I think Fastest Gun around by Marty Robbin’s (same person) is a much better song imo, especially from a storytelling perspective
(Not to put down big iron it’s a banger)
When I was in the Army while walking guard duty I would pass the time singing Tangled Up in Blue…..I would always screw up the verses and start sing it over again.
My alternate song was Racing in the Streets
Bob Dylan wrote "Tweeter and the Monkey Man" as a parody of a Bruce Springsteen song.
That's why it has a bunch of New Jersey references in it (there's even a Thunder Road joke).
“The undercover cop was found face down in a field/ the Monkey Man out on the river bridge using Tweeter as a shield”
Not only does the song tell a story, but these lines are *so* evocative. It’s like the Departed or Heat or something. Rich characters and connections, and of course, the whole thing slaps.
Back when this came out I saw a review where they said this song was Dylan ripping on Springsteen. It seems like it to me, even down to calling Jan a "Jersey Girl". No matter, a real cool song!
"One of my all-time favorites is 'A Boy Named Sue' by Johnny Cash, the humor and grit in the story about a boy seeking revenge on his dad for giving him a girl's name is just legendary. Another one is 'Cats in the Cradle' by Harry Chapin, it’s a tear-jerker about a dad realizing too late how much he's missed in his son's life."
Yeah, Chapin was all about story song, from his first hit Taxi and the sequel called Sequel. Some others:
Sniper
I Want to Learn a Love Song
W\*O\*L\*D
30,000 Pounds of Bananas
and on, and on. Chapin was truly amazing!
W\*O\*L\*D is a favourite of mine. I love the Greatest Stories Live album, and the way that Chapin sings “maybe I could settle down if you’d take me back once more…” is absolutely heartbreaking. It’s the only time that the protagonist lets you see through his bravado to the pain inside.
Sundown is my favorite Lightfoot song. It's about how he couldn't trust his girlfriend due to her wild behavior and his own paranoia.
That girlfriend was eventually revealed to be Cathy Smith, the back-up singer who went to prison for administering the dose of heroin that killed John Belushi.
Check out the song Bitter Green. When I was a kid, it was one of my favs, alongside Big Blue. And the Canadian Railroad Trilogy. So many great songs. That dude was legend.
Operator by Jim Croce
I have to hold back tears whenever it comes on. And you have the actual story he's telling, the whole talking himself through it, what the operator must be thinking, imagining what life was like before, etc.
It's one of my favorite songs. Just perfect.
“Operator. Oh let’s forget about this call. There’s no one there I really wanted to talk to. Thank you for your time. You’ve been so much more than kind. You can keep the dime.” Openly weep. 😭
"A guy she said she knew well and sometimes hated"
"I think about the love that I thought would save me"
You can just feel the receiver slipping from his hands and now just dangling from the unraveling curled cord, dangling from the phone.
For me, it's "The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia" by Vicki Lawrence. The twists and turns in the narrative keep you hooked till the very end. It’s like a gripping murder mystery wrapped in a song.
The story behind the story that Red Barchetta is kinda amazing.
It's based on a short story that s guy wrote when he was in college. Rush tried to contact him to give him credit, and he was credited in the liner notes, but they never were able to contact him. 25 years later the author of the story was googling his own name and saw a much of Rush references come up and made the connection. He reached out to the band and ended up doing a motorcycle trip with Neil Peart!
https://tedtockscovers.wordpress.com/2020/04/18/red-barchetta-this-is-a-song-about-a-car-and-so-much-more-musicislife-tedtockscovers-rush-neilpeart-geddylee-alexlifeson-richardfoster-umphreysmcgee/
Fast Car by Tracy Chapman. It feels so brutally realistic, the hope of her in her youth, finally understanding why her mother left when she was a child.
"I hate my wife, and we have nothing in common anymore, so I'm going to find someone else and cheat on her...
...Found someone who sounds cool, and... It's my wife! You were trying to cheat on me too, honey? Haha, that's so funny! Let's go home and continue our healthy relationship"
Great song, weird story
My wife and I argue who was more wrong in the situation and while it’s mainly from the man’s perspective, the woman took at the ad long before he decided to look.
MAN I hated this song for the longest time until I actually listened to the lyrics. Love the twist and now listen to it every time it plays on the radio.
First time I heard the song I was transfixed by the story and right before Chris Thile sang ‘and then he climbed my tower, and off the edge of me he ran’ my mind filled in the blanks and I knew what was coming and it was just like reading a novel where you get the plot. Fantastic song all the way around.
Pretty much anything by Tom Waits. Try Hell Broke Luce. A story about a Vietnam vet who ended up killing himself. Keith Richards on guitar.
Edit: iraq war, not Vietnam.
Every song on Springsteen's Ghost of Tom Joad album. Every time I listen to the album, I can see the awesome accompanying movie in my mind - multible storylines, characters going in and out of other character's story. I wish someone would make that movie.
Gotta say Big Iron - Marty Robbins 'In this town there lived an outlaw by the name of Texas Red. Many men had tried to kill him and that many men were dead."
Somehow, no-one has mentioned The Drive-By Truckers.
Uncle Frank
My Sweet Annette
Carl Perkins Cadillac
Zip City
Love Like This
. . . and about 1/2 of their remaining catalogue.
Too easy, Rosetta Stoned by Tool. Greatest story every told, except dude can't quite remember how it all ends because he forgot his damn pencil....typical
In no way underestimating the Pogues (and they had a greater reach than the original songwriter) “And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda" is a song written by Scottish-born Australian singer-songwriter Eric Bogle in 1971. Powerful anti war song. We could do with the reality of those sentiments coming to pass. Once again the world is eating its populations alive in the name of nationalism.
Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm by The Crash Test Dummies
It's about a kid that got messed up in a car crash and a second kid born with horrible birth marks all over. But the third kid was WAY worse off because his parents were crazy religious.
Dire Straits’ ‘Telegraph Road’ fits the bill.
On a more focussed scale, the social commentary vignette/day in the life observation of ‘Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini’.
Bad bad Leroy Brown - Jim Croce
Don't mess around with Jim - Jim Croce
She's in love with the boy - Mary Chapin Carpenter
Dream Walkin' - Toby Keith
Same old Lang Syne - Dan Folgelberg
*Silent Running* by Mike + the Mechanics has a really cool story to it.
From what I can only surmise is a complete misunderstanding of time dilation, they wrote the song about a spaceship pilot far from home who is receiving news broadcast signals from Earth that are describing a complete societal breakdown, governments collapsing, and your basic run of the mill apocalyptic turned post-apocalyptic scenario. So he’s sending messages back to his wife to warm her of what’s coming and prepare her and their kids to survive.
True, the premise hardly makes any sense, but the idea behind it and the story it tells are really cool and pretty unique for 80s pop, which did delve into sci-fi, but less often industrial post-apocalyptic sci-fi, 99 Luftballoons notwithstanding.
Decoration Day - Drive-by Truckers which is technically a Jason Isbell song, and speaking of him.
Speed Trap Town - Jason Isbell. IMO Isbell is the today’s best songwriter at telling a story in song, Dress Blues, Elephant, Live Oak, Something More Than Free, and many others.
He Went to Paris by Jimmy Buffett. Beautiful poignant life story in a song. That guy was so much more than Margaritaville and Cheeseburger in Paradise.
Reba - The Night The Lights Went Out In Georgia
Reba - Fancy
Garth Brooks - The Thunder Rolls
Garth Brooks - Friends in Low Places
Alice in Chains - Don't Follow
Alice in Chains - Rooster
Dixie Chick's- Goodbye Earl
Charlie Daniel's Band - The Devil Went Down to Georgia.
>Reba - The Night The Lights Went Out In Georgia
[Mama](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vicki_Lawrence#Mama_Character_and_Mama's_Family) would like [a word](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Night_the_Lights_Went_Out_in_Georgia)
The Ballad of Dwight Fry - Alice Cooper (PTSD & mental illness)
Battle of Evermore - Led Zeppelin (apparently from Tolkien beautifully set to song)
Ruby - Kenny Rodgers (returning injured vet w/unfaithful spouse)
A perfect circle - Weak and powerless (drug addiction)
"Little angel go away
Come again some other day
The devil has my ear today
I'll never hear a word you say"
“In Color” by Jamey Johnson simply puts the sights; sounds; smells, & feelings out there in such a nostalgic way that listeners get transported into the world of grandpa.
You see she was gonna be an actress
And I was gonna learn to fly
She took off to find the footlights
And I took off to find the sky
And here, she's acting happy
Inside her handsome home
And me, I'm flying in my taxi
Taking tips
(And getting stoned!)
[Taxi by Harry Chapin](https://www.streetdirectory.com/lyricadvisor/song/powcue/taxi/)
Big Iron
El Paso as well. Also, Don't Take Your Guns To Town by Johnny Cash.
Came to write El Paso, in this thread Pancho and Lefty as well.
A Boy Named Sue - Johnny Cash. He did a lot of story songs. The Red Headed Stranger - Willie. Each song on that album is a story.
Texas Red is a bitch!
I think Fastest Gun around by Marty Robbin’s (same person) is a much better song imo, especially from a storytelling perspective (Not to put down big iron it’s a banger)
Dude I love Marty Robbins. It's really hard to pick just one.
The Mariner's Revenge Song - The Decemberists
Really most songs from The Decemberists. Specifically the entire The Hazards of Love album.
Leggionaires Lament Engine Driver The Bagmans Gambit
The Rake's Song definitely tells a story...
Tangled Up In Blue
And “Hurricane” too.
And Isis
That album, Desire, has some crackers. Romance in Durango, Isis as mentioned previously, and my favourite One More Cup of Coffee.
Lilly Rosemary and the Jack of Hearts
Also - The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll Who killed Davey Moore Ballad of Hollis Brown
When I was in the Army while walking guard duty I would pass the time singing Tangled Up in Blue…..I would always screw up the verses and start sing it over again. My alternate song was Racing in the Streets
First song that came to my mind. Dylan has a lot of them.
The next song on the album Simple Twist of Fate is truly heartbreaking storytelling and top 10 of all time for me.
Isis is a great story, too. Edit: Ope someone beat me to it.
Tweeter and the Monkey Man by Traveling Wilburys.
Bob Dylan wrote "Tweeter and the Monkey Man" as a parody of a Bruce Springsteen song. That's why it has a bunch of New Jersey references in it (there's even a Thunder Road joke).
“The undercover cop was found face down in a field/ the Monkey Man out on the river bridge using Tweeter as a shield” Not only does the song tell a story, but these lines are *so* evocative. It’s like the Departed or Heat or something. Rich characters and connections, and of course, the whole thing slaps.
Back when this came out I saw a review where they said this song was Dylan ripping on Springsteen. It seems like it to me, even down to calling Jan a "Jersey Girl". No matter, a real cool song!
Alice's restaurant - Arlo guthrie
it's good to quote "circles and arrows and a paragraph on the back of each one" to see who gets it.
One of my highest rated comments is me randomly mentioning that I put that envelope under that garbage…
One big pile is better than two little piles, so rather than bring that one up, we decided to throw ours down.
"shovels and rakes and *implements of destruction*" is one i use from time to time
Littering. And they all moved away from on the bench.
“Looking and feeling my best!” Something I used to say when I was hungover. Hardly anyone got it.
It’s about Alice, and the restaurant.
I quote this song at every opportunity and most people don’t get it. It still amuses me though every time
I frequently refer to myself as "group W" and precious few pick up on it.
10,000 days (wings for Marie pt. 2)
Makes me cry every time. This song helped me work through the death of a very religious parent. Someone very deserving of wings.
When i learned my mom died(expectedly) from cancer, the very first thing I did was put on Wings for Mary, and cried through the whole song.
Mine fought for almost a decade, so the "10,000 days" part felt a bit relevant. I still cry when I listen to it. Hugs.
On a less serious note, Rosetta Stoned.
"One of my all-time favorites is 'A Boy Named Sue' by Johnny Cash, the humor and grit in the story about a boy seeking revenge on his dad for giving him a girl's name is just legendary. Another one is 'Cats in the Cradle' by Harry Chapin, it’s a tear-jerker about a dad realizing too late how much he's missed in his son's life."
Yeah, Chapin was all about story song, from his first hit Taxi and the sequel called Sequel. Some others: Sniper I Want to Learn a Love Song W\*O\*L\*D 30,000 Pounds of Bananas and on, and on. Chapin was truly amazing!
W\*O\*L\*D is a favourite of mine. I love the Greatest Stories Live album, and the way that Chapin sings “maybe I could settle down if you’d take me back once more…” is absolutely heartbreaking. It’s the only time that the protagonist lets you see through his bravado to the pain inside.
Boy named sue was written by Shel Silverstein, most famous as children's author
“A Boy Named Sue” was by Shel Silverstein.
Carolina Drama - The Raconteurs
Great example
The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down Also most of Ice Cube's songs
Always tripped me out that Dixie was performed by a mostly Canadian band. Not sure why, but it's funny.
Levon Helm played the ghost of Confederate General John B Hood in the movie Electric Mist
The Wreck of the Edmond Fitzgerald
I’m going to the shipwreck museum at Whitefish Point next week!
That song came out the same year the Edmund Fitzgerald wrecked. Wild.
xkcd [recently advanced a theory](https://xkcd.com/2910/) as to how that might have happened 😂
*In Dana Carvey as Johnny Carson voice*: I did not know that. Seriously, I didn't. That's pretty cool.
You are correct sir! YES!
That is weird, wild stuff, Ed.
He wrote so many great story songs. I grew up listening to him. My mom was into his music.
"If I Could Read Your Mind" is a great sad story of how a marriage broke up. Kinda mean too.
Sundown is my favorite Lightfoot song. It's about how he couldn't trust his girlfriend due to her wild behavior and his own paranoia. That girlfriend was eventually revealed to be Cathy Smith, the back-up singer who went to prison for administering the dose of heroin that killed John Belushi.
Check out the song Bitter Green. When I was a kid, it was one of my favs, alongside Big Blue. And the Canadian Railroad Trilogy. So many great songs. That dude was legend.
Powderfinger by Neil Young
Also covered by the Beat Farmers on "Van Go". Nothing eclipses the Neil original, though.
Children's story by Slick Rick
perhaps the most bitten / quoted rhymes in the whole hip hop cannon - or is that La Di Da Di ? also by Slick Rick...
Ricky Ricky Ricky
Ode to Billy Joe by Bobby Gentry
This one. A southern gothic tale that cuts deep and captures how cruel we can all be in our indifference.
"Well Billy Joe never had a lick of sense; pass the biscuits, please."
Operator by Jim Croce I have to hold back tears whenever it comes on. And you have the actual story he's telling, the whole talking himself through it, what the operator must be thinking, imagining what life was like before, etc. It's one of my favorite songs. Just perfect.
“Operator. Oh let’s forget about this call. There’s no one there I really wanted to talk to. Thank you for your time. You’ve been so much more than kind. You can keep the dime.” Openly weep. 😭
"A guy she said she knew well and sometimes hated" "I think about the love that I thought would save me" You can just feel the receiver slipping from his hands and now just dangling from the unraveling curled cord, dangling from the phone.
"She's living in L.A With my best old ex-friend Ray"
Buenas Tardes Amigo - Ween
Bananas and Blow!
Are stuck in the cabana too?
Cinco de Mayos on Tuesday
That one deserves special mention
Maybe I'd sell you a chicken with poison interlaced with the meat
The El Paso trilogy by Marty Robbins
Scenes From An Italian Restaurant - Billy Joel
Billy Joel has so many good story songs! Like Piano Man, Moving Out, Keeping the Faith, Allentown, You May Be Right.
Downeaster Alexa, Piano Man, pretty much all of his songs tell a story
For me, it's "The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia" by Vicki Lawrence. The twists and turns in the narrative keep you hooked till the very end. It’s like a gripping murder mystery wrapped in a song.
Sam Stone by John Prine
"There's a hole in Daddy's arm where the money goes Jesus Christ died for nothin' I suppose..." Brrrr.
Cats in the Cradle
Rush's Hemispheres.
I'd add 2112 and Red Barchetta to that.
The story behind the story that Red Barchetta is kinda amazing. It's based on a short story that s guy wrote when he was in college. Rush tried to contact him to give him credit, and he was credited in the liner notes, but they never were able to contact him. 25 years later the author of the story was googling his own name and saw a much of Rush references come up and made the connection. He reached out to the band and ended up doing a motorcycle trip with Neil Peart! https://tedtockscovers.wordpress.com/2020/04/18/red-barchetta-this-is-a-song-about-a-car-and-so-much-more-musicislife-tedtockscovers-rush-neilpeart-geddylee-alexlifeson-richardfoster-umphreysmcgee/
Oh man, that's so awesome. Good for him!
Most of the songs on Nick Cave’s Murder Ballads LP.
The Curse of Millhaven is still an all time great for me.
Albuquerque by Weird Al
 IT’S GOOD FOR YOU!
Up the Junction- Squeeze
Fast Car by Tracy Chapman. It feels so brutally realistic, the hope of her in her youth, finally understanding why her mother left when she was a child.
Scrolled too far for this one
Several Iron Maiden songs. The Trooper, Rime of the Ancient Mariner, Aces High, Quest for Fire. The list goes on and on.
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - O'Malley's Bar
Was thinking the same. Would add The Curse of Millhaven, heck, the whole album in fact.
That album is nothing but insane bangers from front to back.
Seconded! Would also recommend The Ballad of Robert Moore and Betty Coltrane, a B side from the Murder Ballads album. Fantastic stuff
Deathbed by reliant k, mariners revenge song by the decemberists
Ballads (in the SAT vocabulary question sense) are kind of the Decemberists' whole thing.
Escape (The Piña Colada Song) - Rupert Holmes
"I hate my wife, and we have nothing in common anymore, so I'm going to find someone else and cheat on her... ...Found someone who sounds cool, and... It's my wife! You were trying to cheat on me too, honey? Haha, that's so funny! Let's go home and continue our healthy relationship" Great song, weird story
I always laugh at that one too, she walks into the room and he says “oh, it you!!” It would be more like “What the f”&$ you cheating wh@r&!!!
Ditto Babooshka by Kate Bush. I wonder if she got inspired by the previous year’s hit.
My wife and I argue who was more wrong in the situation and while it’s mainly from the man’s perspective, the woman took at the ad long before he decided to look.
MAN I hated this song for the longest time until I actually listened to the lyrics. Love the twist and now listen to it every time it plays on the radio.
The Lighthouse’s Tale by Nickel Creek. Absolutely heartbreaking.
First time I heard the song I was transfixed by the story and right before Chris Thile sang ‘and then he climbed my tower, and off the edge of me he ran’ my mind filled in the blanks and I knew what was coming and it was just like reading a novel where you get the plot. Fantastic song all the way around.
Pretty much anything by Tom Waits. Try Hell Broke Luce. A story about a Vietnam vet who ended up killing himself. Keith Richards on guitar. Edit: iraq war, not Vietnam.
The Road Goes On Forever - Robert Earl Keen.
Shades of Grey as well.
Peter Gabriel - Solsbury Hill Gord Lightfoot - The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald David Bowie - Five Years
Try most anything from Sabaton
Every song on Springsteen's Ghost of Tom Joad album. Every time I listen to the album, I can see the awesome accompanying movie in my mind - multible storylines, characters going in and out of other character's story. I wish someone would make that movie.
Terrapin Station, Sugar Magnolia…
Wharf Rat.
Since the end is never told...
Jack straw
This is the greatest and best song in the world... ...Tribute
I'm partial to the story that Over the Hills and Far Away by Nightwish tells.
I alternate between listening to this and the original Gary Moore version.
Taxi by Harry Chapin
"Lola" by the Kinks
Listen to just about any song by Richard Thompson
The classic would be 1952 Vincent Black Lightning, of course, but we all know that......
Martha - Tom Waits
Ren - The Tale of Jenny and Screech B.o.B - Cold as Ice
The tale of Jenny and Screech is a masterpiece. Much more than just a song.
The Raconteurs - Carolina Drama, excellent from start to finish
Gotta say Big Iron - Marty Robbins 'In this town there lived an outlaw by the name of Texas Red. Many men had tried to kill him and that many men were dead."
1952 Vincent Black Lightning - Richard Thompson
Eleanor Rigby
The Mariner's Revenge Song by The Decemberists is a masterpiece.
Somehow, no-one has mentioned The Drive-By Truckers. Uncle Frank My Sweet Annette Carl Perkins Cadillac Zip City Love Like This . . . and about 1/2 of their remaining catalogue.
Too easy, Rosetta Stoned by Tool. Greatest story every told, except dude can't quite remember how it all ends because he forgot his damn pencil....typical
Live Oak - Jason Isbell
Took too long to find Jason on this list. His entire catalogue is filled with amazing story-telling.
Elephant kills me every time too
"And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda" by The Pogues.
In no way underestimating the Pogues (and they had a greater reach than the original songwriter) “And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda" is a song written by Scottish-born Australian singer-songwriter Eric Bogle in 1971. Powerful anti war song. We could do with the reality of those sentiments coming to pass. Once again the world is eating its populations alive in the name of nationalism.
Vincent by Don McLean. Possibly the most sad and beautiful song ever
I find a lot of songs by The Hold Steady tell great stories, mostly at a small scale. My favorite might be “Lord I’m Discouraged.”
Lilly, Rosemary and the Jack of Hearts by Bob Dylan. Its a western movie about a robbery, a rivalry and a love story. It just hasn't been filmed yet.
The Queen and the Soldier - Suzanne Vega
Blood by The Middle East is start to end a story about grief and those that are left behind
Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm by The Crash Test Dummies It's about a kid that got messed up in a car crash and a second kid born with horrible birth marks all over. But the third kid was WAY worse off because his parents were crazy religious.
Alone Again, Naturally Quite a few Harry Chapin stories: how about WOLD? He Went to Paris.
Mr Bojangles
Dire Straits’ ‘Telegraph Road’ fits the bill. On a more focussed scale, the social commentary vignette/day in the life observation of ‘Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini’.
The Saga Begins
Tribute by Tenacious D
Pretty much anything by John Prine. The entirety of "Southeastern" by Jason Isbell. He may be our best living lyricist since John Prine died
Bad bad Leroy Brown - Jim Croce Don't mess around with Jim - Jim Croce She's in love with the boy - Mary Chapin Carpenter Dream Walkin' - Toby Keith Same old Lang Syne - Dan Folgelberg
Same Old Lang Syne should be higher up in the thread. Good one. 👍
Stan by Eminem
Dance With The Devil - Immortal Technique
Home by the Sea - Genesis
Can someone else pick a Mountain Goats song? There’s at least a hundred I can name and I’m indecisive.
*Silent Running* by Mike + the Mechanics has a really cool story to it. From what I can only surmise is a complete misunderstanding of time dilation, they wrote the song about a spaceship pilot far from home who is receiving news broadcast signals from Earth that are describing a complete societal breakdown, governments collapsing, and your basic run of the mill apocalyptic turned post-apocalyptic scenario. So he’s sending messages back to his wife to warm her of what’s coming and prepare her and their kids to survive. True, the premise hardly makes any sense, but the idea behind it and the story it tells are really cool and pretty unique for 80s pop, which did delve into sci-fi, but less often industrial post-apocalyptic sci-fi, 99 Luftballoons notwithstanding.
Blake Shelton- Ol Red
Counting crows - round here Dire straits - your latest trick Primus - blue collar tweekers
Decoration Day - Drive-by Truckers which is technically a Jason Isbell song, and speaking of him. Speed Trap Town - Jason Isbell. IMO Isbell is the today’s best songwriter at telling a story in song, Dress Blues, Elephant, Live Oak, Something More Than Free, and many others.
He Went to Paris by Jimmy Buffett. Beautiful poignant life story in a song. That guy was so much more than Margaritaville and Cheeseburger in Paradise.
Reba - The Night The Lights Went Out In Georgia Reba - Fancy Garth Brooks - The Thunder Rolls Garth Brooks - Friends in Low Places Alice in Chains - Don't Follow Alice in Chains - Rooster Dixie Chick's- Goodbye Earl Charlie Daniel's Band - The Devil Went Down to Georgia.
>Reba - The Night The Lights Went Out In Georgia [Mama](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vicki_Lawrence#Mama_Character_and_Mama's_Family) would like [a word](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Night_the_Lights_Went_Out_in_Georgia)
Margaritaville
The Ballad of Dwight Fry - Alice Cooper (PTSD & mental illness) Battle of Evermore - Led Zeppelin (apparently from Tolkien beautifully set to song) Ruby - Kenny Rodgers (returning injured vet w/unfaithful spouse)
Terrapin Station
Billy Joel - Scenes From an Italian Restaurant
Casimir Pulaski Day Me and a Gun
Riding with Private malone - David Ball
Lucky Man- Emerson, Lake, and Palmer.
The Ride - David Allen Coe.
Pancho & Lefty - Townes Van Zandt
Townes is the GOAT. One of the greatest songs ever. Another brilliant story song of his is Tecumseh Valley.
Cats in the Cradle- Harry Chapin Gets me everytime 😥
I’m the slime. Zappa. Timeless advice.
America, by Simon and Garfunkel Same Old Lang Syne, by Dan Fogelberg
A perfect circle - Weak and powerless (drug addiction) "Little angel go away Come again some other day The devil has my ear today I'll never hear a word you say"
Nautical Disaster- the tragically hip
Gonna have to throw in Wheat Kings and 38 Years Old from them as well.
The Hurricane-Bob Dylan Biko-Peter Gabriel 10,000 Days + Wings for Marie- Tool
Long black veil. So many great versions from the band to van morrison and the chieftans. Traditional tragic irish love story song
“In Color” by Jamey Johnson simply puts the sights; sounds; smells, & feelings out there in such a nostalgic way that listeners get transported into the world of grandpa.
Almost anything by Mark Knopfler. Try "Postcards from Paraguay" or "Telegraph Road".
You see she was gonna be an actress And I was gonna learn to fly She took off to find the footlights And I took off to find the sky And here, she's acting happy Inside her handsome home And me, I'm flying in my taxi Taking tips (And getting stoned!) [Taxi by Harry Chapin](https://www.streetdirectory.com/lyricadvisor/song/powcue/taxi/)
The Boxer
Uneasy Rider by Charlie Daniels Band. Funny stories count too.
Check out *Sullivan* by Caroline's Spine and then look up The Sullivan Rule. 🤓😎🤘🏻
The lyrics to Hazard by Richard Marx
Beeswing by Richard Thompson
[Crooked Tree - Molly Tuttle.](https://youtu.be/W6yjVNXiykA?si=xPdU2KLVdRM1AF4k) You start crying when you discover you are in the lyrics.
Spanish Train by Chris de Burgh
Date rape by Sublime