My wife Vicki and I were recently listening to the radio in the car and heard a couple of “story” songs and it got me to thinking about some of my favorite tunes that have lyrics that chronicle stories.
After some research, here are a few of those tunes.
One of my favorites was from Canadian folk artist Gordon Lightfoot. He penned “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald,” a big hit back in 1976. It is still one I turn up the volume when it comes over the airways today.
Possibly the most famous song of Lightfoot’s hits, it is a true short story. The maritime disaster is one of the best-known in the history of the Great Lakes shipping industry, as Lightfoot starts by describing “the pride of the American side” beginning its journey to Cleveland. But the boat never made it to its intended destination and sank killing 29 sailors in the chilling lake water.
I like music by The Band. Their song “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down” from 1969 was a big hit.
In this story, lead singer and drummer Levon Helm steps into the shoes of Virgil Cane, a white Southerner who witnesses the Civil War’s bloody conclusion. Research indicates that Helm and fellow band member Robbie Robertson collaborated on the song for months, even conducting research on the war at the library.
One song that had a comical sway to it was recorded by the great Johnny Cash and his “A Boy Named Sue” brought a few smiles to our faces.
This one was released in 1969. Although Cash did not write the song, it was a top 10 crossover hit for him. Cash recorded it for his 1969 live album, “At San Quentin.” It told the story of a boy whose father left home when he was 3 years old. He later searched for his dad seeking revenge against him for naming him something so nontraditional – a girl’s name, Sue.
One that many of us who have kids and careers can relate to is Harry Chapin’s tune “Cat’s in the Cradle.”
This song actually spans an entire lifetime. A father regretfully doesn’t spend much time with his young son, only to find that decades later the roles have been reversed and the son has moved on with a busy life of his own. “Frankly, this song scares me to death,” Chapin, a father of five, once said.
A song by my favorite group, The Eagles, is “Hotel California.”
This came out in 1976 and the guitar solos are something to behold.
Although there have been many theories about the lyrics of this big hit for the southern rock group, in the 2013 documentary “History of the Eagles,” Don Henley described “Hotel California” as “a journey from innocence to experience…that’s all.” But there sure is a whole lot that happens in between those two things. A person, tired from driving through the desert alone, finds himself trapped in a labyrinth of strange characters, pink champagne on ice and no way out. Some thought it was about some kind of cult.
The late Charlie Daniels’ best-known hit was “The Devil Went Down to Georgia” and his fiddle solos are fantastic.
But the lyrics tell of when the Devil arrives in Georgia trying to steal souls. So he sets to work, turning his attention to stealing the soul of a man named Johnny via a fiddle-playing contest. “I’ll take your bet, you’re gonna regret,” Johnny says. “’Cause I’m the best there’s ever been.” Thankfully the old Devil is beaten by Johnny and he wins a fiddle of gold and keeps his soul.
Some say the greatest country song ever recorded was by George Jones. His iconic “He stopped loving her today” is a tune that can cause some to tear up.
One website said, “This entry on our list of country story songs has been historically ranked as the saddest country song of all time, and I’m inclined to agree with that notion.” Written by Bobby Braddock and Curly Putman and recorded by Jones, this song tells the story of a brokenhearted man who continues to love a woman he left years prior, and remains devoted to her until the day he dies. It’s a pretty emotional piece of writing.
Another country song, “Jolene” by the great Dolly Parton, has been recorded by others, but Dolly still sings it best.
Released in 1974, “Jolene” tells the tale of a woman pleading with another not to take her man. Dolly Parton’s heartfelt vocals have made this a timeless classic, capturing the raw emotions of despair and worry.
“Fancy” by country music star Reba McEntire is a remake of an earlier rendition of Bobbie Gentry’s original release. McEntire’s “Fancy” is from her 1990 album “Rumor Has It.” It narrates the rags-to-riches story of a young woman whose mother encourages her to use her looks to escape poverty. It was also a big video hit in the early days of CMT and other TV channels that played music videos.
Finally, one of the songs Vicki and I heard while driving in the car was “Delta Dawn,” by Tanya Tucker.
The main character is a “faded former Southern belle from Brownsville, Tennessee, who, at 41, is obsessed with the long-ago memory of a suitor who jilted her,” one website stated. The lyrics are some that stay with you, describing how the woman regularly “walks downtown with a suitcase in her hand, looking for a mysterious dark-haired man.” It is another heartbreaker.
I hope this column brought back some memories for you and made you think about some of your favorite “story songs” from the past.
Until next time,
(Kyle Lovern is a longtime journalist in the Tug Valley. He is now a retired freelance writer and columnist for the Mountain Citizen.)