# Best Story Songs? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 2, 2013, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-story-songs/651850 "2013-03-02T21:41:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2013, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-story-songs/651850/101 "2013-03-05T02:45:23Z")
Two variations on a theme: The Gypsy Laddie (Tannahill Weavers) The Whistling Gypsy (Clancy Brothers) ---
**Author:** ![Civil\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d78d45/32.png) [@Civil\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Civil_Guy)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2013, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-story-songs/651850/102 "2013-03-05T02:48:31Z")
For our first (but not only?) foreign language entry: 99 Luftballons (Nena) ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2013, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-story-songs/651850/103 "2013-03-05T02:53:09Z")
[An Irish Ballad](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xxuLAuVc4qQ) by Tom Lehrer. ---
**Author:** ![phungi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/phungi/32/395_2.png) [@phungi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phungi)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2013, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-story-songs/651850/104 "2013-03-05T03:31:00Z")
[Powderfinger](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FMvjfBdeiKw) by Neil Young [Carolina Drama](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_yXSbbH59aI) by Raconteurs [Tremor Christ](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IoSHqldM72o) and [Given to Fly](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ZKcmBJTVKI) by Pearl Jam ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2013, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-story-songs/651850/105 "2013-03-05T03:44:20Z")
And to show that I occasionally do listen to something other than country or folk: Rex Marksley (Steam Powered Giraffe) ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2013, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-story-songs/651850/106 "2013-03-05T22:08:54Z")
> [@OtakuLoki](#): > > Maddie Prior (of Steeleye Span) and June Tabor collaborated on two excellent folk albums, as the duo Silly Sisters. They also have a number of excellent story songs. A couple from Steeleye Span: **Let Her Go Down Gone to America** And their **The Butcher and The Chambermaid** , which reminds me of Stan Rogers’s **Oh No, Not I** , another good one. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2013, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-story-songs/651850/107 "2013-03-06T14:06:05Z")
[Ballad of Hollis Brown](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mLl3mCQbVm8), Bob Dylan [Goodnight Saigon](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j6gZefW4yEA), Billy Joel ---
**Author:** ![Cumbrian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ce7236/32.png) [@Cumbrian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cumbrian)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2013, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-story-songs/651850/108 "2013-03-06T14:20:37Z")
[Skylon! By Gruff Rhys](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S8xhmkAGOH8) - a ridiculously long (14+ mins) story song, in which the protagonist (a bomb disposal expert) details a flight he took, the frustrations of both travelling and the modern world, before the trip morphs into his finest hour. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2013, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-story-songs/651850/109 "2013-03-06T16:26:30Z")
[Lincoln Duncan](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngH4zZ-oiuY), Paul Simon [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-story-songs/651850.md?page=5)