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I totally respect the varied and deep muso knowledge held by everyone on this forum. Therefore I was interested in suggestions you have for tracks where the lyrics tell a story or have a very specific meaning/philosophy.
My 8yr old girl is massively into music, real music, which is great. She hasn't a clue what X Factor or 1D is in fact and I intend to keep it that way! But where she hooks into songs is in the lyrics. She likes stuff that tells a story or has a clear meaning (and obviously the tune needs to be great too). Examples of stuff she likes now...
Rocky Raccoon - The Beatles Children's Story - Slick Rick Chuck Es in Love - Rikki Lee Jones War Pigs - Black Sabbath
Your suggestions could help make a great playlist, thankee sirs!...
So many Steely Dan/Donald Fagan songs to choose from. I'll take this one; pure pastiche of US optimism in the 60's. Particularly amusing that it comes for a cynical old f*ck like Fagan :-)
Ninety minutes from NewYork to Paris (More leisure for artists everywhere) A just machine to make big decisions Programmed by fellows with compassion and vision We'll be clean when their work is done We'll be eternally free yes and eternally young
I'm overwhelmed by the response here, amazing. So much to choose from, so much variety. I hoped it would make a good thread. Here's one of my favourites that I think qualifies as a story song.
Nice thread! Primus and Half Man Half Biscuit have written tons of story songs. Here are a couple of examples:
RFA
"Things had started becoming increasingly desperate at Loftus Road but QPR have been handed a massive lifeline and the place has absolutely erupted. it's carnage. It's bedlam. It's 1-1."
I'm overwhelmed by the response here, amazing. So much to choose from, so much variety. I hoped it would make a good thread. Here's one of my favourites that I think qualifies as a story song.
But do we want to burden young girls with stories about people getting beaten up on public transport? Because young girls, they do get weary.
I think young girls are fairly resilient - I can recall singing lots of songs that I've only understood as I've got older and then you remember singing away not having a clue. In fact, I've only just found out what a 'red light off the wrist' meant because Blob told me and I thought I was pretty well versed in dodgy lyrics
(ps I did get Tactical's song reference above but was just adding a general comment on understanding song lyrics at a young age)
I think young girls are fairly resilient - I can recall singing lots of songs that I've only understood as I've got older and then you remember singing away not having a clue. In fact, I've only just found out what a 'red light off the wrist' meant because Blob told me and I thought I was pretty well versed in dodgy lyrics
(ps I did get Tactical's song reference above but was just adding a general comment on understanding song lyrics at a young age)
[Post edited 29 Jul 2015 18:02]
This is where a man of the world like Blob comes in handy.
I'm overwhelmed by the response here, amazing. So much to choose from, so much variety. I hoped it would make a good thread. Here's one of my favourites that I think qualifies as a story song.
I think so many people have posted because it's such a great idea for a thread.
I also have an eight year old girl and can't stand getting in the car when she and her older brother have switched the radio to Kiss and all that horribly over-manufactured bilge come pouring out. Mind you, they complain if I put on house music or Talk Sport.....
At home we keep it pretty varied, mainly thanks to Spotify. There's so much good stuff out there old and new if you know where to look.
Prince - sign of the times Specials - too much too young Bobby Womack - i wish he didn't trust me so much wilton felder - no matter how high Booby Womack - Please Forgive My Heart
in fact pretty much most of Bobby Womack's catalogue as that was one fukked up life laid down on vinyl.
maybe none of these for an 8 year as i'm getting melancholy/depressed just thinking about the content!
Great stuff on here. Here's a story about a song... I used to work with the granddaughter of a sheriff in Mississippi that had some run-ins with Charley Patton, who immortalised him in Tom Rushen Blues. He was famous for being athletic - you couldn't outrun him - and fair and not racist. Charley Patton gave him a copy of the song.
A magnificent football club, the love of our lives, finding a way to finally have its day in the sun.
Couple I don't think have been mentioned Coming Dancing by The Kinks Cats in the Cradle by Harry Chapin America by Simon and Garfunkel The River by Bruce Springsteen Piano Man by Billy Joel
If a turtle doesn't have a shell, is he homeless or naked?
If you can get over how maudlin his stuff is, Casiotone For The Painfully Alone was amazing at this
Also not a single song, but one of the great albums of the last decade The Monitor by Titus Andronicus is a really interesting story of the narrator imaging his life if he had lived during the American Civil War. It's an incredible piece of work
"Things had started becoming increasingly desperate at Loftus Road but QPR have been handed a massive lifeline and the place has absolutely erupted. it's carnage. It's bedlam. It's 1-1."