Songs that tell a story

As much as I love improvisational music like the Grateful Dead and Allman Brothers, nothing quite grabs me like a well written song. It's usually something simple, with three chords, a great melody, and lyrics that tell a story. Perhaps it's the historian in me that is particularly interested in stories and the context out of which they emerge. I was jamming with one of my buddies last week and since we're both Mark Knopfler fans, I suggested we work on the tune "Sailing to Philadelphia." I had randomly come across it on my iPod the week before and was blown away instantly. First off, not only does it have Mark Knopfler and his signature guitar work, but he trades verses with James Taylor. The lyrics tell of two English surveyors who come to America. The names of these surveyors? Mason and Dixon. The song addresses several tropes inherent in the American psyche: adventure, movement west, pulling one up by their bootstraps, overcoming humble beginnings. It really is a great song and I recommend picking up a copy.

Songs that tell a story are what got me to where I am today. When I was a freshman in undergrad I worked at a local art gallery selling stuff on eBay. Over the Christmas break one of the owner's former employees came back from MSU and put in a few hours while he was in town. We had similar musical interests and he turned me on to the band Solas, who he had seen at a festival. I really liked what I heard and picked up some of their stuff. A Solas "story-song" favorite is "The Newry Highwayman." From there I came across the band Seven Nations, a Celtic-Rock band for lack of a better description, who covered a number of traditional songs, many of which tell a story, such as Canadee-I-O, Back Home In Derry, The Pound A Week Rise, and Crooked Jack. It was these two musical groups that fostered my initial interest in Irish history. I heard the stories in the songs and wanted to learn more about who these people were and the types of things that affected them. Seven Nations covered some Christy Moore, and I ended up getting into Christy. As THE Irish balladeer he plays plenty of songs that tell a story.

As a musician, one of the hardest things to remember are lyrics. I find that when a song tells a story it's much easier to remember because I think of how the story goes and the lyrics just come to me.

Some of my favorite "story songs." There are plenty of other story songs out there, especially by Dylan, Moore, Guthrie, and Garcia, but these are the ones I always find myself coming back to:

Little Musgrave - Christy Moore: A song about infidelity and retribution set to a great melody. Check out the live version with Planxty.

Ruben & Cherise - Jerry Garcia: A similar trope to that of Little Musgrave. This one is about a musician, his instrument, and the woman who potentially comes between them. The acoustic versions of this song are the best, notably 5/5/82.

Tangled Up In Blue - Bob Dylan: Zimmy is always good for a long narrative and Tangled Up In Blue is no exception. This one, for those who don't know, revolved around a man and a woman who get together, split up, and then run into each other over the years. At least that what I get out of it.

Back Home In Derry - Christy Moore: This song was actually written by Bobby Sands and set to the tune of "Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald." It's about being transported and how resistance and ideology run deeper than judicial punishment.

The Boxer - Paul Simon: Coming of age in the big city. No one writes like Simon.

Gonna Move - Paul Pena: Another coming of age song. This one talks about overcoming obstacles, especially other people's expectations.

Pastures Of Plenty - Woody Guthrie: Woody wrote this song about Okies moving out of the Dustbowl, but the Solas does an amazing version of this one. Well worth checking out.