# Why Are There No Story Songs Any More? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 1, 2001, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-no-story-songs-any-more/74539 "2001-08-01T21:04:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**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:** [August 3, 2001, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-no-story-songs-any-more/74539/61 "2001-08-03T20:36:10Z")
I can’t believe nobody has mentioned **Bob Dylan** ’s story songs yet. **“Lily, Rosemary, and the Jack of Hearts”** is the standout. The album _Desire_ had several: \*\*“Hurricane”, “Joey”, “Romance in Durango”, “Black Diamond Bay”\*. **Genesis** (back when they were good) did quite a few. **“White Mountain”** from _Trespass_ was about a struggle between two wolves. Then there was **"Return of the Giant Hogweed**" and **“The Fountain of Salmacis”** from _Nursery Cryme_ (a great album title, that). **“Can-Utility and the Coastliners”** from _Foxtrot_ told the story of King Canute, and the whole concept album _ **The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway** _ was one big story. A successfully coherent concept album. The Genesis song **“One for the Vine”** is interesting as the story line is designed on a Möbius band. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2001, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-no-story-songs-any-more/74539/62 "2001-08-03T22:09:54Z")
I actually thought about _Lily, Rosemary & the Jack of Hearts_ but didn’t bring it up because I had assumed we were looking for songs with decent radio play. I personally don’t see _Bobby McGee_ being a story song (or ballad, if you must). Basically she describes some guy, says they rode around together and then he left. More of a character description than an actual story, in my opinion. ---
**Author:** ![Katisha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bcef8e/32.png) [@Katisha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Katisha)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2001, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-no-story-songs-any-more/74539/63 "2001-08-04T00:47:48Z")
I know I’m just about the only person on the SMDB who likes Sting, but _Ten Summoner’s Tales_ has a bunch of ballad-type songs – “Love is Stronger than Justice,” and “St. Augustine in Hell” (sorta), and “Something the Boy Said”… ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2001, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-no-story-songs-any-more/74539/64 "2001-08-04T01:49:56Z")
I’ll amend what I said about story songs. When they are good, they are very, very good and when they are bad they are worst than crap on a cracker. It’s the way the stick to you that makes them so extreme. The Way is a great song IMHO. Just My Imagination is also a great song. I think the reason why it [i[seems\* that story songs are disappearing is because the really bad stuff isn’t getting so much airplay, so it doesn’t _stick_ to you like so many of the older, crappier songs do. ---
**Author:** ![Rossarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/3e96dc/32.png) [@Rossarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rossarian)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2001, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-no-story-songs-any-more/74539/65 "2001-08-04T02:03:03Z")
A lot of the songs mentioned, while telling a story, really don’t strike me as _story songs_. But I don’t know how to describe what I would define one as, so all I’ve got is an opinion. But it would be things like **Hurricane** by Bob Dylan or **El Paso** by someone who’s name I forgot, but there’s a cool cover by the Old 97’s of it. ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_Rhosis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d9b06d/32.png) [@Sir\_Rhosis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_Rhosis)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2001, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-no-story-songs-any-more/74539/66 "2001-08-04T03:01:48Z")
El Paso is sung by the great western story singer Marty Robbins. I’m not sure if he wrote his material or not. Sir Rhosis ---
**Author:** ![Skijumper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3e96dc/32.png) [@Skijumper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skijumper)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2001, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-no-story-songs-any-more/74539/67 "2001-08-04T04:20:15Z")
My personal fave: **Common People** by **Pulp** ---
**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:** [August 4, 2001, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-no-story-songs-any-more/74539/68 "2001-08-04T16:46:01Z")
**Rossarian** , I agree with you about more stringent criteria for a story song. It should actually tell a story, which means having a beginning, a middle, and an end. “Scenes from an Italian Restaurant” doesn’t fit this definition since it’s just a series of impressionistic vignettes. _Yes that’s the story of the Hurricane But it won’t be over till they clear his name And give him back the time he’s done… Put in a prison cell, but one Time he coulda been the champion of the world_ ---
**Author:** ![grendel72](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/91b2a8/32.png) [@grendel72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grendel72)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2001, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-no-story-songs-any-more/74539/69 "2001-08-05T04:53:49Z")
I think that singer-songwriter thing where most of these songs came from was more of a “flavor of the week” type thing in the early seventies. Much of that music was good, but it _was_ a fad just like new-wave or the teeny-bopper sound today. BTW, the best story song of all time is Christmas in Hollis by the one and only Run DMC. Word. ---
**Author:** ![GargoyleWB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gargoylewb/32/199_2.png) [@GargoyleWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GargoyleWB)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2001, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-no-story-songs-any-more/74539/70 "2001-08-05T16:46:08Z")
No one’s mentioned The Kinks yet. Both “Lola” and “Come Dancing” are great classic story songs… Also, Velvet Underground had some fine ones… ---
**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:** [August 5, 2001, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-no-story-songs-any-more/74539/71 "2001-08-05T19:00:17Z")
Of modern bands, The Tragically Hip still rights story songs. “50 Mission Cap”, “New Orleans is Sinking”, “Boots or Hearts”… I could go on and on. However, Gord Downie is such a lateral thinker that sometimes the story is a little…weird. How about the Crash Test Dummy’s “Superman’s Song”? Three more recent ones I just thought of: REM: “Man on the Moon” Madonna: “Papa Don’t Preach” U2: “Pride” And now I get to make my obligatory plug for Warren Zevon, who has written some of the most memorable story songs, and still does. I will not rest until I have converted everyone to the Zevon way. I am the Oral Roberts of Literary Rock. Check out these gems, story songs all: “Excitable Boy” “Frank and Jesse James” “Mama Couldn’t be Persuaded” “Lawyers, Guns and Money” “Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner” “Boom Boom Mancini” “Charlie’s Medicine” “Carmelita” “Veracruz” “The Hula Hula Boys” “Jeanie Need a Shooter” “Play it All Night Long” “Bill Lee” “Turmoil” In fact, as I write this list I’ve realized that just about all of his songs are story songs. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2001, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-no-story-songs-any-more/74539/72 "2001-08-06T00:51:57Z")
Figures that “Sam Stone” would have something to say about story songs. **But** : **Sam Stone** wrote: > [@](#): > > Three more recent ones I just thought of: > REM: “Man on the Moon” > Madonna: “Papa Don’t Preach” > U2: “Pride” “Recent?” “Pride” and “Papa Dont Preach” came out in the mid-80’s. Time flies, doesn’t it? I have a few more to throw out:[ul][_]Alone Again, Naturally[_]Me and You and a Dog Named Boo[_]Pinball Wizard[_]I Shot the Sheriff[_]Poppa Was a Rollin’ Stone[_]Rocket Man[_]Ramblin Man (Allman Brothers)(sorta)[_]Still in Saigon[_]My Hometown[_]Sultans of Swing[_]Many Miles Away (The Police)[_]Secret Journey (" ")[_]Punk Rock Girl[_]Rock the Casbah[_]Lido Shuffle (Boz Scaggs)[_]Into the Great Wide Open[/ul] ---
**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:** [August 6, 2001, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-no-story-songs-any-more/74539/73 "2001-08-06T01:03:03Z")
God, I’m getting old. ---
**Author:** ![gex\_gex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/94ad74/32.png) [@gex\_gex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gex_gex)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2001, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-no-story-songs-any-more/74539/74 "2001-08-06T14:07:33Z")
> [@](#): > > _originally posted by sam stone_ > REM: “Man on the Moon” man on the moon a story song? there’s a story behind it, sure - andy kaufman’s elvis impersonations, but the lyrics such as “andy kaufman and a wrestling match, yeah, yeah, yeah… monopoly, twenty-one, checkers and chess, yeah, yeah, yeah… mott the hoople and the game of life… etc. etc. etc.” it doesn’t really tell a story in any conventional sense. i’d think you’d be hard pressed to fit any of r.e.m.'s songs into the story structure, given michael stipe’s obscure lyrics. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2001, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-no-story-songs-any-more/74539/75 "2001-08-06T16:17:25Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by grendel72 \* > **I think that singer-songwriter thing where most of these songs came from was more of a “flavor of the week” type thing in the early seventies. Much of that music was good, but it _was_ a fad just like new-wave or the teeny-bopper sound today.** While it’s true that the early to mid-70’s were the heyday of the story song, it is definitely not true that it was some kind of passing “fad.” Story songs had been around since, well, probably since Cro-Magnon days. But at least since the Renaissance. Think of all the old English ballads that found their way into American music. The dearth of story songs in the 90’s and 00’s is the exception, rather than the rule. The proof: Story songs in pop music of the 50’s and 60’s (some of these have already been mentioned):[ul][li]Summertime Blues[_]Last Kiss[_]Johnny B. Good[_]Memphis, Tennessee[_]Wake Up, Little Suzie[_]Along Came Jones[_]Charlie Brown[_]Splish Splash[_]Take a Message to Mary[_]Chain Gang[_]A Change Is Gonna Come[_]Ringo[_]Sugar Shack[_]Ballad of a Teenage Queen (Johnny Cash’s most embarrassing hit)[_]Fun, Fun, Fun[_]Ode to Billy Joe[_]House of the Rising Sun (an old song made into a pop hit)[_]Tom Dooley (ditto)[_]I Dreamed I Saw Joe Hill Last Night (ditto)[_]Dock of the Bay[_]I’m Henry the Eight, I Am[_]Puff the Magic Dragon[_]Just My Imagination[_]etc., etc.[/ul][/li] Story songs in pop music of the 80’s:[ul][li]Roxanne (was that 80’s or 70’s?)[_]Don’t Stand So Close to Me[_]99 Red Balloons[_]Papa Don’t Preach[_]Many Miles Away[_]Pride (In the Name of Love)[_]Billie Jean[_]Little Red Corvette[_]Small Town Boy[_]My Hometown[_]Jack and Diane[_]Rain of the Scarecrow[_]Still in Saigon[_]Secret Journey[_]I Ran[_]Graceland[_]Every Day I Write the Book[_]Mussels from a Shell[_]Come Dancing[_]Our Houseetc, etc.[/ul][/li] Plenty of stories to be found in the 40’s, the 30’s and the 20’s too, if we wanted to go back that far. We need more storytellers today. ---
**Author:** ![grendel72](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/91b2a8/32.png) [@grendel72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grendel72)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2001, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-no-story-songs-any-more/74539/76 "2001-08-06T18:24:10Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by spoke- \* > While it’s true that the early to mid-70’s were the heyday of the story song, it is definitely not true that it was some kind of passing “fad.” Story songs had been around since, well, probably since Cro-Magnon days. But at least since the Renaissance. Think of all the old English ballads that found their way into American music. Oh, I agree with you totally that ballads have been around for a long time. They have _not_ always been popular, that is what I’m talking about. Story songs have always _and will always_ be prominent in folk and country. Just about every hip-hop song from Rapper’s Delight on has been a story song. Oh, and to remind y’all of the worst ballad ever: Timothy, Timothy what have we done… ---
**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:** [August 6, 2001, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-no-story-songs-any-more/74539/77 "2001-08-06T18:31:06Z")
The 60’s probably had as many story songs as any other decade. Look at Dylan’s stuff - almost every song he wrote was a ‘story’ song, which makes sense because he started out as a folkie, and the story song is a staple of folk music. Think of songs like “Maggie Mae”, “Norwegian Wood”, “Dead Man’s Curve”… I’m surprised that four of the most popular story song singer/songwriters haven’t even been mentioned yet: Jim Croce, Cat Stevens, Harry Chapin, and Jimmy Buffet. All four of them wrote story songs almost exclusively (Cat Stevens not as many as the others, but listen to ‘Father and Son’, which is one of my favorite story songs). ---
**Author:** ![Kaitlyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/73ab20/32.png) [@Kaitlyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kaitlyn)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2001, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-no-story-songs-any-more/74539/78 "2001-08-06T18:34:21Z")
Some good Bruce Springsteen story songs: The River Racing in the Street Thunder Road Johnny 99 Highway Patrolman Nebraska Born in the USA Darlington County Glory Days My Hometown Every song on “The Ghost of Tom Joad”, the best of which are: Sinaloa Cowboys Galveston Bay The Ghost of Tom Joad Paul Simon Rene and Georgette Magritte With Their Dog After the War Still Crazy After All These Years Slip Slidin’ Away Diamonds on the Souls of Her Shoes Call Me Al Rod Stewart Maggie May Da Ya Think I’m Sexy The Killing of Georgie Billy Joel The Ballad of Billy the Kid Big Shot Modern Woman This is the Time ---
**Author:** ![LateComer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b5ac83/32.png) [@LateComer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LateComer)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2001, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-no-story-songs-any-more/74539/79 "2001-08-07T13:01:58Z")
Glenn Frey’s “Smuggler’s Blues” seems to have been overlooked. If Lamia can bring up Richard Thompson, then I can bring up Fairport convention and Jethro Tull. Both groups have many “story” songs. Fairport’s recent “The Wood and The Wire” is a wonderful little story, and they’ve done many others such as my personal favourite [Matty Groves.](http://www.informatik.uni-hamburg.de/~zierke/sandy.denny/songs/mattygroves.html) Though perhaps Matty Groves shouldn’t count as it is based on a traditional ballad. ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2001, 9:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-no-story-songs-any-more/74539/80 "2001-08-12T09:52:51Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Sam Stone \* > **And now I get to make my obligatory plug for Warren Zevon, who has written some of the most memorable story songs, and still does. I will not rest until I have converted everyone to the Zevon way. I am the Oral Roberts of Literary Rock.** I will be your disciple. Warren rules! I dream of the day when I can mention his name and have people recognize it, but **not** have to hear them go “Awooooo…” No one ever listens to me when I try to tell them what you said: he’s the master of the story song. (You forgot Mr. Bad Example.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-no-story-songs-any-more/74539.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-no-story-songs-any-more/74539.md?page=5)