Best "story in a song"?

[MK Shrimper]

Just realised that this thread is nearly 4 pages long and there's been no mention of Kenny Rogers.

Ruby
Coward of the County

Two fantastic story songs.

Or a Boy Named Sue by Johnny Cash.

 

[loz]

for camp (in several senses of the word) value i'd have to go for The Charlie Daniels Band "The Devil Went Down To Georgia"

The devil went down to Georgia. He was lookin' for a soul to steal. He was in a bind 'cause
he was way behind, and he was willin' to make a deal, when he came across this young man
sawin' on a fiddle and playin' it hot. And the devil jumped up on a hickory stump and said,
"Boy, let me tell you what.

I guess you didn't know it but I'm a fiddle player, too. And if you'd care to take a dare, I'll
make a bet with you. Now, you play pretty good fiddle, boy, but give the devil his due. I'll bet
a fiddle of gold against your soul, 'cause I think I'm better than you." The boy said, "My
name's Johnny, and it might be a sin. But I'll take your bet, you're gonna regret, 'cause I'm
the best that's ever been."

Johnny, rosin up your bow and play your fiddle hard, 'cause hell's broke loose in Georgia and
the devil deals the cards. And if you win you get this shiny fiddle made of gold. But if you lose,
the devil gets your soul.

The devil opened up his case and he said, "I'll start this show." And fire flew from his fingertips
as he rosined up his bow. And he pulled the bow across the strings and it made an evil hiss.
Then a band of demons joined in and it sounded somethin' like this:

When the devil finished, Johnny said, "Well, you're pretty good, old son, but sit down in that
chair right there and let me show you how it's done.

Fire on the mountain. Run, boys, run. The devil's in the House of the Rising Sun. Chicken in the
bread pan pickin' out dough. Granny, does your dog bite? No, child, no.

The devil bowed his head because he knew that he'd been beat. And he laid that golden fiddle
on the ground at Johnny's feet. Johnny said, "Devil, just come on back if you ever want to try
again. 'Cause I told you once, you son of a bitch, I'm the best that's ever been."



poetry, really.

 

[Lester Bangs]

Keeping it on a Country tip. One of my favourite songs when I was a wee nipper that has stayed with me is:

Jolene by Dolly Parton

Even at an early age I found it really rather sinister but I love it all the same.

 

[MK Shrimper]

Not sure this counts, but it's just a wonderful song!

Riding out on a horse in a star-spangled Rodeo.....

 

[Rob Noxious]

The Zim - 'Lily, Rosemary and The Jack Of Hearts'

 

[soul DJ]

Al Wilson's The Snake

 

[MK Shrimper]

The Zim - 'Lily, Rosemary and The Jack Of Hearts'

Making it up now :p

 

[Rob Noxious]

Not sure this counts, but it's just a wonderful song!

Riding out on a horse in a star-spangled Rodeo.....

Love that line, "...getting cards and letters from people I don't even know."

 

[londonblue]

As a father it's got to be Cats in the Cradle.

This link is to the lyrics and the music, so turn the volume down on your PC if you're at work.

 

[Rob Noxious]

Making it up now :p

"Oh no, I wasn't !"

I now call Bob Dylan 'The Zim' in honour of Wilko Johnson's way of name-checking the greatest living DJ. :)

 

[canveyshrimper]

One for Shrimpero. :)

W.O.L.D. by Harry Chapin

I am the morning dj at FM 247.....:nope:

Doesn't quite have the same ring.

Hello Honey, it's me
What did you think when you heard me back on the radio?
What did the kids say when they knew it was their long lost daddy-o?
Remember how we listened to the radio
And I said `That's the place for me'
And how I got the job as an FM Jock the day you married me?
We were two kids and I was was into AM rock
But I just had to run around
It's been eight years since I left you babe
Let me tell you 'bout what's gone down

CHORUS
I am the morning DJ on W*O*L*D
Playing all the hits for you wherever you may be
The bright good-morning voice who's heard but never seen
Feeling all of forty-five going on fifteen

The drinking I did on my last big gig made my voice go low
They said that they liked the younger sound when they let me go
So I drifted on down to Tulsa, Oklahoma to do me a late night talk show
Now I worked my way back home again, via Boise, Idhao
That's how this business goes

CHORUS

I've been making extra money playing high school sock hops
I'm a big time guest MC
You should hear me talking to the little children
And listen what they say to me
Got a spot on the top of my head, begging for a new toupee
And a tire on my gut from sitting on my
But they're never gonna go away

Sometimes I get this crazy dream
That I just drive off in my car
But you can travel on ten thousand miles and still say where you are
I've been thinking that I should quit disk jockeying
And start that record store
Maybe I could settle down if you'ld take me back once more

OK Honey, I see
I guess he's better than me
Sure, Old Girl, I understand
You don't have to worry, I'm such a happy man

W*O*L*D, W*O*L*D, W*O*L, W*O*L, W*O*L*D*D*D

I am the morning DJ on K*H*J
Playing all the hits for you Playing them night and day
The bright good morning voice who's heard but never seen
Feeling all of forty-five, going on fifteen
I am the morning DJ on W*O*L*D

 

[loz]

oh, and "Blackjack Davey" by the Carter Family, as recently covered by the White Stripes

 

[Rob Noxious]

One for Shrimpero. :)

W.O.L.D. by Harry Chapin

I am the morning dj at FM 247.....:nope:

Doesn't quite have the same ring.

Thanks, H. Talking of DJ songs, I remember being in the old 'Golden Disc' store (on the same side of Queens Road as 'The Aristocrat') and hearing this record where the only words were variants on the name 'Tony Blackburn.' Strange, but true ...

 

[Ron Manager]

Loving the choices of Up The Junction and Down In The Tube Station At Midnight. May I also suggest Common People by Pulp -

"She came from Greece she had a thirst for knowledge, she studied sculpture at St Martin's college, that's where I, caught her eye, she told me that her Dad was loaded, I said in that case I'll have one of those, Coca Cola's..."

Actually any number of Pulp songs are great stories because Jarvis Cocker was the greatest lyricist of a generation.

 

[Napster]

caught her I, .

I'm sure it's "caught her eye"

;)

 

[canveyshrimper]

Lola by The Kinks.

 

[Ron Manager]

I'm sure it's "caught her eye"

;)

Of course it is..it's the end of a working week and I'm a few beers down...that's my excuse anyway!

 

[MK Shrimper]

On an Indie Schmindie tip - Monday Morning 5:19 by Rialto.

Oh the pain!

 

[THE SEVENTIES NORTH BANK]

Some good choices already, Up the Junction probably one of my favourites so far, also lloved Excerpts from a Teenage Opera, Tell Laura I love her and Summer the first time.

Bobbie Gentry's Ode to Billy Joe is another that I used to think was great, I'm sure it had a tie in to a book around the 70s though which is when I remember it from.

It was the third of June,
another sleepy, dusty Delta day.
I was out choppin' cotton
and my brother was balin' hay.
And at dinner time we stopped,
and we walked back to the house to eat.
And mama hollered at the back door
"y'all remember to wipe your feet."
And then she said she got some news this mornin' from Choctaw Ridge
Today Billy Joe MacAllister jumped off the Tallahatchie Bridge.
Papa said to mama as he passed around the blackeyed peas,
"Well, Billy Joe never had a lick of sense,
pass the biscuits, please."
"There's five more acres in the lower forty I've got to plow."
Mama said it was shame about Billy Joe, anyhow.
Seems like nothin' ever comes to no good up on Choctaw Ridge,
And now Billy Joe MacAllister's jumped off the Tallahatchie Bridge
And brother said he recollected when he and Tom and Billy Joe
Put a frog down my back at the Carroll County picture show.
And wasn't I talkin' to him after church last Sunday night?
"I'll have another piece of apple pie, you know it don't seem right.
I saw him at the sawmill yesterday on Choctaw Ridge,
And now you tell me Billy Joe's jumped off the Tallahatchie Bridge."
Mama said to me "Child, what's happened to your appetite?
I've been cookin' all morning and you haven't touched a single bite.
That nice young preacher, Brother Taylor, dropped by today,
Said he'd be pleased to have dinner on Sunday. Oh, by the way,
He said he saw a girl that looked a lot like you up on Choctaw Ridge
And she and Billy Joe was throwing somethin' off the Tallahatchie Bridge."
A year has come 'n' gone since we heard the news 'bout Billy Joe.
Brother married Becky Thompson, they bought a store in Tupelo.
There was a virus going 'round, papa caught it and he died last spring,
And now mama doesn't seem to wanna do much of anything.
And me, I spend a lot of time pickin' flowers up on Choctaw Ridge,
And drop them into the muddy water off the Tallahatchie Bridge.

Great song. I remember when I was a wee lad, Bobbie Gentry with her own show on the BBC. Probably surprised a few younguns then, when I said 'her'.

 

[THE SEVENTIES NORTH BANK]

Thanks, H. Talking of DJ songs, I remember being in the old 'Golden Disc' store (on the same side of Queens Road as 'The Aristocrat') and hearing this record where the only words were variants on the name 'Tony Blackburn.' Strange, but true ...

Brings back memories, phoning each other up on a hot summer sunday,(land lines only in those days, lol) ''Are you going down the Arrie''?