Story Songs

[tosarge]

I've started a Genre of "Story Songs" and I have alot of the popular top 40 ones I could think of. I'm sure there are 100's. Was curious to hear if any others had a collection of story songs.
It seems the harder i try to think of more , the more I go blank.
One of my favorites is The Beatles - "She's Leaving Home"

What's yours?

[Solitaire001]

I've started a Genre of "Story Songs" and I have alot of the popular top 40 ones I could think of. I'm sure there are 100's. Was curious to hear if any others had a collection of story songs.
It seems the harder i try to think of more , the more I go blank.
One of my favorites is The Beatles - "She's Leaving Home"

What's yours?

There are many story songs that I like, although many of them were not in the top 40, and I've not made a playlist (yet). Among them are:

- "Bermuda Triangle" by Barry Manilow
- "Before My Heart Finds Out" by Gene Cotton
- "By The Time I Get To Phoenix" by Glen Campbell
- "Calling Your Name Again" by Richard Carpenter
- "Crazy World" by ABBA
- "The Day Before You Came" by ABBA
- "I Knew The Bride (When She Used To Rock 'n' Roll)" by Nick Lowe
- "It Never Rains In Southern California" by Albert Hammond
- "Scenes From An Italian Restaurant" by Billy Joel
- "She Never Knew Me" by Don Williams
- "Trying To Get The Feeling Again" by the Carpenters (also by Barry Manilow, David Pomeranz, and Gene Pitney)
- "The Uninvited Guest" by the Carpenters
- "Trapped In The Drive-Thru" by "Weird Al" Yankovic
- "A Waste Of Money" by Allan Sherman
- "Where Do I Go From Here" by England Dan & John Ford Coley (also by Barry Manilow and the Carpenters)
- "The Winner Takes It All" by ABBA
- "With Pen In Hand" by Roger Miller
- "The Wreck Of The Edmund Fitzgerald" by Gordon Lightfoot
- "You Don't Mess Around With Jim" by Jim Croce

[Guest]

One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer by George Thorogood

[rovingcowboy]

ya all forgot the ones that are old ones. and the fact that every song is really a story song of sorts.

but

camp town races.....................................peter pan chior
john henry............................................ dave duddly
casey jones.......................................... johnny cash
i've been working on the rail road.................peter pan chior
the old gray mare................................... peter pan chior
go tell aunt rosey the old gray goose is dead....play hour singers
grandma's feather bed..............................john denver
me and old cb.......................................dave duddly
widow maker.......................................the willis brothers
happy trails........................................roy rodgers and dale evens
el paso.............................................marty robbins
sing sing sing..................................... glen miller
in the mood.......................................glen miller
i can't get no satisfaction......................the rolling stones
mrs browns daughter...........................hermans hermits
i'm henry the 8th................................hermans hermits
take this job and shove it......................johnny paycheck
frosty the snowman.............................jimmy durante
rudoulph the red nose reindeer...............gene autry
santa bring my baby back to me..............elvis pressly
in the jail house now...........................web perice
jailhouse rock...................................elvis pressly
rock around the clock...........................Bill Haley and the Comets
la bamba.........................................richie valens
taxi cab driver (both versions of it).........the mills brothers and dave duddly
i'm a truck.......................................red simpson
waltzing matilda................................burl ives
the foggy foggy dew............................burl ives
the man on the flying trapeeze...............burl ives his is a kid friendly version.
lord mr. ford....................................jerry reed
grude oil blues..................................jerry reed
pinball machine blues.......................... old trucking song forgot who's singing it?
tumbstone evey mile.......................... the willis brothers
six white horses................................tommy cash
jesus loves me................................ jim reeves
the old rugged cross..........................jim reeves
in the garden..................................jim reeves


you see all those are story songs and all are different generas. and those are not the only singers that sang them
just ones i know who did those songs. or who's version of the songs i have.
but all are also not classified as story songs only a few are ever classified as one.



edited in

for got the songs of larry vern like hey mr. custer, and mr. livingston
two crazy story songs.

[tosarge]

Good Ones, Cowboy...Yeh i suppose every song is a story of sorts, But some are more narrative type, with a beginning , middle and end... ala -El Paso ..I forgot about that one..thanks.
50's and early 60's had a bunch of the death songs.. like Last Kiss...then all the Car type ones were cool,
Maybelline...Hot Rod Lincoln..seems there was a bunch of those types.
Thanks for sharing some of yours

[tosarge]

"At the age of two, a boy is upset when his parents bring home his new baby sister and as a result, have less time for him. Sixteen years later he leaves home, and tries to find the love he feels he lost when he was younger."

Can you guess the name of this Story Song?

[rovingcowboy]

no idea at all what that song title could be?

edited in

how many of you know that john henry's grave was found ?
and that it was found on the grounds of the white house.?

yep. sure was only thing is he ain't the only one in the grave its a mass grave,
thousands of them in there layer after layer, some one found an old photo of a prison
by a mountain with a train tunnel in the mountain, thought nothing of it until they
saw in the photo a board sign with the name "The white house" the prison was painted
white so it was called that, they took the photo and searched for the location then looked
for the graves marked on a map under the prison in the photo. found john henry was listed
on the names but not exact location cause they just tossed them in and buryed them.

you might also know that johnny appleseed's grave was found it was found about 20 yrs ago.
in fort wayne indiana,. they got a whole festival about him each year. but he was buryied just
how the story book said, under a tree at the bend of a river in an apple orchard.

dang if storys thought to be fairy tales are true how many songs like that are?

i wonder about casy jones?

[Solitaire001]

"At the age of two, a boy is upset when his parents bring home his new baby sister and as a result, have less time for him. Sixteen years later he leaves home, and tries to find the love he feels he lost when he was younger."

Can you guess the name of this Story Song?

"Lonely Boy" by Andrew Gold

And now to add some more story songs that come to mind:

- "Last Night" by the Traveling Wilburys
- "I Want My Baby Back" by Jimmy Cross (this song tells us what happened to the car that The Leader Of The Pack hit)
- "Mr. Bojangles" by The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
- "A Complicated Song" by "Weird Al" Yankovic
- "Ain't Got No Home" by Clarence "Frogman" Henry
- "Bluer Than Blue" by Barry Manilow
- "Copacabana (At The Copa)" by Barry Manilow
- "Crazy Downtown" by Allan Sherman
- "Damaged Goods" by Christine Lavin
- "Don't Forget To Brush" by Fred Figglehorn
- "Good Ole Boys Like Me" by Don Williams
- "He Stopped Loving Her Today" by George Jones
- "So Long Baby" by Del Shannon

[tosarge]

"At the age of two, a boy is upset when his parents bring home his new baby sister and as a result, have less time for him. Sixteen years later he leaves home, and tries to find the love he feels he lost when he was younger."

Can you guess the name of this Story Song?

"Lonely Boy" by Andrew Gold

And now to add some more story songs that come to mind:

Yep..Lonely Boy...You win ! of course there is no prize
Thanks for sharing those songs also, good ones, I'm getting good ammo for a collection. plus i need to get that song about the Leader Of The Pack and find out what happened, I never knew that song existed.
here's another Plot..Can you guess the song ?

"During a wicked snow storm, a horse breaks loose from his stall and his owner chases after him. Both the owner (a woman ) and her horse die. "

[rovingcowboy]

don't you have that song title wrong?
i remember frogman as singing bo weavil, and you have part of the song listed
as the title. cause the bo weavil aint got no home.


that song about a horse and a woman sounds like wildfire but not sure if it is cause
i don't remember a snow storm in that song.


"cowboy rides hundreds of miles on several horses and they die out from under him.
he gets back just in time to hold is wifes hand as she dies."

what's that song ?

[tosarge]

Yep Wildfire - Michael Murphy - you got that right. Well done but again no prize.

I'm stumped so far on your song, although it sounds like it could be a JAY & the Americans song. But that's a wild guess.
it's got to be a older song, or else he would have drove.

Have to wait and see who comes up with this one.

[Solitaire001]

"At the age of two, a boy is upset when his parents bring home his new baby sister and as a result, have less time for him. Sixteen years later he leaves home, and tries to find the love he feels he lost when he was younger."

Can you guess the name of this Story Song?

"Lonely Boy" by Andrew Gold

And now to add some more story songs that come to mind:

Yep..Lonely Boy...You win ! of course there is no prize
Thanks for sharing those songs also, good ones, I'm getting good ammo for a collection. plus i need to get that song about the Leader Of The Pack and find out what happened, I never knew that song existed.
here's another Plot..Can you guess the song ?

"During a wicked snow storm, a horse breaks loose from his stall and his owner chases after him. Both the owner (a woman ) and her horse die. "

Per Wikipedia, "Leader Of The Pack" is a 1964 song by the Shangri-Las. There is a parody song called "Leader Of The Laundromat" by The Detergents, which is also a story song.

Some more songs to mention (from the comedy section of my collection):

- "The Ballad Of Irving" by Frank Gallop
- "Beep Beep" by The Playmates
- "Tie Me Kangaroo, Sport" by Rolf Harris
- "Albuquerque" by "Weird Al" Yankovic
- "Genius In France" by "Weird Al" Yankovic
- "I'm So Sick Of You" by "Weird Al" Yankovic
- "Ode To A Superhero" by "Weird Al" Yankovic
- "Skipper Dan" by "Weird Al" Yankovic
- "Motel Californie" by Cledus "T." Judd

[rovingcowboy]

Yep Wildfire - Michael Murphy - you got that right. Well done but again no prize.

I'm stumped so far on your song, although it sounds like it could be a JAY & the Americans song. But that's a wild guess.
it's got to be a older song, or else he would have drove.

Have to wait and see who comes up with this one.

oh he had drove that is why he was hundreds of miles away, them cattle drives took a lot of time and distance to finish.


I'll have to tell every one cause only the diehard western fan might remember it. its an old old old one from long before cars. that was redone by marty robbins. at least it sounds like an old one? "Ride Cowboy Ride"

[tosarge]

I was thinking that sounded like a Hank Williams-Willie Nelson-Johnny Cash type story line. Stumped me.

Here's one that cowboys don't really sing about..Here's the story line.
After a night of drinking and dancing at the local club with a girl he met there, a young man who never has even so much as kissed a girl, becomes confused about the whole situation.

[rovingcowboy]

notta clue?


hey Solitaire001

how could you forget it.
you know what it is, did you not want to post it?
ah come on now its a funny song.

Eat it. by weird al.