Best "Story" Songs

OP, DL Fave Reba did it better

R1 The remake will never outshine the original.

"Angie Baby," by Helen Reddy. Creepy, macabre, and with a mysterious ending. "Well, maybe..."

"Tie a Yellow Ribbon," Tony Orlando and Dawn.

Fast Car - Tracy Chapman

Jeremy - Pearl Jam

Take the Money and Run - Steve Miller Band

What it's Like - Everlast

American Pie - Don McLean

Scenes from an Italian Restaurant - Billy Joel

Where Did You Sleep Last Night - Nirvana

Spanish Train - Chris de Burgh

The wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald!

"Dark Lady" - Cher!

One worse than the next. there's a reason this kind of song came and went.

Wham! - Everything She Wants

Martina McBride - Concrete Angel

R10 Its a good song, but not really a "story" song.

"Devil Woman," by Cliff Richard.

Run Joey Run

This

This of course is the pop "story" song of all time:

And this

and of course this

You beat me to it r16

Here's my second choice.

Midnight Train to Georgia- Gladys Knight and The Pips

Little Amsterdam shut down today. The buried her with a butterbean bouquet. And the sheriff now can’t ride away like he said, into the sunset. And I won’t say that he shouldn’t have paid, but Mama, it wasn’t my bullet.

Dig it

Remains oddly haunting.

More famous.

The Ballad of Lucy Jordan

Whoever posted Eminem should be burned in a grease fire until they are dead.

The greatest.

Loved this as a kid

I was just coming in to say any songs by Harry Chapin R23 & R24. Another favorite was Dan Fogelberg.

I love Bobbie Gentry's original a little bit more, but Reba's video serves up kuntry-fried drama for your nerves.

Hotel California Lying Eyes

Pink Floyd

This one for sure:

Brandy, by Looking Glass

How many of those sailors Brandy wanted were actually getting it on with each other?

A Boy Named Sue. Johnny Cash.

R34, you beat me to it.

Pulp contributed two Britpop additions to the genre. Disco 2000 and Common People are both story songs.

"Frankie and Johnny" is THE "story song" classic...it goes back to 1912.

Here's Madonna's singing it on a TV special. Sorry about the quality of the video.

Chelsea Dagger the Fratellis

Lola Kinks

Frank Mills from Hair

Someone should turn the story line of "Dawson's 50-load Weekend" into a narrative song.

Copa Cabana and Cats In the Cradle are both good but don’t hold a candle to this one.

It sounds like his reading his diary

"The Night Chicago Died" by Paper Lace:

My daddy was a cop on the east side of Chicago Back in the U.S.A. back in the bad old days

In the heat of a summer night In the land of the dollar bill When the town of Chicago died And they talk about it still When a man named Al Capone Tried to make that town his own And he called his gang to war With the forces of the law

I heard my mama cry I heard her pray the night Chicago died Brother what a night it really was Brother what a fight it really was Glory be! I heard my mama cry I heard her pray the night Chicago died Brother what a night the people saw Brother what a fight the people saw Yes indeed!

"Christmas Shoes" by NewSong. Absolutely maudlin, but I defy even the bitchiest queen on Datalounge not to wipe away a tear:

It was almost Christmas time, there I stood in another line Tryin' to buy that last gift or two, not really in the Christmas mood Standing right in front of me was a little boy waiting anxiously Pacing 'round like little boys do And in his hands he held a pair of shoes His clothes were worn and old, he was dirty from head to toe And when it came his time to pay I couldn't believe what I heard him say Sir, I want to buy these shoes for my mama, please It's Christmas Eve and these shoes are just her size Could you hurry, sir, daddy says there's not much time You see she's been sick for quite a while And I know these shoes would make her smile And I want her to look beautiful if mama meets Jesus tonight

R19 This song always made me want to yank out my ear drums.

Same Old Lang Syne - Dan Fogelberg

Met my old lover in the grocery store The snow was falling Christmas Eve I stood behind her in the frozen foods And I touched her on the sleeve She didn't recognize the face at first But then her eyes flew open wide She went to hug me and she spilled her purse And we laughed until we cried...

The story of JFK aka Peter Pumpkinhead

Eleanor Rigby - The Beatles

Eleanor Rigby, picks up the rice In the church where a wedding has been Lives in a dream Waits at the window, wearing the face That she keeps in a jar by the door Who is it for All the lonely people Where do they all come from? All the lonely people Where do they all belong?

Alone Again, Naturally - Gilbert O'Sullivan

In a little while from now If I'm not feeling any less sour I promise myself to treat myself And visit a nearby tower And climbing to the top Will throw myself off In an effort to Make it clear to whoever Wants to know what it's like When you're shattered Left standing in the lurch at a church Were people saying, My God, that's tough She stood him up No point in us remaining We may as well go home As I did on my own Alone again, naturally

Where do you go to my lovely?

Piano Man - Billy Joel

It's nine o'clock on a Saturday The regular crowd shuffles in There's an old man sitting next to me Makin' love to his tonic and gin

He says, "Son, can you play me a memory I'm not really sure how it goes But it's sad and it's sweet and I knew it complete When I wore a younger man's clothes."

R52 Arguably one of the most depressing songs ever recorded. Makes you wanna slit your wrists after listening to it.

No one's mentioned Swamp Witch by Jim Stafford. Dark and creepy.

"Where the Wild Roses Grow," by Kylie Minogue and Nick Cave. Also haunting and creepy:

He's just the blind man in the bleachers / To the local home town fans / And he sits beneath the speakers / Way back in the stands

Harper Valley P.T.A.

When You Leave That Way You Can Never Go Back

I remember waking in the morning To the sound of the rooster's crow Mamma cooking in the kitchen Arthur Godfrey on the radio Me and Dad were just like strangers We never did see eye to eye Came to blows one Sunday morning So I packed my bags and I said goodbye CHORUS When you leave that way you can never go back A train won't run on a torn up track Sometimes I wish I'd never roamed, oh no 'Cause when you leave that way you can never go home Then I met a girl in Knoxville Oh, we set our wedding day I left her standing at the alter With a baby on the way REPEAT CHORUS Lord I'd love to see my mom and daddy And what I'd give to hold that boy of mine I'd get down on my knees and I'd say I'm sorry If I could only go back one more time But I killed a man in Houston When he caught me with his wife And I told the preacher man to leave me alone When he came to read my rights CHORUS He said son, when you leave this way you can never come back A soul won't roll on a torn up track All through eternity you'll roam alone 'Cause when you leave this way you can never come home All through eternity you'll roam alone 'Cause when you leave this way you can never come home

You live your life in a freeform style

You'll take an inch but you love a mile

Nothing beats this one by The Violent Femmes.

Invitation To The Blues by Tom Waits

oopsy wrong link lol^^^

Phil Collins

But we're glad you are brushing up on your writing and grammar r63.

R65 Not a story song.

Sunday Morning Coming Down, Kris Kristofferson / Johnny Cash

Kentucky Avenue, Tom Waits

Jim Croce was a great storyteller

Madonna's Papa Don't Preach

CB Savage

R67 to me it is... isn’t it based on true story?

Appropriate in the #metoo era

The Boxer

America

Livin' On A Prayer

Irving's gun was there

Super sad one... Goodbye, my friend, it's hard to die.

....

Hallelujah

Everybody run

The Homecoming Queen has got a gun

Here ya go

That's when I fell for...

Year of the Cat

Billy, don't be a hero!

Would that be a ballad, OP?

California Dreamin'

One Tin Soldier.

Okay, folks, here's the definition of a "story song:" It's a song that tells an actual story - it has a plot, usually with some kind of climax and a resolution. "Candle in the Wind" isn't a "story song." While quite pleasant, it's really just a remembrance. "One Tin Soldier" is a "story song." It tells a tale, it builds up to something, and it has a resolution.

Come on, DLers, you can do this!

Ypu Dont Have To Call Me Darlin' It doesn't really turn into a story song until.the third verse, but it's with the wait

The song about the horse that ran away and the girl that ran after it? It used to make me cry...

We was mixin' Vicks with lemon gin..

You're So Vain

R91 Ugh. "Wildfire." Stupid bitch - did she think she WOULDN'T freeze to death if she ran out in the middle of a blizzard to find her dumb horse?

We'll sing in the Sunshine. Gale Garnett had an incredible voice and it was very controversial that this song won Best Folk Recording Grammy over Dylan. I especially like the little wink she gives at the end of the number.

People used to think that those haircuts could double as crash helmets in those days.

American Pie

Oh god, "Wildfire..." we had a pony who had a foal. She ran around the farm like a dog would. Cold winter...she froze and died. Same year the song was out. Tears...

Piano Man

History lesson here kids - The first rock story song: Lloyd Price - Stagger Lee

....

"El Paso" - Marty Robbins

"Harper Valley P. T. A" - Jeannie C. Riley

"Cat's In The Cradle" - Harry Chapin

"In The Ghetto" - Elvis Presley

"Copacabana" - Barry Manilow

"The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" - Gordon Lightfoot

"Same Old Lang Syne" - Dan Fogelberg

Tie a Yellow Ribbon

Wings Upon Your Horns

Leader Of The Pack

get real kids......

almost any song by Joni Mitchell

almost any song by Stevie Wonder

every song by BB King, Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Mississipi John Hurt, George Jones, Johnny Cash.....Bob Dylan.

you know what they are and if you don't shame on you.

Before He Cheats

Jolene

R59 Yes. Love how "Harper Valley " calls out small-town hyprocasy.

Love both versions of "Fancy." Reba covers this a lot better than "The Night the Lights Went out in Geogia."

Almost any song by Ed Shearin.

Little Green

"Tell Laura I Love Her"

"Teen Angel"

"Patches"

and another Harry Chapin: "WOLD"

Big Bad John

Lots of sappy country 'story songs' -- try this one on:

Then there is Jane Russell’s version: Big Bad Jane.....

Sufjan Stevens - Tonya Harding

"Something in Red," Lorrie Morgan

"Copperhead Road" Steve Earle

"The Thunder Rolls" Garth Brooks

Nebraska

You Don't Mess around with Jim

"Independence Day," Martina McBride

"Goodbye Earl," Dixie Chicks

"The Streak," Ray Stevens

"Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer," Elmo and Patsy

The Shangri-Las were the queens of story songs

Joni Mitchell - Amelia

"Love Child," Diana Ross and the Supremes.

R1, God, that version was a piece of shit. Was this intended to be some kind of movie audition tape for Reba or what?

R94 R98 Thanks guys! I would hear that song as a little girl and the words were so vivid in my mind...I would just sob.

Parklife!

R123 beat me to it.

Here's another from that era.

My Eyes Adored You - Frankie Valli

Marty Robbins' El Paso

WHERE did Johnny go?!

R130 Oh, my God, I love that song! I still get a tear in my eye when I hear it today. So beautiful, so heartbreaking.

"He Stopped Loving Her Today" - George Jones

My favorite version:

Not one mention of "I've Never Been to Me"?

You're a moron, R136. Or DL's Official Cliche Defense Team.

R137 Not a story song.

Trapped in the Closet , Chapters 1 - 22

First person story song:

I'm ready to grow young again.

Sylvia’s Mother

Amos Moses by Jerry Reed

We busted out of class...

Does Ray Stevens' "The Streak" count as a story song?

"The screen door slams...Mary's dress waves..."

A space oddity, Major Tom.

99 red balloons

Was "the carnival" a Jersey thing?

Does Norwegian Wood count?

Who the fuck is Alice??

...three is one too many of us....

R154 "Him" isn't really a story song, but his "Pina colada Song" definitely is.

“Ode to Billy Joe” and “Ballad of Peter Pumkinhead” ...yes!

Tangled up in Blue - Bob Dylan

Oh, I forgot...Thunder Road -Bruce Springsteen

Meatloaf - "Paradise by the Dashboard Light."

Billie Holiday's "Strange Fruit."

"It's My Party" Lesley Gore

Johnny Cash

Speaking of Johnny Cash, "A Boy Named Sue."

I am an old woman named after my mother

My old man is another child that's grown old

If dreams were lightning and thunder was desire

This old house would have burnt down a long time ago

Camouflage

Mason and Dixon

Another vote for El Paso and El Pado City.

Country Bumpkin

Just about anything John Prine wrote could qualify, really, there's such a wealth there.

Sam Stone might be the best, or at least the saddest.

"Your Dad Did" - John Hiatt

Super crazy song with a great twist ending, The Divine Comedy "Our Mutual Friend" one of my favorites of all time.

Ben McCullough:

Keep the Wolves Away:

Desperate Time, a true story about a bent cop by a hometown boy who knew him:

Travelling Soldier, by the ex-Mrs Robison:

Whiskey Lullaby:

There's a lot of versions of this song but this one's the best imo:

"FANCY" by Reba.

ABBA "The Day Before You Came"

The gold standard

Mid 70s Dylan had some great:

Black Diamond Bay

Lily, Rosemary and the Jack of Hearts.

What about me?

Fancy by Reba is another good one!

I'm Living in Shame - Diana Ross

Big Old Ruby Red Dress (Leave Me Alone) - Helen Reddy

Does Smalltown Boy by Bronski Beat qualify? It doesn’t have an awful lot of lyrics - but it does tell a story...

Out of memory, not just You’re So Vain - but at least a couple of other songs on Simon’s No Secrets were story songs too. No Secrets itself was. So was The Carter a Family. Couple of the others too I think...

These days I'm afraid she's not even sure that her name is Veronica...

"By the Time I Get to Phoenix" (Glen Campbell/Jimmy Webb)

Last Time I Saw Him - Dottie West

Great thread! Took me down memory lane and as usual, my fellow DLers beat me to it! Amused that someone threw in Dark Lady by Cher - one of my favorites as a boy and a song that I still find myself singing at appropriate (and of course, deliciously inappropriate) moments. The only story song I can add is "Carolina Drama" by the Raconteurs. It is eerie, but worth a listen although I despise Jack White.

By the way, what exactly is the "story" behind Michael Murphy's (?) 'Wildfire'? I used to cry when I heard that song in the 70s, but when listening to it now I wonder: Who the hell died? Who got lost? The girl or the pony? And if the girl froze to death why is she still running and calling Wildfire? Drives me crazy!!!

Some great suggestions here - another good one by Reba is 'She thinks his name was John'.

Harper Valley PTA

Coward of the County - Kenny Rogers

There was a time Bernadette Carroll was Queen of the Story Song.

Big Iron - Marty Robbins

The entire album Red Headed Stranger (Willie Nelson) is one, long connected story.

It's so influential they even named a pot strain after it. : )

Puff The Magic Dragon

and earlier from Bernadette

Fancy by Reba McIntire

Judy Collins tells us a story of fist-shaking defiance to men.

Still haunting after all these years

The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald - Gordon Lightfoot

I've seen that Jim Croce's already been listed, but for me, this is a great story song... Operator. "You can keep the dime" - damn, that's great lyric. Sounds ridiculous, just five words, but it hits home.

R147 did not forget, R158.

I hear Fancy by Reba is a story

Dyatlov Pass!

Green, Green Grass of Home

Lying Eyes - The Eagles

The Mortal City - Dar Williams

Dan Fogelberg "Same Old Lang Syne"

A short & sweet one: Space Doggity by Johnathan Coulton

Several versions of this. Hers is the best.

I'd include "The Conenction" here too though it's not exactly a story song as described by the OP.

And surprised no one has mentioned it yet: Bohemian Rhapsody

I met a skinhead named Scrap

He lived in my friend's garage

Everyday he's shaking that spray paint can

And comes out seeing stars

Grab a paper bag like an oxygen mask

Until your mind starts to gel

Cuz the ball in the can

Has a crazy beat

The funky dying brain cell

So he met some Christians from hell

Who said, "Let's go to Vegas, man"

So he packed up his leather and his red beret

Into that big, bad Christian van

Use revival meetings like an oxygen tent

Till your mind starts to gel

Cuz the preacher thumps the bible

With a crazy beat

The funky dying brain cell

Well, he came back to the garage

But the garage, it wasn't there

And he dug metallic gold more than Luke and John

Now he's growing his hair

Grab a paper bag like an oxygen mask

Until your mind starts to gel....

I prefer Delbert's version to George Strait's:

Surprised no one's mentioned the Pogues yet, especially after the Fairytale of New York thread a while back.

Mariner's revenge:

Punk Rock Girl by the Dead Milkmen

"Hotel California'" Eagles

“Souls” by Rick Springfield (complete with mullet)

Wasn't that haircut called a "shag" then, R218?

The Carroll County Accident

Gypsies,Tramps, and Thieves

Galveston

One of my dad's favorites.

Speaking of Merle:

[quote]What exactly is the "story" behind Michael Murphy's (?) 'Wildfire'? I used to cry when I heard that song in the 70s, but when listening to it now I wonder: Who the hell died? Who got lost? The girl or the pony? And if the girl froze to death why is she still running and calling Wildfire? Drives me crazy!!!

LOL r189. OK, the song is actually based on a farm folk tale. The pony busted down his stall and the girl went out into the blizzard to search for him. The both froze to death and now she and the pony are ghost harbingers of death.

So at some later point the narrator/singer plants his own farm crops only to have them wiped out by another killing snow so he knows he's going to die and the ghost girl and her pony will be coming for him. By the end of the song it's no longer her calling for Wildfire but the narrator waiting for the girl and pony to carry him off to a better place riding Wildfire.

Sappy song but I'll admit I still get a little misty myself at the poor pony lost in a blizzard. I'm such a sucker.

R225 Dumb bitch, running out in a blizzard to find her horse. She deserve to die. God, I hate that song.

You Never Can Tell

The Devil Went Down To Georgia - Charlie Daniels Band

Delilah - Tom Jones

Half-Breed - Cher

Lesley Gore had two story songs...her smash "It's My Party" and it's sequel "Judy's Turn To Cry"

LOL r226. Dumb pony you mean but I admit I'd probably go out in a blizzard to search for my dog if he were lost in a blizzard. That's not the point though. The song is about crop killing weather for struggling farmers.

But on the subject of folk tale songs, one I didn't see mentioned yet is "Laurie" by Dickey Lee. The narrator meets and instantly falls in love with "an angel of a girl." She says she's very cold so he gives her his sweater and then goes back to retrieve it after they part and is told the girl died a year ago today. Of course his sweater is found on her grave.

You're welcome for saving you from another stinker.

I wouldn't call either the best "story songs" but they're closer to real story songs than many on this thread.

Two songs on same theme, Alan Jackson's Midnight in Montgomery:

The Ride by David Allan Coe

231 posts and no mention of Rod Stewart's "The Killing of Georgie"?!?!?

The Carny, long version:

"Miss Otis Regrets"

This sung is about how Miss Otis was lynched by a mob after she shot her lover. Many people know of Ella Fitzgerald's or Bette Midler's versions, but I prefer Ethel Waters' version the best, which she sings with elegant sorrow.

LYRICS:

Oh, hi! Is Miss Otis in?"

"Miss Otis regrets she's unable to lunch today, "

Miss Otis regrets she's unable to lunch today, madam

Miss Otis regrets she's unable to lunch today, mmm

And she's sorry to be delayed

But last evening down at lover's lane

She strayed, madam

Miss Otis regrets she's unable to lunch today

When she woke up and found

That her dream of love was gone, madam

She ran to the man who had lead her so far astray

And from under her velvet gown

She drew a gun and shot her lover down, madam

Miss Otis regrets she's unable to lunch today

When the mob came and got her

And dragged her from the jail, madam

They strung her up on the willow across the way

And the moment before she died

She lifted up her lovely head and cried, madam

Miss Otis regrets she's unable to lunch

Miss Otis regrets she's unable to lunch today

Reba singing FANCY... Dontcha let me down.

Had not thought of Dean Friedman or "Ariel" in years R45. Thank you.

Trivia: the record company made Friedman record a version without the line "She was a Jewish girl/I fell in love with her" because they thought radio stations in the South wouldn't play it with that line.

This is one of the most amazing covers of "Ode To Billie Joe" by Dorothy Moore, a blues and gospel singer who Eldergays might remember for a 1970s song called "Misty Blue" -- it gives the song a whole a very Southern Gothic spin.

What?

What about the ultimate?

THE SAGA OF JENNY by Kurt Weill

Another oldie-- "Southern California" by George Jones and Tammy Wynette

Kyle Craft's 2017 cover of Leonard Cohen's "Chelsea Hotel #2" about his brief affair with Janis Joplin.

Craft:CH2 = Wainright:Hallelujah

(You are welcome for all these blasts from your pasts, EGs)

"Jacksonville Skyline" from Ryan Adams, one of the most underappreciated musicians of our time, is on the bubble as a story song, but gets in just for the lyric "I was born with an abundance of inherited sadness."

Adams's "Houses on the Hill" which he did with Whiskeytown, one of the original AltCountry bands in the late 90s, is an actual story song.

This is a live version, from Austin City Limits

Can't believe you all left off one of the most famous story songs of all time: Dire Straits' "Romeo and Juliet"

Just to expand EG minds, here's an awesome 06 cover from The Killers (Brandon Flowers is a sometime DL icon)

"Taxi," Harry Chapin

" . . . she was going to be an actress; I was going to learn to fly . . . she took off to find the footlights; and I took off to find the sky . . . "

Glen Campbell's "Witchita Lineman"

Heartbreaking -

My grandmother loved that song R245

When I was a kid I didn't really understand what the lyrics meant, but you could hear the loneliness.

Glen Campbell sure loved his whiskey

Timothy by The Bouys. A song about canibalism.

Garth Brooks has quite a few good story songs. That Summer, In Lonesome Dove, and Cowboy Bill to name a few.

Night Moves by Bob Seger.

Transvision Vamp, "Velveteen"

[quote] Timothy by The Bouys. A song about canibalism.

Plainly you are led to think that, and it might be so. However I've seen another explanation.....

Concrete Blonde, "Joey"

Marianne Faithfull, "The Ballad of Lucy Jordan" (already mentioned, but not linked)

Jane's Addiction, "Jane Says"

What’s Your Momma’s Name Child?

Two Doors Down

You were meant for me - Jewel Piano man - Billy Joel

Most story songs are corny pop tunes but I like the Swedish metal band Sabaton, who tell stories of European military history.

Here's one about the Swedish King Charles XII, a homicidal maniac, megalomaniac and fierce battle commander, who took "the divine right of kings" to insane extremes.

This whole album.

Thank you r225! It all makes sense now. And so I blubber once more.

"Delta Dawn"

A Top 10 Country hit for Tanya Tucker in 1972.

Helen Reddy took the song to #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1973.

r225 MARY! (in a good way!)

"Coal Miner's Daughter" - Loretta Lynn

"Me and Little Andy" Dolly Parton

Space Oddity

Van Lear Rose

David Bowie's early "Wild Eyed Boy From Freecloud"

Solemn faced The village settles down Undetected by the stars And the hangman plays the mandolin before he goes to sleep And the last thing on his mind Is the Wild Eyed Boy imprisoned 'Neath the covered wooden shaft Folds the rope Into its bag Blows his pipe of smolders Blankets smoke into the room And the day will end for some As the night begins for one.

Great picks! Such variety

Great one, R207

Also I'd submit several other of Dar WIlliams' songs...

The Baby Sitter's Here When Sal's Burned Down Flinty Kind of Woman The Pointless, Yet Poignant, Crisis of a Coed

Here is Mark Rothko Song...

Dar.. Flinty Kind of Woman:

Ugh...

That's

The Babysitter's Here;

When Sal's Burned Down;

Flinty Kind of Woman;

The Pointless, Yet Poignant, Crisis of a Coed

Hey Eugene! by Pink Martini

Kind of a "story." Amusing, anyway.

Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer

by Elmo & Patsy

Me and Bobby McGee - Janis Joplin

Love this thread! Could post my Harry Chapin favorites, but we'd hit 600 pretty fast.

Always liked this Bruce Springsteen song about lost youth - The River.

we are at 275 and no Lola by the Kinks!

ruby red dress

Jim Croce - Bad Bad Leroy Brown

My Sister by Tindersticks, a somewhat obscure mid 90's Brit band

this is one of the most depressing "story" songs EVER! It starts off really slow but picks up melody wise ending with a jaunty jazzy finale

I dont know if this really counts as a "story" song but it is hauntingly beautiful.

a Cher medley with costume changes!

Another great Springsteen story, "Meeting Across the River"; "Mean Streets" meets "Pope of Greenwich Village" in musical form. I have the feeling the narrator "blew it", and he and his hapless driver Eddie were never seen again.

I love this little Bossanova novelty hit, Fraiser the Aging Lion.

btw, based on a true story

Christmas Card From A Hooker In Minneapolis by Tom Waits

R262: I just realized that 3 of Helen Reddy's biggest hits (Delta Dawn, Ruby Red Dress, Angie Baby) were all about crazy ladies.

Do TV theme songs count? If so:

"The Brady Bunch"

"Gilligan's Island"

"The Beverly Hillbillies"

If they work, r286, they count. And they work.

Dead and Lovely:

Fancy by Reba.

Just kidding.

But this is how Fancy could have turned out, if the gentlemen hadn't been nice to her:

Actually R276, it was at R42.

Fancy by Reba, seems to the consensus of the thread.

Here she is giving the ultimate drag performance of the song: Mid-song costume change, heavy makeup, with her original tits out.

I'm surprised that "Fancy" got so many mentions. I never thought that DL members were such solid fans of Reba.

R292 DL loves Miss Reba, as long as she doesn't have her own thread.

Danielle Dax, 16 Candles

Here's a song cover from an unknown artist; she now goes by 'ecat' on Ytube. She's covering Kimbra's "Wandering Limbs" from Kimbra's debut 'Vows' CD. 'ecat' resembles the lovely Natasha Richardson.

The song is about heartbreak when fading into the background of the life of the person you love and trying to hold on ". . . am I caught in the background or part of the scene . . . I think I fell into a strange place with wandering limbs and . . . eager hands . . . "

Love how 'ecat's' video begins in B/W then slowly transitions to color to the end.

[quote] One worse than the next.

R9, don't you mean each one is worse than the last? If each one is worse than the next, it means these songs are getting better as you proceed down the list.

R296 usually I hate DL grammar call outs but that was good!

Many mentions of Reba's remake of "Fancy", but here's the original version by Bobbie Gentry (released 1969).

Mary Ann & One Eyed Dan by Shovels & Rope

Lily, Rosemary & The Jack of Hearts

La Petite Mort by Erin McKeown

So, Fancy's mother turned her into a prostitute? Am I understanding the lyrics here?

Hmm. yeah... I can see why it's so beloved by DL queens.

Long Black Veil

Dixie Chicken by Little Feat

R.I.P. Lowell George

The lyrics to Dixie Chicken because I loveit so much:

I've seen the bright lights of Memphis

And the Commodore Hotel

And underneath a street lamp I met a Southern belle

Well she took me to the river, where she cast her spell

And in that Southern moonlight, she sang a song so well

If you'll be my dixie chicken, I'll be your Tenessee lamb

And we can walk together down in dixieland

Down in dixieland

Well we made all the hot spots. My money flowed like wine

Then that low down Southern whiskey began to fog my mind

And I don't remember church bells or the money I put down

On the white picket fence and boardwalk of the house at the edge of town

But boy do I remember the strain of her refrain

The nights we spent together, and the way she called my name

If you'll be my dixie chicken, I'll be your Tenessee lamb

And we can walk together down in dixieland

Down in dixieland

Well it's been a year since she ran away

Yes that guitar player sure could play

She always liked to sing along

She's always handy with a song

Then one night in the lobby of the Commodore Hotel

I chanced to meet a bartender who said he knew her well

And as he handed me a drink he began to hum a song

And all the boys there, at the bar, began to sign along

If you'll be my dixie chicken, I'll be your Tenessee lamb

And we can walk together down in dixieland

Down in dixieland

A lot of the songs posted in this thread are really just vignettes or portraits. To me a "story song" would have the elements of a very basic story: a narrative, characters, a basic plot and a conclusion.

"Harper Valley PTA" - Jeannie C. Riley

Miss Peggy Lee’s anthem to ennui - Is That All There Is. I think it won the Grammy for Song of the Year.

Lyrics:

I remember when I was a very little girl, our house caught on fire I'll never forget the look on my father's face as he gathered me up in his arms and raced through the burning building out to the pavement I stood there shivering in my pajamas and watched the whole world go up in flames And when it was all over I said to myself, is that all there is to a fire Is that all there is, is that all there is If that's all there is my friends, then let's keep dancing Let's break out the booze and have a ball If that's all there is

And when I was twelve years old, my father took me to a circus, the greatest show on earth There were clowns and elephants and dancing bears And a beautiful lady in pink tights flew high above our heads And so I sat there watching the marvelous spectacle I had the feeling that something was missing I don't know what, but when it was over I said to myself, "is that all there is to a circus? Is that all there is, is that all there is If that's all there is my friends, then let's keep dancing Let's break out the booze and have a ball If that's all there is

Then I fell in love, head over heels in love, with the most wonderful boy in the world We would take long walks by the river or just sit for hours gazing into each other's eyes We were so very much in love Then one day he went away and I thought I'd die, but I didn't and when I didn't I said to myself, is that all there is to love? Is that all there is, is that all there is If that's all there is my friends, then let's keep dancing

I know what you must be saying to yourselves if that's the way she feels about it why doesn't she just end it all?

Oh, no, not me I'm in no hurry for that final disappointment for I know just as well as I'm standing here talking to you when that final moment comes and I'm breathing my last breath, I'll be saying to myself

Is that all there is, is that all there is If that's all there is my friends, then let's keep dancing Let's break out the booze and have a ball If that's all there is Songwriters: Jerry Leiber / Mike Stoller

^^vote for R308^^

In another universe, anything by Jerry Reed.

Here she is...

Johnny Horton - Battle of New Orleans

I loved this as a kid.

I think this qualifies, R306

You might want to check the locks after it's done.

[quote] Johnny Horton - Battle of New Orleans. I loved this as a kid.

As a kid what would you have thought had you heard the alternate version Johnny recorded for the British market, making the Redcoats the heroes of the song.

I haven't found it but I'm convinced Horton must also done a version of 'Sink the Hood" for the German market.

Green grass of Home - Tom Jones. Massachusetts - BeeGees

The Greatest Man I never knew. -Reba

You look so good in love -George Strait

Ballad of the Greet Berets

Vomit emoji all over r316.

Another vote for Bobbie Gentry Ode to Billie Joe. The first one I thought when I read the title of the thread.

Cold Missouri Waters

Are You Happy Now?

Finnegan's Wake

Leaving Louisiana In The Broad Daylight

The Last Resort - The Eagles "Call some place paradise, kiss it goodbye"

Cher - Gypsies, Tramps and Thieves

Travelin Soldier by the Dixie Chicks

From Little Things Big Things Grow

R225 OMG that's even more heartbreaking than I originally thought! I cannot listen to that song (Wildfire) or the Leaving on a Jet Plane or the Cats Cradle....without spending hours in despair for imaginary peoples' suffering...

Ana Silvera's "Notes from an Opera", which is about a starlet who falls in love with a German soldier in occupied Paris.

I was in a hotel when the city first fell

It was gilded and sullen and neoclassical

I took up with an officer and then his general

He bought me almond biscuits and a freshwater pearl

Love Potion No. 9?

It was the third of September

That day I'll always remember...

Tony Joe White’s “Lustful Earl and the Married Woman”

“Marie Laveau” by Bobby Bare

Jungleland, another great one by Bruce Springsteen.

"He Went to Paris" by Jimmy Buffet and "Life Story" from Maltby and Shire's "Closer than Ever" both seem to have a common theme. Highlights (or lowlights) of the narrators life and assessing that life later as they reach middle age or as an elder.

This one. The creepy aspect of it is that one could easily imagine something horrible happening to the narrator the day the subject of the song came.

Clay Walker, Chain of Love

Beautiful.

Three Wooden Crosses by Randy Travis or “El Paso” Marty Robinson.

"Ode to Billie Joe" - Bobbie Gentry

Babooshka by Kate Bush. Great story song.

"I spent four lonely days in a brown LA haze"

Come Monday - Jimmy Buffet

Surprised 'Monster Mash' hasn't been mentioned yet...

Please, Come to Boston

Another TV theme: "The Nanny."

Jim Croce - "You Don't Mess Around With Jim"

R341 Good Choice!

Rocky by Austin Roberts

R20!!!

Townes Van Zandt "Pancho and Lefty"

My sister was a huge Rick Springfield fan back in the day (he was gorgeous) and she had an early album named "Wait for Night" with a song called "Treat Me Gently in the Morning". I can't find a free track but it was about a couple who found love from a one night stand, but of course, eventually one of them gets on a plane, and we all know how THAT always ends.

This of course.

I've got two -- "Young Turks" (that has a beginning, middle and end, right?) and "Hello, This is Joanie" (which definitely does).

Also, music videos kinda replaced story songs (in my opinion).

A real tear jerke.

Very evocative version

Dolly is the queen of the story song and this is one of her best. A Lifetime and Hallmark two part movie for sure!

Robert Earl Keen's 'The Road Goes on Forever'.

r354 that's crazy I was just looking for the version of Live Forever he did with Billy Joe Shaver & Todd Snider

Dolly's Creepiest Story Song

R36, did the singer of Brandy ever fully transition?

Succinct and to the point.

R36 Still one of my favorite songs - evokes such great memories from my childhood in the 70s!

Todd Snider, "Talking Seattle Grunge Rock Blues"

R358 I'd always heard that song was referring to labour unions. What do you think?

r361, I think it just represents perpetual omnipresent unavoidable conflict and friction. Stress and strife perhaps magnified and stoked more than it should be. Beauty and ugliness interwoven. Judgment, ego, self preservation, unfairness, throw in some 'why we can't have nice things'. The lumber industry and perhaps resources in general.

Perhaps more "vignette" than full story, but Warren Zevon's "Carmelita" is nicely evocative

𝐅𝐈𝐋𝐊: an entire genre of "story" songs that sadly so very know exist.

Another somewhat angrier example by Leslie Fish

Escape (The Piña Colada Song)

[quote]Perhaps more "vignette" than full story, but Warren Zevon's "Carmelita" is nicely evocative

"Vignette" is good, r363. Though it's one of my top three or four Zevon songs, and in my top ten by Linda Ronstadt, I didn't post "Carmelita" here. No beginning, middle, and end, ergo "vignette" (or, as I called it, "slice," as in "slice of life").

"Desperadoes under the Eaves" is my favorite, btw, and either "The French Inhaler" or "Tenderness on the Block" are two of my others.

No one gets the prize , Ms Ross

Charming tale of hitchhiking:

Heart - All I Want To Do Is Make Love To You

1 of my faves. I love how it goes from being nobody's fault to being his fault by the end. lol