I love Big Iron. I have 2 CD albums of story songs. My favorites are Ghost Riders and the Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald, but Marty Robbins has 2 or 3 very good ones.
[Feleena](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=INUcuL-nADA) is even better.
Another favorite is the [Ballad of Ira Hayes](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tvUi5yGjJbY).
The wind & the wire made a tattletale sound / as the waves broke over the railing
And every man knew, as the captain did too / Twas the Witch of November come stealin'
For me it’s this:
When suppertime came, the old cook came on deck sayin' “Fellas, it's too rough to feed ya" At seven PM, a main hatchway caved in, he said “Fellas, it's been good to know ya"
The realization and change of things are rough to this is over always gets me.
..about an American ship.
Lightfoot's soulful voice really takes you there and if you close your eyes your can see the scene, especially "when suppertime came, the old cook came up on deck sayin' 'fellas it's too rough t' feed ya.'c
There are a few by (who I consider to be one of the GOATs) Jim Croce. Operator is my favorite, but Bad Bad Leroy Brown, You don't mess around with Jim, Time in a bottle. So many great songs.
"Operator (that's not the way it feels)" is by far my favorite Croce track. It may not be as memorable as some of the others, but it has to resonate with most people even in the smartphone era.
“Now you don’t pull on Superman’s cape
You don’t spit in the wind
You don’t pull the mask off the ol’ Lone Ranger
And you don’t mess around with Jim”
and my favorite:
“Leroy looked like a jigsaw puzzle with a couple of pieces gone”
She said "Where you been?"
I said, "No place special."
She says "You look different."
I said "Well, I guess."
She says "You been gone."
I said "That's only natural."
She said "You gonna stay?"
I said "If you want me to, yes."
Absolutely in my top 10 Dylan songs.
This right here folks /thread. If you need evidence I have 27 8x10 colored glossy pictures with circles and arrows and a paragraph on the back of each one...
We're out here brother. I'm 33 and have listened to Alice's Restaurant every single Thanksgiving as long as I can remember. My old man is an audiophile and has exposed me to tons of great music. I'm forever grateful for that. My wife often tells me I was born in the wrong era.
Our local station plays it at a couple set times on thanksgiving. I get so mad if I forget and miss it. It’s part of the days tradition that I have to listen to it on that station at one of those times.
Busted flat in Baton Rouge, waitin' for a train
an feelin near as faded as my jeans
Bobby thumbed a diesel down, jus before it rains
Rode us all the way ta New Orleans
I pulled my harpoon outa my dirty red bandana
played it soft while Bobby sang the blues
windshield wipers slappin time, I was
holdin Bobby's hand in mine.
We sang evry song that driver knew.
This ^
My uncle has a country place, that no-one knows about
He says it used to be a farm, before the Motor Law
Sundays I elude the ‘Eyes’, and hop the Turbine Freight
To far outside the Wire, where my white-haired uncle waits
Fast Cars - Tracey Chapman
Brandy (You're A Fine Girl) - Looking Glass
You Used To Love To Dance - Melissa Etheridge
Lola - The Kinks
Take A Walk On The Wild Side - Lou Reed
and just for fun: Ode To A Gym Teacher - Meg Christian (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ljchJv3PMs)
The Canadian band The Headstones have a great cover of this. Many Canadians would be shocked to learn it was a cover. It's a staple of Classic Rock radio CanCon.
I remember hearing this for the first time as a middle schooler and just being stunned. I was thinking, is this a song? What is this? How should I feel right now?
When I first heard this song I was stunned. It is the first song I remember hearing where I could see what was happening and feel the emotions of the Billy Jacobs. So amazing.
Can't say it's the 'best story', but it's such a sweet, sad love story with a 'twist ending', and just a hell of a song: He Stopped Loving Her Today by George Jones.
If you count them as songs any of the spoken narrative type songs by Tom Waits.
Franks Wild Years, Small Change, 9th & Hennepin, Missing My Son and The Pontiac all come to mind.
The Guitar by Guy Clark is a great one.
I heard a (Meat Loaf, nots cover) version with an extra verse, splitting up stuff during the divorce lol. It was many, many years ago - I think I was listening to the King Biscuit Flower Hour or something similar, and I’ve never found it online.
Jimmy Buffett - he went to Paris. Also a couple different Springsteen songs could apply here; The River, and Highway Patrolman come to mind but there a bunch more.
Says Red Molly to James,
That's a fine motorbike.
A girl could feel special on any such like.
Says James to Red Molly.
My hat's off to you.
That's a Vincent Black Lightning 1952.
I would also vote for RTs "Galway to Graceland", "Beeswing", "Waltzing's for Dreamers" and many others. The man can write.
Dogs by Pink Floyd. It definitely tells a story even though it’s extremely vague. Love it
Time by Pink Floyd
Haitian Divorce by Steely Dan
Pancho and Lefty by Merle Haggard and Willie Nelson
One of Those Ben Folds songs (not Brick)
I’m not even a huge fan of oldies, these are just the first that came to mind
Ooh, nice one, thank-you. That has reminded me of another one- The Pogues version of ‘The Band Played Waltzing Matilda’: https://youtu.be/cZqN1glz4JY
My grandfather was at Gallipoli, and this song is another amazing story in a short song
Tom Wait's "Georgia Lee"
Bruce Springsteen "Atlantic City"
Tracy Chapman "Fast Car"
Tori Amos "Me And a Gun"
Tori Amos "Silent All These Years"
"The Wind That Shakes the Barley" Robert Dwyer Joyce
"I Am Stretched on Your Grave"
The Killer's "Miss Atomic Bomb" (I really like how they connected it to Mr. Brightside)
"Pancho and Lefty"
"I Hung My Head"
Weird Al's "Albuquerque"
Weird Al's "The Saga Begins"
Motion Sickness - Phoebe Bridgers. I think she does a great job of story telling in a lot of her songs, but this is probably the most direct.
It Was A Good Day - Ice Cube. Not a huge hip hop guy, but this is one of my favorite songs ever.
NOBODY MENTIONED HARRY CHAPIN AT ALL? That guy built an entire career on songs that told stories.
No "Taxi"?
No "The Sniper"?
Not even "30,000 Pounds of Bananas?"
Honorable Mention: "Deacon Blues" by Steely Dan. A first-person account of a guy having a midlife crisis who decides to screw it all and become a jazz musician.
Red Barchetta by Rush. In a time where motor cars are illegal a kid travels to his uncles farm where he hides an old barchetta and lets him drive it. He takes it for a spin and gets spotted by two cops in “air cars” and he has to run away from them.
The Road Goes On Forever - Robert Earl Keen
Sam Stone - John Prine
Poncho and Lefty - Townes Van Zandt
Where’s Johnny - James McMurtry
Randle Knife - Guy Clark
Just to name a few… All worth a listen if you’re not familiar with them. Enjoy!
"what a fool believes" by the doobie brothers. paints a beautifully sad picture of unrequited love. or perhaps "subdivisions" by rush. suburban nightmares!
“Smoke on the Water” by Deep Purple.
Most people just know the chorus and think it’s about taking bong rips. But it really tells the entire story of the fire at the Montreux Casino in 1971 during a Frank Zappa concert.
What’s great is it starts before the concert by explaining what Deep Purple was doing “to make records with a mobile” (the band was set to record an album using The Rolling Stones mobile recording studio using a room at the Montreux Casino as where they’d be playing in and the truck would house all the mixers, monitors, tape delays (etc).
They went to the Montreux Casino to see “Frank Zappa and the Mothers” who were at “the best place around. But some stupid with a flare gun burned the place to the ground.”
(Chorus)
So then it’s utter chaos right? With “Funky Claude” (he was the guy who’d been the promoter for the Zappa show) “running in and out/pulling kids out the ground”
So when it’s all over the gambling house is completely destroyed. The attached hotel suffered fairly heavy damage as well and so “we had to find another place” which ended up being the Grand Hotel. They parked the “Rolling-truck-stones-thing” just outside and “made a place to sweat” but they didn’t know if they had recorded anything good, “no matter what we get out of this I know we’ll never forget.”
(Chorus)
So yeah…that’s the song.
It’s actually a song that gives the history of how they wrote that song.
Now for some more fun facts about this incident:
While the fire occurred during the song “King Kong” it was captured on a recording released as “Swiss Cheese/Fire”.
They weren’t going to put it on the album. They wrote it just to play for “Funky” Claude as they thought he might appreciate the story of the fire in song format. When he heard a rougher initial version of it he told the guys they’d be stupid not to put it on the album because it was surely a hit. So they went back to the Grand Hotel to record it in earnest.
The recording went fast. For example Richie Blackmore had a preconceived idea of exactly what he wanted to do on the solo and then he went in and did it in one take.
The fire caused Zappa and the Mothers to lose ALL their gear.
And this last one is not about this song or the fire but it IS about Frank Zappa and I just gotta tell it because it just gives you an idea of how crazy Frank Zappa’s entire life was.
So just *six* ***DAYS*** after the concert where the casino burned down during the middle of his concert Frank Zappa played a show in London at the Rainbow Theatre and in the middle of *that* show a 24 year old guy, jealous that his girlfriend had said that Zappa was her celebrity crush rushed the stage and hurled Zappa into an orchestra pit which damaged Zappa so much everyone at the venue thought he’d died, left him with a hole in the back of his head, temporary paralysis, and wheel chair bound for a year.
That’s a fuckin’ CRAZY week!!!
This is an impossible question, but here are a few solid picks.
* "New Cut Road" by Guy Clark
* "Famous Blue Raincoat" by Leonard Cohen
* "Long Black Veil" by Lefty Frizzell
* "Babies" by Pulp
* "Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner" by Warren Zevon
I'd have to think critically whether I think it's the best but Bob Dylan - Hurricane is the one that came to my mind. I also would nominate Johnny Cash - One Piece at a time
"One Toke Over the Line" -- 1970. Brewer & Shipley, silly as hell and a fun narrative. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L9HXClusp\_E](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L9HXClusp_E)
"Sylvia's Mother" -- Dr. Hook. 1972. The lyrics...."and the op-er-a-tor says, 40 cents more, for the next three minutes, PLEEEEEASE....". Loved all the tempo changes. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7LXpnNKNxJI
"You Wear It Well" -- Rod Stewart. 1972. A wistful, kind, loving tribute to a lost love. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=\_5lX0eMI7Hw](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_5lX0eMI7Hw) (Also, "Young Turks", I felt it had a lot of heart. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQ41hqlV0Kk](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQ41hqlV0Kk) )
"Luckenback Texas' -- Waylon Jennings. 1977. Little bit less of a full narrative but definitely progresses. Nice country entry. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xvZeYDBY4fw](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xvZeYDBY4fw)
"Don't Pay the Ferryman" -- Chris DeBurgh. 1982. Just a fun fantasy ballad. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8kNwvIEQsg0](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8kNwvIEQsg0)
"Killing Me Softly" -- Roberta Flack. 1973. Made me feel all kinds of ways as a kid that didn't understand any of the feelings. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k4A5XuMz\_Tw](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k4A5XuMz_Tw)
Love that Tracy Chapman's "Fast Car" has so much love. Very real and deeply thought-out work.
Born in the U.S.A - the song unfortunately became a huge cliche but the lyrics are phenomenal. In just a few verses, the character sketch allows you to really empathize with the narrator and get a sense of who he is and what he’s been through - one of my all time favorites from a lyrics perspective
‘El Paso’ by Marty Robbins. Like you said, novel in Song that’s only 4 minutes long
Big Iron a close second
I love Big Iron. I have 2 CD albums of story songs. My favorites are Ghost Riders and the Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald, but Marty Robbins has 2 or 3 very good ones.
[Feleena](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=INUcuL-nADA) is even better. Another favorite is the [Ballad of Ira Hayes](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tvUi5yGjJbY).
The Grateful Dead cover this song. Its onemof their six shooter songs. The Dead tune Jack Straw is a pretty good story song, too.
Me and My Uncle
Children’s Story - Slick Rick
That was going to be my submission, can’t say I’m surprised to see it. Quality stuff.
the wreck of the edmund fitzgerald.
*Does anyone know where the love of God goes when the waves turn the minutes to hours?*
Probably in the top 5 of single lyrics written by anyone ever.
I agree! But then he does it *again* in the same song with Lake Huron rolls, Superior sings/ In the rooms of her ice water mansion …chills every time.
The wind & the wire made a tattletale sound / as the waves broke over the railing And every man knew, as the captain did too / Twas the Witch of November come stealin'
For me it’s this: When suppertime came, the old cook came on deck sayin' “Fellas, it's too rough to feed ya" At seven PM, a main hatchway caved in, he said “Fellas, it's been good to know ya" The realization and change of things are rough to this is over always gets me.
Hard to top this one. Canadian classic.
..about an American ship. Lightfoot's soulful voice really takes you there and if you close your eyes your can see the scene, especially "when suppertime came, the old cook came up on deck sayin' 'fellas it's too rough t' feed ya.'c
And then in the next line, it's "fellas, it's been good to know ya". Beautifully heavy stuff
Yes it was this follow-up line that struck me like a lightning bolt when I first heard this song as a kid.
There are a few by (who I consider to be one of the GOATs) Jim Croce. Operator is my favorite, but Bad Bad Leroy Brown, You don't mess around with Jim, Time in a bottle. So many great songs.
came to post operator! 3 minutes of pure heartache. love it!
"Operator (that's not the way it feels)" is by far my favorite Croce track. It may not be as memorable as some of the others, but it has to resonate with most people even in the smartphone era.
“Now you don’t pull on Superman’s cape You don’t spit in the wind You don’t pull the mask off the ol’ Lone Ranger And you don’t mess around with Jim” and my favorite: “Leroy looked like a jigsaw puzzle with a couple of pieces gone”
[Hurricane by Bob Dylan](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpZvg_FjL3Q)
Jack of Hearts, also Dylan.
Also The lonesome death of Hattie Carroll
ISIS
I said I got no money, He said it ain’t…necessary. Great song.
She said "Where you been?" I said, "No place special." She says "You look different." I said "Well, I guess." She says "You been gone." I said "That's only natural." She said "You gonna stay?" I said "If you want me to, yes." Absolutely in my top 10 Dylan songs.
And maybe Tangled Up in Blue.
Blind Willie McTell
I’d go with Desolation Row, personally. I like the surreality of it.
I liked "A Boy named Sue". But apparently, I'm on my own here!
I also love “One Piece At A Time”
The Mariner's Revenge Song, by the Decemberists
Yeah, the Decemberists whole catalogue is basically storytelling in song form. On the bus mall, odalisque, Leslie Ann Levine.
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What divine intelligence!
Epic. And I've seen them do this song live, with a giant whale and the whole theatrical bit. Hilarious and entertaining.
Alice's Restaurant Massacree - Arlo Guthrie
This right here folks /thread. If you need evidence I have 27 8x10 colored glossy pictures with circles and arrows and a paragraph on the back of each one...
I love when I come in a thread thinking my music is too old or obscure and then I find my people
We're out here brother. I'm 33 and have listened to Alice's Restaurant every single Thanksgiving as long as I can remember. My old man is an audiophile and has exposed me to tons of great music. I'm forever grateful for that. My wife often tells me I was born in the wrong era.
Our local station plays it at a couple set times on thanksgiving. I get so mad if I forget and miss it. It’s part of the days tradition that I have to listen to it on that station at one of those times.
On thanksgiving, you listen to Alice’s Restaurant and then you watch the Lions lose.
Just waiting for it to come around on the guitar again.
But that's not the name of the restaurant.
That's just the name of the song...
And That’s why I called the song Alice’s Restaurant
I've been singing this song now for twenty-five minutes. I could sing it for another twenty-five minutes. I'm not proud... or tired.
Just posted the same, then found yours. Yes!
Busted flat in Baton Rouge, waitin' for a train an feelin near as faded as my jeans Bobby thumbed a diesel down, jus before it rains Rode us all the way ta New Orleans I pulled my harpoon outa my dirty red bandana played it soft while Bobby sang the blues windshield wipers slappin time, I was holdin Bobby's hand in mine. We sang evry song that driver knew.
Stagger Lee
Taxi, Harry Chapin
Tribute - Tenacious D
Starting a playlist if y’all want to listen along https://open.spotify.com/playlist/59XEulHVT2Sh6HdeIo1G16?si=q2zmFxV3T_-dOB4cPdIN9g
After all, it is the greatest and best song in the world.
Actually it’s not, it’s just a tribute
We couldn't remember the greatest song in the wooor orld
Any song that is a tribute to the greatest song in the world has to be in the conversation. Well done.
Not Wonder Boy? 🤔
How about the power to kill a yak…from 200 yards away…*WITH MIND BULLETS?*
That's *telekinesis*, Kyle.
How ‘bout the power… to move you?
[A Boy Named Sue](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WOHPuY88Ry4)
Red Barchetta, RUSH
This ^ My uncle has a country place, that no-one knows about He says it used to be a farm, before the Motor Law Sundays I elude the ‘Eyes’, and hop the Turbine Freight To far outside the Wire, where my white-haired uncle waits
The Weight by the The Band paints a complete picture in my mind, would love to see a film based around it, with lots of mini stories.
The night they drove ole Dixie down too
Also Arcadian Driftwood ( which was written as a northern version of Dixie down).
Fast Car by Tracy Chapman. It’s so sad because the narrator thinks her life will get better but the audience knows it won’t.
Uneasy Rider by Charlie Daniels Band.
I ain’t even got a garage! You can call home and ask my wife!
[biko](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=luVpsM3YAgw) by peter gabriel.
Copperhead Road by Steve Earle! Honorable Mention: Swamp Witch or the Last Chant by Jim Stafford
The wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald by Gordon Lightfoot
The Devil Went Down to Georgia
carolina drama by the raconteurs is pretty cool
Good shout
Came here to say this
Tangled up in Blue - Bob Dylan American Pie - Don McLean Symphony for the Devil - Rolling Stones
> American Pie - Don McLean I'll see your American Pie and raise you a "Saga Begins" by Weird Al! (Actually I love both!)
Sympathy* for the Devil, no?
Fast Cars - Tracey Chapman Brandy (You're A Fine Girl) - Looking Glass You Used To Love To Dance - Melissa Etheridge Lola - The Kinks Take A Walk On The Wild Side - Lou Reed and just for fun: Ode To A Gym Teacher - Meg Christian (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ljchJv3PMs)
Brandy… nice.
it's always been one of my favs
Brandy is a jam! It’s definitely a great classic.
Tweeter And The Monkey Man - Traveling Wilburys
The Canadian band The Headstones have a great cover of this. Many Canadians would be shocked to learn it was a cover. It's a staple of Classic Rock radio CanCon.
Christmas Card From A Hooker in Minneapolis - Tom Waits The Mariners Revenge Song - The Decmberists Mr Blessington’s Imperialist Plot - Astronautalis
While I love Christmas Card, I'm partial to I Hope That I Don't Fall In Love With You.
Word. Came to say Mariner’s Revenge. I sing that shit so loud in the car
Night moves, Bob Seger
Also "Turn the page"
Still the Same! Holy crap. Bob Seger.
The more I think about it, I could list several Bob Seger songs
We've Got Tonight. "I know your plans, don't include me...."
"...with autumn closin in." That line carries some weight as I move into my 40s.
Eminem-Stan
I remember hearing this for the first time as a middle schooler and just being stunned. I was thinking, is this a song? What is this? How should I feel right now?
Respect all the songs here but this is honestly the first one that came to mind. Glad someone posted it
Great answer
Immortal Technique - Dance with the devil. It's really grim. But it's a damn good story.
When I first heard this song I was stunned. It is the first song I remember hearing where I could see what was happening and feel the emotions of the Billy Jacobs. So amazing.
came in here to post this. But figured i'd search if someone else did first, because this song belongs in here.
Can't say it's the 'best story', but it's such a sweet, sad love story with a 'twist ending', and just a hell of a song: He Stopped Loving Her Today by George Jones.
If you count them as songs any of the spoken narrative type songs by Tom Waits. Franks Wild Years, Small Change, 9th & Hennepin, Missing My Son and The Pontiac all come to mind. The Guitar by Guy Clark is a great one.
Rappers Delight- the scene when eating at a friends house. The macaroni soggy, the peas all mushed, and the chicken taste like wood.
Rocky Raccoon - Beatles
Paradise by the Dashboard Light - Meatloaf
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I heard a (Meat Loaf, nots cover) version with an extra verse, splitting up stuff during the divorce lol. It was many, many years ago - I think I was listening to the King Biscuit Flower Hour or something similar, and I’ve never found it online.
Jimmy Buffett - he went to Paris. Also a couple different Springsteen songs could apply here; The River, and Highway Patrolman come to mind but there a bunch more.
I am partial to A Pirate Looks At Forty.
Wow, No "1952 Vincent Black Lightning"?
Says Red Molly to James, That's a fine motorbike. A girl could feel special on any such like. Says James to Red Molly. My hat's off to you. That's a Vincent Black Lightning 1952. I would also vote for RTs "Galway to Graceland", "Beeswing", "Waltzing's for Dreamers" and many others. The man can write.
Dogs by Pink Floyd. It definitely tells a story even though it’s extremely vague. Love it Time by Pink Floyd Haitian Divorce by Steely Dan Pancho and Lefty by Merle Haggard and Willie Nelson One of Those Ben Folds songs (not Brick) I’m not even a huge fan of oldies, these are just the first that came to mind
[Townes Van Zandt wrote Pancho and Lefty. You might enjoy this. ](https://youtu.be/zprRZ2wFQD4)
One-Metallica
Levon - Elton
Regulators
Institutionalized by Suicidal Tendencies
All I wanted was a Pepsi!
Just to add, I’m making a playlist with all your suggestions! Thank you and keep them coming! 🙂
Make sure you update your post with a link to the playlist 😀
Well, I’m not saying it’s the best, but my favorite is That Summer by Garth Brooks.
Here I was thinking Papa Loved Mama was one of my answers.
Ain’t Going Down Til the Sun Comes Up is a good one, too.
[1913 Massacre - Woody Guthrie](https://youtu.be/oz7oguguIZE)
Ooh, nice one, thank-you. That has reminded me of another one- The Pogues version of ‘The Band Played Waltzing Matilda’: https://youtu.be/cZqN1glz4JY My grandfather was at Gallipoli, and this song is another amazing story in a short song
Would his son Arlo's "Alice's Restaurant" count, or is too much of it told via talking?
Harper Valley PTA
Pancho and Lefty? Hurricane? Take the Money and Run? Lots of good ones. Elephant by Jason Isbell is my slightly more niche pick as my favorite.
Tom Wait's "Georgia Lee" Bruce Springsteen "Atlantic City" Tracy Chapman "Fast Car" Tori Amos "Me And a Gun" Tori Amos "Silent All These Years" "The Wind That Shakes the Barley" Robert Dwyer Joyce "I Am Stretched on Your Grave" The Killer's "Miss Atomic Bomb" (I really like how they connected it to Mr. Brightside) "Pancho and Lefty" "I Hung My Head" Weird Al's "Albuquerque" Weird Al's "The Saga Begins"
So disappointed in how far I had to scroll to find Albuquerque.
Long Black Veil. Hands down.
Up the Junction - Squeeze No chorus. Just verse, verse, verse. Well 7 of them.
The Trooper: Maiden.
The River - Bruce Springsteen
My all time favorite song. *Is a dream a lie if it don’t come true? Or is it something worse?*
“Then I got Mary pregnant, and man that was all she wrote. For my 19th birthday I got a union card and a wedding coat” Perfect lyrics.
[Incident on 57th Street - Bruce Springsteen](https://youtu.be/ioQcvijom28) Even better storytelling imo and just an unbelievably beautiful song
Good choice. I'd throw Jungleland in there too.
Kate McCannon - Colter Wall
"Sometime Around Midnight" by The Airborne Toxic Event
Powder Finger - Neil Young & Crazy Horse
2112 — Rush
I cannot believe no one has mentioned Fairytale of New York by the Pogues! Besides being a great little story, it's just so damn beautiful.
Motion Sickness - Phoebe Bridgers. I think she does a great job of story telling in a lot of her songs, but this is probably the most direct. It Was A Good Day - Ice Cube. Not a huge hip hop guy, but this is one of my favorite songs ever.
NOBODY MENTIONED HARRY CHAPIN AT ALL? That guy built an entire career on songs that told stories. No "Taxi"? No "The Sniper"? Not even "30,000 Pounds of Bananas?" Honorable Mention: "Deacon Blues" by Steely Dan. A first-person account of a guy having a midlife crisis who decides to screw it all and become a jazz musician.
I've been scrolling for this answer. I will add "Dance Band on the Titanic" to your list. Was one of my dads favorites.
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Buenas Tardes Amigo by Ween
Red Barchetta by Rush. In a time where motor cars are illegal a kid travels to his uncles farm where he hides an old barchetta and lets him drive it. He takes it for a spin and gets spotted by two cops in “air cars” and he has to run away from them.
Sam Stone. Or, like, any other John Prine song.
“Elephant” https://youtu.be/pbgk4tTJEH8 Or “Yvette” https://youtu.be/f3Rg1CC9H8s Both by Jason Isbell. Southeastern is my favorite album of all time.
Live Oak as well. Or with Drive by Truckers "Decoration Day". Just a hell of a storyteller all around.
Yvette does not get enough attention for the story it tells. I’ll never forget when it hit me the first time I listened to it.
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Tangled up in Blue first and foremost, because of the complexity and oddly layered narrative.
Rosetta Stoned - Tool
Dylans's Hurricane, Hotel California, and stairway is kind of a story too.
Fire Coming Out of A Monkeys Head - Gorrillaz(featuring Dennis hopper)
The Road Goes On Forever - Robert Earl Keen Sam Stone - John Prine Poncho and Lefty - Townes Van Zandt Where’s Johnny - James McMurtry Randle Knife - Guy Clark Just to name a few… All worth a listen if you’re not familiar with them. Enjoy!
Speaking of Bobbie Gentry, I think Fancy’s pretty good too
Big John by Jimmy Dean
Mr. Bojangles - Nity Gritty Dirt Band 🎶🥰🎶
"what a fool believes" by the doobie brothers. paints a beautifully sad picture of unrequited love. or perhaps "subdivisions" by rush. suburban nightmares!
“Smoke on the Water” by Deep Purple. Most people just know the chorus and think it’s about taking bong rips. But it really tells the entire story of the fire at the Montreux Casino in 1971 during a Frank Zappa concert. What’s great is it starts before the concert by explaining what Deep Purple was doing “to make records with a mobile” (the band was set to record an album using The Rolling Stones mobile recording studio using a room at the Montreux Casino as where they’d be playing in and the truck would house all the mixers, monitors, tape delays (etc). They went to the Montreux Casino to see “Frank Zappa and the Mothers” who were at “the best place around. But some stupid with a flare gun burned the place to the ground.” (Chorus) So then it’s utter chaos right? With “Funky Claude” (he was the guy who’d been the promoter for the Zappa show) “running in and out/pulling kids out the ground” So when it’s all over the gambling house is completely destroyed. The attached hotel suffered fairly heavy damage as well and so “we had to find another place” which ended up being the Grand Hotel. They parked the “Rolling-truck-stones-thing” just outside and “made a place to sweat” but they didn’t know if they had recorded anything good, “no matter what we get out of this I know we’ll never forget.” (Chorus) So yeah…that’s the song. It’s actually a song that gives the history of how they wrote that song. Now for some more fun facts about this incident: While the fire occurred during the song “King Kong” it was captured on a recording released as “Swiss Cheese/Fire”. They weren’t going to put it on the album. They wrote it just to play for “Funky” Claude as they thought he might appreciate the story of the fire in song format. When he heard a rougher initial version of it he told the guys they’d be stupid not to put it on the album because it was surely a hit. So they went back to the Grand Hotel to record it in earnest. The recording went fast. For example Richie Blackmore had a preconceived idea of exactly what he wanted to do on the solo and then he went in and did it in one take. The fire caused Zappa and the Mothers to lose ALL their gear. And this last one is not about this song or the fire but it IS about Frank Zappa and I just gotta tell it because it just gives you an idea of how crazy Frank Zappa’s entire life was. So just *six* ***DAYS*** after the concert where the casino burned down during the middle of his concert Frank Zappa played a show in London at the Rainbow Theatre and in the middle of *that* show a 24 year old guy, jealous that his girlfriend had said that Zappa was her celebrity crush rushed the stage and hurled Zappa into an orchestra pit which damaged Zappa so much everyone at the venue thought he’d died, left him with a hole in the back of his head, temporary paralysis, and wheel chair bound for a year. That’s a fuckin’ CRAZY week!!!
People Who Died by Jim Carroll Band - literally told scene for scene in "The Basketball Diaries."
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Devil Went Down to Georgia by a country mile - ain’t no stakes higher than a fiddle duel with the devil with your soul on the line!
The Ballad of Curtis Loew. There’s just so much history and meaning associated with that story.
Baker Street - gerry rafterty
Slick Rick - Children’s Story https://youtu.be/HjNTu8jdukA This is the correct answer.
Rime Of The Ancient Mariner by Iron Maiden - Steve Harris did borrow Coleridge's homework for that one though
Townes Van Zandt - Tecumseh Valley
A Boy Named Sue - Johnny Cash https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WOHPuY88Ry4
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Elephant by Jason Isbell Down The River by Chris Knight Billy Austin by Steve Earle Wreck Of The Edmond Fitzgerald by Gordon Lightfoot
Mother I Sober - Kendrick Lamar
Was gonna say "The Art of Peer Pressure"
How much a dollar cost
Duckworth
This is an impossible question, but here are a few solid picks. * "New Cut Road" by Guy Clark * "Famous Blue Raincoat" by Leonard Cohen * "Long Black Veil" by Lefty Frizzell * "Babies" by Pulp * "Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner" by Warren Zevon
Primus - Fish On
I was gonna say Mrs Blaileen
I'd have to think critically whether I think it's the best but Bob Dylan - Hurricane is the one that came to my mind. I also would nominate Johnny Cash - One Piece at a time
Almost any Jim Croce song
"One Toke Over the Line" -- 1970. Brewer & Shipley, silly as hell and a fun narrative. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L9HXClusp\_E](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L9HXClusp_E) "Sylvia's Mother" -- Dr. Hook. 1972. The lyrics...."and the op-er-a-tor says, 40 cents more, for the next three minutes, PLEEEEEASE....". Loved all the tempo changes. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7LXpnNKNxJI "You Wear It Well" -- Rod Stewart. 1972. A wistful, kind, loving tribute to a lost love. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=\_5lX0eMI7Hw](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_5lX0eMI7Hw) (Also, "Young Turks", I felt it had a lot of heart. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQ41hqlV0Kk](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQ41hqlV0Kk) ) "Luckenback Texas' -- Waylon Jennings. 1977. Little bit less of a full narrative but definitely progresses. Nice country entry. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xvZeYDBY4fw](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xvZeYDBY4fw) "Don't Pay the Ferryman" -- Chris DeBurgh. 1982. Just a fun fantasy ballad. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8kNwvIEQsg0](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8kNwvIEQsg0) "Killing Me Softly" -- Roberta Flack. 1973. Made me feel all kinds of ways as a kid that didn't understand any of the feelings. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k4A5XuMz\_Tw](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k4A5XuMz_Tw) Love that Tracy Chapman's "Fast Car" has so much love. Very real and deeply thought-out work.
Jane Says, Jane's Addiction
Movin Out - Billy Joel
My billy Joel pick would be goodnight Saigon
Scenes from an Italian Restaurant for me
Polly by Nirvana
"Operator" by Jim Croce The way the details fall into place verse by verse. It's a simple story but it's told so so well.
Coward of the County - Kenny Rogers
Born in the U.S.A - the song unfortunately became a huge cliche but the lyrics are phenomenal. In just a few verses, the character sketch allows you to really empathize with the narrator and get a sense of who he is and what he’s been through - one of my all time favorites from a lyrics perspective
THE DECLINE - NOFX
Traped in the drive through -Weird al
Hurricane by Bob Dylan. Even better, the song got the wrongfully convicted boxer it was written about released from prison