What songs do you like that have a strong story or character ? I love songs that build a character and tell a story so concisely. I have been studying them recently - learning how to introduce a character almost instantly. Some of mine: Little Andy; Joshua; Jolene - Dolly Parton Rosie - Joan Armatrading Jessie - Joshua Kadison Copacabana - Barry Manilow Thank You For a Lifetime - Cliff Richard (I know its autobiographical) Angie Baby - Helen Reddy Lovely Rita; She's Leaving Home - The Beatles The Ghetto - Elvis
GAH. Damn stupid English language. Almost everything I want to list is in Swedish but I'll give it a try: Whatever Lola Wants - Sarah Vaughan Princess Crocodile - Gry
Well, most Busted songs have a story and characters... I'll look through my music library and make a better response at some point, as I'm sure not a lot of you are Busted fans like me.
Pfft. I'll just enjoy Busted on my own then! You're all missing out. Oh also, one song does come to mind with character and a story. Great White Bear by Dear Reader. It's beautiful and I actually wrote a short story inspired by it.
For storytelling, in my opinion, nobody beats Bruce Springsteen. Racing In The Street; The River; Highway Patrolman; Incident On 57th Street. Life, love ,loss. It's all in there, and superbly told.
The Irish folk song Whiskey in the Jar is a pretty good story. There's been many done over time, but some of the most famous versions of it are by The Dubliners, Thin Lizzy, and Metallica (Covering Lizzy's version).
Poets of the Fall - The Poet and the Muse In case you didn't catch it, the band may as well be a group of musical poets. PotF is my favorite band in the history of favorite bands. This song in particular tells a rather dark story.
No one said you had to stick to the english language. I list to a lot of J-Pop, German Industrial, and even European folk songs. Europa - Globus Links 2-3-4 - Rammstein Vanilla - Gackt Whatever - Ayumi Hamasaki Thanks For The Memories - Fallout Boy
Chuck Berry - You never can tell Elvis Presley - In The Ghetto Roy Orbison - Pretty Woman Type O Negative - Black No.1 (reminds me of being a 15 year old goth. Good times) Type O Negative - Christian Woman Pearl Jam - Jeremy Crash Test Dummies - Mmm, mmm, mmm, mmm Bob Dylan - Moonlight Billy Idol - White Wedding Rammstein - Spieluhr Red Hot Chilli Peppers - Californication Madonna - Papa Don't Preach Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds - Red Right Hand I love all these songs for their story telling. I'm sure there are hundreds more, but that's all I could remember from the top of my head at the moment.
I like The Queen and the Solider by Suzanne Vega loads. Know a lot of other songs that tell a story, but I just like listening to that particular one.
I shouldn't be reading this thread, it's over a week old. Very bad question to ask, but I'll try to keep it relevant and short (say...6?). For Characters: That's a Sad Affair - Daniel O'Donnell or Jim Reeves [Recommended] Pinball Wizard - The Who For Story: The Legend of John Henry's Hammer - Johhny Cash Subdivision Blues - Tom T. Hall For Both: Martinmass Time - Whoever you can get it by, it's old. [Recommended] The Slopes of Sweet Cloonee - Ditto the above. Try Cantaria for lyrics and possible directions to recordings. Speaking of busted: Busted - Johnny Cash [Recommended] ~ Mist
Virtually everything by Joanna Newsom and Sufjan Stevens. They're both quite narrative- and character-driven songwriters. My favourite of this kinda genre would probably be 'Does Not Suffice' by Joanna Newsom. It's heartbreaking.
I can't believe I forgot: I've Got a Brand New Combine Harvester : Wurzels Ernie : Benny Hill (the milkman one) Two Little Boys; Tie Me Kangaroo Down : Rolf Harris
Nothing wrong with replying to a thread where the last post was a week ago. It's when it goes beyond a month you should probably avoid it. Though not entirely sure on the necrobumping policy on this forum.
Okey. I'll go for some of my swedish favorites then. "Vargaflicka" - Loke "Vedergällningen" - Garmarna "Jag kan inte skilja på" - Melissa Horn
A Boy Named Sue by Johhny Cash? Thought of that but had already reached my self-set limit! I've gotta look that one up. Sounds great! ~ Mist
"She's Leaving Home", (basically describes my relationship with my parents), "Dear Prudence", "Rocky Raccoon", "Penny Lane", etc. by the Beatles. "Like A Rolling Stone", "Subterranean Homesick Blues", by Bob Dylan.
Penny Lane has always been a weird one for me - it's a bus terminal, a roundabout and stinks of wee. Sure it's changed a bit since I last went there lol Eleanor Rigby would be a good one but her statue terrfied me when I was a child it's kind of sat on a bench someone had given it a bag of chips (fries) and I didn't realise it wasn't a person. When i looked I thought the person had been touched by Midas lol
Danny boy - when you know the story behind it, it's heartbreaking. Two little boys - Rolf Harris The little boy that Santa Claus forgot - Dame Vera Lynne Coat of many colours - Dolly Pardon Are you lonesome tonight - Elvis Presley Outside of heaven - don't remember the singer's name Where have all the flowers gone - Peter Seeger Yesterday - Paul Mccartny All the songs that come to mind at the moment seem to be sad songs - must be the mood I'm in. If I think of any cheery ones I'll come back with them.
Lynyrd Skynyrd - The Ballad of Curtis Lowe It's a ballad so it's obliviously got the feeling of a back story, but I believe that if you really look into it you can find a even more of a hidden message behind the lyrics.
