# Best story-song **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 25, 2000, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-story-song/26842 "2000-07-25T23:35:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2000, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-story-song/26842/81 "2000-07-27T21:18:36Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by jcatcher \* > \*\*“A Dying Cub Fans Last Request” - Steve Goodman > \*\* Good one. “Do they still play the blues in Chicago…” _I’m Just a Bill_ by Dave Frishberg, sung by Jack Sheldon ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2000, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-story-song/26842/82 "2000-07-27T21:46:59Z")
As long as you’re asking for the _best_ story song, my top 3, all from the 70’s (the story song decade) would be: 1. **Ode to Billie Joe** (Bobbie Gentry) That is one haunting song. Didn’t Cecil do a column on this one? What the heck _were_ they throwing off the Tallahatchee Bridge? I always figured the narrator had a pregnancy by Billie Joe, which resulted in a miscarriage or an abortion, and then Billie Joe killed himself out of fundamentalist guilt. (The lame-ass made-for-TV movie based on the song put a different spin on it, of course.) 2. **Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald** (Gordon Lightfoot) I like the line about the old cook saying “It’s been good to know ya.” 3. **Mr. Bojangles** (Written by Jerry Jeff Walker, I believe. The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band made it a hit.) Admit it. You cried when the guy’s dog up and died. ---
**Author:** ![Myrr21](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e495f1/32.png) [@Myrr21](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Myrr21)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2000, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-story-song/26842/83 "2000-07-28T01:59:03Z")
Oh yes, and \* Bales of Cocaine \* by the Reverand Horton Heat. bales of cocaine fallin from low-flying planes I dunno who dropped em but I thank em just the same… God that’s a great song 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Deimos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Deimos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Deimos)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2000, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-story-song/26842/84 "2000-07-28T03:12:47Z")
Downbound Train by Springsteen. The Smithereens did an excellent cover. ---
**Author:** ![Flang\_Dang](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a88e4f/32.png) [@Flang\_Dang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flang_Dang)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2000, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-story-song/26842/85 "2000-07-28T04:03:31Z")
Many good ones. Here’s one: “The Road Goes On Forever” - Robert Earle Keen In addition to the other Tom Waits songs, don’t forget “Small Change” - classic Waits. ---
**Author:** ![poohpah\_chalupa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/91b2a8/32.png) [@poohpah\_chalupa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/poohpah_chalupa)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2000, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-story-song/26842/86 "2000-07-28T04:40:42Z")
Great Question! First: PLG, a woman after my own heart…“House on Pooh Corner” came to mind immediately. Harry Chapin’s “Taxi”…doesn’t this qualify as a love song? If not, “Same Old Lang Syne” by Dan Fogelberg should rate somewhere as well. “American City Suite”-Cashman & West. “Ode to Billy Joe”-Bobbie Gentry. …yeah, “She’s Leaving Home” definitely. “Polk Salad Annie” by Tony Joe White, just for the funk factor. And (I’m gonna get a lot of flak for this one, as I dip my toe into the cheese here): “Butterfly Kisses” by Bob Carlisle. ::ducks thrown shoes and tin cans:: [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-story-song/26842.md?page=4)