Great Story Telling Songs

[ComicChick]

I absolutely love songs that can paint the picture of a story being told. I've been in a kick of listening to songs that tell stories so I thought I'd post some of my favorites and everyone else can too.

 

[ComicChick]

Three Wooden Crosses -Randy Travis



lyrics:

Spoiler

A farmer and a teacher, a hooker and a preacher,
Ridin' on a midnight bus bound for Mexico.
One's headed for vacation, one for higher education,
An' two of them were searchin' for lost souls.
That driver never ever saw the stop sign.
An' eighteen wheelers can't stop on a dime.

There are three wooden crosses on the right side of the highway,
Why there's not four of them, Heaven only knows.
I guess it's not what you take when you leave this world behind you,
It's what you leave behind you when you go.

That farmer left a harvest, a home and eighty acres,
The faith an' love for growin' things in his young son's heart.
An' that teacher left her wisdom in the minds of lots of children:
Did her best to give 'em all a better start.
An' that preacher whispered: "Can't you see the Promised Land?"
As he laid his blood-stained bible in that hooker's hand.

There are three wooden crosses on the right side of the highway,
Why there's not four of them, Heaven only knows.
I guess it's not what you take when you leave this world behind you,
It's what you leave behind you when you go.

That's the story that our preacher told last Sunday.
As he held that blood-stained bible up,
For all of us to see.
He said: "Bless the farmer, and the teacher, an' the preacher;
"Who gave this Bible to my mamma,
"Who read it to me."

There are three wooden crosses on the right side of the highway,
Why there's not four of them, now I guess we know.
It's not what you take when you leave this world behind you,
It's what you leave behind you when you go.

There are three wooden crosses on the right side of the highway.

 

[E-Man]

Lupe Fiasco's "The Cool" tells a terrific zombie story, but it's not Hype appropriate.

Colin Munroe's "Last Cause" tells a pretty good falling in love story, but it's also not Hype appropriate because of a couple of words.

Well there is this cool Willie Nelson song.
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[The Chairman]

Spoiler

Early one mornin', the sun was shinin'
He was lyin' in bed
Wonderin' if she'd changed at all
If her hair was still red

Her folks, they said, our lives together
Sure was gonna be rough
They never did like Mama's homemade dress
Papa's bankbook wasn't big enough

And he was standin' on the side of the road
Rain fallin' on his shoes
Heading out for the old East Coast
Lord knows, he's paid some dues gettin' through
Tangled up in blue

She was married when they first met
Soon to be divorced
He helped her out of a jam, I guess
But he used a little too much force

And they drove that car as far as they could
Abandoned it out west
And split up on a dark sad night
Both agreein' it was best

And she turned around to look at him
'Cause he was walkin' away
She said, "This can't be the end
We'll meet on another day, on the avenue"
Tangled up in blue

He had a job in the old North Woods
Workin' as a cook for a spell
But he never did like it all that much
And one day the ax just fell

When he drifted down to L.A.
Where he reckoned to try his luck
Workin' for a while on an airplane plant
Loading cargo on to a truck

But all the while he was alone
The past was close behind
He'd seen a lot of women
But she never escaped his mind, and he just grew
Tangled up in blue

She was workin' in a topless place
I stopped in for beer
I just kept lookin' at the side of her face
In the spotlight so clear

And later on, as the crowd thinned out
I was about to do the same
She was standing there in back of my chair
Said to me, "What's your name?"

I muttered somethin' underneath my breath
She studied the lines on my face
I must admit I felt a little uneasy
When she bent down to tie the laces of my shoe
Tangled up in blue

She lit a burner on the stove
And offered me a pipe
"I thought you'd never say hello", she said
"You look like the silent type"

Then she opened up a book of poems
And handed it to me
Written by an Italian poet
From the thirteenth century

And every one of them words rang true
And glowed like burnin' coal
Pourin' off of every page
Like it was written in my soul, from me to you
Tangled up in blue

He was always in a hurry
Too busy or too stoned
And everything that she ever planned
Just had to be postponed

We thought they were successful
She thought they were blessed
With objects and material things
But I never was impressed

And when it all came crashin' down
I became withdrawn
The only thing I knew how to do
Was keep on keepin' on like a bird that flew
Tangled up in blue

So now I'm going back again
I got to get to her somehow
All the people we used to know
They're an illusion to me now

Some are mathematicians
Some are doctor's wives
Don't know how it all got started
Don't know what they're doin' with their lives

But me, I'm still on the road
Headin' for another joint
We always did feel the same
We just saw it from a different point of view
Tangled up in blue

 

[Motown Marvel]

Raconteurs- Carolina Drama



I'm not sure if there's a point to this story
But I'm going to tell it again
So many other people try to tell the tale
Not one of them knows the end

It was a junk-house in South Carolina
Held a boy the age of ten
Along with his older brother Billy
And a mother and her boyfriend
Who was a triple loser with some blue tattoos
That were given to him when he was young
And a drunk temper that was easy to lose
And thank god he didn't own a gun

Well, Billy woke up in the back of his truck
Took a minute to open his eyes
He took a peep into the back of the house
And found himself a big surprise
He didn't see his brother but there was his mother
With her red-headed head in her hands
While the boyfriend had his gloves wrapped around an old priest
Trying to choke the man

Ah Ah Ahhh...

Billy looked up from the window to the truck
Threw up, and had to struggle to stand
He saw that red-necked bastard with a hammer
Turn the priest into a shell of a man
The priest was putting up the fight of his life
But he was old and he was bound to lose
The boyfriend hit as hard as he could
And knocked the priest right down to his shoes

Well, now Billy knew but never actually met
The preacher lying there in the room
He heard himself say, "That must be my daddy"
Then he knew what he was gonna do
Billy got up enough courage, took it up
And grabbed the first blunt thing he could find
It was a cold, glass bottle of milk
That got delivered every morning at nine

Ah Ah Ahhh...

Billy broke in and saw the blood on the floor, and
He turned around and put the lock on the door
He looked dead into the boyfriend's eye
His mother was a ghost, too upset to cry, then
He took a step toward the man on the ground
From his mouth trickled out a little audible sound
He heard the boyfriend shout, "Get out!"
And Billy said, "Not till I know what this is all about"
"Well, this preacher here was attacking your mama"
But Billy knew just who was starting the drama
So Billy took dead aim at his face
And smashed the bottle on the man who left his dad in disgrace, and
The white milk dripped down with the blood, and the
Boyfriend fell down dead for good
Right next to the preacher who was gasping for air
And Billy shouted, "Daddy, why'd you have to come back here?"
His mama reached behind the sugar and honey, and
Pulled out an envelope filled with money
"Your daddy gave us this," she collapsed in tears
"He's been paying all the bills for years"
"Mama, let's put this body underneath the trees
and put Daddy in the truck and head to Tennessee"
Just then, his little brother came in
Holding the milk man's hat and a bottle of gin singing,

La la la la, la la la la, yeah
La la la la, la la la la, yeah
La la la la, la la la la, yeah
La la la, la la la...
La la la la, la la la la, yeah
La la la la, la la la la, yeah
La la la la, la la la la, yeah
La la la, la la la...
La la la la, la la la la, yeah
La la la la, la la la la, yeah
La la la la, la la la la, yeah
La la la la, la la la la, yeah

Well now you heard another side to the story
But you wanna know how it ends?
If you must know, the truth about the tale
Go and ask the milkman

 

[Motown Marvel]

Bob Dylan- Isis
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8129545413492990128#

I married Isis on the fifth day of May
But I could not hold on to her very long
So I cut off my hair and I rode straight away
For the wild unknown country where I could not go wrong.

I came to a high place of darkness and light
The dividing line ran through the center of town
I hitched up my pony to a post on the right
Went in to a laundry to wash my clothes down.

A man in the corner approached me for a match
I knew right away he was not ordinary
He said "Are you looking for something easy to catch ?"
I said "I got no money". He said "That ain't necessary".

We set out that night for the cold in the North
I gave him my blanket he gave me his word
I said "Where are we going ?" He said "We'd be back by the fourth"
I said "That's the best new that I've ever heard".

I was thinking about turquoise I was thinking about gold
I was thinking about diamonds and the world's biggest necklace
As we rode through the canyons through the devilish cold
I was thinking about Isis how she thought I was so reckless.

How she told me that one day we meet up again
And things would be different the next time we wed
If I only could hang on and just be her friend
I still can't remember all the best things she said.

We came to the pyramids all embedded in ice
He said "There's a body I'm trying to find
If I carry it out it'll bring a good prize"
It was then that I knew what he had on his mind.

The wind it was howling and the snow was outrageous
We chopped through the night and we chopped through the dawn
When he died I was hoping that it wasn't contagious
But I made up my mind that I had to go on.
I broke into the tomb but the casket was empty
There was no jewels no nothing I felt I'd been had
When I saw that my partner was just being friendly
When I took up his offer I must-a been mad.

I picked up his body and I dragged him inside
Threw him down in the hole and I put back the cover
I said a quick prayer and I felt satisfied
Then I rode back to find Isis just to tell her I love her.

She was there in the meadow where the creek used to rise
Blinded by sleep and in need of a bed
I came in from the East with the sun in my eyes
I cursed her one time then I rode on ahead.

She said "Where ya been ?" I said "No place special ?"
She said "You look different" I said "Well I guess"
She said "You been gone" I said "That's only natural"
She said "You gonna stay ?" I said "If you want me to, Yeah ".

Isis oh Isis you mystical child
What drives me to you is what drives me insane
I still can remember the way that you smiled
On the fifth day of May in the drizzling rain.

 

[ChickenScratch]

Maybe you should check out concept albums since you like music that tells stories. Dream Theater's Scenes From A Memory is a great story of a man plagued by memories of a girl's death in the 20's. Turns out he is her re-incarnated to resolve her murder. There's Queensryche's Operation Mindcrime about a man kidnapped and programmed to kill the President in what seems to be a hospital. There's Evergrey's Inner Circle about a man falling in with a cult. I could go on, I love concept albums.

 

[imaperson2]

The Raconteurs- Carolina Drama (epic story )

Brandon Flowers- The Clock Was Tickin' (will have you crying...it tells the story of a couple's life, them getting older, and her eventually passing away. So damn good yet so damn sad especially considering he wrote it about his dad and what he went through with his wife/Brandon's mom and losing her to cancer.)

 

[Firm18]

Eminem - Stan

A Classic right here.

 

[ShivNasty]

Robot Hive/Exodus by Clutch is a pretty badass concept album about machines rising up

 

[ChickenScratch]

Speaking of machines rising up, another good album is Fear Factory's Obsolete album. It's quite possibly the best humans versus robots story ever told, and it's an album! With a hero named Edgecrusher you know there's a high level of bad-ass going on. It could have easily been slotted in as the soundtrack for any of the Terminator movies.

 

[AllyBabble]

ok, the first ones i thought of were a couple of Syd Barrett ones, just striaght out stories, i will edit in the lyrics later...

'Here I go', written for his first solo album after being kicked out of Pink Floyd, this is reflected in the lyrics, but is not depressing, it turns into a nice story:

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'Efferverscing Elephant', a funny wee story written when he was sixteen:

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and also, from Elastica's 1st album, i always loved this album, and this has always been my fav track off of it, it just sounds so kick-ass, but is also a cool and smart song about a break-up, and how you find they are out of your head, when before they were always there, called 'Never Here'. The person she is singing about having gotten over is Brett Anderson from the band Suede:

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[Blitzkrieg Bop]

 

[AllyBabble]

i was going to watch this one, but the video has been 'disabled by request'. they can get taken down anytime, so i always check mine once posted, i had to go back and change one that i wrote down the other night.

 

[Crockett]

Maybe you should check out concept albums since you like music that tells stories. Dream Theater's Scenes From A Memory is a great story of a man plagued by memories of a girl's death in the 20's. Turns out he is her re-incarnated to resolve her murder.

That was the album that introduce me to Dream Theater, one heck of a great album.

 

[Motown Marvel]

cant believe i forgot this one! the infamous mini rock-opera

The Who- A Quick One While He's Away

 

[Ash J. Williams]

Thursday - Understanding in a Car Crash
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Thursday - The Other Side of the Crash / Over and Out (of Control)
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Thursday - At This Velocity
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Thursday - As He Climbed the Dark Mountain
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He Is Legend - China White
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He Is Legend - I Am Hollywood
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[FVD]

Everything by Fish (not Phish, FISH)!

And many epics from Peter Gabriel era Genesis! Suppers Ready, The Cinema Show and The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway come to mind.

There are many more. I'll be back...

 

[Figs]

Speaking of machines rising up, another good album is Fear Factory's Obsolete album. It's quite possibly the best humans versus robots story ever told, and it's an album! With a hero named Edgecrusher you know there's a high level of bad-ass going on. It could have easily been slotted in as the soundtrack for any of the Terminator movies.

Good to see another FF fan on here.

 

[DarkSovereignty]

paradise by the dashboard light, well, anything written by jim steinman is basically a short story set to music...and i love it.

 

[imaperson2]

How could I forget The Murder Trilogy by The Killers? It spans three different albums, all out of order. It starts with "Leave the Bourbon on the Shelf", then goes to "Midnight Show" and ends with "Jenny was a Friend of Mine"

It's basically the telling of the murder of his friend Jenny-which he did.

 

[Mr.Webs]

The Wall is one of the most incredible story albums of all time, in my honest opinion. So may layers, so many beautiful subtexts...I know the thread says songs, but I just keep on thinking about The Wall.

 

[E-Man]

Here's a nice one I like.

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[Darkness Falls]

Where the wild roses grow - Nick Cave Feat. Kylie

 

[Blitzkrieg Bop]

I expected Dylan's "Hurricane" to have been mentioned by now...