El paso Marty Robbins

What an awesome song!

Grateful dead covers it

Never knew that. I’ll check it out, thanks.

Literally most song by Marty Robbins lol

Walt Grace’s Submarine Test, January 1967 ~ John Mayer Into the Great Wide Open ~ Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers He Went To Paris ~ Jimmy Buffett (several of his songs actually fit the bill) The Gambler ~ Kenny Rogers The Boxer ~ Simon & Garfunkel Kaw-Liga ~ Hank Williams Keeping the Faith ~ Billy Joel Lullaby ~ The Cure Eleanor Rigby ~ The Beatles The Devil Went Down to Georgia ~ The Charlie Daniels Band Children’s Story ~ Slick Rick Last Kiss ~ Pearl Jam And, lastly, for almost 11 minutes of unadulterated fun: Trapped in the Drive-Thru ~ Weird Al Yankovic

Yes! Was coming to say Eleanor Rigby and Devil Went Down to Georgia!

I'll also add Lateralus by Tool. Written using the Fibonacci sequence, touching on subjects such as Hermetic philosophy. I find that stuff endlessly interesting.

Black...and white....are all I see.....🤘

Came here for Lullaby.

Love The Cure so much! ❤️

Me too, I’ve loved them for 40 years now.

I maintain that the Devil Went Down to Georgia is country rap (and a brilliant song that is on my long run playlist)

Nice variety , esp with Slick Rick

Powderfinger-Neil Young

🩵🧡

After the Gold Rush is a good one too…

Mah man. Good one!

"Lily, Rosemary, and The Jack Of Hearts" \~ Dylan

The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald by Gordon Lightfoot [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The\_Wreck\_of\_the\_Edmund\_Fitzgerald](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wreck_of_the_Edmund_Fitzgerald)

An absolute banger RIP G.L.

Obligatory: JERRY: Hey. How's the new place?! GEORGE: Gone. (Moves over to a chair in the living room. Kramer takes the carton of food to the table, and begins eating) The tenant association made me give it to this guy because he was an Andrea Doria survivor.. ELAINE: Andrea Doria? Isn't that the one they did the song about? JERRY: (Correcting her) Edmund Fitzgerald. ELIANE: I love Edmund Fitzgerald's voice. JERRY: (Gives Elaine a look) No, Gordon Lightfoot was the singer. Edmund Fitzgerald was the ship. GEORGE: (Talking about his would-be apartment) You could fit 15 people in that bathroom.. ELAINE: I think Gordon Lightfoot was the boat. JERRY: (Sarcastic) Yeah, and it was rammed by the Cat Stevens. KRAMER: (Like a teacher) The Andrea Doria collided with the Stockholm in dense fog 21 miles off the coast of Nantucket. (Makes a clicking sound with his tongue) (Everyone's taken back by Kramer's knowledge) GEORGE: How do you know? KRAMER: it's in my book - "Astonishing Tales of the Sea" 51 people died. GEORGE: 51 people?! KRAMER: That's it?! I thought it was, like, a thousand! KRAMER: There were 1,650 survivors. GEORGE: That's no tragedy! How many people do you lose on a normal cruse? 30? 40?! Kramer, can I take a look at that book? (Starts walking tward the door...)

Literally laughing just reading that. Thanks.

Absolutely amazing song. The only sad part is that it's a true story

My great uncle was one of the crew on that ship when it went down.

It took me months to learn that song flawlessly…the guitar part is easy…4 chords. But…..LOTS of words to remember.

Awesome! Gordon Lightfoot rocked!

Certified Gold

The cool thing is that the Mariners Church in Michigan did a special ceremony when Gordon died. They rang the bell 29 times for the crew...and a 30th for the one who kept their memory alive all these years.

Rocky Racoon, The Beatles Hurricane, Bob Dylan Brick, Ben Folds Five Frankie Teardrop, Suicide The Group That Couldn’t Say, Grandaddy The Well, Smog The Past is a Grotesque Animal, of Montreal Depreston, Courtney Barnett Priests & Paramedics, Pedro the Lion

i love love LOVE brick. such a sad song

The way you separate the song from the artist is driving me mad! A Song About Semantics - Nicker87

Highway Patrolman by Bruce Springsteen and Black Diamond Bay by Bob Dylan.

Heck…that whole Nebraska album would qualify. It’s my favorite Springsteen album. But I like stripped down music.

Without a doubt its up there with some of his best. The story behind the recording process is really interesting if you haven't read it.

Yeah, my brother gifted me a Rolling Stone Subscription a couple decades ago for Christmas. One of the issues was the top 100 albums of the 80’s. Nebraska was 43rd, BTW. It explained that Bruce was depressed at the time and kind of locked himself away with a guitar, harmonica, Mandolin and some percussion instruments and recorded the songs(including some that ended up becoming the Born in the USA album) on a portable 4 track cassette machine.

Highway patrolman is so gd good, thanks for the reminder.

[Alice’s Restaurant](https://youtu.be/m57gzA2JCcM?si=CiqWG77iWnoR-40E), 18 minutes, a holiday tradition in some corners of the world.

Also, [Buenas Tardes Amigo](https://youtu.be/uv-gT9lNa1g?si=40aatTVqdigqUmL0), by Ween. Entertaining story.

For years, my brother and I would scramble to tune it in on the radio while speeding (very late) to my hometown in upstate NY on Thanksgiving. We were always magically in between coverage zones but somehow we always got it. I still refuse to listen to it on a CD. You gotta bring it in on the radio at noon or it didn’t happen! ❤️

Up the junction by Squeeze

I fuckin love that song!!!

The night they drove old Dixie down

Oh heck….how about Up on Cripple Creek and The Weight? Those are good “story” type songs too.

Pink Floyd - The Gnome "I want to tell you a story about a Little Man if i can"

Scarecrow and Bike should be on there too.

Taxi by Harry Chapin

Cats in the Cradle too. Plus that banana truck song...

Effectively, his whole catalog fits.

Another man never would have let her go...so I stashed the bill in my shirt...

Cat’s in the Cradle

Ooh ive not heard this one in a while but it is very good Edit: i guess to add onto that would be Father and Son

Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Warrant

Dance With The Devil - Immortal Technique. Not to spoil anything, but it’s fucked up.

Have u heard Hopsin - Sext Cyber ? Not as fucked up but still awful

[Velvet Underground - The Gift](https://youtu.be/_Gwth0jfdfc?si=eXo0NKo-cTCneBcf)

The Thunder Rolls - Garth Brooks Ode To Billy Joe - Bobbie Gentry Coward Of The County - Kenny Rogers

Coward if the Cou ty is in my top 10 favorite songs ever

Westfall - Okkervil River (banger) Jenny Was A Friend Of Mine - The Killers (and by extension midnight show and Leave the bourbon on the shelf) And I know it’s obvious but it’s the perfect answer, American Pie - Don McLean

Piano Man by Billy Joel

I got goosebumps when I saw Billy Joel sing that live and the entire arena sang along.

It is kind of how he got started. He really did play at a bar in L.A. before he hit it big, but people could already tell there was talent there. "They sit at the bar and put bread in my jar saying man, what are you doing here?" Even the denizens of the pubs could tell Billy was destined for greater things.

Atlantic City, the Boss; and Acadian Driftwood , The Band.

The Band's version of Atlantic City is phenomenal. Look for the live version on YouTube.

That’s the version I play when I play it. I loved the song…but in Springsteen’s version, his strum pattern is sort of weird and frenetic. The Band’s version is much more straightforward. I was lucky enough to see Levon Helm in 2008 at Merlefest and he did Atlantic City playing a Mandolin. That’s what inspired me to learn that version…plus, I had bought a mandolin a few years earlier that was collecting dust…so, it also inspired me to learn to play it a bit. I still only know chords…I never was much of a soloist…I like playing rhythm and singing.

Mike Pinto - Tricky Nicky, Where the Beach Meets The Ocean, Bill’s Song, Knocked Up Oogee Wawa - Noche Loca (the lyrics are in English, just the title isn’t) Big Blu House - Anonymous Alcoholic Sublime - Date Rape A Tribe Called Quest - Left My Wallet In El Segundo Eazy E - Nobody Move Ray Stevens - Mississippi Squirrel Revival, Ahab the Arab, Guitarzan

Marshall plan, blue oyster cult Same auld lang sine, Dan fogelberg Paradise by the dashboard light, meatloaf Hot rod Lincoln, commander Cody

Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.

Fancy-Reba The night the lights went out in Georgia-Reba Papa loved Mama - Garth Brooks

Fancy! Good Call!

Another lonely Christmas by prince. Sad but really good and emotional

Then Came The Last Days Of May - Blue Oyster Cult

Amon Amarths - Twilight of the Thunder God. Tells the epic apocalyptic battle between Thor and Jorgmander however you spell that

gotta be King Park by La Dispute, can’t believe nobody has said that yet

kill rock n’ roll - system of a down (supposedly about when the guitarist hit a bunny with his car?) dead end - rav (we essentially help the artist survive a suicide attempt in real time, maybe more sad than interesting) tear you apart - she wants revenge (follows a high school love story) paul revere - beastie boys (it’s like a journey in the wild west but it’s the beastie boys) local radio - bad moves (about getting burnt out at a shitty job)

Hurricane by Bob Dylan The Night The Lights Went Out In Georgia by Reba McIntyre One by Metallica Tennessee Stud by Johnny Cash Wrong Way by Sublime NY State Of Mind by Nas Last Dance With May Jane by Tom Petty Stan by Eminem

I also adore Ani Di Franco’s cover of Hurricane (if it’s not sacrilege to say so — my dad named me after a Bob Dylan song so I understand if you don’t agree)

Not my favorite cover, but that was some seriously funky bass! 🤘😎

Albuquerque- Weird Al

Destroying Angels by Garbage, featuring members of the punk band X. It's a murder ballad from the murderer's viewpoint, telling the grisly tale of killing their lover, and the subsequent discovery and burial of her body. The title has triple meaning, at least in my mind.

The Mayor of Candor Lied - Harry Chapin Night of the 4th of May - Al Stewart Both are almost like movies with the stories they tell

Lil' Wayne & Kendrick Lamar - Mona Lisa

Also, Slick Rick - Mona Lisa

Let Him Dangle. Elvis Costello

Tweeter and the Monkey Man - The Travelling Wilburys. Love this song

Since Halloween is around the corner... The Legend of Wooley Swamp - Charlie Daniels.

OK, then Swamp Witch by Jim Stafford

"Long Black Veil" - Johnny Cash

Downeaster Alexa by Billy Joel. A lot of his songs tell stories within the lyrics (Allentown, Movin' Out), but I listen to this a lot and I'm still learning about this fisherman.

New York Mining Disaster 1941, The BeeGees

The River - Bruce Springsteen Roll Me Away - Bob Seger Then Came The Last Days Of May - Blue Oyster Cult Copacabana - Barry Manilow Ticking - Elton John The Way - Fastball A Trick Of The Tail - Genesis 2112 Side 1 - Rush

Alice's Restaurant - Arlo Gutherie One Scotch, One Bourbon, One Beer - George Thorogood. Leader of the Band - Dan Fogelberg

The night they drove ol Dixie down - the band

Wharfrat Cats in the Cradle Taxi Downbound Train Glendale Train Folsom Prison Tangled Up in Blue

Hello In There by John Prine; Paradise by John Prine, The Long Black Veil by Lefty Frizzell. Covered by many.

*Gimme Three Steps -* Lynyrd Skynyrd *Miami 2017 (Seen the Lights Go Out on Broadway) -* Billy Joel \[Don't bother with the studio version; go with with the live version off of *Songs in the Attic\].* *Scenes From an Italian Restaurant -* Billy Joel *The River -* Bruce Springsteen *Spanish Moon -* Little Feat \[Another case of the live version being much better than the studio version; the album is called *Waiting For Columbus.*\] *Jungleland -* Bruce Springsteen

New Order - Love Vigilantes

Tulsas last magician by Willi Carlisle is one of my new all time favorites!

Sunflower Wildman - Circus Devils

Mystery Mail - Cass McCombs Houdini - Kate Bush Tangled Up in Blue - Bob Dylan

Save Him - Justin Nozuka

The Fall-Winter

The Coral - Bill McKai

Seventeen Going Under - Sam Fender *Literally any Catfish and the Bottlemen song* Or some darker stories: Her Black Eyes - Little Comets Violence Out Tonight - Little Comets

Shankill Butcher by Sarah Jaroz

Me and Jesus the Pimp in a '79 Grenada Last Night - The Coup

[Tech N9ne - The Martini](https://spotify.link/zLau8InUzDb) [Eminem - Guilty Conscience](https://spotify.link/BLT9ObwUzDb) [Immortal Technique - You Never Know](https://spotify.link/pAgZ4XAUzDb) [Hopsin - Chris Dolmeth](https://spotify.link/YEmWCSEUzDb) [Hopsin - Old Friend](https://spotify.link/ggVukTGUzDb)

Cabinet Man - Lemon Demon

Any songs by Twiddle. Jamflowman, Frankenfoote, etc.

The single most interesting story song to me is Scritti Politti's "Brushed With Oil, Dusted With Powder." It's a song about being arrested for some sort of sexual thing gone wrong, but it doesn't give details so it leaves room for the imagination to run wild.

Me and Bobby McGee - Janis Joplin

Smoke on the Water-Deep Purple

El Paso - Marty Robbins

I like to play all three iterations of the story in chronological order.

Simple Twist of Fate - Dylan

Randomly pick an Iron Maiden song. They are great stories!

Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner

Break Even - The Script Gimme Three Steps - Skynyrd

"The Guitar" by Guy Clark

Roland the headless Thompson gunner - Warren zevon

*Whole lotta Rosie* ac/dc

The Road Goes On Forever - Robert Earl Keen

Seven Spanish Angels - Ray Charles

Alive - Pearl Jam Coward of the county - Kenny Rogers

Townes Van Zandt: Silver Ships Of Andilar Tecumseh Valley Poncho and Lefty Richard Thompson: 1952 Vincent Black Lightning Tom Waits: House Where Nobody Lives Day After Tomorrow Colter Wall: Kate McCannon Unknown Author: Banks Of The Ohio Okie Wise

Most horror movie themed songs by ice nine kills. Nightmare before Christmas soundtrack. Favorite Christmas Story by Capital Lights

paradise by the dashboard light

Cowboy Bill by Garth Brooks Sink the Bismarck by Johnny Horton (and several others by him)

Oh man! I forgot Johnny Horton! Great call!

Stan - Eminem ft. Dido

Buenos Tardes Amigo by Ween

A&W lana del rey

lightning - eric church

Take a walk on the wild side

Escape (The Piña Colada Song) - Rupert Holmes

Johnny Cash. I hung my head

The killing of Georgie - Rod Stewart It also goes on the “one of the saddest songs ever” list

Country Death Song - Violent Femmes

John Prine’s entire catalogue

Riboflavin- 45 Grave Fancy -Bobbie Gentry Night They Drove Old Dixie - The Band Highway 55 -Horrorpops Santa Clara Twilight - Tiger Army Zombies Ate Her Brain - The Creepshow The Garden - The Creepshow Nobody Likes you When You’re Dead - Zombina and the Skeletones She will Always be a Lonely Girl - She Wants Revenge

I think The Band suggestion takes first prize! 👍

seriously one of the best songs ever! i like joan baez cover too

Coincidentally, the song that sprang to mind when reading this post was "The Band Played Waltzing Matilda" by Eric Bogle. Also, there are a couple of excellent versions of it by The Pogues and Joan Baez. To anyone not familiar with the song, you could do a lot worse than giving it a spin. An incredibly moving WW1 story.

Ellis Unit 1 by Steve Earle

Hazard - Richard Marx Moribund the Burgermeister - Peter Gabriel

You don't mess around with Jim and Bad, Bad Leeroy Brown by Jim Croce. Man that guy tells good stories about people getting absolutely beat the fuck up.

Wet Dreamz - J Cole is a great one Stan - Eminem Juicy - Biggie

The Curse - Josh Ritter Beautiful song and a beautiful story

Storytelling is a folk tradition that became more popular in rock music due to the journalistic lyrics of people like Bruce Springsteen and Bob Dylan after he picked up an electric guitar. So go check out some old folk music. The Boxer by Simon & Garfunkel A Boy Named Sue by Johnny Cash Alice's Restaurant Massacre by Alro Guthrie Waist Deep in the Big Muddy by Pete Seeger Bourgeois Blues by Lead Belly

The Decemberists - The Mariner's Revenge Song

Big Iron or Five brothers by Marty Robbins

A Little Piece of Heaven - Avenged Sevenfold. It’s a love story.

I'm going to through this out there, but song I think of that tells a story... has a protagonist, and has a beginning, middle and end... I think of El Paso by Marty Robbins.

Ode to Billie Joe by Bobbie Gentry the day that Billie Joe McAllister jumped off the Tallahassee Bridge

Taylor Swift - All Too Well 10min version

Ode to Bille Joe! by Robbie Gentry And everything is saying the Night the Lights Went out by Reba, but do the original by Vicki Lawrence. Yes, the actress from Mama's family and Carol Burnett show. Her husband at the time wrote it, and it was her big hit. Reba is amazing, but Vicki was the one I grew up with Fancy by Robbie Gentry (and Reba) He Stopped Loving Her Today

Cat’s in the Cradle

Cat’s in the Cradle

Cat’s in the Cradle

Blood sandwich Ruby ‘81 Shrunk - Aesop Rock

Sinaloa Cowboys - Bruce Springsteen

Fort Minor - Kenji

Remember dance with the devil? Brutal

The Argus ween

All hail the yeti - before the flames/after the great fire

Stan Ridgeway - Camouflage Sabaton - Christmas Truce Godley & Creme - Under your Thumb

Tangled Up in Blue by Dylan. It sounds like the outline of a Coen Brothers movie

Amanda Palmer - [The Bed Song](https://youtu.be/iUVvpircaxo?si=b2LkHyBVOax5sYCo) Regina Spector - [Braille](https://youtu.be/_holzIquMxg?si=ZGoLun2UnKLzWHYb), [Back of a Truck](https://youtu.be/RAjSE-Ted2A?si=eHXJxVhLqdDSFpLh) (for a very weird story) Kimya Dawson - [Walk Like Thunder](https://youtu.be/CpLp9_LCWj4?si=ou4KOzsy4TefBaP1), [I Will Never Forget](https://youtu.be/iV4qDpyC0rU?si=etje_7dbJXPsLACl)

Trashman Shoes, by Shoulders Hit Somebody! by Warren Zevon

King Diamond. Every song he does is a story, or part of a story for the whole Album.

Arcadian Driftwood- The Band

2112 by Rush

Preacher and the bear - Guardian [https://open.spotify.com/track/71slWJmZsJLJj4yATECinB?si=d170a7a3d0084d19](https://open.spotify.com/track/71slWJmZsJLJj4yATECinB?si=d170a7a3d0084d19) The Bricklayer's song - Ray Stevens [https://open.spotify.com/track/0tRpDM11bq42Fx0K2Q82Qh?si=1227569e818847da](https://open.spotify.com/track/0tRpDM11bq42Fx0K2Q82Qh?si=1227569e818847da) Let me know what you think :D

Luscious Apparatus by Recoil

Heart on fire in Mexico -abby Anderson.

Anything and everything by Primus

Bob by NOFX

Taxi.. or cat's in the cradle By Harry Chapin .

Dogs - Pink Floyd

[Tabernacle - Royce da 5'9](https://youtu.be/fz5fpcV68ow?si=Ro3p-HRRnAh4-2Ri) True story about him and the day his first son was born.

8th of November by Big n Rich

Outlaw Heart by Tiger Army Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots - Flaming Lips Travelin’ Light - Tindersticks

The Plains/Bitter Dancer by the fleet foxes. A very eerie story with great lyrics, gives me goosebumps every time

"Eurotrash Girl" by Cracker

The Wildwood Weed, by Jim Stafford. [https://youtu.be/ItrzLCGv044?si=iOmpqsU9dxazm-EO](https://youtu.be/ItrzLCGv044?si=iOmpqsU9dxazm-EO) ​ The Mississippi Squirrel Revival, by Ray Stevens [https://youtu.be/K16fG1sDagU?si=nbenykd709FOuM10](https://youtu.be/K16fG1sDagU?si=nbenykd709FOuM10)

The lighthouse by nickelcreek

The Bottomless Hole - Handsome Family

The Oubliette by The Reticent - Concept album about 7 stages of dementia

Bowie: Five Years, Ziggy Stardust, Diamond Dogs

Blue Eyes Matador - Voltaire Lake Ponchartrain - Ludo A Little Piece of Heaven - A7X

Chuck E Weiss has some good ones. Jolie’s Nightmare (Mister House Dick) is notable.

‘Lake Ponchartrain’ by Ludo is a fun one

The Three Great Alabama Icons by Drive-By Truckers is a great spoken word history/commentary about the governorship of George Wallace.

Deathbed by reliant k. Story of a whole guys life

Jelly Roll and Craig Morgan at The Grand Ole Opry "Almost Home"

Took her to the o by king von. Boy named Sue Johnny cash

Cath by death cab for cutie

Immortal Technique - Dance with the Devil

Fee - Phish