to work.

John Healey, now the DA of Ft. Bend Co., used to whistle the theme from The Good, The Bad And The Ugly prior to trial. I recall him whistling the song late at night when we were preparing for trial in the County Courthouse. It has a domed roof, and is 3 stories high, and at night, when it was very quiet, it made a perfect echo chamber. Healey is an excellent whistler and he'd whistle the tune without a trace of irony.

I like to listen to a recording I have of "Scotland the Brave," by some Scots regimental band. It starts off with a Sgt.-Major barking out some incomprehensible command, and then there's a roll of the drums followed by 50,000 bagpipes squalling out the tune. That's when you recall your first lesson in the DA's Office: it is the mission of the prosecutor to close with, and destroy the enemy.

I also like to sing "The Minstrel Boy," to myself.

Kick Out The Jams - MC5

Danger Zone - Top Gun soundtrack

A little Toby Keith before trial is good, too.

Speaking of kid victim cases: Pat Benatar--Hell is for Children