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Re: What's your favorite song that tells a story?

Posted: September 30th, 2010, 2:08 pm
by emilycross
The long black veil by Johnny Cash


Re: What's your favorite song that tells a story?

Posted: September 30th, 2010, 2:51 pm
by sidekick
HillaryJ wrote:"Keep it Together", by Guster. It's got a lovely melody and a bizarre topic for a pop song (building a colony from scratch and then holding it).
Guster is the definition of awesome.

Though I think my favorite story-song would be Rocky Raccoon.


Re: What's your favorite song that tells a story?

Posted: September 30th, 2010, 3:24 pm
by simon_the_boy
My vote is for "Red Barchetta" by Rush (so sue me, I like Rush).

Re: What's your favorite song that tells a story?

Posted: September 30th, 2010, 3:27 pm
by unwieldy
kristycolley wrote:Casimir Pulaski Day by Sufjan Stevens
I absolutely love this song. Thanks for mentioning it!

I thought of another one. A Well Respected Man by The Kinks.


Re: What's your favorite song that tells a story?

Posted: September 30th, 2010, 3:37 pm
by ddegreeff
Am I really going to be the first to mention "A Boy Named Sue" by Johnny Cash, as penned by Shel Silverstein?
Or, if you want to stick with country but go with more of a situation than a straight story, "Settle for a Slowdown" by Dierks Bentley weaves a great little web.

Re: What's your favorite song that tells a story?

Posted: September 30th, 2010, 3:41 pm
by OneJilian
I have 3 favorites:

1. Whiskey Lulliby - Allison Kraus/Brad Paisley

2. Stan - Eminem

3. Love Me - Collin Raye

They always make me cry.

Re: What's your favorite song that tells a story?

Posted: September 30th, 2010, 3:47 pm
by owlandsparrow
If I had to pick just one, I'd pick "EVERY LITTLE BIT" by Patty Griffin. Really, though, every single Patty Griffin song tells an amazing story. Other favorites are "MOSES," "RAIN," "TIME WILL DO THE TALKING," "MAKING PIES," and "LONG RIDE HOME."

Deep, layered, subtle lyrics + an emotive voice + creative melodies/chords = why she's my favorite artist ever.

Re: What's your favorite song that tells a story?

Posted: September 30th, 2010, 4:46 pm
by Nicole R
What a fun topic!

I love Bon Jovi's "Right Side of Wrong." But my all-time favorite is Trans-Siberian Orchestra's "Christmas Eve and Other Stories" album. The entire album tells a story - it's so cool - and during concerts, they have an amazing narrator who talks between the songs. It's incredibly moving!

If you want to check it out, the narration is the yellow text in the link below and the actual song lyrics are in white.
http://www.trans-siberian.com/lyrics_st ... ics-01.php

I used one of their lines as inspiration for an MG idea.

Re: What's your favorite song that tells a story?

Posted: September 30th, 2010, 5:10 pm
by iamjennyD

Re: What's your favorite song that tells a story?

Posted: September 30th, 2010, 8:39 pm
by jetchez
Tracy Chapman's Behind the Wall has to be one of the best!

Re: What's your favorite song that tells a story?

Posted: October 1st, 2010, 12:09 am
by Calliopenjo
http://youtu.be/_K6Y-YGZUec

This is my choice.
Reba MacIntyre: Fancy

Re: What's your favorite song that tells a story?

Posted: October 1st, 2010, 1:31 am
by Regan Leigh
Nathan Bransford wrote:There are so many great ballads and songs that tell whole stories, from Hurricane by Bob Dylan to Rocky Raccoon by the Beatles. What's your favorite?

I'm going to have to go with the Mariner's Revenge Song by the Decemberists. It doesn't surprise me at all that the lead singer, Colin Meloy, is going to have a MG novel published:


Oh, did you like the new album? I saw them live last year and they did the entire album, songs back to back with no break. And Shara Worden was amazing. I had no idea about the MG book from Colin Meloy.

My concert :D (NOT me singing obnoxiously in the background.)



Marching Bands Of Manhattan is the song that comes to mind for me with this question just because I use it for writing all the time. Death Cab for Cutie seems to be a great band for telling a story.




And if we want to go old school... ;)


Re: What's your favorite song that tells a story?

Posted: October 1st, 2010, 1:36 am
by Regan Leigh
Ditto to both of these.

"Keep it Together", by Guster.

Casimir Pulaski Day by Sufjan Stevens

And let's not forget...



:D

I'm going to bed now before I post ten more videos.

Re: What's your favorite song that tells a story?

Posted: October 1st, 2010, 8:38 am
by Sommer Leigh
"Airship Pirate" by Abney Park

And oh, pretty much all of Abney Park's songs.


Re: What's your favorite song that tells a story?

Posted: October 1st, 2010, 10:50 am
by writermorris
We studied She Thinks His Name Was John by Reba McEntire in middle school to learn about ballad poetry, so that came to mind first. But my favorite must be Dar Williams' The Babysitter's Here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Pr5QE2Le6Q.

And Jaime... is it amazing or embarrassing that my wedding song with my husband was Jonathan Coultan's Skullcrusher Mountain?