Here are the rules: submit a brief summary of a song, preferably in ballad form - that is, one that tells a story - then let others try and guess the genre - rap, folk, blues or country - or jazz, musical, opera or rock, for that matter. Let’s just see how much overlap there is in lyrical concerns…
A robber, the narrator, holds up and robs a cop at gunpoint. He then goes to a hotel with a girl and gets drunk in their room on the proceeds. The cop, tipped off by the treacherous girl, bursts in, and the robber shoots him dead. The narrator is now sentenced to die for the murder.
Here’s mine: the narrator is returning to his home town after a stint away, probably incarcerated. He goes to his girlfriend’s house, and is alarmed to find that his key no longer works – and takes this to mean that his girlfriend has left him.
Folk - Whiskey in the Jar would be my guess. In some versions, the narrator breaks out of prison at the end.
My submission:
A young woman comes to town looking for work to earn some extra money for herself and her father. Her father dies, so she can’t return home. When her job slows down, she turns to prostitution to support herself. Eventually, she kills herself.
A young man, the narrator, is mistreated by his stepfather and stepbrothers and made to do menial demeaning chores around the house while they attend a party to vie for the hand of the royal princess. Suddenly a fairy-man appears and suits the young man’s wishes to deed, and creates a stunning ensemble from his meager possessions so he can attend the ball. The young man entertains the princess and partygoers with his velvet-tongued stylings, but alas, the spell ends at midnight and he drives off against her entreaties, losing a shoe in the process. The next day the princess appears with his missing shoe and he changes back into a prince and drives off with his lady-love while his family happily sings at his departure.
Another - this one’s easy. The narrator, a probably psychopathic murderer, seduces an innocent young woman and lures her into accompanying him to a secluded location on the pretext of looking at flowers. Then he beats her to death with a rock.
If thats Whiskey in the jar you know a different version than I do. In the one I’m familar with Jenny fills his pistols so they won’t fire when the sheriff bursts in. Noone gets killed and he goes to prison for robbery. The last verse about treacherous women is sung from prison.
Here’s mine.
There was a boat on a lake and it sank and everybody died, and that’s the end of the story.
I think my previous attempt was a little obscure. Here’s a better one.
The narrator relates a bedside tale to a young child about a murderous little kid who robs people, holds a pregnant hostage and eventually dies in a gun battle with police, sending his soul cast to Hell.
Yeah, although most people probably know the Thin Lizzy version, there are many variations - in some he kills Captain Farrell, in some he doesn’t, in some he escapes, in some he’s waiting to hang…
Aesiron got it with Where The Wild Roses Grow - too easy.
Another: a young man is eagerly awaiting the arrival of his amphetamine dealer, as he needs to “feel good”. This dealer is altogether an admirable character: streetwise, sharply dressed, smart, and always available when an addict’s supply runs out. The singer deeply admires and wishes to emulate his dealer, whom he views as a mentor, and hopes that the listener will too: to this end, he thinks that the listener ought to meet with the drug dealer as quickly as possible.
The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald? I seem to recall a bit more detail in the Lightfoot’s lyrics.
I’d post another, but I can’t seem to write a description that doesn’t sound obvious. Most of what I just tried and deleted ended up containing the words of the title somewhere.
A man sees his buddy lying on the ground. He goes to help him, but his buddy is shot by a rival group and is dying. His buddy reminisces about the old times, makes some funeral requests, then dies.
