Songs that tell a story

[Squadrone Rosso]

Scenes from an Italian Restaurant - Billy Joel.

[nonsequitur]

Ticking -- Elton John

[coppernorks]

Jimmy Jimmy - The Undertones

Quite sad, poor little Jimmy.

[52classic]

Johnnie Cash.... One Piece at a Time. Fulsom Prison blues.

Joni Mitchell...... Carrie.

[S100HP]

The Greatest Show on Earth by Nightwish.

For those who don't know it, The Greatest Show on Earth", the longest Nightwish song to date, refers to "life and evolution by natural selection" similarly to Richard Dawkins' book with the same title, from where the song title comes.

Now that is a story within a song.

[LaurasOtherHalf]

Oh what about “the late great Johnny Ace” as well? Was it by Paul Simon or S&G, I forget?

[hyphen]

ikarl said:

Eminem - Stan

[paulguitar]

LaurasOtherHalf said:

Oh what about “the late great Johnny Ace” as well? Was it by Paul Simon or S&G, I forget?

Paul Simon from the 'Hearts and Bones' album.

[nonsequitur]

Happiness Jack -- The Small Faces

[DickyC]

nonsequitur said:

Happiness Jack -- The Small Faces

Shum mishtake surely

Happy Jack - The Who

(Moon's contribution described as "lead drumming")

[Bucksspeedyboy]

‘Red Army Blues’ by The Waterboys. All about a Russian peasant soldier who goes all through WW2 including the fall of Berlin until he meets up with an American soldier. Then he gets sent to a gulag because Stalin thought he and his colleagues had become too “westernised”.

Great song, very emotional and with great sax playing.

[DickyC]

Memphis, Tennessee - Chuck Berry

[P5BNij]

'Pictures Of Lilly' - The Who, a tale of a teenage lad's rite of passage....

And in complete contrast, Scott Walker's 'The Old Man's Back Again', about the the invasion of Checkoslovakia in 1968.

[gazza285]

The Rime Of The Ancient Mariner?

[LaurasOtherHalf]

paulguitar said:

LaurasOtherHalf said:

Oh what about “the late great Johnny Ace” as well? Was it by Paul Simon or S&G, I forget?

Paul Simon from the 'Hearts and Bones' album.

Must listen to that album again some time, not known as one of his greatest but it has a certain something I seem to remember. Sod it, it's going on spotify now...

[Chris Hinds]

Pick a Springsteen album - almost all of them have a story song, some of the albums are a whole story in themselves. For me though the standout songs that tell a story are

• Born to Run - Meeting Across the Rive, Jungleland
• Darkness on the Edge of Town - Racing in the Street, Darkness on the Edge of Town
• The River - The River, The Price you Pay
• Nebraska - Most of the songs are stories but the album and I never gelled well
• Born in the USA - I'm on Fire, My Hometown
• Tunnel of Love - It's all one big story
• The Rising - The Rising, The Nothing Man
• Working on a Dream - Outlaw Pete, Queen of the Supermarket
• High Hopes - Harry's place

[Turn7]

fat80b said:

Elvis - In the Ghetto - I played this for my kids (5 & 7) the other week and you could see them reacting to it. Music is powerful stuff.

As an impressionable 12 year old,that song always haunted me a little.....

[Turn7]

Squeeze - up the junction

Frank Turner -Long live the Queen

John Cougar Mellencamp - Jack & Diane

[LaurasOtherHalf]

Turn7 said:

Squeeze - up the junction

Yes!

[52classic]

Jimmy Webb's Macarthur Park.