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Songs That Tell a Story

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 (Edited)

I'm a big fan of songs that tell a story.  And I'm not talking about a Disaster Area kind of story that is on the whole very simple and mostly follows the familiar theme of boy-being meets girl-being beneath a silvery moon, which then explodes for no adequately explored reason.  I'm talking about songs with a good plot, one that could easily be made into a short story or film.

I thought of this yesterday while listening to The Decemberists.

http://www.albumoftheyear.org/album/covers/picaresque.jpg

Album: Picaresque (2005)
Song: The Mariner's Revenge Song

What are your favorite story songs?  Please include the band name, album name, and a link to lyrics if possible.

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The one that always brings a tear to my eye is Puff The Magic Dragon (oh the loss of innocence...oh the humanity!).

This on the other hand should be tragic but Jenny had the last laugh on Bianca so it makes me smile.

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The Fields of Athenry

Been around since the 70s, but my personal favorite is sung by the Dropkick Murphys.

"Every time Warb sighs, an angel falls into a vat of mapel syrup." - Gaffer Tape

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"The Long Black Veil" by Lefty Frizzell

"Saginaw, Michigan" by Lefty Frizzell

 

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As an uber Genesis nerd since the 70s, this is a subject that is very big in my world.  Way too many to list, so I'll just drop in a few of my favorites.

 

The Colony Of Slippermen


The Arrival

Rael:
I wandered lonely as a cloud,
Till I came upon this dirty street.
I've never seen a stranger crowd;
Slubberdegullions on a squeaky feet,

Continually pacing,
With nonchalant embracing,
Each orifice disgracing
And one facing me moves to say "hellay".

His skin's all covered in slimy lumps.
With lips that slide across each chin.
His twisted limbs like rubber stamps
Are waved in welcome say 'Please join in.'

My grip must be flipping,
Cos his handshake keeps slipping,
My hopes keep on dipping
And his lips keep on smiling all the time.

Slipperman:
"We like you, have tasted love.
Don't be alarmed at what you see,
You yourself are just the same
As what you see in me."

Rael:
Me, like you? like that!

Slipperman:
"You better watch it son, your sentence has only just begun
You better run and join your brother John."



A Visit to the Doktor

Slipperman:
"You're in the colony of slippermen.
There's no who? why? what? or when?

You get out if you've got the gripe
To see, Doktor Dyper, reformed sniper-
he'll whip off your windscreenwiper

Rael:
John and I are able
To face the Doktor and his marble table.

The Doktor:
Understand Rael, it's the end of your tail.

Rael:
"Don't delay, dock the dick!"
I watch his countdown timer tick......


The Raven

He places the number into a tube,
A yellow plastic "shoobedoobe".
It says: "Though your fingers may tickle
You'll be safe in our pickle."
Suddenly, black cloud comes down from the sky.
It's a supersize black bird that sure can fly.

The raven brings on darkness and night
He flies right down, gives me one hell of a fright.
He takes the tube right out of my hands
Man, I've got to find out where that black bird lands.

"Look here John, I've got to run
I need you now, you going to come?"
He says to me.

John:
"Now can't you see
Where the raven flies there's jeopardy.

We've been cured on the couch
Now you're sick with your grouch.
I'll not risk my honey pouch
Which my slouch will wear slung very low."

Rael:
He walks away and leaves me once again.
Even though I never learn,
I'd hoped he'd show just some concern.

I'm in agony of Slipperpain
I pray my undercarriage will sustain.
The chase is on, the pace is hot
But I'm running so very hard with everything I've got.
He leads me down an underpass
Though it narrows, he still flies very fast,
When the tunnel stops
I catch sight of the tube, just as it drops.
I'm on top of a bank, to steep to climb,
I see it hit the water, just in time,
to watch it float away.

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One For The Vine

Fifty thousand men were sent to do the will of one.
His claim was phrased quite simply, though he never voiced it loud,
I am he, the chosen one.

In his name they could slaughter, for his name they could die.
Though many there were believed in him, still more were sure he lied,
But they'll fight the battle on.

Then one whose faith had died
Fled back up the mountainside,
But before the top was made,
A misplaced footfall made him stray
From the path prepared for him.
Off of the mountain,
On to a wilderness of ice.

This unexpected vision made them stand and shake with fear,
But nothing was his fright compared with those who saw him appear.
Terror filled their minds with awe.

Simple were the folk who lived
Upon this frozen wave.
So not surprising was their thought,
This is he, God's chosen one,
Who's come to save us from
All our oppressors.
We shall be kings on this world.

Follow me!
I'll play the game you want me,
Until I find a way back home.

Follow me!
I give you strength inside you,
Courage to win your battles--

No, no, no, this can't go on,
This will be all that I fled from.
Let me rest for a while.

He walked into a valley,
All alone.
There he talked with water, and then with the vine.

They leave me no choice.
I must lead them to glory or most likely to death.

They traveled cross the plateau of ice, up to its edge.
Then they crossed a mountain range and saw the final plain.
Still he urged the people on.

Then, on a distant slope,
He observed one without hope
Flee back up the mountainside.
He thought he recognized him by his walk,
And by the way he fell,
And by the way he
Stood up, and vanished into air.

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The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald

However, in practice you must take into account the “fuckwit factor”. Just talk to Darth Mallwalker…
-Moth3r

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Is that a song?

Again, band names and lyrics or links to lyrics would be most helpful.

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TV's Frink said:

Is that a song?

Again, band names and lyrics or links to lyrics would be most helpful.

Pffft!!! IS THAT A SONG?!?!  How can you say you are 36 years old and never heard the Gordon Lightfoot epic.  Even Pearl Jam covered it.

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 (Edited)

The Brady Bunch Theme Song:

Here's the story,
Of a lovely lady,
Who was bringing up three very lovely girls.
All of them had hair of gold,
Like their mother,
The youngest one in curls.

Here's the story,
Of a man named Brady,
Who was busy with three boys of his own.
They were four men,
Living all together, but they were all alone-.

Till the one day when the lady met this fellow,
and they knew they was much more than a hunch.
That this group,
Must somehow form a family.
That's the way we all became the Brady Bunch,
The Brady Bunch- the Brady Bunch
That's the way- we became the Brady Bunch.

Sorry- that's all I could think of.

IT'S MY TRILOGY, AND I WANT IT NOW!

"[George Lucas] rebooted the franchise in 1997 without telling anyone." -skyjedi2005

"Yeah, well, George says a lot of things..." a young 1997 xhonzi on RASSM

"They're my movies." -George Lucas. 19 people won oscars for their work on Star Wars (1977) and George Lucas wasn't one of them.

Rewrite the Prequels!

 

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 (Edited)

xhonzi, I ought to ignore you just for that.

Besides, the theme song of Gilligan's Island is a much more compelling story.

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Sluggo said:

TV's Frink said:

Is that a song?

Again, band names and lyrics or links to lyrics would be most helpful.

Pffft!!! IS THAT A SONG?!?!  How can you say you are 36 years old and never heard the Gordon Lightfoot epic.  Even Pearl Jam covered it.

Sorry, I've barely heard of Gordon Lightfoot.  And ever since I was a freshman in college and the guys across the dorm hall played "Alive" 24 hours a day for three months, I've never cared to hear another Pearl Jam song again.

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xhonzi said:

The Brady Bunch Theme Song:

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_4oai2QUlbUE/Ru7zzzjZnzI/AAAAAAAAA7c/NavBLvBGg2g/s400/a_kick_in_the_nuts.jpg

                  ^Frink        ^xhonzi

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But it says it's a story- right there in the lyrics.

 

TWICE!

IT'S MY TRILOGY, AND I WANT IT NOW!

"[George Lucas] rebooted the franchise in 1997 without telling anyone." -skyjedi2005

"Yeah, well, George says a lot of things..." a young 1997 xhonzi on RASSM

"They're my movies." -George Lucas. 19 people won oscars for their work on Star Wars (1977) and George Lucas wasn't one of them.

Rewrite the Prequels!

 

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The song American Pie.  Don McLean.

George Lucas Raped Our Childhood by Hot Waffles.

“Always loved Vader’s wordless self sacrifice. Another shitty, clueless, revision like Greedo and young Anakin’s ghost. What a fucking shame.” -Simon Pegg.

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"MTA"/"Charlie on the MTA"/"The Man Who Never Returned" a folk song from an old political campaign, covered in the 60s by the Kingston Trio. Hilarious.

http://www.mit.edu/~jdreed/t/charlie.html

"Alice's Restuarant" by Arlo Guthrie. In fact, they already made a (crummy) movie from it.

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Karl Pilkington used to have a feature on the Ricky Gervais's radio show called "Song with a Story", mostly just playing a song that Karl likes ("The Killing of Georgie" by Rod Stewart, "In the Ghetto" by Elvis, etc.) but at one point, they listened to and provided commentary for "Wonderful Tonight" by Eric Clapton because for some reason Karl was convinced it was about "A little fella in a wheelchair".

Hilarity ensues. Also note his thoughts on "Pinball Wizard" at the beginning of the clip:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qHs-jAaMqOA

http://i.imgur.com/7N84TM8.jpg

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Ziggy Stardust

You can't beat The Who:

A Quick One While He's Away, Tommy, and especially Quadrophenia.

VADER!? WHERE THE HELL IS MY MOCHA LATTE? -Palpy on a very bad day.
“George didn’t think there was any future in dead Han toys.”-Harrison Ford
YT channel:
https://www.youtube.com/c/DamnFoolIdealisticCrusader