# "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:** 3
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2013, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-epic-rock-songs/664559/41 "2013-07-26T17:54:58Z")
PT-109 by Jimmy Dean ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Righteous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Dr.Righteous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Righteous)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2013, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-epic-rock-songs/664559/42 "2013-07-26T18:17:25Z")
Rush [Manhattan Project](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manhattan_Project_(song)) ---
**Author:** ![11811](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/1/9d8465/32.png) [@11811](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/11811)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2013, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-epic-rock-songs/664559/43 "2013-07-26T21:15:09Z")
Maybe a little vague story-wise, but Kansas’ “Song for America.” ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2013, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-epic-rock-songs/664559/44 "2013-07-26T21:29:24Z")
Tom Rush’s “Wasn’t That a Mighty Storm” (a memorable if inaccurate song about the Great Galveston hurricane of 1900), recorded by others before and since. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2013, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-epic-rock-songs/664559/45 "2013-07-26T22:08:35Z")
> [@Dr.Righteous](#): > > Rush [Manhattan Project](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manhattan_Project_(song)) Ooo, good one. I’ll add: [Bastille Day](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ekoxIb85rww) (about … Bastille Day) [Red Sector A](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RoXFVb1VVJA) (written from the perspective of a Jewish concentration camp inmate) ---
**Author:** ![Wolf333](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolf333/32/3460_2.png) [@Wolf333](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wolf333)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2013, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-epic-rock-songs/664559/46 "2013-07-26T23:32:08Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > U2; > > _Pride (in the name of Love) > Mothers of the Disappeared_ > > Just off the top of my head. You forgot _Sunday, Bloody Sunday_. I’ll also Jucifer’s album, _L’Autrichienne_, a concept album about Marie Antoinette. ---
**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, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-epic-rock-songs/664559/47 "2013-07-26T23:39:32Z")
> [@Wolf333](#): > > I’ll also Jucifer’s album, _L’Autrichienne_, a concept album about Marie Antoinette. Speaking of whom, “Marie Antoinette” by Curved Air. ---
**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 27, 2013, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-epic-rock-songs/664559/48 "2013-07-27T00:12:49Z")
“[Sub Rosa Subway](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tiRUOzJ-FrE)” by Klaatu. Epic event in it’s own way: it commemorates Alfred Beach secretly digging a subway in Manhattan. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2013, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-epic-rock-songs/664559/49 "2013-07-27T00:18:07Z")
> [@Tom\_Scud](#): > > “The World Turned Upside Down” (apparently not by Billy Bragg but made famous by him) is about the Diggers and Levellers in 17th century England. I thought that was the song supposedly played by the British at Yorktown, but it isn’t. [This is,](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oub5-p3qSkU) but it isn’t a rocker. ---
**Author:** ![Meeko](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e495f1/32.png) [@Meeko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meeko)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2013, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-epic-rock-songs/664559/50 "2013-07-27T00:30:45Z")
Does “The Devil Went Down To Georgia” make it in under any stretch of the rules? * * * Tenacious D - “Tribute” … But the song they sang _that_ night didn’t sound anything like this song. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/_lK4cX5xGiQ/maxresdefault.jpg "Tenacious D - Tribute (Official Video)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_lK4cX5xGiQ) ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2013, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-epic-rock-songs/664559/51 "2013-07-27T01:05:22Z")
Boney M, “Rasputin” Camel, “Harbour of Tears” (Irish leaving home and coming to America after the famine)(actually pretty much anything on that album qualifies, as does their album “Dust and Dreams”) ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2013, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-epic-rock-songs/664559/52 "2013-07-27T01:06:01Z")
There are lots of “Battle of” songs. _New Orleans, Hadrian’s Wall, Little Big Horn, Evermore 😉_ and others by various artists. Lot a’ help I am, huh? ---
**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 27, 2013, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-epic-rock-songs/664559/53 "2013-07-27T01:07:20Z")
History based, though they’re all instrumentals: Rick Wakeman’s “The Six Wives of Henry VIII.” Each song is Wakeman’s impression of one of the wives. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2013, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-epic-rock-songs/664559/54 "2013-07-27T02:59:17Z")
**The Band** - [Acadian Driftwood](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VBTDdaCEY2k). From Wikipedia: > [@](#): > > “Acadian Driftwood” is a portrayal of the troubled history of Nova Scotia and Acadia. Specifically, the song is about the Expulsion of the Acadians during the French and Indian War between the French and the English over what is now Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and most of Maine. > > Robbie Robertson’s lyrics were influenced by Longfellow’s poem Evangeline, which describes the deportation of Acadians. On The Band’s recording of the song, the lead vocal is traded on the verses between Richard Manuel, Levon Helm, and Rick Danko, with all three singers harmonizing on the choruses. Instrumentally, the recording is noted for its overdubbed fiddle playing by Byron Berline. > > Robertson took poetic license with the historical record. The deportations happened during the French and Indian War (1754-1763), rather than starting when “the war was over”. The Expulsion began immediately after the British victory in the Battle of Fort Beauséjour (1755) in present-day New Brunswick and not after “What went down on the Plains of Abraham” (1759) in Quebec. The deportations ended when the war ended, with the signing of the Treaty of Paris (1763). ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2013, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-epic-rock-songs/664559/55 "2013-07-27T03:39:06Z")
80 million Irish folk songs Elvis Costello - Oliver’s Army - Oliver Cromwell Flogging Molly - Oliver Boy (All Of Our Boys) - same Monty Python - Oliver Cromwell - ditto Frank Turner - English Curse - William II Rufus (2nd Norman English king) mainly The Decemberists (even their name is a reference) - The Tain - Red Sparowes - Every Red Heart Shines Toward the Red Sun (a whole album) - despite being instrumental the song titles are about [part of the Great Leap Forward](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_Pests_Campaign), where efforts to eradicate pests lead to millions of deaths PJ Harvey - Let England Shake (album) - most are about WWI. Also a lot if Sufjan Stevens, but it’s mostly just the song titles Lots of black or viking metal about the Christianization of Scandanavia (they’re anti, for the record) Also every Dethklok song - I saw it with my own eyes! ---
**Author:** ![Saltire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saltire/32/553_2.png) [@Saltire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saltire)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2013, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-epic-rock-songs/664559/56 "2013-07-27T05:04:48Z")
More folk than rock, but a great song: [MacDonnell on the Heights by Stan Rogers.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R5_zvuPw8xU) About a hero of Canadian nationalism, who helped beat us Americans at the Battle of Queenston Heights in the War of 1812. ---
**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 27, 2013, 8:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-epic-rock-songs/664559/57 "2013-07-27T08:24:01Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > The Decemberists (even their name is a reference) - The Tain - Their name is, and _some_ of their other songs are (not as many as a lot of people seem to think), but what is historic about _The Tain_? ---
**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 27, 2013, 8:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-epic-rock-songs/664559/58 "2013-07-27T08:56:51Z")
> [@Meeko](#): > > Does “The Devil Went Down To Georgia” make it in under any stretch of the rules? > > * * * > > Tenacious D - “Tribute” … But the song they sang _that_ night didn’t sound anything like this song. > > [http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=\_lK4cX5xGiQ](http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=_lK4cX5xGiQ) Do you believe these songs describe actual historical events? ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2013, 9:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-epic-rock-songs/664559/59 "2013-07-27T09:06:38Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > Their name is, and _some_ of their other songs are (not as many as a lot of people seem to think), but what is historic about _The Tain_? Shit, I meant to remove that. The lyrics really aren’t historical, so no, doesn’t strictly count. At face value, the title references [Táin Bó Cúailnge](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T%C3%A1in_B%C3%B3_C%C3%BAailnge). ---
**Author:** ![bldysabba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecccb3/32.png) [@bldysabba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bldysabba)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2013, 9:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-epic-rock-songs/664559/60 "2013-07-27T09:08:38Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#): > > There are lots of “Battle of” songs. _New Orleans, Hadrian’s Wall, Little Big Horn, Evermore 😉_ and others by various artists. > > Lot a’ help I am, huh? Only caught the wink as I was about to type out some scorn. Phew. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-epic-rock-songs/664559.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-epic-rock-songs/664559.md?page=4)