# "Historical Epic" Rock Songs **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 26, 2013, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-epic-rock-songs/664559 "2013-07-26T06:14:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![syncrolecyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f08c70/32.png) [@syncrolecyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/syncrolecyne)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2013, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-epic-rock-songs/664559/1 "2013-07-26T06:14:04Z")
I want to make a playlist of rock or other pop songs that have historical epic themes…songs that are dramatic and clearly narrate (or at least refer) to historical events. So far I have… Iron Maiden, “Run to the Hills” The Clash, “Something About England” Steppenwolf, “Monster, Suicide, America” The Band, “The Night the Drove Old Dixie Down” Johnny Horton, “The Battle of New Orleans” Billy Joel, “We Didn’t Start the Fire” at least lists a ton of events. Aerosmith, “Kings and Queens.” (sort of…at least it has an epic sound) Led Zeppelin, “The Immigrant Song” (a stretch…and hard to understand) Any other songs? Especially those that are explicitly “history lessons.” ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2013, 6:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-epic-rock-songs/664559/2 "2013-07-26T06:29:38Z")
Gordon Lightfoot, _The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald_ ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2013, 7:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-epic-rock-songs/664559/3 "2013-07-26T07:14:20Z")
B. Dylan “The Lonesome Death Of Hattie Carroll” B. Dylan “Only A Pawn In Their Game” Phil Ochs: Most of his albums “All The News That’s Fit To Sing” and “I Ain’t Marching Anymore” W. Guthrie “Do Re Me” W. Guthrie “Deportee (Plane Wreck at Los Gatos)” W. Guthrie “1913 Massacre” A. Guthrie “Alice’s Restaurant Massacre” D. McLean “American Pie” E. Bogle “The Band Played Waltzing Matilda” G. Nash “Chicago” N. Young “Ohio” J. Mitchell “Woodstock” ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2013, 7:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-epic-rock-songs/664559/4 "2013-07-26T07:18:04Z")
[Colours](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QZskq-EM8Jo) and [The Battle of Cable Street](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GzKv5gjOzTA)- The Men They Couldn’t Hang [And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZqN1glz4JY) - various (This is The Pogues version) [Red Army Blues](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LK-WxJClvaE) - Waterboys ---
**Author:** ![Accidental\_Martyr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ce7236/32.png) [@Accidental\_Martyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Accidental_Martyr)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2013, 7:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-epic-rock-songs/664559/5 "2013-07-26T07:18:24Z")
Warren Zevon-“Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner” ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2013, 7:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-epic-rock-songs/664559/6 "2013-07-26T07:33:37Z")
[Al Stewart - _Roads To Moscow_](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N_ZG6tRGMYk) (German invasion of Russia in WWII) [The Groundhogs - _Thank Christ For The Bomb_](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n1wfoMKd_M4) (World wars I and II and the dropping of the atomic bombs on Japan.) [Robert Wyatt - _Shipbuilding_](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UjUkjpJa6bY) (The Falklands War. There is also a version by Elvis Costello, who co-wrote it, but Wyatt had the original hit.) [Country Joe McDonald - _Feel Like I’m Fixin’ to Die Rag_](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XjuunHn0Dyc) (Vietnam war - there must be hundreds about this.) ---
**Author:** ![Nametag](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nametag/32/406_2.png) [@Nametag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nametag)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2013, 7:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-epic-rock-songs/664559/7 "2013-07-26T07:36:43Z")
Jesus Jones - “Right Here, Right Now” ---
**Author:** ![si\_blakely](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d9b06d/32.png) [@si\_blakely](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/si_blakely)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2013, 8:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-epic-rock-songs/664559/8 "2013-07-26T08:43:53Z")
Jethro Tull - Broadsword ---
**Author:** ![the\_O](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@the\_O](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_O)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2013, 9:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-epic-rock-songs/664559/9 "2013-07-26T09:04:39Z")
“[The Envoy](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_3SsPnq2zc)” - Warren Zevon ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2013, 9:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-epic-rock-songs/664559/10 "2013-07-26T09:07:10Z")
Mastodon’s 2009 album _Crack The Skye_ is partially sort of about the end of Tsarist Russia. Every song that Japanese doomsters Church Of Misery have ever written has been about either a serial killer or a mass murderer. [_It Sprinkled, It Rained and It Poured_](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7Q9xHjcv_g) by John & Marina Nickerson is about the flood in Chemung County, NY in 1972. It was a huge regional hit. Sadly, my 45 of this song disappeared decades ago. Elmira is my hometown and that flood was a tremendous event in my young life. The Clash song [_Sean Flynn_](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aSWUKOPTt2g) is about the son of actor Errol Flynn, who disappeared in Vietnam in 1970 while working as a photojournalist. NOTE: The Clash wrote a lot of songs about what were then fairly recent events, but this song happens to be a personal favorite of mine, so I’m listing it; I’ll let others list other Clash songs. [_The Ballad of Leonard And Charles_](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tKBrjPoSlVI) by thrash titans Exodus is about serial killers Leonard Lake and Charles Ng. Lard’s awesome [_Sylvestre Matuschka_](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ZqlT9VJ9ok) is about, well, [Szilvester Matuska](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Szilveszter_Matuska). On the same album (1990’s **The Last Temptation of Reid** ) is a song about the US invasion of Panama called [_Pineapple Face_](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y54-AxGza5M). [_The Ballad Of Solomon Eagle_](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4DywQAm5P6I) by Orange Goblin is about 17th century composer Solomon Eccles, also known as Solomon Eagle, a Quaker who was persecuted (and prosecuted) for his religious beliefs and practices. The Ramones’ [_My Brain Is Hanging Upside Down (Bonzo Goes To Bitburg)_](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0LQ-x6FzyMU) is about President Reagan’s controversial visit to a military cemetery in Bitburg, Germany in 1985. [_The Evil Has Landed_](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OaeiaDd-2fs) by thrash mainstays Testament is about 9/11. Lastly, not many people realize that [_You Dropped A Bomb On Me_](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17lkdqoLt44) by The Gap Band is about China’s 19th century Opium Wars and not just a kick-ass dance song about a girl. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2013, 9:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-epic-rock-songs/664559/11 "2013-07-26T09:47:37Z")
:smack: I can’t believe I forgot this one: [_Angel of Death_](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K6_zsJ8KPP0) by Slayer is about Auschwitz and Josef Mengele (and also the single greatest thrash song that will ever be written). ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2013, 9:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-epic-rock-songs/664559/12 "2013-07-26T09:48:03Z")
Chris de Burgh’s album _The Getaway_ is most famous for “Don’t Pay the Ferryman”, but it ends with a trio of songs that seem to be about either the American Revolution or the French Revolution: “The Revolution”, “Light a Fire” and “Liberty”. ---
**Author:** ![OtisCampbellWasRight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/d78d45/32.png) [@OtisCampbellWasRight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtisCampbellWasRight)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2013, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-epic-rock-songs/664559/13 "2013-07-26T11:57:44Z")
Bob Dylan (who’s real name is Zimmerman, BTW) sang a little ditty called “Hurricane” about the judicial hosing applied to Ruben “Hurricane” Carter in the late 1970’s. ---
**Author:** ![bldysabba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecccb3/32.png) [@bldysabba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bldysabba)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2013, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-epic-rock-songs/664559/14 "2013-07-26T12:06:31Z")
Iron Maiden does quite a few of these. Besides the one in the OP, here’s a few. I’m pretty sure they have more “Alexander the Great" “Invaders” (Viking raids) “Montségur” (Fall of Montségur a medieval fortress) “The Trooper”(Charge of the Light Brigade) “Paschendale”( Battle of Paschendale) “The Longest Day”(D-Day) ---
**Author:** ![Edward\_The\_Head](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ce73a5/32.png) [@Edward\_The\_Head](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Edward_The_Head)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2013, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-epic-rock-songs/664559/15 "2013-07-26T12:23:24Z")
Damn, ninjaed by a couple of minutes for the Maiden songs. There’s pretty much an entire Iced Earth album called Glorious Burden which is all about American history. The last three, almost 30 minutes total, are about Gettysburg. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2013, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-epic-rock-songs/664559/16 "2013-07-26T12:36:16Z")
The Brandos, “Gettysburg” ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2013, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-epic-rock-songs/664559/17 "2013-07-26T12:46:49Z")
“When the Levee Breaks” by Memphis Minnie is about the great Mississippi Flood of 1927. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2013, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-epic-rock-songs/664559/18 "2013-07-26T13:25:07Z")
Steeleye Span: “Montrose” Fairport Convention: “Wat Tyler” Fairport Convention: “Red and Gold” Todd Rundgren/Utopia: “Hiroshima” Jaime Brockett: “Legend of the USS Titanic” ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2013, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-epic-rock-songs/664559/19 "2013-07-26T13:35:56Z")
Neil Young’s [Cortez the Killer](http://www.youtube.com/results?q=cortez+the+killer&oq=cort&gs_l=youtube-reduced.1.0.0l4.1162.2778.0.4615.4.4.0.0.0.0.151.392.2j2.4.0...0.0...1ac.1.5.youtube-reduced.JFnmFidN_sw&nomobile=1). Not exactly historically correct, but an epic song about Cortez’ conquest, and one of Young’s greatest. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2013, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-epic-rock-songs/664559/20 "2013-07-26T13:46:07Z")
No “Smoke on the Water” mentioned yet? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-epic-rock-songs/664559.md?page=2)