What is your favorite "story" song?

[bsnyder]

Another one of my favorites, the Lloyd Price version:


The night was clear and the moon was yellow
And the leaves came tumbling down

I was standing on the corner when I heard my bulldog bark
He was barkin' at the two men who were gamblin' in the dark
It was Stagger Lee and Billy, two men who gambled late
Stagger Lee threw seven, Billy swore that he threw eight

Stagger Lee told Billy, "I can't let you go with that"
"You have won all my money and my brand new stetson hat"
Stagger Lee started off goin' down that railroad track
He said "I can't get you Billy but don't be here when I come back"

Stagger Lee went home and he got his fourty-four
Said "I'm goin' to the barroom just to pay that debt I owe"
Stagger Lee went to the barroom and he stood across the barroom door
He said "Nobody move" and he pulled his fourty-four

Stagger Lee shot Billy, oh he shot that poor boy so bad
Till the bullet came through Billy and it broke the bartender's glass

 

[Planogirl]

Trisha Yearwood, one of my favorite country artists, sings a lot of "story" songs. I like "She's In Love With The Boy" the best.

Katie's sittin on her old front porch
Watchin' the chickens peck the ground
There ain't a whole lot going on tonight
In this one horse town

Over yonder comin' up the road
In a beat up Chevy truck
Her boyfriend Tommy is laying on the horn
Splashing through the mud and the muck

Her daddy says he ain't worth a lick
When it comes to brains
He got the short end of the stick
But Katie's young and man she just don't care
She'd follow Tommy anywhere
She's in love with the boy
She's in love with the boy
She's in love with the boy
And even if they have to run away
She's gonna marry that boy someday

Katie and Tommy at the drive in movie
Parked in the very last row
They're too busy holding on to one another
To even care about the show
Later on outside the Tasty Freeze
Tommy slips something on her hand
He says my high school ring will have to do
Til I can buy a wedding band

Her daddy say's he ain't worth a lick
When it comes to brains
He got the short end of the stick
But Katie's young and man she just don't care
She'd follow Tommy anywhere
She's in love with the boy
She's in love with the boy
She's in love with the boy
And even if they have to run away
She's gonna marry that boy someday

Her Daddy's waitin up til half past twelve
When they come sneakin' up the walk
He says young lady get on up to your room
While me and junior have a talk
Momma breaks in says don't lose your temper
It wasn't very long ago
You yourself was just a hay seed plow boy
Who didn't have a row to how

My daddy said you wasn't worth a lick
When it came to brains you got the short of the stick
But he was wrong and honey you are too
Katie looks at Tommy like I still at you
She's in love with the boy
She's in love with the boy
She's in love with the boy
What's meant to be will always find a way
She's gonna marry that boy someday

 

[snoopy]

How about Carole King's "Smackwater Jack"?

One Tin Solider makes me literally cringe if I hear it today. The whole Billy Jack madness is lost on me now, but at the time, I was heavy duty into him, and that song.

 

[bsnyder]

Judi, I lost track of the number of times I saw that movie. But I can't stand that song now.

 

[DocRafiki]

Originally posted by Silky

The leader of the pack - now he's gone
The leader of the pack - now he's gone
[fade] [/B]

Ooh, I loved that song! But the first one that came to mind was Last Kiss. I guess I just like songs about people dying in crashes???

(No, I'm not that old, but I grew up listening to my parents' records.)

 

[Michelle]

Wow, there are TONS of songs that come to mind...Cats in the Cradle was my first thought. I also got WAY too much of One Tin Soldier growing up, and Seasons in The Sun (the "hello Michelle" part especially ). And for the REALLY old folks, remember Harper Valley PTA?

I'm reliving an Eagles phase of my life right now and really enjoy the Hell Freezes Over CD...live versions of old songs. I think this one fits the category:

Harry got up
Dressed all in black
Went down to the station
And he never came back
They found his clothing
Scattered somewhere down the track
And he won't be down on Wall Street
in the morning

He had a home
The love of a girl
But men get lost sometimes
As years unfurl
One day he crossed some line
And he was too much in this world
But I guess it doesn't matter anymore

In a New York minute
Everything can change
In a New York minute
Things can get pretty strange
In a New York minute
Everything can change
In a New York minute

Lying here in the darkness
I hear the sirens wail
Somebody going to emergency
Somebody's going to jail
If you find somebody to love in this world
You better hang on tooth and nail
The wolf is always at the door

In a New York minute
Everything can change
In a New York minute
Things can get a little strange
In a New York minute
Everything can change
In a New York minute

And in these days
When darkness falls early
And people rush home
To the ones they love
You better take a fool's advice
And take care of your own
One day they're here;
Next day they're gone

I pulled my coat around my shoulders
And took a walk down through the park
The leaves were falling around me
The groaning city in the gathering dark
On some solitary rock
A desperate lover left his mark,
"Baby, I've changed. Please come back."

What the head makes cloudy
The heart makes very clear
The days were so much brighter
In the time when she was here
But I know there's somebody somewhere
Make these dark clouds disappear
Until that day, I have to believe
I believe, I believe

In a New York minute
Everything can change
In a New York minute
You can get out of the rain
In a New York minute
Everything can change
In a New York minute

 

[I <3 Eeyore]

Another Eagles favorite here:


Hotel California


On a dark desert highway
Cool wind in my hair
Warm smell of colitas
Rising up through the air
Up ahead in the distance
I saw a shimmering light
My head grew heavy, and my sight grew dim
I had to stop for the night
There she stood in the doorway
I heard the mission bell
And I was thinking to myself
This could be Heaven or this could be Hell
Then she lit up a candle
And she showed me the way
There were voices down the corridor
I thought I heard them say

Welcome to the Hotel California
Such a lovely place
Such a lovely place
Such a lovely face
Plenty of room at the Hotel California
Any time of year
Any time of year
You can find it here
You can find it here

Her mind is Tiffany twisted
She's got the Mercedes Benz
She's got a lot of pretty, pretty boys
That she calls friends
How they dance in the courtyard
Sweet summer sweat
Some dance to remember
Some dance to forget
So I called up the Captain
Please bring me my wine
He said
We haven't had that spirit here since 1969
And still those voices are calling from far away
Wake you up in the middle of the night
Just to hear them say

Welcome to the Hotel California
Such a lovely Place
Such a lovely Place
Such a lovely face
They're livin' it up at the Hotel California
What a nice surprise
What a nice surprise
Bring your alibies

Mirrors on the ceiling
Pink champagne on ice
And she said
We are all just prisoners here
Of our own device
And in the master's chambers
They gathered for the feast
They stab it with their steely knives
But they just can't kill the beast
Last thing I remember
I was running for the door
I had to find the passage back to the place I was before
Relax said the nightman
We are programed to receive
You can check out any time you like
But you can never leave

 

[Obi-Wan Pinobi]

Shooting Star, by Bad Company

Johnny was a schoolboy
When he heard his first Beatles song
Love Me Do I think it was
And from there it didn't take him long

Got himself a guitar
Used to play every night
Now he's in a rock and roll outfit
and everything's all right
Don't ya know

Johnny told his mama
Hey, Mama, I'm going away
I'm gonna hit the big time
Gonna be a big star someday

Momma came to the door
With a teardrop in her eye
Johnny said "Don't cry Momma,
Smile and wave goodbye."

Don't you know

(Chorus)
Don't you know
That you are a shooting star,..(don't you know, don't you know)
Don't you know that you are
A Shooting Star
And all the world will love you
Just as long..as long as you are?

Johnny made a record
Went straight up to number one
Suddenly everyone loved to hear him sing his song
Watching the world go by
Surprising it goes so fast
Johnny looked around him
And said "Well I made the big time at last."

(chorus)
a shooting star.,....

(chorus)

Johnny died one night
Died in his bed
Bottle of whiskey, sleeping tablets
By his head

Johnny's life passed him
by like a warm summer day
If you listen to the wind
You can still hear him play

Don't you know,...

(improv of chorus)

 

[Kitty 34]

Originally posted by snoopy


One Tin Solider makes me literally cringe if I hear it today. The whole Billy Jack madness is lost on me now, but at the time, I was heavy duty into him, and that song.

I know what you mean Snoopy! What was it about that movie that made so many of us nuts??!! I bought BJ in DVD for $5.98 at a local Walmart this past winter and was so-o-o-o eager to get home and watch it. My! Do feelings change as time goes by.....lots of time!!!

 

[fireplug]

Beth by KISS
The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald by Gordon Lightfoot
Devil went down to Georgia by Charlie Daniels

Steve

 

[kaseyC]

1. Escape (The Pina Colada Song)
2. Copacabana

Webmaster Michelle, I do remember Harper Valley PTA - "The day my mama socked it to the Harper Valley PTA"

 

[SonjaB]

My all-time favorite story song:

The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald

Gordon Lightfoot

The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down
of the big lake they called "Gitche Gumee."
The lake, it is said, never gives up her dead
when the skies of November turn gloomy.
With a load of iron ore twenty-six thousand tons more
than the Edmund Fitzgerald weighed empty,
that good ship and true was a bone to be chewed
when the "Gales of November" came early.

The ship was the pride of the American side
coming back from some mill in Wisconsin.
As the big freighters go, it was bigger than most
with a crew and good captain well seasoned,
concluding some terms with a couple of steel firms
when they left fully loaded for Cleveland.
And later that night when the ship's bell rang,
could it be the north wind they'd been feelin'?

The wind in the wires made a tattle-tale sound
and a wave broke over the railing.
And ev'ry man knew, as the captain did too
'twas the witch of November come stealin'.
The dawn came late and the breakfast had to wait
when the Gales of November came slashin'.
When afternoon came it was freezin' rain
in the face of a hurricane west wind.

When suppertime came the old cook came on deck sayin'.
"Fellas, it's too rough t'feed ya."
At seven P.M. a main hatchway caved in; he said,
"Fellas, it's bin good t'know ya!"
The captain wired in he had water comin' in
and the good ship and crew was in peril.
And later that night when 'is lights went outta sight
came the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.

Does any one know where the love of God goes
when the waves turn the minutes to hours?
The searchers all say they'd have made Whitefish Bay
if they'd put fifteen more miles behind 'er.
They might have split up or they might have capsized;
they may have broke deep and took water.
And all that remains is the faces and the names
of the wives and the sons and the daughters.

Lake Huron rolls, Superior sings
in the rooms of her ice-water mansion.
Old Michigan steams like a young man's dreams;
the islands and bays are for sportsmen.
And farther below Lake Ontario
takes in what Lake Erie can send her,
And the iron boats go as the mariners all know
with the Gales of November remembered.

In a musty old hall in Detroit they prayed,
in the "Maritime Sailors' Cathedral."
The church bell chimed 'til it rang twenty-nine times
for each man on the Edmund Fitzgerald.
The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down
of the big lake they call "Gitche Gumee."
"Superior," they said, "never gives up her dead
when the gales of November come early!"

 

[snoopy]

OMG, I got flamed the last time I admitted it, but I'd rather eat dead worms then listen to that Edmund Fitzgerald song!

Oh, he just drones on and on! Last time I said that I got yelled at for not respecting the dead, or some such, but I just couldn't help myself! (sorry Son, to interrupt your solo. )

 

[danny1649]

"The Road To Hell"

 

[SonjaB]

Snoopy, LMBOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

OMG, that seriously made me laugh right out loud, you crack me up, sister.


If Gordon can make money off of the dead, you can feel free to hate the way he made it.

 

[CourtasanSatine]

The streak and Vincent

 

[AspiringCindy]

Originally posted by NHAnn
Oh, and I love Dan Fogelberg's "Auld Lang Syne" too...

I absolutely love that song!

 

[gina2000]

The ultimate story song.....

OHIO

Neil Young

Tin soldiers and nixon coming,
We’re finally on our own.
This summer I hear the drumming,
Four dead in ohio.

Gotta get down to it
Soldiers are gunning us down
Should have been done long ago.
What if you knew her
And found her dead on the ground
How can you run when you know?

Gotta get down to it
Soldiers are gunning us down
Should have been done long ago.
What if you knew her
And found her dead on the ground
How can you run when you know?

Tin soldiers and nixon coming,
We’re finally on our own.
This summer I hear the drumming,
Four dead in ohio.

 

[gina2000]

And don't forget THE RIVER by Bruce Springsteen (or anything else he's written for that matter....everything is a story.....)

THE RIVER



I come from down in the valley
where mister when you're young
They bring you up to do like your daddy done
Me and Mary we met in high school
when she was just seventeen
We'd ride out of that valley down to where the fields were green

We'd go down to the river
And into the river we'd dive
Oh down to the river we'd ride

Then I got Mary pregnant
and man that was all she wrote
And for my nineteenth birthday I got a union card and a wedding coat
We went down to the courthouse
and the judge put it all to rest
No wedding day smiles no walk down the aisle
No flowers no wedding dress

That night we went down to the river
And into the river we'd dive
Oh down to the river we did ride

I got a job working construction for the Johnstown Company
But lately there ain't been much work on account of the economy
Now all them things that seemed so important
Well mister they vanished right into the air
Now I just act like I don't remember
Mary acts like she don't care

But I remember us riding in my brother's car
Her body tan and wet down at the reservoir
At night on them banks I'd lie awake
And pull her close just to feel each breath she'd take
Now those memories come back to haunt me
they haunt me like a curse
Is a dream a lie if it don't come true
Or is it something worse
that sends me down to the river
though I know the river is dry
That sends me down to the river tonight
Down to the river
my baby and I
Oh down to the river we ride

 

[DelitefulDory]

Scences from an Italian Restaurant by Billy Joel...hands dow, the best song to crank up in the car.