# 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:** 3
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2005, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-fiction-songs-examples/333759/41 "2005-12-02T19:48:15Z")
> [@Dung Beetle](#): > > Jesse James, by…I don’t know. > > “Jesse had a wife, to mourn all her life/ the children, they were brave” etc. The Pogues sang this song on _Rum, Sodomy, and the Lash_. If i could be bothered going downstairs to find my copy, i’d be able to tell you who actually wrote it. The Pogues also adapted a bunch of other folk songs that had non-fiction origins, and wrote some of their own. Some of them include: “And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda,” originally written by (i think) a guy named Eric Bogle. It’s historical in its description of Gallipoli, and of the place of that battle in Australian memory, although i’m not sure the story is about anyone in particular. “Navigator,” about railway builders in the British Empire. “Thousands are Sailing” is sort of about immigration, and starts with a reference to Ellis Island (although it would be stretching to call it a non-fiction song). “Streets of Sorrow/Birmingham Six” is about the British justice system and alleged IRA terrorists the Birmingham Six. I’m sure there are more, but that’s all i can think of off the top of my head. An Australia band by the name of Spy v. Spy did a song in the late 1980s called “Sallie-Anne,” about the murder of prostitute Sallie-Anne Huckstep by underworld crime figures (with possible police involvement) in Sydney. Boney-M, “Rasputin” and “Ma Baker.” 🙂 I was going to mention “I Don’t Like Mondays,” but got beaten to it by **Peter Morris**. Midnight Oil, “Jimmy Sharman’s Boxers,” about tent-boxing circuses that travelled from place to place in Australia, usually using aboriginal fighters. Jimmy Sharman was a real person, and some of Australia’s best-known boxers, like Lionel Rose, came out the tent-boxing tradition. Midnight Oil have other songs that qualify, like “Maralinga,” about British nuclear testing in the Australian outback, and “Harrisburg,” about Three Mile Island. British folk rock group The Men They Couldn’t Hang have a number of non-fiction osngs, including “Midnight Train,” about the train that ferries (or used to; not sure if it still does) nuclear waste from the Sellafield nuclear power plant in Cumbria. And “The Colours,” about the Nore naval mutiny, on the Thames in 1797. And who could forget “Oliver Cromwell,” by Monty Python. 😃 (on preview: beaten to it by **cbawlmer**.) ---
**Author:** ![kelly5078](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/6f9a4e/32.png) [@kelly5078](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kelly5078)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2005, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-fiction-songs-examples/333759/42 "2005-12-02T19:56:32Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Nope. Purely fictional. There was no New York mining disaster; the Bee Gees just liked the name. For a real mining disaster, though, there’s “The Ballad of Spring Hill,” by Peter, Paul and Mary. ---
**Author:** ![Bomzaway](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e480ec/32.png) [@Bomzaway](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bomzaway)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2005, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-fiction-songs-examples/333759/43 "2005-12-02T20:07:17Z")
_The Manhattan Project_ by **Rush** , and \*Countdown \* might also apply. _Garden Party_ by **Ricky Nelson** is about an experience he had at Madison Square Garden. How about _Maxwell’s Silver Hammer_ by the **Beatles**? ---
**Author:** ![rackensack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e5b9ba/32.png) [@rackensack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rackensack)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2005, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-fiction-songs-examples/333759/44 "2005-12-02T20:09:13Z")
Nick Lowe’s [“Marie Provost”](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0696679/bio), though Nick apparently made up or changed some of the details (besides getting her name wrong). ---
**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, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-fiction-songs-examples/333759/45 "2005-12-02T20:10:44Z")
> [@Bomzaway](#): > > How about _Maxwell’s Silver Hammer_ by the **Beatles**? :eek: ---
**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, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-fiction-songs-examples/333759/46 "2005-12-02T20:13:54Z")
[30,000 Pounds of Bananas!](http://wb-scranton-movies.blogspot.com/2005/08/harry-chapins-song-30000-pounds-of.html) by Harry Chapin. ---
**Author:** ![Critical1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@Critical1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Critical1)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2005, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-fiction-songs-examples/333759/47 "2005-12-02T20:26:51Z")
> [@Edward The Head](#): > > 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. also from Iron Maiden, Alexander the Great, an now I am drawing a blank…they have done some strange ass songs (at least the source material) but much was based historicaly or on some work of fiction or another. ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2005, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-fiction-songs-examples/333759/48 "2005-12-02T20:31:27Z")
Would “We Didn’t Start the Fire” by Billy Joel qualify? ---
**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, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-fiction-songs-examples/333759/49 "2005-12-02T20:33:42Z")
“Let Him Dangle” by Elvis Costello ---
**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, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-fiction-songs-examples/333759/50 "2005-12-02T20:37:53Z")
> [@cmkeller](#): > > Would “We Didn’t Start the Fire” by Billy Joel qualify? Why wouldn’t it? > [@Thudlow Boink](#): > > “Let Him Dangle” by Elvis Costello I would like to know what events this one refers to. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2005, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-fiction-songs-examples/333759/51 "2005-12-02T21:01:47Z")
Ben Folds writes alot about real experiences. “Brick” by Ben Folds Five is Ben’s account of when he and his girlfriend went through an abortion (when they were young) “Not the Same” by Ben Folds is about a guy who really did go up a tree “at Robert Sledge’s party” and found God. “Steven’s Last Night In Town” by Ben Folds Five is about a real guy who was either a foreign exchange student or a foreign visitor names Qwami who said some of the things in that song. Kept telling everyone he was leaving and they couldn’t wait, but it took longer than expected. ---
**Author:** ![Ponder\_Stibbons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponder_stibbons/32/343_2.png) [@Ponder\_Stibbons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponder_Stibbons)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2005, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-fiction-songs-examples/333759/52 "2005-12-02T21:10:21Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > For What It’s Worth - Buffalo Springfield > > 1966 Sunset Strip riot. Gee, never heard of them. 😉 This song falls into the category of being more of a commentary than “about” the event itself. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2005, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-fiction-songs-examples/333759/53 "2005-12-02T21:48:18Z")
Folksinger Tom Paxton has a bunch of them, my favorite being Born on the 4th of July: Now I wheel myself down To the crossroads of town To watch the young girls and their lovers. And my mind is afire It’s alive with desire. Christ, I’ve barely begun, now it’s over. In my wheelchair for life My mechanical wife. I’m suppose to be cheerful and stoic. I’m your old tried-and-true Yankee Doodly to you. Clean cut, _paralyzed_ and heroic. ---
**Author:** ![OtakuLoki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ac8455/32.png) [@OtakuLoki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtakuLoki)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2005, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-fiction-songs-examples/333759/54 "2005-12-02T22:04:35Z")
I, too, want to know what _Maxwell’s Silver Hammer_ commemorates, please. _Cold Missouri Waters_, by Cry, Cry, Cry is another good depressing song of this nature. _I’m Changing My Name to Chrysler_ was written by Tom Paxton, IIRC, in response to the gov’t bailout of Chrysler. _Alice’s Restaurant Massacre_ by Arlo Guthrie _The Snows of France & Holland_ by Battlefield Band I don’t know if the “Rasputin” mentioned by **mhendo** is the same score/lyrics as that used by Boiled in Lead for their “Rasputin,” but theirs is certainly based on the real Mad Monk. John Gorka’s _Brown Shirts_ is commentary on the propaganda around the first Gulf War. Several songs by Schooner Fare describe real events: _Molasses_ has a description of the Great Molasses Flood, and _The Mary L. McKay_ is about a record-setting speed run. I don’t know whether anything else in the song is accurate, though. “We made that run on Portland rum.” BTW, _The Battle of New Orleans_ was a hit for Johnny Horton. ---
**Author:** ![ryobserver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b2d939/32.png) [@ryobserver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ryobserver)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2005, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-fiction-songs-examples/333759/55 "2005-12-03T03:53:45Z")
To answer **Thudlow Boink** ’s question: Elvis Costello’s “Let Him Dangle” refers to the hanging of Derek Bentley for the murder of a British policeman. The cop was actually shot by Bentley’s friend, who was underage and couldn’t be hanged; Bentley had shouted “Let him have it”, and this was considered sufficient participation in the crime to justify his execution. There are an awful lot of traditional folk songs about real people and events; “Jesse James”, already mentioned, is only one. Of course they aren’t always factually accurate, especially the ones composed with political motives, so listening to folk music shouldn’t be considered a good way to learn history. It can be a good way to learn how people felt about events, though. From the 1745 uprising in Scotland we have “The Skye Boat Song”, “Charlie is My Darling” and “My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean”, among other tunes. “Scots Wha Hae” is based on a Robert Burns poem about the battle of Bannockburn, and the traditional Scottish funeral music “The Flowers of the Forest” is the tune of an old ballad about the battle of Flodden. Irish music is loaded with rebel songs more or less loosely based on real events, from “The Rising of the Moon” inspired by the 1798 rebellion to “The Foggy Dew” from the Easter uprising of 1916. Whole albums can be and are filled with nothing else. ---
**Author:** ![Mona\_Lott](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ee7513/32.png) [@Mona\_Lott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mona_Lott)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2005, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-fiction-songs-examples/333759/56 "2005-12-03T04:13:18Z")
Here are two railroad related songs about real events. The Ballad of Casey Jones The Wreck of Old 97 ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2005, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-fiction-songs-examples/333759/57 "2005-12-03T05:02:22Z")
> [@ryobserver](#): > > There are an awful lot of traditional folk songs about real people and events; “Jesse James”, already mentioned, is only one. Woody Guthrie’s [The Grand Coulee Dam](http://sniff.numachi.com/~rickheit/dtrad/pages/tiGRNCOULE;ttWABASHCB;ttGRNCOULE.html) is a nice one. You just don’t hear too many poems that rhyme ‘factories hum’ with chrome and manganese and ‘white aluminum.’ ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2005, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-fiction-songs-examples/333759/58 "2005-12-03T05:33:20Z")
“Sunday, Bloody Sunday” by John Lennon. Also “Attica State,” “John Sinclair,” and “New York City.” “Only a Pawn in Their Game,” “George Jackson,” and “Joey” by Bob Dylan. “Birmingham Sunday” (the only song ever written by novelist Richard Fariña). “Zimbabwe” by Bob Marley. ---
**Author:** ![panamajack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/47e85d/32.png) [@panamajack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panamajack)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2005, 7:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-fiction-songs-examples/333759/59 "2005-12-03T07:23:30Z")
> [@Peter Morris](#): > > I Dont Like Mondays by The Boomtown Rats. About Brenda Spencer, a 16-year-old who shot at an elementary school one day, killing two adults and wounding several students. Reportedly said “I never did like Mondays” when asked why she’d done it. Additionally, Bob Geldof has said he was giving an interview (on the radio, I think) when the story came over the wire on the Telex machine (another detail in the song). > [@](#): > > Midnight Oil have other songs that qualify, like … “Blue Sky Mine” (asbestos-riddled mine in Wittenoom) “If Ned Kelly Was King” (famous Australian outlaw Ned Kelly) “Mountains of Burma” (British involvement in SE Asia) ---
**Author:** ![sniperfang](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/58956e/32.png) [@sniperfang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sniperfang)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2005, 7:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-fiction-songs-examples/333759/60 "2005-12-03T07:41:37Z")
> [@kelly5078](#): > > For a real mining disaster, though, there’s “The Ballad of Spring Hill,” by Peter, Paul and Mary. And U2’s Springhill Mining Disaster [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-fiction-songs-examples/333759.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-fiction-songs-examples/333759.md?page=4)