Oh Wow, you guys have to see this.
Sink the Bismarck - by the Blues Brothers!!!
It was a deleted scene from the movie.
I forgot to mention Dylan’s Isis (Desire is full of story songs!) and Black Diamond Bay, which is a favorite of mine.
Ernie (The Fastest Milkman In The West) by Benny Hill
Little Does She Know by the Kursaal Flyers
Lucky Stars by Dean Friedman
And in the tradition of narrators losing legs, we can add:
Barrett’s Privateers - Stan Rogers
Soldier’s Joy, 1864 - Guy Clark
A few more by Townes van Zandt:
Marie
Tecumseh Valley
Mr. Mudd and Mr. Gold
Nothing compares to THE BEAR.
This version by Barenaked Ladies, of course, it’s an oldie.
Introduced to me via The Band’s version, this is the original I think:
Not sure if this counts, but Stairway to Heaven by Led Zeppelin. Stairway to Heaven Led Zeppelin Lyrics - YouTube
Whoa! No Tom T. Hall?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sx5te3VkTtQ&index=9&list=PLwWsIjlV3KDHMbSaPlalCCmlec1DmThPm
Dylan wrote a lot of great ones- I love Brownsville Girl. How about Zevon and Springsteen’s Jeannie Needs a Shooter?
I first encountered this song right here on the Dope, and later discovered that I had met and done audio for the artist back in college when his band Government Cheese played in our little campus club; here’s Tommy Womack - Alpha Male & the Canine Mystery Blood.
What have I missed? No one has mentioned Mr. Bojangles? Jim Stafford’s version is slightly enhanced.
Also, John Denver’s Matthew.
Maxwell’s Silver Hammer - those Liverpool guys.
I was going to add The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald and The Last of Barrett’s Privateers, but others have mentioned them before and I can but second them.
But I didn’t see this one, and I think it qualifies: THe City of New Orleans Arlo Guthrie /City of New Orleans - YouTube
They never found Hattie
Never found the shack
Never made the trip back in
Because a parchment note they found tacked to a stone said:
“Don’t come lookin again”
But the Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald is an account of real life event. And, who is the person/character in City of New Orleans? What about House of the Rising Sun? Is it an actual story, or, is it a warning that employs the use of 1 or 2 characters?
I consider all of the following to be almost story songs but still are not story songs:
Sunday Morning Coming Down - Kris Kristofferson
Positively 4th Street - Bob Dylan
Five Years - David Bowie
Last Thing I Needed - Willie Nelson
I Take A Lot Of Pride In What I Am - Merle Haggard
The Way It Was in '51 - Merle Haggard
Born In The USA - Bruce Springsteen
My Hometown - Bruce Springsteen
Sultans Of Swing - Dire Straits
Smoke On The Water - Deep Purple
Sweet Jane - Velvet Underground
Stan - Eminem
Fourteen Years - Guns N Roses
Jigsaw Puzzle - Rolling Stones
Jane Says - Jane’s Addiction
Jeremy - Pearljam
April 29, 1992 - Sublime
Cleaning Windows - Van Morrison
The River - Bruce Springsteen
I think a real story song is like a book or a movie, where the events of the story and characters are both fictional but also separate and distinct entities from the Author. For this reason Operator, Highway Patrolman*, and Maggie May are not story songs (they are about the author, a first hand narrative) but Sam Stone or Rocky Raccoon are entirely fictional and about third parties.
- Highway Patrolman does tell a story, more or less. Heck, it is the basis for the script of Indian Runner, written directed by Sean Penn, with the events of the song are direct, literal outline of the script… but again, it is a first hand account (within the context of the song). I think a real story song is like a book or a movie, where the events of the story and characters are both fictional but also separate and distinct entities from the Author. Also, as stated else where, a story has, as much as possible, a beginning a middle and an end…
Ok, yes, I’ve probably put wayyyyyyyy too much thought into this and have a pretty narrow definition of story song. 
[quote=“Accidental_Martyr, post:41, topic:734526”]
That’s the first one I thought of.
How about “Roland The Headless Thompson Gunner” by Warren Zevon"?
O yes. That’s the one I thought of immediately.
Not the best, but still good: Tom Waits’s Christmas Card From A Hooker In Minneapolis.