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

[st dude]

What about "Cats in the Cradle"?

I mentioned it in my post. That song is way too sad for me.

 

[Jazzbo]

st dude, many of those would make my list too. I'll add:

The Killing of Georgie - Rod Stewart
One Tin Soldier - Original Caste / Coven
The Lady of Shallot - Alfred, Lord Tennyson / Loreena McKinnett
And of course:
The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald - Gordon Lightfoot

"Edmund Fitzgerald" is without a doubt one of the best narrative songs ever written. It's a riveting listen even 30+ years later. I saw a tv documentary on this tragedy not too long ago but I pretty much knew the story already because Lightfoot told it so well.

"The Killing of Georgie" is also a well told true story from the mid seventies. Nice left-field choice. You wouldn't think that the guy known for tunes like "Do Ya Think I'm Sexy" would be writing a serious tale that rails against homophobia about a generation before it was generally acceptable to do so, but the lyrics are pretty straightforward and get the point across without being too preachy. If only he could have figured out how to end the song. My personal favorite among story-telling Stewart songs is...what else... "Every Picture Tell A Story"

 

[Devildog]

Delia's Gone by Johnny Cash

Delia, oh, Delia Delia all my life
If I hadn't have shot poor
Delia I'd have had her for my wife
Delia's gone, one more round Delia's gone

I went up to Memphis
And I met Delia there Found her in her parlor
And I tied to her chair
Delia's gone, one more round Delia's gone

She was low down and trifling
And she was cold and mean
Kind of evil make me want to Grab my sub machine
Delia's gone, one more round Delia's gone

First time I shot her I shot her in the side
Hard to watch her suffer
But with the second shot she died
Delia's gone, one more round Delia's gone

But jailer, oh, jailer Jailer,
I can't sleep 'Cause all around my bedside
I hear the patter of Delia's feet
Delia's gone, one more round Delia's gone

So if your woman's devilish
You can let her run
Or you can bring her down and do her
Like Delia got done
Delia's gone, one more round Delia's gone




I also agree with A Boy Named Sue and The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald. Great, great songs.

 

[Sabine]

"The Killing of Georgie" is also a well told true story from the mid seventies. Nice left-field choice. You wouldn't think that the guy known for tunes like "Do Ya Think I'm Sexy" would be writing a serious tale that rails against homophobia about a generation before it was generally acceptable to do so, but the lyrics are pretty straightforward and get the point across without being too preachy. If only he could have figured out how to end the song. My personal favorite among story-telling Stewart songs is...what else... "Every Picture Tell A Story"

Yeah, I thought it was a pretty bold move for Stewart but, if I'm not mistaken, Elton john and Lou Reed beat him to the punch on the subject matter with All the Young Girls Love Alice (similar storyline) and Walk on the Wild Side, but neither of those were written to be as endearing as Georgie.

As for Every Picture Tells a Story, that entire album was great.

 

[workhorse]

Two Steely Dan favs:

WHAT A SHAME ABOUT ME

I was grinding through my day gig
Stackin' cutouts at the Strand
When in walks Franny from NYU
We were quite an item back then
We talked about her films and shows and CDs
And I don't know what else
She said, yeah, Hollywood's been good to me
But tell me - how about yourself

CHORUS:
I'm still working on that novel
But I'm just about to quit
'Cause I'm worrying about the future now
Or maybe this is it
It's not all that I thought it would be
What a shame about me

She said, talk to me, do you ever see
Anybody else from our old crew
Bobby Dakine won the Bunsen Prize
Now he's coming out with something new
Alan owns a chain of Steamer Heavens
And Barry is the software king
And somebody told me in the early 80's
You were gonna be the Next Big Thing

CHORUS:
Well now that was just a rumor
But I guess I'm doin' fine
Three weeks out of the rehab
Living one day at a time
Sneaking up on the new century
What a shame about me

What a shame about me
I'm thinking of a major Jane Street sunrise
And the goddess on the fire escape was you

We both ran out of small talk
The connection seemed to go dead
I was about to say, hey, have a nice life
When she touched my hand and said:
You know I just had this great idea
This could be very cool
Why don't we grab a cab to my hotel
And make believe we're back at our old school

CHORUS:
I said babe you look delicious
And you're standing very close
But like this is Lower Broadway
And you're talking to a ghost
Take a good look it's easy to see
What a shame about me
What a shame about me

And of course, a heartwarming tune about the rise and fall of a San Fransisco drug dealer:

While the music played you worked by candlelight
Those San Francisco nights
You were the best in town
Just by chance you crossed the diamond with the pearl
You turned it on the world
That's when you turned the world around
Did you feel like Jesus
Did you realize
That you were a champion in their eyes
On the hill the stuff was laced with kerosene
But yours was kitchen clean
Everyone stopped to stare at your technicolor motor home
Every A-Frame had your number on the wall
You must have had it all
You'd go to L.A. on a dare
And you'd go it alone
Could you live forever
Could you see the day
Could you feel your whole world fall apart and fade away

CHORUS:
Get along, get along Kid Charlemagne
Get along Kid Charlemagne

Now your patrons have all left you in the red
Your low rent friends are dead
This life can be very strange
All those dayglow freaks who used to paint the face
They've joined the human race
Some things will never change
Son you were mistaken
You are obsolete
Look at all the white men on the street

CHORUS

Clean this mess up else we'll all end up in jail
Those test tubes and the scale
Just get them all out of here
Is there gas in the car
Yes, there's gas in the car
I think the people down the hall
Know who you are

Careful what you carry
'Cause the man is wise
You are still an outlaw in their eyes

CHORUS

 

[MrScary]

The Decemberists - The Mariner's Revenge

We are two mariners
Our ship's sole survivors
In this belly of a whale
It's ribs are ceiling beams
It's guts are carpeting
I guess we have some time to kill

You may not remember me
I was a child of three
And you, a lad of eighteen
But, I remember you
And I will relate to you
How our histories interweave

At the time you were
A rake and a roustabout
Spending all your money
On the whores and hounds

You had a charming air
All cheap and debonair
My widowed mother found so sweet
And so she took you in
Her sheets still warm with him
Now filled with filth and foul disease
As time wore on you proved
A debt-ridden drunken mess
Leaving my mother
A poor consumptive wretch

And then you disappeared
Your gambling arrears
The only thing you left behind
And then the magistrate
Reclaimed our small estate
And my poor mother lost her mind
Then, one day in spring
My dear sweet mother died
But, before she did
I took her hand as she, dying, cried:

"Find him, find him
Tie him to a pole and break
His fingers to splinters
Drag him to a hole until he
Wakes up naked
Clawing at the ceiling
Of his grave"

It took me fifteen years
To swallow all my tears
Among the urchins in the street
Until a priory
Took pity and hired me
To keep their vestry nice and neat
But, never once in the employ
Of these holy men
Did I ever, once turn my mind
From the thought of revenge

One night I overheard
The prior exchanging words
With a penitent whaler from the sea
The captain of his ship
Who matched you toe to tip
Was known for one cruel deed
The following day
I shipped to sea
With a privateer
And in the whistle
Of the wind
I could almost hear

"Find him, find him
Tie him to a pole and break
His fingers to splinters
Drag him to a hole until he
Wakes up naked
Clawing at the ceiling
Of his grave

There is one thing I must say to you
As you sail across the sea
Always, your mother will watch over you
As you avenge this wicked deed"

And then, that fateful night
We had you in our sight
After twenty months, it seemed
Your starboard flank abeam
I was getting my muskets clean
When came this rumbling from beneath
The ocean shook
The sky went black
And the captain quailed
And before us grew
The angry jaws
Of a giant whale

Don't know how I survived
The crew all was chewed alive
I must have slipped between his teeth
But, oh, what providence
What divine intelligence
That you should survive
As well as me
It gives my eye great joy
To see your eyes fill with fear
To lean in close
And I will whisper
The last words you'll hear

http://youtube.com/watch?v=ZSwX8HyreeY

 

[Saintman2884]

I don't know if these songs are narrative songs but I do like Stuck inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues again and Lay Lady Lay both by Bob Dylan. those songs really make me feel the heart and nostalgia of the South in an peculiar intellectual way. this was not some corny country song it was well thought out and well articulated to the Southern way of life. I stress the Southern part because their is a certain story to be told about the way this region fits in to the rest of the country, past and present and maybe future.

Dylan did a damn good job of doing that in his glory years, he was writing songs that are still timeless and can break so many boundaries and on so many levels. Lay Lady Lay is a song about those sentiments

 

[GW93]

"The Ballad of Gilligan's Island"

"Love Theme From MST3K"

Of those mentioned I would have to say Hurricane and Wreck of The Edmond Fitzgerald would make my list as well, especially if it was a top ten or twenty list.

But if anyone lists Copacabana by Barry Manilow, posts the lyrics and gets that tune stuck in my head I will hunt you down, I swear.

What about Pinball Wizard? I thought the story about the deaf, dumb and blind kid with his disciples leading him in to play pinball was a cool song as was the whole rock opera, Tommy.

<object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/VQCBTJm0sTw&rel=1"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/VQCBTJm0sTw&rel=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object>

 

[Ozark Mountain Saint]

"Big Bad Bill is Sweet William Now", Van Halen

Well,way down yonder in louisville,
Lived a cat named big bad bill,
I wants to tell ya,
Ah the cat was rough and tough and would strutt his stuff
Had the whole town scared to death,
When he walked by they all held their breath,
He's a fighting man, sure enough
And then bill got himself a wife,
Now he leads a different life...
Big bad bill is sweet william now,
Married life done changed him somehow,
He's the man the town used to fear,
Now they all call him sweet pappa willie dear,
Stronger than samson i declare,
Til the brown skinned woman,
Bobbed his hair
Big bad bill dont fight any more,( no he dont )
Doing the dishes,mopping up that floor ( yes he is )
Well he used to go out drinking,
Looking for a fight,
Now he gotta see that woman,everynight,
Big bad bill is sweet william now
Ah play it boys.
I likes that jazz.
Big bad bill dont fight any more,( no he dont )
Doing the dishes,mopping up that floor ( yes he is )
Well he used to go out drinking,
Looking for a fight,
Now he gotta see that woman,everynight,
Big bad bill is sweet william now ( doing the dishes )
Big bad bill is sweet william now ( mop up dat floor )
Big bad bill is sweet william now
Cha........ yeah!

 

[Optimusaint]

"Children's Story" - Slick Rick

<object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/eRC4ziQpb5I&rel=1"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/eRC4ziQpb5I&rel=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object>

"No Regrets" - Aesop Rock

(this is the only video i could get for the song, its actually a photo album of another artist, with the song as a soundtrack)
<object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/wavHbwyI2hk&rel=1"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/wavHbwyI2hk&rel=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object>

 

[QBall13]

No love for Lynard Skynard and the Ballad of Curtis Lowe?

 

[Waymer]

Born on a mountain top in Tennessee,
Greenest state in the land of the free.
Raised in the woods so's he knew every tree,
Killed him a bear when he was only three.
Davy, Davy Crockett King of the Wild Frontier.

He fought single handed through the Injun war,
Till the Creeks was whipped and peace was restored.
And while he was handling this risky chore,
Made himself a legend, forevermore.
Davy, Davy Crockett the man who don't know fear.

When he lost his love, and his grief was gall,
In his heart he wanted to leave it all,
And lose himself in the forest tall,
But he answered instead, his country's call.
Davy, Davy Crockett, the choice of the whole frontier

He went off to Congress and served a spell
Fixin' up the government and laws as well.
Took over Washington, so we hear tell,
And patched up the crack in the Liberty Bell.
Davy, Davy Crockett, seein' his duty clear. (Serving his country well)

When he come home, his politickin' done,
The western march had just begun.
So he packed his gear, and his trusty gun
And lit out a grinnin' to follow the sun.
Davy, Davy Crockett, Leadin the Pioneers.

His land is biggest, and his land is best
From grassy plains to the mountain crest
He's ahead of us all in meeting the test
Followin' his legend right into the West
Davy, Davy Crockett, King of the Wide Frontier
King of the Wild Frontier.

 

[pearlms]

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

 

[1yearOlder]

" Who ever we are , where ever we're from
we should have noticed by now - our behaviour is dumb .
And if our chances expect to improve
it's gonna' take alot more than trying to remove
the other race , or the other what ever
from the face of the planet all together "..... etc., etc .

- Frank Zappa .

 

[DadsDream]

As a Jim Croce devotee, I voted "Operator."

Adding to the additions...

Uneasy Rider
Charlie Daniels

I was takin a trip out to L.A.
Toolin along in my cheverolet
Tokin on a number and diggin on the radio

Just as I crossed the Mississippi line
I heard that highway start to whine
And I knew that left rear tire was about to blow

Well the spare was flat and I got uptight
Cause there wasn't a filling station in sight
So I just limped on down the shoulder on the rim

I went as far as I could and when I stopped the car
It was right in front of this little bar
Kind of a red-neck lookin joint called the Dew Drop Inn

I stuffed my hair up under my hat
And told the bartender that I had a flat
And ywould he be kind enough to give me change for a one

There was one thing I was sure proud to see
There wasn't a soul in the place except for him and me
He just looked disgusted and pointed toward the telephone

I called up the station down the road a ways
He said he wasn't very busy today
And he could have somone out there in just about 10 minutes or so

He said," Now, you just stay right where yer at!"
And I didn't bother to tell the darn fool
That I sure as hell didn't have anyplace else to go

So I ordered up a beer and sat down at the bar
When some guy walked in and said, "Who owns this car
With the peace sign, the mag wheels and the four on the floor?"

He looked at me and I damn near died
And I decided that I'd just wait outside
So I laid a dollar on the bar and headed for the door

Just when I wthought I'd get outta there with my skin
These 3 big dudes come strollin in
With one old drunk chick and some fella with green teeth

Now the last thing I wanted was to get into a fight
In Jackson Mississippi on a Saturday night
Especially when there was three of them and only one of me

I was almost to the door when the biggest one
Said, "You tip your hat to this lady, son!"
And when I did, all that hair fell out from underneath

They all started laughin and I felt kinda sick
And I knew I better think of something pretty quick
So I just reached out and kicked old green teeth right in the knee

Now he let out a yell that'd curl yer hair
But before he could move I grabbed me a chair
And said "Now watch him Folks cause he's a fairly dangerous man!"

"You may not know it but this man is a spy.
He's a undercover agent for the FBI
And he's been sent down here to infiltrate the Ku Klux Klan!"

He was still bent over holdin on to his knee
But everybody else was looking and listening to me
And I laid it on thicker hand heavier as I went

"He's a friend of them long haired, hippy-type, pinko fags!
I betchya he's even got a commie flag
tacked up on the wall inside of his garage."

"He's a snake in the grass, I tell ya guys.
He may look dumb but that's just a disguise,
He's a mastermind in the ways of espionage"

"Would you believe this man has gone as far
As tearing Wallace stickers off the bumpers of cars.
And he voted for George McGovern for President."

They started lookin real suspicious at him
He jumped up and said "Now just wait a minute Jim!
You know he's lying I been living here all of my life!"

"I'm a faithful follower of Brother John Birch
And I belong to the Antioch Baptist Church.
And I aint even got a garage, you can call home and ask my wife!"

Then he started saying somethin bout the way I was dressed
But I didn't wait around to hear the rest
I was too busy moving and hoping I didn't run outta luck

When I hit the door I was making tracks
And they were just taking my car down off the jacks
So I threw the man a twenty and jumped in and fired that mother up

Mario Andretti wouldda sure been proud
Of the way I was movin when I passed that crowd
Coming out the door and headed toward me at a trott

Now I guess I should of gone ahead and run
But somehow I just couldn't resist the fun
Of chasing them all just once around the parking lot

I had them all out there steppin and fetchin
Like their heads was on fire and their arses was catchin
then I figgered I had better go ahead and split before the cops got there

When I hit the road I was really wheelin
Had gravel flyin and rubber squeelin
And I didn't slow down till I was almost to Arkansas

I think I'm gonna reroute my trip
I wonder if anybody'd think I'd flipped
If I went to L.A., via Omaha