These tell stories and they were all singles within the last ten years (since “Jeremy” came out.) Depressing stories for the most part, but stories- at least as complete as the example “3 steps”- none the less.
Nickleback- Leader of Men
3rd Eye Blind- Losing a Whole Year
Splender- Yeah, Whatever
Tom Petty- Mary Jane’s Last Dance/Wildflowers
Alanis Morrisette- Your House
Sheryl Crow- All I Wanna Do
Everything But the Girl- Missing
Wheatus- teenage dirtbag
Cowboy Mouth- Whatcha Gonna Do?
Indigo Girls- Closer to Fine
Verve Pipe- Freshmen
Better Than Ezra- Desperately Wanting
Wallflowers- one Headlight
Goldfinger- Here in Your Bedroom
The Urge- Jump Right In
Matchbox20- 3am/Push
Live- Lighting Crashes
Jars of Clay- Flood
Meredith Brooks- What Would Happen
No Doubt- Sunday Morning
Liz Phair- Polyester Bride
PJ Harvey- Elise
Santana and Everlast- Put Your Lights On
Savage Garden- To The Moon and Back
Paula Cole- Where Have All the Cowboys Gone
Dandy Warhols- Bohemian Like You
Bif Naked- Lucky
Chris Issack- Baby Did a Bad Bad Thing
Sublime- Date Rape
Red Hot Chili Peppers- Breaking The Girl
Creed- My Own Prison
Moby- Natural Blues (short story:) )
G Love- Rodeo Clowns
Marvelous 3- Sugar Buzz
Dada- Bob The Drummer
Eliot Smith - Walz #2
Save Ferris- Goodbye
Limp Bizkit- No Sex
Jane’s Addiction- Been Caught Stealing (or maybe this is older than 91’ I forget.)
Weezer- Say it Ain’t So
Self- Paint By Numbers
Tool- Aenema
Blink 182-- Dammit
Offspring- The Kids Aren’t All Right/ Gone Away
Crash Test Dummies-- Mmm, Mmm, Mmm, Mmm
Dishwalla-- Counting Blue Cars
Seven Mary Three- Water’s Edge (a good companion to Hazard by Richard Marx, actually)
White Town- Your Woman
Reel Big Fish-- Sell Out
etc…
There are a lot more that have been made but many of them have never made it to the radio, so unless you own the albums you’d never know it.
Re: “story songs”, specifically, some of those posted by elfkin477:
Songs such as Jane’s Addictions’ “Been Caught Stealing” and Offspring’s “The Kids Aren’t All Right” I don’t see as story songs, in the sense that they aren’t really telling a story. They’re more a series of related vignettes perhaps, but there isn’t anything that might be considered a “plot” in the song (for me, the ultimate “story song” is the aforementioned “Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald” by Gordon Lightfoot - that is storytelling).
For example, “Been Caught Stealing” is pretty much some guy talking about how he steals things. Not much of a story there. “The Kids Aren’t All Right” is pretty much about a bunch of kids who wound up screwing up their lives in one way or another, but again, there is no “story” there. The same can be said of songs like “88 Lines About 44 Women”, by I-forget-who, or Butthole Surfers’ “Pepper”; they are certainly about something, and they may have a theme, but I wouldn’t say they are telling a story, per se.
Yeah, I’ll echo what Darwin’s Finch has said. Most of your examples don’t hold up, elfkin477. They aren’t beginning-middle-end stories. They may contain some narrative descriptions, or snippets of the singer’s memories, or even related vignettes, but there are few of them I would classify as “story songs.”
“My Own Prison,” e.g. How the heck is that a story song? “Lightning Crashes?” Same thing. A few narrative snippets, but no story. Ditto “Closer to Fine.” Etc., etc.
Granted, 99 Red Balloons may be one of the weaker entries, but it does tell a complete story. 99 red balloons float away, they get misidentified as incoming Russian missiles, they provoke a nuclear response, and the song ends with the singer walking around “in this dust that was a city.” A full story.
In hindsight, though, I should probably remove “50 Ways to Leave Your Lover.” Doesn’t quite make the cut. Tell you what. In its place I’ll put “Killing Me Softly.”
I could easily list many more from the 70’s alone. Full stories, too, not just narrative snippets sprinkled here and there in the song.
Since music and passion were always the fashion…:D:D:D
Now, as for concept albums - I don’t mourn the loss of Pretentious Self-Indulgent Twaddle-Sprewn Albums of the likes of yes. But with a slightly broader vew of the term - i.e. an album that truly is greater than the sum of its parts - I think the last one I personally encountered was Bjork’s Homogenic of 1997. (Which, btw, I can’t recommend more - it’s a truly brilliant, enduring work.)
I think you answered your question in the OP… there is storytelling out there, it’s just not "pop"ular right now. Pop music tastes wax and wane, and we happen to be in style over substance cycle right now.
And you all are missing my favorite narative of all, “Dixie Drug Store” by Grant Lee Buffalo.
Maybe it shows how much good taste kids today have. I remember the story songs of my youth. I know the words to most. They usually do not stand the test of time very well.
Escape, Copacabana and Patches have already been mentioned. Does anyone remember “Run Joey Run” or “Delta Dawn”. I think we should be thankful no one has produced this generations “Tie A Yellow Ribbon”.
P.S. Patches is the most agonizing, godawful pap ever set to music. It is the suckiest sucker that ever sucked a suck.
I don’t know, but I have been listening to a few songs by The Cure. Here they are - “Strange Attraction”(FTR, this song makes me cry), “The 13th”, “Lullaby”, “Hot, Hot, Hot”(or not, I don’t know), “Just Like Heaven”. Also Placebo’s “Haemoglobin”. Some of these are reaches, but here are the Placebo and The Cure song lyrics if you want to make your own decision. And I am sure I could find more.
Or are these not what you are looking for? If not, then shoot! I went through all that trouble for nothing.
I’m not sure why the parenthesis is there, perhaps just misused. FTR, these are two separate songs.
FWIW, Jack and Diane has a sequal entitled Eden Is Brurning – those two American kids seem to have found that “holding onto sixteen” just didn’t work.
Also, gex gex, I really don’t think the Beatles are acclaimed as being brilliant soley based on short attention-span pop hits like “I Wanna Hold Your Hand.” Their brilliant songs, imho, would include “A Day In The Life,” “Eleanor Rigby,” “Norwegian Wood,” etc. Story songs, all.
In fact, I’m gonna guess (and hope) that you well know that isn’t the case and just grabbed that song to make a quick point, or attempt to anyway. Even so, I wouldn’t classify the Beatles as an example of purveyors of short attention span songs based on just one song. Yes, they had many short little pop tunes, especially from about 62-65, but I wouldn’t just lump them with one example. Nor would I lump/classify any group with just one example.
huff…huff…but I likeDelta Dawn! I mean, I ask you, who writes sentimal songs about stalkers anymore, hmm? Who?
And let’s throw in Fancy for good measure. Where are the people writing songs about selling your daughter into prostitution?
P.S. You haven’t lived 'til you’ve heard Lady Bunny’s version of Fancy. I don’t know if she’s ever recorded it, but she sure should - I remember first hearing her singing it at Wigstock '92 or '93.