Story songs
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I was playing MrMet’s custom of Cat’s in the Cradle (grab it from his thread in the Other Customs forum, awesome!!!), and it got me thinking about story songs. Fun for parties or alone, this is an under represented genre in RB. Sure there are some already in official DLC (The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia and The Gambler, for instance) but plenty that are not. Off the top of my head…
The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald – Gordon Lightfoot
Fast Car – Tracy Chapman
The Boxer – Simon & Garfunkel
City of New Orleans – Arlo Guthrie
The Heart of the Matter – Don Henley
River – Joni Mitchell
Operator – Jim Croce
Whiskey Lullabye – Brad Paisley & Alison Krauss
…others? Anybody else into story songs? Discuss.
An old ballad I can remember off the top of my head is “Right Said Fred” by Bernard Cribbins. That’s a little more on the kids side of things, though.
I don’t get the definition of story songs… isn’t Blink 182’s Rock Show a story song? Lynyrd Skynyrd’s Gimme Three Steps? don’t almost all songs tell a story in some way?
I don’t get the definition of story songs… isn’t Blink 182’s Rock Show a story song? Lynyrd Skynyrd’s Gimme Three Steps? don’t almost all songs tell a story in some way?I would say it’s songs that are either ballads or where the story is the centerpiece of the song and not the music itself.
I don’t get the definition of story songs… isn’t Blink 182’s Rock Show a story song? Lynyrd Skynyrd’s Gimme Three Steps? don’t almost all songs tell a story in some way?I would say it’s songs that are either ballads or where the story is the centerpiece of the song and not the music itself.
So like… Lose Yourself – Eminem?
i’m not trying to be irritating, i’m just intrigued
So like… Lose Yourself – Eminem?
i’m not trying to be irritating, i’m just intrigued
I don’t know much Eminem so I can’t comment on that. Thing is, as soon as I read “story telling” I had a song in mind, so even though it may not be that easy to categorise it, I think “songs that tell a story” actually refers to something specific, because as I said it instantly brought up in my mind one of the defining songs telling a story.
I’m with Farottone, I can’t really provide a precise definition but I think story songs tend to be more about the narrative than the music. There’s a more linear element and it’s not quite as abstract as other kinds of songs, characters are key. Maybe it also tends to come from the singer/songwriter type of artist as compared to full bands, judging by our list so far. Interesting stuff, thanks for the replies!
One of the best story songs that I can think of comes from Canadian singer/songwriter Gordon Lightfoot with “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald”. Even though it sounds like it comes from the 70s, I wouldn’t call it very dated, as it is still a great song today and I’d like to see it in Rock Band, plus it tells the true story of a ship wreck that happened a few years before the song came out.
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