Time for a history lesson.<\/p>\n
Once upon a time nice people with guitars actually wrote songs with literary content. They told stories about specific events, fictional or real, that resonated with the artists. (There was another subgenre of music that involved portraits of people. We\u2019ll get into that later.)<\/p>\n
Nowadays, I\u2019m not sure we have any pop stars who can spell<\/u><\/b> resonated.<\/p>\n
But I know, since you are a discerning music fan who is reading the Daily Vault instead of (*gag*) Pitchfork, that you want to broaden your musical horizons. You want to grow. You want to learn. You want to listen to old peoples\u2019 music. Well, gang, I am here to do you a service. Here, in a specific order, are my favorite Storytelling Songs.<\/p>\n
(Warning: these songs are rarely, if ever, happy. They involve loss, death, and heartbreak. A steady diet of them is only for the truly devoted, and should usually be paired with a fuzzy throw blanket and eating ice cream directly from the carton.)<\/p>\n
10. \u201cThe River\u201d \u2013 Bruce Springsteen<\/b><\/p>\n
Like Harry Chapin, there are so damn many Springsteen songs that could go here. But in the end I went with this bitter and hollow tale of a life that somehow went wrong. I mean \u2026<\/p>\n
\u201cNow 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\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
I mean \u2013 DAMN.<\/p>\n
9. \u201cOld Dogs, Children, and Watermelon Wine\u201d \u2013 Tom T Hall<\/b><\/p>\n
Tom T Hall never quite fit in. He was a country artist, but he could veer into folk, political commentary, and humor; he said once he was \u201cnot well liked\u201d by the Nashville establishment. This was despite writing \u201cHarper Valley PTA\u201d, a phenomenally popular song which also became a movie and TV series, and being a member of the Songwriters\u2019 Hall of Fame. \u201cOld Dogs\u201d is about a small, tired moment in an airport bar when a man finds a piece of wisdom he can keep.<\/p>\n
8. & 7. \u201cA Better Place To Be\u201d and \u201cBummer\u201d \u2013 Harry Chapin<\/b><\/p>\n
There are so damn many Chapin songs I could have put on here. I ended up being unable to decide between \u201cBetter Place\u201d, the soft and warm tale of a man who finds love by talking about finding love (you have to listen to it)\u2026<\/p>\n
\u2026and \u201cBummer\u201d, a bitter and bleak story about a man from the ghetto who is unable to escape the cycle of violence and death despite one shining moment of heroism and glory. Of course, I could have also mentioned \u201cSniper\u201d, \u201c30,000 Pounds of Bananas\u201d, \u201cCat\u2019s In The Cradle\u201d\u2026oh, hell. Just go listen to Chapin\u2019s greatest hits album. And a caveat; unlike most artists, he was better live. His studio material is overproduced and a little forced; his live albums are simple and joyous.<\/p>\n
6. \u201cChoctaw Bingo\u201d \u2013 James McMurtry<\/b><\/p>\n
You know, a lot of these songs are long. McMurtry\u2019s opus about a family reunion for the world\u2019s most dysfunctional family clocks in at eight minutes, and it\u2019s worth every second. Uncle Slayton is a bad man (\u201cYou know he had to leave Texas but he won’t say why\u2026\u201d) and his brood are descending on his farm in Oklahoma for guns, drinking, and possible sex with second cousins. This is one of the few songs on this list that I can say is funny, but there\u2019s a dark, greasy underbelly to it that makes it a masterpiece.<\/p>\n
5. \u201cDesperadoes Waiting For A Train\u201d \u2013 Guy Clark<\/b><\/p>\n
This is about growth, and loss, and the inevitable punch in the face from time. The story of a young man and an older one (it could be his grandfather; Clark never makes that clear), this is a bittersweet tribute to the elders that we rarely honor.<\/p>\n
4. \u201cDenmark 1943\u201d \u2013 Fred Small<\/b><\/p>\n
One of the few songs that makes me cry. \u201cDenmark\u201d is about the amazing effort the Danes did to deliver every Jew in the country to neutral Sweden before they could be transported to concentration camps. \u201cWe\u2019re not heroes or martyrs, so say the Danes, we were just lookin\u2019 after our own\u2026\u201d
Fred Small is an interesting story in and of itself. He produced seven excellent albums full of incisive social commentary and a touch of, dare I call it, wacky humor \u2013 then was called to the Unitarian ministry and now does social justice and climate activism within the church.<\/p>\n
3. \u201cOperator (That\u2019s Not The Way It Feels)\u201d \u2013 Jim Croce<\/b><\/p>\n
Screw wondering what Jimi Hendrix or Amy Winehouse might have produced had they lived. I want to hear what the astonishingly talented Croce might have come up with if he hadn\u2019t died in a plan crash in 1973. \u201cOperator\u201d was one of the first two songs he offered to record companies; some idiot said it wasn\u2019t \u201cstrong enough\u201d (this moron was the spiritual heir of the guy at Decca who turned down the Beatles). \u00a0\u201cOperator\u201d tells of a man whose heart is shattered, and yet is still trying to maintain some sense of dignity and self-worth. Hint: he\u2019s failing.<\/p>\n
2. \u201cTuscon Arizona (Gazette)\u201d \u2013 Dan Fogelberg<\/b><\/p>\n
A little-known song (even Dan\u2019s fans don\u2019t always recognize its genius) from Fogelberg\u2019s Windows And Walls<\/u> album, this one\u2019s a heartbreaker. A Greek tragedy set to Spanish guitar, this is a tale of an inevitable fall and violent end. It\u2019s the musical equivalent of a slow-motion train wreck; you can see what\u2019s coming, and you can\u2019t stop it, and it\u2019s going to be bloody. Back when I could still play guitar (arthritis is a bitch), this was the song I was proudest of being able to play.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
And before we announce number one, our Honorable Mentions:
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201c\u201952 Ford\u201d \u2013 Murder by Death<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cSpringsteen\u201d \u2013 Eric Church<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cSanto Domingo\u201d \u2013 Phil Ochs<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cThe Queen and The Soldier\u201d \u2013 Suzanne Vega<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
1. <\/b>\u201cWreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald\u201d \u2013 Gordon Lightfoot<\/b><\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
This\u2026 well, dammit, it\u2019s almost a eulogy\u2026 opus about a deadly sinking on Lake Superior in November of 1975 is probably the most widely heard song on this list. So why is it number one? Simple. They still play it on the radio every November 10. It has been covered more times than Paris Hilton. It is a concise, well-written, and moving tribute to the 29 men who lost their lives when the \u201cBig Fitz\u201d went down in hurricane-force winds. It has moved beyond a simple song into a cultural meme. Gordon Lightfoot nailed it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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