# Non-Fiction songs. Examples? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 2, 2005, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-fiction-songs-examples/333759 "2005-12-02T17:05:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**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:** [December 2, 2005, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-fiction-songs-examples/333759/21 "2005-12-02T18:06:24Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > New York Mining Disaster, 1941 - The Bee Gees (When they were good!) Nope. Purely fictional. There was no New York mining disaster; the Bee Gees just liked the name. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2005, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-fiction-songs-examples/333759/22 "2005-12-02T18:07:33Z")
Most of Kate Bush’s songs are stories. Most of them are fiction. Gotta run for a bus or I’d remember more, but for now there’s “Houdini,” about, um, Houdini; “The Dreaming,” about the mistreatment of Australian Aboriginals; “Cloudbusting,” about Wilhelm Reich; “Delius,” about Frederick Delius. And more. ---
**Author:** ![brownie55](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f14d63/32.png) [@brownie55](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brownie55)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2005, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-fiction-songs-examples/333759/23 "2005-12-02T18:10:41Z")
Tom Dooley by the Kingston Trio. They even made a movie. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2005, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-fiction-songs-examples/333759/24 "2005-12-02T18:12:03Z")
In the Name of Love, by U2. That is the name of the song, isn’t it? ---
**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:** [December 2, 2005, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-fiction-songs-examples/333759/25 "2005-12-02T18:12:27Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Nope. Purely fictional. There was no New York mining disaster; the Bee Gees just liked the name. I did not know that. (Johnny Carson voice) ---
**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:** [December 2, 2005, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-fiction-songs-examples/333759/26 "2005-12-02T18:14:01Z")
Murder in the Skies, about the plane the Russians shot down in the 80s and Hiroshima are both by Gary Moore. He has many more songs about things he’s seen, but those wouldn’t be as easy to identify. I can think of lots of other songs, like Iron Maiden’s The Trooper about the Crimean war, that aren’t exact history but are about some part of history. I don’t think that’s what the OP is looking for though. ---
**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:** [December 2, 2005, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-fiction-songs-examples/333759/27 "2005-12-02T18:14:39Z")
> [@Dung Beetle](#): > > In the Name of Love, by U2. That is the name of the song, isn’t it? Close. It’s “Pride (In The Name Of Love)” about the assassination of Martin Luther King. Good one. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2005, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-fiction-songs-examples/333759/28 "2005-12-02T18:17:50Z")
Jesse James, by…I don’t know. “Jesse had a wife, to mourn all her life/ the children, they were brave” etc. Thanks, **Leaffan**. I kicked myself when you posted Smoke on the Water. ---
**Author:** ![Scott\_Plaid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Scott\_Plaid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scott_Plaid)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2005, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-fiction-songs-examples/333759/29 "2005-12-02T18:23:51Z")
Some to think of it, “Sunday Bloody Sunday” commemorated that day. Also, I should note that “Early morning, April 4 Shot rings out in the Memphis sky” ain’t right. It was in the evening. I seem to recall a doper having linked to an article, about how U2 corrects that in live shows. ---
**Author:** ![Manatee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/50afbb/32.png) [@Manatee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manatee)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2005, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-fiction-songs-examples/333759/30 "2005-12-02T18:32:21Z")
I don’t remember the performer, but there’s “The Battle of New Orleans.” It strikes me that there must be a bunch of songs about war/battles, but off the top of my head I can’t think of any. Except Abba’s “Waterloo,” but that’s not really about the battle. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2005, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-fiction-songs-examples/333759/31 "2005-12-02T18:38:47Z")
They Might Be Giants have a number of songs that would probably qualify: James K. Polk, Meet James Ensor, Why Does The Sun Shine? [a cover of an old educational record], Mammal… ---
**Author:** ![KSO](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f07891/32.png) [@KSO](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KSO)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2005, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-fiction-songs-examples/333759/32 "2005-12-02T18:46:40Z")
Serious answer: Pride, by U2, although they got the timing of MLK’s assassination wrong. Not serious answer: Until the End of the World, by U2. ---
**Author:** ![Mona\_Lisa\_Simpson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ce7236/32.png) [@Mona\_Lisa\_Simpson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mona_Lisa_Simpson)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2005, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-fiction-songs-examples/333759/33 "2005-12-02T18:52:00Z")
The Tragically Hip have several story-songs. Off the top of my head “Wheat Kings” (about David Milgard) “50 Mission Cap”, (Bil Barilko) “Three Pistols” (painter Tom Thomson). Some are semi fictionalized stories surrounding actual people/events… historical fiction. “38 Years Old” references an actual jailbreak, but to my knowledge there was no actual family such as in the song. (I could be wrong, I get conflicting information. Wikipedia says the story is fiction though, and thats what I had believed.) Some other Canadian will come along and add several more Hip songs that Im not remembering. The boys from Kingston ON are really good with working bits of historical fact into their songs. ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_Bowe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df788c/32.png) [@Doug\_Bowe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_Bowe)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2005, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-fiction-songs-examples/333759/34 "2005-12-02T19:01:21Z")
In the Country corner at least half of the stuff written and performed by Tom T Hall (which is why is group was called “The Storytellers”) The Year Clayton Delaney Died Old Dogs, Children & Watermelon Wine The Homecoming ---
**Author:** ![brownie55](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f14d63/32.png) [@brownie55](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brownie55)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2005, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-fiction-songs-examples/333759/35 "2005-12-02T19:04:47Z")
> [@Manatee](#): > > I don’t remember the performer, but there’s “The Battle of New Orleans.” > > It strikes me that there must be a bunch of songs about war/battles, but off the top of my head I can’t think of any. > > Except Abba’s “Waterloo,” but that’s not really about the battle. “Sink the Bismark” would fall into that category. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2005, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-fiction-songs-examples/333759/36 "2005-12-02T19:12:48Z")
I Dont Like Mondays by The Boomtown Rats. (I think Cecil did a column about it, but I can’t find it at the moment) ---
**Author:** ![cbawlmer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/71e660/32.png) [@cbawlmer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cbawlmer)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2005, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-fiction-songs-examples/333759/37 "2005-12-02T19:20:27Z")
“Oliver Cromwell”, by Monty Python 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Cliffy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/59ef9b/32.png) [@Cliffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cliffy)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2005, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-fiction-songs-examples/333759/38 "2005-12-02T19:21:55Z")
Peter Gabriel’s “Biko” is presumably about Stephen Biko, but the only lyric from it I remember is “Bee-ko, Biko Biko Biko.” –Cliffy ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2005, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-fiction-songs-examples/333759/39 "2005-12-02T19:30:01Z")
> [@cbawlmer](#): > > “Oliver Cromwell”, by Monty Python 🙂 The Philosopher Song? Many songs are written about the personal experiences of the song writer. You’re So Vain, You otta Know, She Said She Said, Norwegian Wood. ---
**Author:** ![MLS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MLS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MLS)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2005, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-fiction-songs-examples/333759/40 "2005-12-02T19:39:49Z")
“Birmingham Sunday” by (I think) Joan Baez is about a church bombing in which 4 girls died. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-fiction-songs-examples/333759.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-fiction-songs-examples/333759.md?page=3)