Smackwater Jack by Carole King is a bizarre, Jim Croce-esque tune about a guy who murders his church congregation with a shotgun and is then hunted down and lynched by a posse. It’s a very upbeat, major and cheerful song despite the subject.
My Old School by Steely Dan tells a terrific story, although I’m not exactly sure what the hell it’s about. But that’s part of the mystique of Dan lyrics.
California tumbles into the sea
That’ll be the day I go
Back to Annandale
Tried to warn you
About Chino and Daddy Gee
But I can’t seem to get to you
Through the U.S. Mail
Well I hear the whistle but I can’t go
I’m gonna take her down to Mexico
She said oh no
Guadalajara won’t do
Likewise for West of Hollywood:
*Swingin’ so hard
We burned right through the summer
Till the axis of pain/pleasure sheared the arc of desire
From the Rebus affair
To the streets of Culver City
Places and events slip below the horizon line
Now at this time
Into our pretty story
The truth compels us
To bring a certain name
Meet if you will
Doctor Warren Kruger *
A lot of Steely Dan songs are like this. They tell a complex story, but the lyrics are so cryptic that it’s a complete mystery what the story’s about. There’s a great Steely Dan lyrics interpretation site here. If you’re as big of a fan as I am, you can waste hours and hours on that site.
A few Dylan songs have been mentioned, most notably “Lily, Rosemary, and the Jack of Hearts” which has long been one of my favorites. Dylan had plenty more. Another two of his are “Tangled Up In Blue”, and “Tweeter and the Monkeyman” off the first Wilburys album.
“The Road Goes on Forever” by Robert Earl Keen, Jr, tells a pretty interesting story. I first heard Joe Ely’s version, so it’s seared into my brain.
Joe has a way of taking other people’s songs & making them his own, but he’s written some good ones. “Me & Billy the Kid” & “Indian Cowboy” are story songs.
Townes van Zandt sang “Indian Cowboy.” “The Ballad of Pancho & Lefty” & “Tecumseh Valley” are among the wonderful stories he told. Many years ago at Sand Mountain Coffee House, I heard him debut his first “serious” song: “Waitin’ Round to Die.”
Which leads to “Long Black Cadillac” by Dave Alvin. (About Hank Williams, a big influence on Townes. They both died on New Years’ Day.)
Try Harry Chapin. His career was practically built on this kind of songwriting. I particularly like Sniper and Other Love Songs. (Warning: the title song is based on the Charles Whitman tragedy.) Taxi is good, too.
Dang, how did I forget Zevon? “Excitable Boy,” “Long Arm of the Law,” “Turbulence,” “Send Lawyers, Guns and Money,” “Seminole Bingo” and “Mr. Bad Example” are great storytelling songs. I suppose “Leave My Monkey Alone” could be considered a story telling song, too, though admittedly it’s a bit of a stretch.
Another classic is Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson singing “Pancho and Lefty.” And Johnny Cash’s “A Boy Named Sue,” of course.
While I haven’t heard a lot of his material, nearly every song on Richard Thompson’s compilation CD, Action Packed - The Best of the Capitol Years qualifies as a story song. Off the top of my head we have:
1952 Vincent Black Lightning
Cooksferry Queen
Turning Of The Tide
I Feel So Good
Beeswing
Granted, his material tends very much towards the dysfunctional love story, but great stories they are and extremely well told/sung/played
