#28 Musings Beyond the Bunker (Saturday May 15)
Good morning,
MUSIC THAT IS POETIC—STORY SONGS PART I
I have been thinking a lot about great songs with great lyrics that tell a story, sometimes about a particular historic event but sometimes about a particular personal event. It seems a genre less frequently employed. That said, some rap (e.g., Eminem), will tell a personal story through lyrics. Some tell of historic events; some of fictional stories illustrating injustice; some personal stories of loss or angst; some of a gestalt anti-war theme. Here are a few “story telling” songs I enjoy (do you have others?). I’m dividing this into several weeks:
HISTORIC EVENTS
The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald, by Gordon Lightfoot (the story of a true shipwreck in the 70s on Lake Superior—he describes this as the best song of his career—I agree)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PH0K6ojmGZA
The Night Chicago Died, Paper Lace: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-L0NpaErkk (The prototypical “one hit wonders” singing of Al Capone and old Chicago).
Hurricane, Bob Dylan (the story of the wrongful conviction of boxer Rubin “Hurricane” Carter): https://youtu.be/pm6xCwNKtnQ
One Tin Soldier, Coven (an anti-war song; featured in the movie Billy Jack): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7U9UQb80ZcI
Billy Don’t Be a Hero, Bo Donaldson & The Heywoods (an anti-war tune about a boy going off to Vietnam, released after the war was over (?) and his fiancée receiving news of his death—true one hit wonders): https://www.google.com/search?q=billy+don%27t+be+a+hero&rlz=1C5CHFA_enUS738US738&oq=billy+don%27t+&aqs=chrome.0.69i59j46i39j69i57j0i20i263l2j46j0l4.2207j0j9&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8
The Night they Drove Old Dixie Down, Joan Baez (a young Confederate at the end of the destruction wrought by the Civil War): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nnS9M03F-fA
ALSO, I NEVER KNEW…
These were songs of events that I never realized:
Viva La Vida, Coldplay. The story of the French Revolution and Louis XIV. Who knew?
Shine on You Crazy Diamond, Pink Floyd. An ode to their original lead guitarist who suffered from mental illness and drug abuse and left the band early (Shine “S”, You “Y”, Diamond “D”), Syd Barrent.
Happy weekend,
Glenn