Best story song ever?

I can't choose from among three:
"The Road Goes on Forever" by Robert Earl Keen;
"The Night That Made America Famous" by Harry Chapin; and
"Poor Old Tom" by Peter Case.
Lyrics or other links will be added at the least echo of a suggestion of a request.
And you?

Come on.

was just listening it today!!

That is such a wonderful song, on so many levels.

This song is called Alice's Restaurant, and it's about Alice, and the
restaurant, but Alice's Restaurant is not the name of the restaurant,
that's just the name of the song, and that's why I called the song Alice's
Restaurant.

You can get anything you want at Alice's Restaurant
You can get anything you want at Alice's Restaurant
Walk right in it's around the back
Just a half a mile from the railroad track
You can get anything you want at Alice's Restaurant

Now it all started two Thanksgivings ago, was on - two years ago on
Thanksgiving, when my friend and I went up to visit Alice at the
restaurant, but Alice doesn't live in the restaurant, she lives in the
church nearby the restaurant, in the bell-tower, with her husband Ray and
Fasha the dog. And livin' in the bell tower like that, they got a lot of
room downstairs where the pews used to be in. Havin' all that room,
seein' as how they took out all the pews, they decided that they didn't
have to take out their garbage for a long time.

We got up there, we found all the garbage in there, and we decided it'd be
a friendly gesture for us to take the garbage down to the city dump. So
we took the half a ton of garbage, put it in the back of a red VW
microbus, took shovels and rakes and implements of destruction and headed
on toward the city dump.

Well we got there and there was a big sign and a chain across across the
dump saying, "Closed on Thanksgiving." And we had never heard of a dump
closed on Thanksgiving before, and with tears in our eyes we drove off
into the sunset looking for another place to put the garbage.

We didn't find one. Until we came to a side road, and off the side of the
side road there was another fifteen foot cliff and at the bottom of the
cliff there was another pile of garbage. And we decided that one big pile
is better than two little piles, and rather than bring that one up we
decided to throw our's down.

That's what we did, and drove back to the church, had a thanksgiving
dinner that couldn't be beat, went to sleep and didn't get up until the
next morning, when we got a phone call from officer Obie. He said, "Kid,
we found your name on an envelope at the bottom of a half a ton of
garbage, and just wanted to know if you had any information about it." And
I said, "Yes, sir, Officer Obie, I cannot tell a lie, I put that envelope
under that garbage."

After speaking to Obie for about fourty-five minutes on the telephone we
finally arrived at the truth of the matter and said that we had to go down
and pick up the garbage, and also had to go down and speak to him at the
police officer's station. So we got in the red VW microbus with the
shovels and rakes and implements of destruction and headed on toward the
police officer's station.

Now friends, there was only one or two things that Obie coulda done at
the police station, and the first was he could have given us a medal for
being so brave and honest on the telephone, which wasn't very likely, and
we didn't expect it, and the other thing was he could have bawled us out
and told us never to be see driving garbage around the vicinity again,
which is what we expected, but when we got to the police officer's station
there was a third possibility that we hadn't even counted upon, and we was
both immediately arrested. Handcuffed. And I said "Obie, I don't think I
can pick up the garbage with these handcuffs on." He said, "Shut up, kid.
Get in the back of the patrol car."

And that's what we did, sat in the back of the patrol car and drove to the
quote Scene of the Crime unquote. I want tell you about the town of
Stockbridge, Massachusets, where this happened here, they got three stop
signs, two police officers, and one police car, but when we got to the
Scene of the Crime there was five police officers and three police cars,
being the biggest crime of the last fifty years, and everybody wanted to
get in the newspaper story about it. And they was using up all kinds of
cop equipment that they had hanging around the police officer's station.
They was taking plaster tire tracks, foot prints, dog smelling prints, and
they took twenty seven eight-by-ten colour glossy photographs with circles
and arrows and a paragraph on the back of each one explaining what each
one was to be used as evidence against us. Took pictures of the approach,
the getaway, the northwest corner the southwest corner and that's not to
mention the aerial photography.

After the ordeal, we went back to the jail. Obie said he was going to put
us in the cell. Said, "Kid, I'm going to put you in the cell, I want your
wallet and your belt." And I said, "Obie, I can understand you wanting my
wallet so I don't have any money to spend in the cell, but what do you
want my belt for?" And he said, "Kid, we don't want any hangings." I
said, "Obie, did you think I was going to hang myself for littering?"
Obie said he was making sure, and friends Obie was, cause he took out the
toilet seat so I couldn't hit myself over the head and drown, and he took
out the toilet paper so I couldn't bend the bars roll out the - roll the
toilet paper out the window, slide down the roll and have an escape. Obie
was making sure, and it was about four or five hours later that Alice
(remember Alice? It's a song about Alice), Alice came by and with a few
nasty words to Obie on the side, bailed us out of jail, and we went back
to the church, had a another thanksgiving dinner that couldn't be beat,
and didn't get up until the next morning, when we all had to go to court.

We walked in, sat down, Obie came in with the twenty seven eight-by-ten
colour glossy pictures with circles and arrows and a paragraph on the back
of each one, sat down. Man came in said, "All rise." We all stood up,
and Obie stood up with the twenty seven eight-by-ten colour glossy
pictures, and the judge walked in sat down with a seeing eye dog, and he
sat down, we sat down. Obie looked at the seeing eye dog, and then at the
twenty seven eight-by-ten colour glossy pictures with circles and arrows
and a paragraph on the back of each one, and looked at the seeing eye dog.
And then at twenty seven eight-by-ten colour glossy pictures with circles
and arrows and a paragraph on the back of each one and began to cry,
'cause Obie came to the realization that it was a typical case of American
blind justice, and there wasn't nothing he could do about it, and the
judge wasn't going to look at the twenty seven eight-by-ten colour glossy
pictures with the circles and arrows and a paragraph on the back of each
one explaining what each one was to be used as evidence against us. And
we was fined $50 and had to pick up the garbage in the snow, but thats not
what I came to tell you about.

Came to talk about the draft.

They got a building down New York City, it's called Whitehall Street,
where you walk in, you get injected, inspected, detected, infected,
neglected and selected. I went down to get my physical examination one
day, and I walked in, I sat down, got good and drunk the night before, so
I looked and felt my best when I went in that morning. `Cause I wanted to
look like the all-American kid from New York City, man I wanted, I wanted
to feel like the all-, I wanted to be the all American kid from New York,
and I walked in, sat down, I was hung down, brung down, hung up, and all
kinds o' mean nasty ugly things. And I waked in and sat down and they gave
me a piece of paper, said, "Kid, see the phsychiatrist, room 604."

And I went up there, I said, "Shrink, I want to kill. I mean, I wanna, I
wanna kill. Kill. I wanna, I wanna see, I wanna see blood and gore and
guts and veins in my teeth. Eat dead burnt bodies. I mean kill, Kill,
KILL, KILL." And I started jumpin up and down yelling, "KILL, KILL," and
he started jumpin up and down with me and we was both jumping up and down
yelling, "KILL, KILL." And the sargent came over, pinned a medal on me,
sent me down the hall, said, "You're our boy."

Didn't feel too good about it.

Proceeded on down the hall gettin more injections, inspections,
detections, neglections and all kinds of stuff that they was doin' to me
at the thing there, and I was there for two hours, three hours, four
hours, I was there for a long time going through all kinds of mean nasty
ugly things and I was just having a tough time there, and they was
inspecting, injecting every single part of me, and they was leaving no
part untouched. Proceeded through, and when I finally came to the see the
last man, I walked in, walked in sat down after a whole big thing there,
and I walked up and said, "What do you want?" He said, "Kid, we only got
one question. Have you ever been arrested?"

And I proceeded to tell him the story of the Alice's Restaurant Massacre,
with full orchestration and five part harmony and stuff like that and all
the phenome... - and he stopped me right there and said, "Kid, did you ever
go to court?"

And I proceeded to tell him the story of the twenty seven eight-by-ten
colour glossy pictures with the circles and arrows and the paragraph on
the back of each one, and he stopped me right there and said, "Kid, I want
you to go and sit down on that bench that says Group W .... NOW kid!!"

And I, I walked over to the, to the bench there, and there is, Group W's
where they put you if you may not be moral enough to join the army after
committing your special crime, and there was all kinds of mean nasty ugly
looking people on the bench there. Mother rapers. Father stabbers. Father
rapers! Father rapers sitting right there on the bench next to me! And
they was mean and nasty and ugly and horrible crime-type guys sitting on the
bench next to me. And the meanest, ugliest, nastiest one, the meanest
father raper of them all, was coming over to me and he was mean 'n' ugly
'n' nasty 'n' horrible and all kind of things and he sat down next to me
and said, "Kid, whad'ya get?" I said, "I didn't get nothing, I had to pay
$50 and pick up the garbage." He said, "What were you arrested for, kid?"
And I said, "Littering." And they all moved away from me on the bench
there, and the hairy eyeball and all kinds of mean nasty things, till I
said, "And creating a nuisance." And they all came back, shook my hand,
and we had a great time on the bench, talkin about crime, mother stabbing,
father raping, all kinds of groovy things that we was talking about on the
bench. And everything was fine, we was smoking cigarettes and all kinds of
things, until the Sargeant came over, had some paper in his hand, held it
up and said.

"Kids, this-piece-of-paper's-got-47-words-37-sentences-58-words-we-wanna-
know-details-of-the-crime-time-of-the-crime-and-any-other-kind-of-thing-
you-gotta-say-pertaining-to-and-about-the-crime-I-want-to-know-arresting-
officer's-name-and-any-other-kind-of-thing-you-gotta-say", and talked for
forty-five minutes and nobody understood a word that he said, but we had
fun filling out the forms and playing with the pencils on the bench there,
and I filled out the massacre with the four part harmony, and wrote it
down there, just like it was, and everything was fine and I put down the
pencil, and I turned over the piece of paper, and there, there on the
other side, in the middle of the other side, away from everything else on
the other side, in parentheses, capital letters, quotated, read the
following words:

("KID, HAVE YOU REHABILITATED YOURSELF?")

I went over to the sargent, said, "Sargeant, you got a lot a damn gall to
ask me if I've rehabilitated myself, I mean, I mean, I mean that just, I'm
sittin' here on the bench, I mean I'm sittin here on the Group W bench
'cause you want to know if I'm moral enough join the army, burn women,
kids, houses and villages after bein' a litterbug." He looked at me and
said, "Kid, we don't like your kind, and we're gonna send you fingerprints
off to Washington."

And friends, somewhere in Washington enshrined in some little folder, is a
study in black and white of my fingerprints. And the only reason I'm
singing you this song now is cause you may know somebody in a similar
situation, or you may be in a similar situation, and if your in a
situation like that there's only one thing you can do and that's walk into
the shrink wherever you are ,just walk in say "Shrink, You can get
anything you want, at Alice's restaurant.". And walk out. You know, if
one person, just one person does it they may think he's really sick and
they won't take him. And if two people, two people do it, in harmony,
they may think they're both faggots and they won't take either of them.
And three people do it, three, can you imagine, three people walking in
singin a bar of Alice's Restaurant and walking out. They may think it's an
organization. And can you, can you imagine fifty people a day,I said
fifty people a day walking in singin a bar of Alice's Restaurant and
walking out. And friends they may thinks it's a movement.

And that's what it is , the Alice's Restaurant Anti-Massacre Movement, and
all you got to do to join is sing it the next time it come's around on the
guitar.

With feeling. So we'll wait for it to come around on the guitar, here and
sing it when it does. Here it comes.

You can get anything you want, at Alice's Restaurant
You can get anything you want, at Alice's Restaurant
Walk right in it's around the back
Just a half a mile from the railroad track
You can get anything you want, at Alice's Restaurant

That was horrible. If you want to end war and stuff you got to sing loud.
I've been singing this song now for twenty five minutes. I could sing it
for another twenty five minutes. I'm not proud... or tired.

So we'll wait till it comes around again, and this time with four part
harmony and feeling.

We're just waitin' for it to come around is what we're doing.

All right now.

You can get anything you want, at Alice's Restaurant
Excepting Alice
You can get anything you want, at Alice's Restaurant
Walk right in it's around the back
Just a half a mile from the railroad track
You can get anything you want, at Alice's Restaurant

Da da da da da da da dum
At Alice's Restaurant

"Uncle Tom's Cabin" by Warrant. It was creepy and cool and very nicely arranged considering the source. Showed they could be better than just a hair band.

About Mike Shinoda's family being put in Japanese internment camps in 1942.

This song gives me chills...so sad and creepy.

Tlot in the frosty silence! Tlot, in the echoing night!
Nearer he came and nearer! Her face was like a light!
Her eyes grew wide for a moment! She drew one last deep breath,
Then her finger moved in the moonlight, her musket shattered the moonlight,
Shattered her breast in the moonlight and warned him with her death.

He turned; he spurred to the west; he did not know she stood
bowed, with her head o'er the musket, drenched with her own red blood!
Not till the dawn he heard it; his face grew grey to hear
How Bess, the landlord's daughter, the landlord's black-eyed daughter,
Had watched for her love in the moonlight, and died in the darkness there.

And back, he spurred like a madman, shrieking a curse to the sky
With the white road smoking behind him and his rapier brandished high!
Blood-red were the spurs in the gold moon; wine-red was his velvet coat,
when they shot him down on the highway, down like a dog on the highway,
And he lay in his blood on the highway, with the bunch of lace at his throat.
http://www.sing365.com/music/lyric.nsf/The-Highwayman-lyrics-Loreena-McKennitt/41DCE676D7541ED748256BDC00102A7F

I've been a Loreena McKennitt fan since I was in HS.

No matter how many times I listen to it, it still creeps me out, the part where he hears the gunshot at the last moment and turns his horse around...wow.

I bet it's a true story too.

I first read that in middle school or high school, and in fact one of my closest friends in college gave me a small book of poems that included "The Highwayman."

Loreena McKennitt invariably uses and/or is inspired by remarkable material -- traditional ballads, Shakespeare, etc. I never tire of her music.

Best story song ever, a position by which I shall stand firmly, and brook no argument.

and I start bawling, just like Red Molly.

"Cherokee Bend" -- an old one by the master.

His father was a man who could never understand
The shame on a red man's face
So they lived in the hills and they never came down
But to trade in the white man's place
It was early in the spring when the snow had disappeared
They came down with a bag of skins
In the fall of the year of 1910
Daddy died by the rope down in Cherokee Bend.

Daddy didn't like what the white man said
'Bout the dirty little kid at his side
Daddy didn't like what the white man did
Nor the deal or the way that he lied
There was blood on the floor of the government store
When the men took his daddy away
But the boy stayed back till he come to his end
And he run like the wind from Cherokee Bend.

Now the mother was alone and the winter was at hand
And she prayed to her spirit kin
It was warm in the lodge in the Kentucky hills
On the day when the boy came in

Then a blizzard came down and it covered up the door
Till they thought that it never would end
And he told her the tale of the terrible affair
In the government store down in Cherokee Bend

Daddy didn't like what the white man said
'Bout the dirty little kid at his side
Daddy didn't like what the white man did
Nor the deal or the way that he lied

For three long days and three long nights
They wept and they mourned and then
She returned to her work and her weavin'
And they tried to forget about Cherokee Bend

Now the boy wasn't big but he hunted what he could
And they lived for a time that way
But the food run low and the meat went bad
And she said to the boy one day

I'm leaving tonight and I never will return
From the land of my Spirit Kin
You must take what you need and trade what you can
For a Red Man's grave down in Cherokee Bend

It wasn't very long till she closed her eyes
And he wrapped her in a robe
He found her a place on the side of the hill
And he buried her in the snow

Early in the spring he was seen in the town
With his load looking ragged and thin
Not a year had gone by till he stood once again
In the government store down in Cherokee Bend

He was ten years tall and a Redskin too
So he hadn't much face to save
And the men sat around and they laughed and they clowned
At the talk of a criminal's grave

Then the man from the east didn't smile when he said
You're the son of that Indian scum
If you value your hide then you better abide
By the white man's rules here in Cherokee Bend.

Daddy didn't like what the white man said
'Bout the dirty little kid at his side
Daddy didn't like what the white man did
Nor the deal or the way that he lied

And he spit on the floor of the government store
And it served him to no good end
At the close of the day they had taken him away
To the white man's school down at Cherokee Bend

It's been 21 years since the boy disappeared
Where he run to, nobody knows
But they say he fell in with a man named Jim
And he rides in the rodeos

And they say he returns all alone to a place
Hidden deep in the Kentucky glen
And it's pretty well known who hauled up the stone
To the grave on the hill above Cherokee Bend

Daddy didn't like what the white man said
'Bout the dirty little kid at his side
Daddy didn't like what the white man did
Nor the deal or the way that he lied

There was blood on the floor of the government store
When the men took his daddy away
It was 1910 and they never had a friend
When he died by the rope down at Cherokee Bend
It was 1910 and they never had a friend
When he died by the rope down at Cherokee Bend

"The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" always makes me cry! That would be another vote of mine here. Hope I can have more than one.

There's no one who can match Gord -- though Springsteen comes very close.

the road goes on forever and the party never ends!"

From "No. 2 Live Dinner" - helluv a band Mr. Keen's got there!

Pasa-Bah-Gawd-Git-Down-Deena!

It was the last show one evening. Supposedly, he was going to do an acoustic set, but they kept setting up more equipment on the stage. (Maybe he got some pals to come down from Austin at the last minute.)

Sure enough, he cranked up with a full band. If you've ever seen Joe live, you can imagine the energy!

The first song: "Road Goes On Forever"--the first time I'd ever heard it. The crowd, sitting on the grass waiting for a "mellow" set, was electrified.

is my favorite story song.

Ole Lang Syne, by Dan Fogelberg

Cats in the Cradle...also
Taxi, by Harry Chapin

Bobby D much?

It's obviously, "Lily, Rosemary, and the Jack of Hearts".

My dad played to hook me on Dylan

Ahh I haven't seen my Dad in three years can't wait to go visit him once I earn my vacation time. I owe this man for all the music he introduced me to

Dylan
CCR
Pink Floyd
Hendrix
The list goes on and on.

I was just listening to Blood on the Tracks this afternoon.

http://www.seeklyrics.com/lyrics/Bob-Dylan/Lily-Rosemary-And-The-Jack-Of-Hearts.html

or perhaps "Black Diamond Bay"

Does "Desolation Row" count as a story song?

"Tangled up in blue".
It came on the radio today during art class. For some reason, everybody else in my class hates that song...I didn't say anything, but... DAMN! That song's good...

Is she really going out with him?
Well, there she is. Let's ask her.
Betty, is that Jimmy's ring you're wearing?

Mm-hmm

Gee, it must be great riding with him
Is he picking you up after school today?

Uh-uh

By the way, where'd you meet him?
I met him at the candy store
He turned around and smiled at me
You get the picture?

(yes, we see)

That's when I fell for
The leader of the pack.

My folks were always putting him down (down, down)
They said he came from the wrong side of town

Whatcha mean when ya say that he came from the wrong side of town?

They told me he was bad
But I knew he was sad
That's why I fell for
The leader of the pack.


One day my dad said, "Find someone new"
I had to tell my Jimmy we're through

Whatcha mean when ya say that ya better go find somebody new?

He stood there and asked me why
But all I could do was cry
I'm sorry I hurt you
The leader of the pack.


He sort of smiled and kissed me goodbye
The tears were beginning to show
As he drove away on that rainy night
I begged him to go slow
But whether he heard, I'll never know
Look out! Look out! Look out! Look out!


I felt so helpless, what could I do?
Remembering all the things we'd been through
In school they all stop and stare
I can't hide the tears, but I don't care
I'll never forget him
The leader of the pack

The leader of the pack - now he's gone

:thumbsup:

Cold Blows the Wind - Ween

'She was buried there in the old Church yard
And he was buried nigh her.
On Williams grave grew a red, red rose
On Barbara's grave a briar.

Well, they grew and they grew up the old church wall
'Til they could grow no higher.
They wrapped and they twined in a True Lovers Knot
and the rose bloomed 'round the briar.'

Okay, so not really. But I've waited for the day I could use that song in a post.

The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down
of the big lake they called "Gitche Gumee."
The lake, it is said, never gives up her dead
when the skies of November turn gloomy.
With a load of iron ore twenty-six thousand tons more
than the Edmund Fitzgerald weighed empty,
that good ship and true was a bone to be chewed
when the "Gales of November" came early.

The ship was the pride of the American side
coming back from some mill in Wisconsin.
As the big freighters go, it was bigger than most
with a crew and good captain well seasoned,
concluding some terms with a couple of steel firms
when they left fully loaded for Cleveland.
And later that night when the ship's bell rang,
could it be the north wind they'd been feelin'?

The wind in the wires made a tattle-tale sound
and a wave broke over the railing.
And ev'ry man knew, as the captain did too
'twas the witch of November come stealin'.
The dawn came late and the breakfast had to wait
when the Gales of November came slashin'.
When afternoon came it was freezin' rain
in the face of a hurricane west wind.

When suppertime came the old cook came on deck sayin'.
"Fellas, it's too rough t'feed ya."
At seven P.M. a main hatchway caved in; he said,
"Fellas, it's bin good t'know ya!"
The captain wired in he had water comin' in
and the good ship and crew was in peril.
And later that night when 'is lights went outta sight
came the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.

Does any one know where the love of God goes
when the waves turn the minutes to hours?
The searchers all say they'd have made Whitefish Bay
if they'd put fifteen more miles behind 'er.
They might have split up or they might have capsized;
they may have broke deep and took water.
And all that remains is the faces and the names
of the wives and the sons and the daughters.

Lake Huron rolls, Superior sings
in the rooms of her ice-water mansion.
Old Michigan steams like a young man's dreams;
the islands and bays are for sportsmen.
And farther below Lake Ontario
takes in what Lake Erie can send her,
And the iron boats go as the mariners all know
with the Gales of November remembered.

In a musty old hall in Detroit they prayed,
in the "Maritime Sailors' Cathedral."
The church bell chimed 'til it rang twenty-nine times
for each man on the Edmund Fitzgerald.
The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down
of the big lake they call "Gitche Gumee."
"Superior," they said, "never gives up her dead
when the gales of November come early!"

I didn't know it was a true story until years later when they made a documentary for it.

It's a haunting, melancholy song.

:thumbsup:

Does his voice change pitch AT ALL in it???

:crazy:

:P

"Pancho & Lefty" ...Townes Van Zandt

"The Mary Ellen Carter"...Stan Rogers

Great song.

I love Emmylou Harris' version too...

RL

My Uncle Steve used to play it for me in the mid-late 1970's. I really need to get that recording.

The folks had an 8-track of Kenny Rogers greatest hits and that song is just crucial. Talk about men with friggin' issues...you should see his latest plastic surgery--SCARY BEANS!!

I agree with the above choice of '1952 Vincent Black Lightning', and would add:

Tom Waits - 'Romeo is Bleeding'

'Long Black Veil' (originally recorded by Lefty Frizell; also by Johnny Cash, Nick Cave, the Chieftains, etc.)

Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds - 'Where the Wild Roses Grow' and 'The Ballad of Robert Moore and Betty Coltrane'

'The Ballad of Ira Hayes', as performed by Johnny Cash

'Stagger Lee' (I prefer the Nick Cave version, but there are probably hundreds of different variations)

I guess movies don't matter to the peanut chewers.:argh:

A narrative--with a beginning, a middle, and an end. Where there are characters that have goals, motivations, and conflicts. This song was used in a movie, but it tells no story in and of itself. Songs that merely express a few ideas or emotions are not stories.

Good song, though.

During my Northern exile, I had a rule which was that whenever "Gimme Three Steps" came on the radio (which was often; it was the '80s), I got to call somebody in the South. Still have a certain Pavlovian urge to run to a phone whenever I hear it. :)

"Gimme three steps, gimme three steps mister...three steps towards the door...."

:D

The Chauffeur by Duran Duran...talk about chills, and the uncensored video didn't hurt...

:)

would fit the bill. No one talks a song like Johnny Cash.

...great tune.

Al Stewart very underrated IMHO.

Box", "Saginaw, Michigan"... I coudl go on. Too many to choose just one. :) Townes Van Zandt=awesome songwriter.

At least, that's what I always thought.

but I figured musicheads would know what I was talking about. :hi:

is another master of the story song. This one is awesome:

Last Gunfighter Ballad

The old gunfighter on the porch
stared into the sun
and relived the days of living by the gun
when deadly games of pride were played
and living was mistakes not made

and the thought of the smell of the black powder smoke
and the stand in the street at the turn of a joke
Ah, the smell of the black powder smoke
and the stand in the street at the turn of a joke

It's always keep your back to the sun
and he can almost feel the weight of the gun
it's faster than snakes or the blink of an eye
and it's a time for all slow men to die
and his eyes get squinty and his fingers twitch
and he empties the gun at the son of a bitch

and he's hit by the smell of the black powder smoke
and the stand in the street at the turn of a joke
hit by the smell of the black powder smoke
and the stand in the street at the turn of a joke

Now the burn of a bullet is only a scar
he's back in his chair in front of the bar
and the streets are empty and the blood's all dried
and the dead are dust and the whiskey's inside
so buy him a drink and lend him an ear
he's nobody's fool and the only one here

who remembers the smell of the black powder smoke
and the stand in the street at the turn of a joke
remember the smell of the black powder smoke
and the stand in the street at the turn of a joke

He said I stood in that street before it was paved
learned shoot or be shot before I could shave
and I did it all for the money and fame
noble was nothing but feeling no shame
and nothing was sacred but stayin' alive
and all that I learned from a Colt 45

was to curse the smell of the black powder smoke
and the stand in the street at the turn of a joke
curse the smell of the black powder smoke
and the stand in the street at the turn of a joke

Now he's just an old man that no one believes
says he's a gunfighter, the last of the breed
and there are ghosts in the street seeking revenge
calling him out to the lunatic fringe
now he's out in the traffic checking the sun
and he's killed by a car as he goes for his gun

So much for the smell of the black powder smoke
and the stand in the street at the turn of a joke
so much for the smell of the black powder smoke
and the stand in the street at the turn of a joke

and "A Boy Named Sue" by Johnny Cash.

Also, I am down with "Shooting Star" by Bad Company. However, I wouldn't say that is as good as the other two.

Nat Cole, "Stardust"

He was short and fat, and rode out of the West
With a Mogen David on his silver vest.
He was mean and nasty right clear through,
Which was kinda weird, 'cause he was yellow too.

They called him Irving.
Big Irving.
Big, short Irving.
Big, short, fat Irving.
The hundred and forty-second fastest gun in the West.

He came from the old Bar Mitzvah spread,
With a 10-gallon yarmulke on his head.*
He always followed his mother's wishes,
Even on the range he used two sets of dishes.

Irving.
Big, fat Irving.
Big sissy Irving.
The hundred and forty-second fastest gun in the West.

A hundred and forty-one could draw faster than he,
But Irving was looking for one forty-three.
Walked into Sol's Saloon like a man insane,
And ordered three fingers of two cents plain.

Irving.
Big, fat Irving.
Big sport Irving.
The hundred and forty-second fastest gun in the West.

One day Bad Max happened into town.
His aim was to shoot fat Irving down.
Bad Max said, "Draw, and draw right now!"
And Irving drew, drew a picture of a cow.

Irving.
Big, fat Irving.
Big gunfighter Irving.
The hundred and forty-second fastest gun in the West.

The James Boys was comin' on a train at first sun,
And the town said, "Irving, we need your gun."
When that train pulled in at the break of dawn,
Irving's gun was there, but Irving was gone.

Irving.
Big, fat Irving.
Big help, Irving.
The hundred and forty-second fastest gun in the West.

Well, finally Irving got three slugs in the belly.
It was right outside the Frontier Deli.
He was sittin' there twirlin' his gun around,
And butterfingers Irving gunned himself down!

Irving.
Big, fat Irving.
Big dum-dum Irving.
Big dum-dum dead Irving.
The hundred and forty-second fastest gun in the West.
Really.

*The line about the 10-gallon yarmulke was on the original LP, but the single version and subsequent LP pressings substituted the line: Schlepping a salami and pumpernickel bread. This substitution was made because the record company felt the joke would be
lost on non-Jewish listeners.

snip
.........
"You may see them drowning as you stroll along the beach,
but don't throw out the lifeline till they're clean out of reach."






Tikki

Love that song.

Recitation:
Once upon a time
Sometime ago back on the east coast
In New York City, to be exact
A bunch of artists and painters and
sculptors and musicians and
poets and writers and dancers
and architects
Started feeling real superior
to their ego-counter-parts
Out on the West Coast?o,
They all got together and decided
They would show those snotty surfer upstarts
A thing or two about the Big Apple
And?hey hired themselves a truck
It was a big, spanking new white-shiny
Chrome-plated cab-over
Peterbilt
With mudflaps, stereo, tv, AM & FM radio,
Leather seats and a naugahide sleeper
All fresh
With new American Flag decals and "ART ARK"
Printed on the side of the door
With solid 24 karat gold leaf type
And they filled up this truck
With the most significant piles
And influential heaps of Art Work
To ever be assembled in Modern Times,
And it sent it West?o chide
Cajole, humble and humiliate?he Golden Bear.
And this is the true story of that truck
A Truckload of Art
From New York City
Came rollin down the road
Yeah the driver was singing
And the sunset was pretty
But the truck turned over
And she rolled off the road
Yeah a Truckload of Art
is burning near the highway
Precious objects are scattered
All over the ground
And it's a terrible sight
If a person were to see it
But there weren't nobody around
(Yodel)
Yeah the driver went sailing
High in the sky
Landing in the gold lap of the Lord
Who smiled and then said
"Son, you're better off dead
Than haulin a truckload
full of hot avant-garde
(chorus)
Yes?n important artwork
Was thrown burning to the ground
Tragically?anding in the weeds
And the smoke could be seen
Ahhh for miles all around
Yeah but nobody?nows what it means
Yes? Truckload of Art
Is burning near the highway
And it's a tough job for the highway patrol
Ahhh they'll soon see the smoke
An come runnin to poke
Then dig a deep ditch
And throw the arts in a hole
(Yodel)
Yeah a Truckload of Art
Is burning near the highway
And it's raging far-out of control
And what the critics have cheered
Is now shattered and queered
And their noble reviews
Have been stewed on the road
(chorus)

He was a panhandle prince…ahhh
Schoolboy football king
They told him "Hi" in the halls
'Cause he could run them balls
But it was rumored (down deep) he was mean
He dated high-tone girls
With frosty pom-pom curls
But he never gave out his ring
He was the best of the best
He met the grid-iron test
An there ain't nothin…as American
An clean
He was the pride of the backfield
Ahhh the hero of his day
Yeah he carried the ball for the red and blue
They won District Triple-A
An his name made all the papers
As the best they'd ever had
Yeah so nobody understood it
When the Great Joe Bob went bad
First he lost his scholarship
To Texas Tech
For drinking during training
An breaking the coach's neck…yeah
Then he got suspended (ahhh) for acting obscene
Around the Cum-Laudy, Cum-Laudy
Daughter of the Dean
So…
He took up with a waitress
Named Loose Ruby Cole
While she was a-hoppin' tables
Down at the Hi-D-Ho
An he met her on the sly
When her daddy weren't around
Yeah but he stopped making yardage
When he started messin 'round
(chorus)
Yeah it spread like a country wildfire
That something big had gone all strange
Joe Bob the Greatest Halfback
Was actin half-deranged…ahhh
He'd been seen out with this woman
Gettin drunk and havin fun
Yeah he growed his hair, then gived up prayer
An said, "Football days is done"
Then…
He and old Loose Ruby
Robbed a Pinkie's Liquor Store
An had a run-in with the law
When they's runnin out the door
An Joe Bob's fate was sealed
For the next century
Yeah he traded in the pigskin
For the penitentiary
(chorus)

greatest american song writer ever.

Well
He took his first release
On a highway
In a 1953 green Chevrolet
An he was carryin and awful load
For just a 15 year old
'Til he laid his mind
On the center line
An turned up the radio
Goin a hundred miles an hour
Down the blue asphaltum line
Listenin to the Wolfman of Del Rio
An
He didn't give a damn
About the trouble he was in
Yeah deep down in his soul
He just wanted…to go
An you can tell by the look on his face
He's all caught up with the need
To trade in some emptied out spaces
For some speeeeeeed
An that good ol' American Dream

An
She took her first release
On the back seat
Of a 1961 black V-8 Ford
An she just give up al control
On that vinyl fuck-an-roll
Breathin hard
With a dark-eyed boy
That she barely even knowed
Goin a hundred miles an hour
Down the blue asphaltum line
Listenin to the Wolfman of Del Rio
An
She didn't give a damn
About the trouble she'd get in
Yeah deep down in her soul
She just wanted…to flow
An you can tell by the paint on her face
She's all made-up for the need
To trade in some emptied out places
For some speeeeeeed
An that good ol' American Dream

An
Now they circle one another
Armed with the lives from their past
An
They fight to the death for their lies
'Til the bad feelings pass
Then they sit
An they smoke
An they drink
An they talk an talk an talk an talk
And then they stalk around
Like they're lookin for something they've lost
But can never again be found
And it's crazy
Yeah crazy in the backyards
the bedrooms
the kitchens
Crazy out in the streets
Ahhh
Through all their cities
And even smaller towns
An
It most certainly seems
Some disease of the dreams
Has been goin 'round
Yes
It most certainly seems
Some disease of the dreams
Has been goin 'round
Goin a hundred miles an hour
Down the blue asphaltum line
Listenin to the Wolfman of Del Rio

Rhymes "Texas" and "facts is". Pure genius! :eyes:

This legendary ballad caused so much speculation that they finally made a movie about it, to answer the question of what was thrown off the Tallahatchie Bridge, causing Billie Joe MacAllister to finally jump. Odd, since I thought of this just yesterday, for the first time in years.:shrug:

I guess you can forget it if you want, but I liked it. :)

On the other hand, I think "The Road Goes on Forever" is weak, derivative both musically and lyrically, and somewhat boring. Vive le difference!

That song dominated the airwaves and spawned a real cultural phenomenon, a fascination with CB radios... And I still know all the words, though I've never even seen a CB radio... I agree! Great song!:D

and the IMDb plot summaries, but I found it disappointing. But I guess not much could live up to that haunting song...:-)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0074995/

And what I got out of it was that what they threw off the bridge was their baby. I don't know if this was what the song intended, or just a movie plot device to bring in viewers. Seems far-fetched to me, but these were different people, in a different place and time...:shrug:

that was my first thought, too. I've never seen the movie. I remember when it came out, but somehow, even though I was pretty young, I was afraid it would detract from the song, so I never watched it.

What a song! And as a kid in Mississippi in the 70s, I really latched on to her as a positive Mississippi public image. We had too few back then, though we had some.

and that's the reason I watched the movie. It haunted me then, though I was a kid, as well, and still haunts me now, despite the movie, which I didn't think lived up to the song, but probably no movie could. And, despite the answers that the movie tried to provide, I don't think we were ever supposed to know the real answer. One of the fascinations of the song is the mystery.:-)

And I agree that it's an outstanding song. And it's fascinating that you identified with Bobbie Gentry because you lived in Mississippi in the '70s. The song no doubt reflects the rural culture of her youth, one that we seldom hear about. And I'm sure that she brought a positive public image to your area. This song dominated the airwaves, and people's awareness, unlike any song could today.:hi:

I honestly don't understand why this wasn't a smash hit, especially the version that appeared on the 1985 Marti Jones album Unsophisticated Time.

Bland Simpson is a Renaissance guy, an English Prof at UNC and member of the great band the Red Clay Ramblers

You spoke to me
Of your divided loyalty
And circumstantial fright
And blessings in disguise
And every pledge we made
Dissolved and then began to fade
Human error we agreed
It was a careless oversight
You woke me up
To say good-bye and wish me luck
In everything I did
With any other boy
And then you stopped at the door
Gave the look you know I adore
Said you expected me to
Follow you all over the world

Three weeks in Rome
In someone else's summer home
In an unsophisticated time
We were foolish all the while
Well, we went to all the racy films
And you said, "get a load of them"
At the lovers on the screen
And all the lovers down the aisle
All my friends say "quit!"
They tell me I'll get over it
But every time you call
My heart is in a whirl
I don't care if you're my weekend pal
I don't care if I'm your sometimes gal
Wouldn't hesitate to
Follow you all over the world

There'll be no fading away
Long as you can call me your holiday

This has to be the best one yet
A singing telegram from you in Tibet
Did you really think I'd come?
Drop everything and run?
Well, it's really much to far away
I couldn't half afford it anyway
Meet me somewhere in between
'neath the cedar trees of Lebanon
And we'll walk hand in hand
leave footprints in the burnin' sand
While Beirut goes up
In the flames of war aswirl
But for us it's just like before
I'm addicted and I've begged for more
Of your enticing me to
Follow you all over the world
I'm gonna follow you all over the world
I'm gonna follow you all over the world

or "Boy Named Sue"

A fantastic story song.

Best song about cannibalism ever!

Trapped in a mine that had caved in
And everyone knows the only ones left
Were Joe and me and Tim
When they broke through to pull us free
The only ones left to tell the tale
Were Joe and me

Timothy, Timothy, where on earth did you go?
Timothy, Timothy, God why don't I know?

Hungry as hell no food to eat
And Joe said that he would sell his soul
For just a piece of meat
Water enough to drink for two
And Joe said to me, "I'll have a swig
And then there's some for you."

Timothy, Timothy, Joe was looking at you
Timothy, Timothy, God what did we do?

I must have blacked out just around then
'Cause the very next thing that I could see
Was the light of the day again
My stomach was full as it could be
And nobody ever got around
To finding Timothy
Timothy...

http://users.cybercity.dk/~ccc89333/jaime/legend.htm

You have to get over the anti-Semitic part, though....

A sample:

Mingled and marvellous grows the fray, And in Roland's heart is no dismay. He fought with lance while his good lance stood; Fifteen encounters have strained its wood. At the last it brake; then he grasped in hand His Durindana, his naked brand. He smote Chernubles' helm upon, Where, in the centre, carbuncles shone: Down through his coif and his fell of hair, Betwixt his eyes came the falchion bare, Down through his plated harness fine, Down through the Saracen's chest and chine, Down through the saddle with gold inlaid, Till sank in the living horse the blade, Severed the spine where no joint was found, And horse and rider lay dead on ground. "Caitiff, thou camest in evil hour; To save thee passeth Mohammed's power. Never to miscreants like to thee Shall come the guerdon of victory."

It's better in the original Old French.

I'm sure there's many more great ones I could think of with a little time.

Biko by Peter Gabriel (also Don't Give Up, The Blood of Eden, Solsbury Hill, etc.), Paperback Writer the Beatles.

Operator, oh could you help me place this call
You see the number on the matchbook is old and faded
She's livin' in l.a.
With my best old ex-friend ray
A guy she said she knew well and sometimes hated

Isn't that the way they say it goes
But let's forget all that
And give me the number if you can find it
So i can call just to tell them i'm fine and to show
I've overcome the blow
I've learned to take it well
I only wish my words could just convince myself
That it just wasn't real
But that's not the way it feels

Operator, oh could you help me place this call
'cause i can't read the number that you just gave me
There's something in my eye's
You know it happens every time
I think about the love that i thought would save me

Isn't that the way they say it goes
But let's forget all that
And give me the number if you can find it
So i can call just to tell them i'm fine and to show
I've overcome the blow
I've learned to take it well
I only wish my words could just convince myself
That it just wasn't real
But that's not the way it feels

Operator, oh let's forget about this call
There's no one there i really wanted to talk you
Thank you for your time
Oh you've been so much more than kind
And you can keep the dime

Isn't that the way they say it goes
But let's forget all that
And give me the number if you can find it
So i can call just to tell them i'm fine and to show
I've overcome the blow
I've learned to take it well
I only wish my words could just convince myself
That it just wasn't real
But that's not the way it feels

At least it was when I was 19.

great minds think alike. :)

by Johnny Horton because you all picked the songs I was thinking about.

In 1814 we took a little trip
Along with Colonel Jackson down the mighty Mississip.
We took a little bacon and we took a little beans
And we caught the bloody British in the town of New Orleans.


We fired our guns and the British kept a'comin.
There wasn't nigh as many as there was a while ago.
We fired once more and they began to runnin' on
Down the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico.

We looked down the river and we see'd the British come.
And there must have been a hundred of'em beatin' on the drum.
They stepped so high and they made the bugles ring.
We stood by our cotton bales and didn't say a thing.



Old Hickory said we could take 'em by surprise
If we didn't fire our muskets 'til we looked 'em in the eye
We held our fire 'til we see'd their faces well.
Then we opened up with squirrel guns and really gave 'em ... well



Yeah, they ran through the briars and they ran through the brambles
And they ran through the bushes where a rabbit couldn't go.
They ran so fast that the hounds couldn't catch 'em
Down the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico.**

We fired our cannon 'til the barrel melted down.
So we grabbed an alligator and we fought another round.
We filled his head with cannon balls, and powdered his behind
And when we touched the powder off, the gator lost his mind.



Yeah, they ran through the briars and they ran through the brambles
And they ran through the bushes where a rabbit couldn't go.
They ran so fast that the hounds couldn't catch 'em
Down the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico.**

Performed by The Pogues. I think it was written an Irish bloke is Aussie.

Maybe not the all time best story song but a really good newer one.

Carlos Saragosa left his home in Casas Grandes when the moon was full
He had no money in his pocket, just a locket of his sister framed in Gold
He headed for el Sueco, stole a rooster named Gallo Del Cielo
Then he crossed the Rio Grande with that roosted nestled deep within his arm

Galllo del Cielo was a warrior born in heaven so the legends say
His wings they had been broken, he had one eye rollin crazy in his head
He'd fought a hundred fights and the legends say that one night near El Sueco
He fought Cielo seven times, seven times he left brave roosters dead

Hola my Teresa I'm thinkin of you now in San Antonio
I have 27 dollars and the good luck of your good luck of your picture framed in gold
Tonight I'll put it all on the fighting spurs of Gallo Del Cielo
Then I'll return to buy the land Pancho Villa stole from father long ago

Outside of San Diego in the Onion fields of Paco Monte Verde
The Pride of San Diego lay sleeping on a fancy bed of silk
Adn they laughed when Saragosa pulled the one-eyed Del Cielo from beneath his shirt
But they cried when Saragosa waked away with a thousand dollar bill

Hola my Teresa I'm thinkin of you now in Santa Barbara
I have 27 dollars and the good luck of your good luck of your picture framed in gold
Tonight I'll put it all on the fighting spurs of Gallo Del Cielo
Then I'll return to buy the land Pancho Villa stole from father long ago

Now the moon has gone to hiding and the lantern light spills shadows on the fighting sand
A wicked black named Zorro faces Del Cielo in the sand
And Carlos Saragosa fears the tiny crack that runs across his roosters beak
And he fears that he has lost the 50,000 dollars riding on the fight

Hola my Teresa I'm thinkin of you now in Santa Clara
The money's on the table, I'm holding now your good luck framed in gold
Everything we dream of is riding on the spurs of Del Cielo
Then I'll return to buy the land Pancho Villa stole from father long ago

The signal it was given and the roosters rose together far above the sand
Gallo Del Cielo sunk a gaff into Zorro's shiny breast
They were separated quickly but they rose and fought each other time and time again
And the legends all agreed that Gallo Del Cielo fought the best

But then the screams of Saragosa filled the night outside the town of Santa Clara
As the beak of Del Cielo lay broken like a shell within his hand
And they say that Saragosa screamed a curse upon the bones of Pancho Villa
As Zorro rose up one more time and drove Del Cielo in the sand

Hola my Teresa I'm thinkin of you now in San Francisco
I have no money in my pocket I no longer have your good luck framed in gold
I buried it last evening with the bones of my beloved Del Cielo
I will not return to buy the land that Villa stole long ago

Do the rivers still run muddy outside of my beloved Casas Grandes?
Does the scar upon my brother's face turn red when he hears mention of my name?
And do the people of El Sueco still curse the theft of Gallo Del Cielo?
Tell my family not to worry, I will not return to cause them shame.

Also "Going Down to Dover" and "Coat of Many Colors" by Dolly Parton

"The Band Played Waltzing Matilda"--by Eric Bogle, an Australian singer writing about the aftermath of the Battle of Gallipoli. Looks as though he's got lots of story songs:

http://ericbogle.net/lyrics/lyricspdf/andbandplayedwaltzingm.pdf


"The Foggy Dew" is a tune also set during The Great War--but with focus on Dublin, where another conflict was brewing...

Right proudly high over Dublin town
They hung out a flag of war.
'Twas better to die 'neath an Irish sky
Than at Suvla or Sud el Bar.
And from the plains of Royal Meath
Strong men came hurrying through;
While Brittania's huns with their long range guns
Sailed in through the foggy dew.

www.thebards.net/music/lyrics/Foggy_Dew.shtml

(Who really wrote it? Accounts vary.)

Gotta go with Billy Joel's, 'Ballad of Billy the Kid'. Very cool stuff for a tongue-in-cheek song.

I was riding on the Mayflower
When I thought I spied some land
I yelled for Captain Arab
I have yuh understand
Who came running to the deck
Said, "Boys, forget the whale
Look on over yonder
Cut the engines
Change the sail
Haul on the bowline"
We sang that melody
Like all tough sailors do
When they are far away at sea

"I think I'll call it America"
I said as we hit land
I took a deep breath
I fell down, I could not stand
Captain Arab he started
Writing up some deeds
He said, "Let's set up a fort
And start buying the place with beads"
Just then this cop comes down the street
Crazy as a loon
He throw us all in jail
For carryin' harpoons

Ah me I busted out
Don't even ask me how
I went to get some help
I walked by a Guernsey cow
Who directed me down
To the Bowery slums
Where people carried signs around
Saying, "Ban the bums"
I jumped right into line
Sayin', "I hope that I'm not late"
When I realized I hadn't eaten
For five days straight

I went into a restaurant
Lookin' for the cook
I told them I was the editor
Of a famous etiquette book
The waitress he was handsome
He wore a powder blue cape
I ordered some suzette, I said
"Could you please make that crepe"
Just then the whole kitchen exploded
From boilin' fat
Food was flying everywhere
And I left without my hat

Now, I didn't mean to be nosy
But I went into a bank
To get some bail for Arab
And all the boys back in the tank
They asked me for some collateral
And I pulled down my pants
They threw me in the alley
When up comes this girl from France
Who invited me to her house
I went, but she had a friend
Who knocked me out
And robbed my boots
And I was on the street again

Well, I rapped upon a house
With the U.S. flag upon display
I said, "Could you help me out
I got some friends down the way"
The man says, "Get out of here
I'll tear you limb from limb"
I said, "You know they refused Jesus, too"
He said, "You're not Him
Get out of here before I break your bones
I ain't your pop"
I decided to have him arrested
And I went looking for a cop

I ran right outside
And I hopped inside a cab
I went out the other door
This Englishman said, "Fab"
As he saw me leap a hot dog stand
And a chariot that stood
Parked across from a building
Advertising brotherhood
I ran right through the front door
Like a hobo sailor does
But it was just a funeral parlor
And the man asked me who I was

I repeated that my friends
Were all in jail, with a sigh
He gave me his card
He said, "Call me if they die"
I shook his hand and said goodbye
Ran out to the street
When a bowling ball came down the road
And knocked me off my feet
A pay phone was ringing
It just about blew my mind
When I picked it up and said hello
This foot came through the line

Well, by this time I was fed up
At tryin' to make a stab
At bringin' back any help
For my friends and Captain Arab
I decided to flip a coin
Like either heads or tails
Would let me know if I should go
Back to ship or back to jail
So I hocked my sailor suit
And I got a coin to flip
It came up tails
It rhymed with sails
So I made it back to the ship

Well, I got back and took
The parkin' ticket off the mast
I was ripping it to shreds
When this coastguard boat went past
They asked me my name
And I said, "Captain Kidd"
They believed me but
They wanted to know
What exactly that I did
I said for the Pope of Eruke
I was employed
They let me go right away
They were very paranoid

Well, the last I heard of Arab
He was stuck on a whale
That was married to the deputy
Sheriff of the jail
But the funniest thing was
When I was leavin' the bay
I saw three ships a-sailin'
They were all heading my way
I asked the captain what his name was
And how come he didn't drive a truck
He said his name was Columbus
I just said, "Good luck."

this song makes me cry and i am not a fan of country.
He Stopped Loving Her Today
George Jones
_______

He said "I'll love you till I die",
she told him "You'll forget in time"
As the years went slowly by,
she still preyed upon his mind

He kept her picture on his wall,
went half-crazy now and then
He still loved her through it all,
hoping she'd come back again

Kept some letters by his bed
dated nineteen sixty-two
He had underlined in red
every single "I love you"

I went to see him just today,
oh but I didn't see no tears
All dressed up to go away, first time
I'd seen him smile in years

He stopped loving her today
They placed a wreath upon his door
And soon they'll carry him away
He stopped loving her today

(Spoken)
You know,
she came to see him one last time.
Aww, 'n' we all wondered if she would.
And it kept runnin' through my mind
"this time he's over her for good."

He stopped loving her today
They placed a wreath upon his door
And soon they'll carry him away
He stopped loving her today