I've had this idea kicking around in my head for awhile now, so let's do it. I am a very eclectic music lover. But one aspect of music, and particularly song writing, that I've always admired, is it's ability to condense a real narrative story into just a few minutes. Not many song writers are good at it, but the ones that are, are alchemists in their own right. Try cramming a whole story into 3 1/2 minutes, or maybe longer, and achieving a hit with it. It aint easy. Putting aside the hit record criteria, and it's still not easy.
When I think of the great "story telling" songs, it seems most of them are not rock songs. Perhaps there's something about the pace and rythym that conspires against the time needed to spin a good yarn. It seems like the best "story" songs have mostly been of slower genres...Country, Blues or Folk. There have been exceptions to that generality, and I'll touch upon some of them here.
Even in literature, crafting a good short story is, perhaps, one of the hardest exercises. One must, in a short span, tell a story that feels both developed and populated by characters that the reader cares about, and wrap it up in short order. Doing that in a song is even more rare, but there are many notable examples.
Tom T. Hall was a C&W songwriter that knew how to tell a story. Hence his nickname, "The Story Teller." To be sure, he wrote a fair share of what I would deem schlocky songs, but this was not one of them. Listen to the words, hear the story, and tell me you can't perfectly envision the setting described, as well as the characters and their exchange. It's a beautiful song, and a great story:
You can nit pick the arrangement...I would have dispensed with the strings myself, but as a piece of song writing, it's near perfect. I can see the bar, the old man, and imagine the conversation when I listen to this song. I can almost paint a picture of it. That's what a good story song is capable of doing.
Another oldie, but one hell of good yarn, is the Marty Robbins song "El Paso." Crammed into the tight confines of this 4:41 minute song is an entire 90 minute Western movie, starring Yul Brenner or Steve McQueen.
Lest y'all think that this entire diary is going to be a blown kiss to my favorite country songs, there have been some great rock song writers who can tell a good story as well, but I just feel like the norms of rock don't often allow for it...be they the time allowed by radio programmers to fit a song into the playlist, or the demands of the fans for something catchy and hook laden. Here's one of the best, but it clocks in at over 9 minutes, from The Boss. It's both a story and a song picture...a moment, a night...a time in life...all of our lives, captured almost as if on Kodachrome, if Kodachrome were a musical media:
Jackson Browne was nothing if not wistfull...both in song material and even in his voice. This song never ceases to capture me whenever I listen to it. I have, I'm sure, gone through old photos just as he does in this song, and found myself caught by one...lingering over it, and finding the image propelling me into a wider reverie of the history behind it. Another beautiful story, another beautiful song:
I'll return to the country genre for the next two songs. The first is by Steve Earle, and this song, a protest song against the injustice of the death penalty, is one of the most cleanly and clearly delineated stories I've ever hear in song. Again...one could flesh this song out and make an entire movie out of it. PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE listen closely to the lyrics to "Billy Austin", you won't be sorry:
Then, of course, there is the most famous story told in country music. Ode To Billie Joe (and they did try to make a movie of this song):
Maybe she'll pick him out again...A simple twist of fate. For my money, Bob Dylan never recorded a more gorgeous and heart wrenching song than this story of two humans finding each other, and parting as easily, though not quite. The studio version almost makes me cry when I listen to it.
Another song about one night stands that isn't nearly as sensitive or poignant, but still captures the moment in deliciously precise detail and tells the story just as truly:
And then there's my favorite story teller of all time. The incomparable Tom Waits. Nobody, but nobody, can tell a riveting story, and put it to song, like Tom Waits. His characters may not appeal to you, and perhaps his music doesn't either...but I've loved his music from the first time I heard it. I picked this song at random, almost, because he has so many great ones, but I hope you enjoy his story:
Ahh, hell. One more from Tom, cause, you know, "a red head in a uniform will always get you horny."
How 'bout you? Got any good stories?