# Songs that are really bad at storytelling **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** music\ **Created:** [March 12, 2025, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-are-really-bad-at-storytelling/1015475 "2025-03-12T15:44:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 1\ **Showing post:** 39
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2025, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-are-really-bad-at-storytelling/1015475/39 "2025-03-28T05:59:15Z")
> [@Shoeless](#): > > My example of this would be “Red Barchetta” by Rush. I think I have a post, somewhere, or I started a thread, asking if the events of the song really happened (in the context of the song) or if it is just fantasy (in the context of the song). Like, are the narrator and the old man _only_ dreaming by the fireside. They have no car? eta: > [@Rush's Red Barchetta-is it 'real' or a 'dream'?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rushs-red-barchetta-is-it-real-or-a-dream/678528): > > In the Rush song Red Barchetta, the singer describes his adventures in some future totalitarian society, driving a vintage Ferrari illegally (after the Motor Law) and being chased by, and escaping, the officials in their over-sized aircars. My question: is this song supposed to be ‘literal’, that is, the events happened in the world of the song, or is the whole thing meant to be a ‘dream with my uncle by the fireside’, and there is no car, nor chases with the authorities? I could see it either… --- _[View the full topic](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-are-really-bad-at-storytelling/1015475)._