Your favorite song that tells a story (narrative ballad) (1 Viewer)

[SaintAkira]

Hurricane is a great one. Another by Dylan is The Ballad of Hollis Brown. One of the saddest songs I've ever heard:

Hollis Brown
He lived on the outside of town
Hollis Brown
He lived on the outside of town
With his wife and five children
And his cabin fallin' down

You looked for work and money
And you walked a rugged mile
You looked for work and money
And you walked a rugged mile
Your children are so hungry
That they don't know how to smile

Your baby's eyes look crazy
They're a-tuggin' at your sleeve
Your baby's eyes look crazy
They're a-tuggin' at your sleeve
You walk the floor and wonder why
With every breath you breathe

The rats have got your flour
Bad blood it got your mare
The rats have got your flour
Bad blood it got your mare
If there's anyone that knows
Is there anyone that cares?

You prayed to the Lord above
Oh please send you a friend
You prayed to the Lord above
Oh please send you a friend
Your empty pockets tell yuh
That you ain't a-got no friend

Your babies are crying louder
It's pounding on your brain
Your babies are crying louder
It's pounding on your brain
Your wife's screams are stabbin' you
Like the dirty drivin' rain

Your grass it is turning black
There's no water in your well
Your grass is turning black
There's no water in your well
You spent your last lone dollar
On seven shotgun shells

Way out in the wilderness
A cold coyote calls
Way out in the wilderness
A cold coyote calls
Your eyes fix on the shotgun
That's hangin' on the wall

Your brain is a-bleedin'
And your legs can't seem to stand
Your brain is a-bleedin'
And your legs can't seem to stand
Your eyes fix on the shotgun
That you're holdin' in your hand

There's seven breezes a-blowin'
All around the cabin door
There's seven breezes a-blowin'
All around the cabin door
Seven shots ring out
Like the ocean's pounding roar

There's seven people dead
On a South Dakota farm
There's seven people dead
On a South Dakota farm
Somewhere in the distance
There's seven new people born

 

[Jonesy77]

ANy Rush song pre-1980. Some that I like:

The Trees
Xanadu
2112

And then there are the TRUE ballads, like The Necromancer and Fountain of Lamneth (all 20 minutes of it)

 

[Devildog]

Primus

Wynona's Big Brown Beaver

Wynona's got herself a big brown beaver
and she shows it off to all her friends.
One day, you know, that beaver tried to leave her,
So she caged him up with cyclone fence.
Along came Lou with the old baboon
And said "Recognize that smell?"
"Smells like seven layers,
That beaver eats Taco Bell."
Now Rex he was a Texan out of New Orleans
And he travelled with the carnival shows.
He ran bumper cars, sucked cheap cigars
And he candied up his nose.
He got wind of the big brown beaver
So he though he'd take himself a peek,
But the beaver was quick
And grabbed him by the kiwis.
Now he ain't ****** for a week.
(And a half!)
Now Wynona took her big brown beaver,
And she stuck him up in the air.
Said "I sure do love this big brown beaver
And I wish I did have a pair."
Now the beaver onces slept for seven days
And it gave us all an awful fright.
So I tickled his chin and I gave him a pinch
And the ******* tried to bite me.
Wynona loved her big brown beaver
And she stroked him all the time.
She pricked her finger one day and it
Occurred to her she might have a porcupine.

 

[where yat brah]

Jon Anderson the lead singer from Yes made a solo album. The 1st song is about the birth of his child and is my favorite ballad that tells a story.

 

[UptownSaintsFan]

on bourbon, scotch,and beer. George Thurogood.

 

[Taurus]

Man, it was hard voting for El Paso over Big John. I've always loved both of 'em.

 

[kooldak]

Of those mentioned, "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" is easily my favorite. But to add another to the list, I've always liked "Big Iron" by Marty Robbins:

To the town of Agua Fria rode a stranger one fine day
Hardly spoke to folks around him didn't have too much to say
No one dared to ask his business no one dared to make a slip
for the stranger there among them had a big iron on his hip
Big iron on his hip

It was early in the morning when he rode into the town
He came riding from the south side slowly lookin' all around
He's an outlaw loose and running came the whisper from each lip
And he's here to do some business with the big iron on his hip
big iron on his hip

In this town there lived an outlaw by the name of Texas Red
Many men had tried to take him and that many men were dead
He was vicious and a killer though a youth of twenty four
And the notches on his pistol numbered one an nineteen more
One and nineteen more

Now the stranger started talking made it plain to folks around
Was an Arizona ranger wouldn't be too long in town
He came here to take an outlaw back alive or maybe dead
And he said it didn't matter he was after Texas Red
After Texas Red

Wasn't long before the story was relayed to Texas Red
But the outlaw didn't worry men that tried before were dead
Twenty men had tried to take him twenty men had made a slip
Twenty one would be the ranger with the big iron on his hip
Big iron on his hip

The morning passed so quickly it was time for them to meet
It was twenty past eleven when they walked out in the street
Folks were watching from the windows every-body held their breath
They knew this handsome ranger was about to meet his death
About to meet his death

There was forty feet between them when they stopped to make their play
And the swiftness of the ranger is still talked about today
Texas Red had not cleared leather fore a bullet fairly ripped
And the ranger's aim was deadly with the big iron on his hip
Big iron on his hip

It was over in a moment and the folks had gathered round
There before them lay the body of the outlaw on the ground
Oh he might have went on living but he made one fatal slip
When he tried to match the ranger with the big iron on his hip
Big iron on his hip

For just fun, "Snoopy vs The Red Baron" by The Royal Guardsmen.

 

[stevedrum]

Does My Ding-a-Ling by Chuck Berry count as a narrative ballad?

 

[Joe OKC]

Thanks for throwing the Bobbie Gentry in

According to Bobbie, the whole point of the song was missed.. Not that Billy Joe jumped off the bridge, But the fact that the girls family could have a causual conversation at the dinner table about her boyfriends death right in front of her.

"Wreck of the Edmond Fitzgerald" by Gordon Lightfoot. +1.

Joe

 

[Sabine]

For just fun, "Snoopy vs The Red Baron" by The Royal Guardsmen.

Good one, and the Christmas version too.

The British kept a running, down the Mississippi, all the way
to the Gulf of Mexico.
Johhny Horton's song about some battle in the War in 1812

Johnny Horton was a master of story songs. My favorite of his was Sink the Bismarck:

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[Danchrism]

No one's gonna like my response. The stuff in parentheses is him narrating another character's dialogue.

[Chorus: Natalie:]
I want to know who you are but you seem very nice
So will you talk to me?
Shall I tell you a story? Shall I tell you a treat?
They think I'm crazy, They don't understand how I feel

[Verse 1: Chamillionaire]
See, it started off as just a simple conversation I gave her
The name of my record company, (Oh you're a singer)
I said my name's Chamillionaire and I'm a rap entertainer
(Oh you that guy they talking bout when they be whispering, ain't cha
Bring your name up when they talking and say money will change ya
I heard a lot about how you can't deal with your anger
Heard the rumors how your always in trouble or danger
Not gotta judge you if it's true, there's no need to explain sir
You do have a right to be, you seem like your nice to me
I'm bout to order me another drink, yeah would you like a seat?)
I tell the bartender same Hennesey on ice for me
Her drink starts emptying while she's spilling out her life to me
Telling me about her goals and how successful she would like to be
And invite me to a session of her life and she
Seems so damn innocent but something isn't right to me
She pulls out her picture phone "I got pictures, would you like to see?"
I'm thinking she gotta be friendly as hell
Giving her soul to me, it's like an identity sell
We never met is the story that my memory tells
Telling me tales like she doesn't handle Hennesey well
Getting into it, getting intimate and into details
See, I just met you and you showing me your kids
"Who said I had any kids? I didn't bring up no kids"
Then who's in this picture, "Man, let you show you just who it is"

[Chorus]

[Verse 2: Chamillionaire]
Umm, I don't remember her name but she look like an angel
She wasn't from here, I knew she didn't hang a
Round this part of the hood but hey the story gets stranger
Cause this stranger was stranger than I could explain you see
She said she wasn't married but the ring on her finger
Told me she was lying and using the same uhh
Game I use on women so I couldn't even blame her
Spitting the game I spit to 'em when I'm trying to bang her
(I bump into this guy, he told me that he used to know you
He told me about the loyalty and love he used to show you
He said what he said with a passion like it was so true
Wouldn't take advantage of the fact that the listeners didn't really know you)
There's pictures in my pocketbook, almost got it, I'll show you
She digs in her purse and while she fumbles around
I find that photo, I'm like "Oh no there's some trouble in town"
I turn around as these two officers is coming in now
They walk in real suspicious and come and sit down
So close, I can see they barrels of the guns to the ground
So close that they can listen to either one of us now
We turn back around and she says no need for whispering
Then she tells me that (I don't really give a damn whose listening
Try to make it last a long time was my mission
And he kept on tripping and then I got ****** at him
Hit 'em with my fist and my punches were never missing him)

[Chorus]

[Verse 3: Chamillionaire]
Okay, let's get this straight, your man cheated on you and now
You talking to a perfect stranger like it's making you proud
And the rest of this conversation she just telling me how
It wasn't her boyfriend in the pic but a familiar smile
She said (pictures can be deceiving like she knew he was foul
Look closer, you'll see a coward who uses his smile as power
Fleeing the smoke strength, couldn't stand it another hour
So she did what she did then she went to go take a shower)
Damn what do you mean? ( couldn't tell you that I missing him)
I don't understand what your saying, how did you get rid of him?
She dissing him, as I ask her what it is she did to him
She stops, Ay keep talking I'm listening
(I don't wanna tell about the images I'm picturing)
Henny spilling then she tell me (For real and
I got the feeling of what I'm feeling is that I wanted to kill him)
Something's wrong here and I know just who is the villian
Her voice was getting louder, the moral is getting clearer
The officers is looking at us and I can tell they can hear her
Told me (It was protection, Reached for it in the stash)
The plastic is what she grabbed and she put it right on his ***
Bust it before the blast, she thought she was free at last
Baby I think you crazy, Sorry I'm pressing for time
I gotta go grind, time's been interesting
Now I'm sweating and stressing, this girl's got me guessing
That this conversation is some type of evil confession
She pulls a clearer picture, it's my damn ex-best friend
How you know him? She told me she was with him at his house
Watching movies on Sundays when they be chilling
And that's exactly the day that the hospital came to get him
The feeling was the worst feeling that she could possibly be feeling
Stood up and then I yelled out "Why in the hell did you kill him?"
(I didn't kill him, I have AIDS, and had sex with 'em)
And that's crazy.

 

[CT Saints Fan]

God's Own Drunk Lyrics
Artist(Band):Jimmy Buffett

God's Own Drunk
By: Lord Buckley
1974
"Well, like I explained to y'all before I ain't no drinkin' man. I tried it once, and it got me highly irregular and I swore I'd never do it again. But I promised my brother-in-law that I'd go up and watch his still while he went into town to vote.

It was up there on the mountain where the map said it would be. Friends let me tell you one thing though, it wadn't no ordinary still. It stood up that mountainside like... like a huge golden opal.

God's yellar moon was a' shinin' on the cool clear evenin', God's little lanterns just a' twinklin' on and off in the heavens and, like I explained to you once before, I ain't no drinkin' man, But, temptation got the best of me, and I took a slash... (wshew!... woah...) That yellar whiskey runnin' down my throat like honeydew vine water, and I took another slash. Took another and another and another. 'fore you knew it I'd downed one whole jug o' that **** and commenced to get hot flashes.

Goosepimples was runnin' up and down my body and a feelin' came over me like, somethin' I'd never experienced before, It's like, like I was in love,

In love for the first time, with anything that moved... animate, in-animate it didn't matter. It's like there's a great neon sign flashin' on and off in my brain sayin, "Jimmy Buffett there' a great day a comin'..." 'Cause I was drunk.

Now I wadn't, uh, knee-crawlin', slip-slidin', reggy-youngin', commode-huggin' drunk, I was God's own drunk, and a fearless man; And that's when I first saw the bear.

He was a Kodiak lookin' fella 'bout 19 feet tall he rambled up over the hill 'spectin' me to do one of two things: flip or fly, I didn't do either one. It hung him up. He starts sniffin' 'round my body tryin' to smell fear, but he ain't gonna smell no fear, 'cause I'm God's own drunk and a fearless man. It hung him up. He looked me right in my eyes and my eyes was a lot redder than his was. It hung him up.

So I approached him and I said, "Mr. Bear, I love every hair on your 27 acre body. I know you got a lotta friends over there on the other side of the hill. There's ole' Rear Bear, Tall Bear, Freddy Bear, Kelly Jair, Relly Bear, Smelly the Bear, Smokey the Bear, Pokey the Bear; I want you to go back over there tonight and tell 'em I'm feelin' right. You tell 'em I love each and every one of 'em like a brother and a sister; but if they give me any trouble tonight, I'm gonna run every *******ed one of 'em off the hill."

He took two steps backwards and didn't know what to think. Neither did I, but, being charitable and cautious, well hell, I approached him again. I said, "Mr. Bear, you know in the eyes of the Lord, we're both beasts when it comes right down to it. So I want you to be my buddy, 'Buddy Bear.'" So I took ole' Buddy Bear by his island sized paw and I led him over to the still. Now he's a' sniffin' around that thing 'cause he's smellin' somethin' good. I gave him one of them jugs of honeydew vine water, he downed it upright, (looked like one of them damn bears in the circus sippin' sasparilly in the moonlight.) I gave him another and another and another 'fore I knew it, he'd downed eight of 'em and commenced to do the "bear dance." Two sniffs, a snort, a fly, a turn and a grunt; and it was so simple like the jitterbug it plumb evaded me.

And we worked ourselves into a tumultuous uproar and I's awful tired, went over to the hillside, and I laid down, went to sleep, slept for four hours, and dreamt me some tremulous dreams And when I woke up, Oh, there was God's yellar moon a' shinin' on the clear cool evenin'. And God's little lanterns just a' twinklin' on and off in the heavens, And my buddy the bear was a' missin'... yeah, you want to know somethin' else friends and neighbors, so was that still.

 

[kooldak]

God's Own Drunk Lyrics
Artist(Band):Jimmy Buffett

God's Own Drunk
By: Lord Buckley
1974...

Yeah, great song.

I've heard JB do that live on several occasions in year's gone by. Terrible shame that Lord Buckley's son sued him and will no longer allow him to perform that in concert...

He replaced it with another song that is not recorded anywhere, but only done live in concert. Lemme see if I can post this in a fashion that doesn't violate the TOS...

"The Lawyer and the *******" - by Jimmy Buffett

This lawyer and this *******
Out in California
Told me I can't play "God's Own Drunk" for you no more
I hate bein' told
What I can and can't do

So here's a little message
'Till I can even up the score:

Kiss my ***, Mr. Greedy
Somethin' here is wrong
You want all that money
And you never wrote the song

I bet your poor daddy's
Rollin' over in the ground
So I'll just sing my own good tunes
They still get me around

Kiss my ***
Kiss my ***
Kiss my ***

Seems Buckley's son sued Jimmy for rights and royalties to the song. The end result is that son got nothing, but you and I can no longer listen to Jimmy play "God's Own Drunk".

 

[SaintJ]

I just had to vote for "A Boy Named Sue." Couldn't resist, although "Folsom Prison Blues" could have been his minimalist entry here.

And I can't listen to "Cats in the Cradle" either, and reflexively change the station. And this is a guy who got along fine with his father and spends most of his free time with his kids. I can't imagine what it must be like for an estranged son to hear it.

A few more modern entries, since the original list seems buried in the foundation of fly-over America:

1. I Knew the Bride When She Used to Rock and Roll -- Nick Lowe

2. Alison -- Elvis Costello

3. Norwegian Wood -- Lennon & McCartney (that was McCartney's band before Wings)

4. Fugitive -- Whodini

 

[SaintJ]

Yeah, great song.

I've heard JB do that live on several occasions in year's gone by. Terrible shame that Lord Buckley's son sued him and will no longer allow him to perform that in concert...

He replaced it with another song that is not recorded anywhere, but only done live in concert. Lemme see if I can post this in a fashion that doesn't violate the TOS...



Seems Buckley's son sued Jimmy for rights and royalties to the song. The end result is that son got nothing, but you and I can no longer listen to Jimmy play "God's Own Drunk".

How did the word "lawyer" get through the filter? Is there a trick?