Songs That Tell a Story

I've always loved songs that have a plot or a storyline. Instead of swooning over someone the singer can't have or reminiscing about a lost love, songs that tell a story are lyrical narratives. They're pleasant to listen to and the constantly changing lyrics are much more distinctive and creative than the Top 40 songs that repeat themselves over and over. The lyrics move the story forward and most of these songs have a beginning, middle, and end, just like something written in prose form would (or should, or might). They introduce the characters and the problem and come to some sort of satisfying conclusion within a very short time frame.

Two of my favourite examples of lyrical narratives are Whiskey Lullaby, this version by Brad Paisley and Alison Krauss... Yes, it's country, and yes that seems to be a foul word here in the UK, but it's a lovely - if sad - song.



...And The Gambler by Kenny Rogers. I chose this particular clip because it involves the Muppets and who doesn't love those guys? Secondly, I was happy to discover that it involves multiple characters "acting" out the song.



Please ignore the advertising that appears on the above video. I am borrowing it in order to illustrate my point and unfortunately cannot get rid of it.

There's a bit of an overload of country on this post but artists in that genre seem to enjoy telling tales in their music.

Of course, there are plenty of other examples of songs that tell stories and exhibit some form of narrative structure. Bob Dylan's done a few, for instance, and even Avril Lavigne's Sk8er Boi (it pains me to even type it that way) has a story in it. There are a ton of examples out there if you listen for them!