# What are your top two story songs? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 12, 2005, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-top-two-story-songs/289676 "2005-02-12T00:48:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Reeder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Reeder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeder)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2005, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-top-two-story-songs/289676/1 "2005-02-12T00:48:24Z")
Number one my list should be everyones. (1) **Alices Restaurant** of course. By **Arlo Guthrie**. He has updated the song. (2) **Taxi** by **Harry Chapin** What are yours? ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2005, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-top-two-story-songs/289676/2 "2005-02-12T00:53:55Z")
**El Paso** by Marty Robbins. Have to think about the second one. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2005, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-top-two-story-songs/289676/3 "2005-02-12T00:54:52Z")
**1952 Vincent Black Lightning** by Richard Thompson. I’ll have to think about the second one, too. ---
**Author:** ![Squonk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squonk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squonk)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2005, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-top-two-story-songs/289676/4 "2005-02-12T01:00:29Z")
I’ll go with the first two I thought of: A Trick of the Tail - Genesis Red Barchetta - Rush ---
**Author:** ![pasunejen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/58956e/32.png) [@pasunejen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pasunejen)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2005, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-top-two-story-songs/289676/5 "2005-02-12T01:08:05Z")
I’ll echo you on “Alice’s Restaurant”, but I have to pick a different Harry Chapin song for the second: “WOLD”. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2005, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-top-two-story-songs/289676/6 "2005-02-12T01:22:13Z")
One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer - George Thoroughgood The Devil Went Down To Georgia - Charlie Daniels Band ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2005, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-top-two-story-songs/289676/7 "2005-02-12T01:25:29Z")
_Sam Stone_ by John Prine ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2005, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-top-two-story-songs/289676/8 "2005-02-12T01:28:28Z")
_Cygnus X-1_ and Cygnus X-1, Book II: Hemispheres\* by Rush ---
**Author:** ![Reeder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Reeder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeder)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2005, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-top-two-story-songs/289676/9 "2005-02-12T01:29:25Z")
> [@Sam Stone](#): > > _Sam Stone_ by John Prine Great song - There’s a hole in daddy’s arm where all the money goes, Jesus Christ died for nothin’ I suppose. Little pitchers have big ears, Don’t stop to count the years, Sweet songs never last too long on broken radios.\* Number 3 on my list. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2005, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-top-two-story-songs/289676/10 "2005-02-12T01:32:25Z")
Good responses so far! I’ll second **Biffy’s** _Vincent Black Lightning_ and throw in Johnny Cash’s _Sam Hall_ (which I saw Richard Thompson perform in concert a few years back). ---
**Author:** ![picker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/picker/32/13969_2.png) [@picker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picker)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2005, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-top-two-story-songs/289676/11 "2005-02-12T01:33:24Z")
I’ll second **1952 Vincent Black Lightning** and throw you in any number of Dylan tunes, but right now it’s **Tangled Up In Blue**. ---
**Author:** ![pinkfreud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pinkfreud/32/17603_2.png) [@pinkfreud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pinkfreud)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2005, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-top-two-story-songs/289676/12 "2005-02-12T01:38:16Z")
I hope y’all won’t bop me upside the head if I suggest “The Night That the Lights Went Out in Georgia,” especially as sung by Reba McEntire. It’s corny in the extreme, but corn can be mighty tasty. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2005, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-top-two-story-songs/289676/13 "2005-02-12T01:44:48Z")
“The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald” - Gordon Lightfoot “A Day in the Life” - The Beatles ---
**Author:** ![Nightwatch\_Trailer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/9dc877/32.png) [@Nightwatch\_Trailer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nightwatch_Trailer)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2005, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-top-two-story-songs/289676/14 "2005-02-12T01:45:04Z")
**Scenes from an Italian Restaurant** (Billy Joel), and a second I can’t think of at the moment. ---
**Author:** ![Nightwatch\_Trailer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/9dc877/32.png) [@Nightwatch\_Trailer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nightwatch_Trailer)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2005, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-top-two-story-songs/289676/15 "2005-02-12T01:51:08Z")
> [@Mr. Blue Sky](#): > > “A Day in the Life” - The Beatles Ah, that’d be my second. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2005, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-top-two-story-songs/289676/16 "2005-02-12T01:52:07Z")
Country Death Song – Violent Femmes Buenas Tardes Amigo – Ween ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2005, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-top-two-story-songs/289676/17 "2005-02-12T01:55:55Z")
> [@Aesiron](#): > > **El Paso** by Marty Robbins. > > Have to think about the second one. Ditto. My second one is **Lily, Rosemary and the Jack of Hearts** by Bob Dylan. Honorable Mention: Johnny Cash’s _A Boy Named Sue_. ---
**Author:** ![nitroglycerine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c5a1d2/32.png) [@nitroglycerine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nitroglycerine)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2005, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-top-two-story-songs/289676/18 "2005-02-12T02:11:43Z")
“The Butcher and Fast Eddie” by Rose Tattoo. The greatest story song bar none! For my number two pick? Hmm…I guess I’ll go with “The Curse Of Millhaven” by Nick Cave. ---
**Author:** ![RancidYakButterTeaParty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/53a042/32.png) [@RancidYakButterTeaParty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RancidYakButterTeaParty)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2005, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-top-two-story-songs/289676/19 "2005-02-12T02:23:05Z")
Harold of the Rocks–Primus Does Jeremy by Pearl Jam count as a story song? ---
**Author:** ![DeVena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dec6dc/32.png) [@DeVena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeVena)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2005, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-top-two-story-songs/289676/20 "2005-02-12T02:36:30Z")
\*Della and the Dealer \* - Hoyt Axton \*A Day in the Life \* - Beatles [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-top-two-story-songs/289676.md?page=2)