#35 Musings from the Bunker (Saturday May 22)
Good morning and happy weekend!
SONGS WITH STORIES (PART II)
Last week I highlighted some songs with lyrics that told the story of a historic event or moment. These are neither love stories nor connected to a specific historic event:
“That’s the Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia”(the night they hung an innocent man—and the excellent admonition not to “trust your soul to some backwoods Southern lawyer”), Tanya Tucker, with modified lyrics to fit a movie:https://www.wideopencountry.com/the-night-the-lights-went-out-in-georgia/And here is Reba McEntire with modified, more detailed, lyrics telling the original story,
“The Boxer, “Simon & Garfunkel:
“The Devil Went Down to Georgia,” the Charlie Daniels Band (definitely underrated talent):
“Stairway to Heaven,” Led Zeppelin (what needs to be said, other than it is one of the greatest ever),
“Folsom Prison Blues,” Johnny Cash:
SOME OF THE GREATEST EVER—SUBLIMELY BRILLIANT AND OFTEN MISUNDERSTOOD
“Bohemian Rhapsody,”not so much a coherent story as a plea for understanding.
“American Pie,”based, of course, on the plane crash that took Buddy Holly, Rudy Valens and the Big Bopper. To see how a neologism is created in art and transported into the vernacular, the phrase “American Pie” was coined by Don McLean.
THIS DOESN’T REALLY TELL A STORY, AS MUCH AS OFFER A HISTORY LESSON…
“We Didn’t Start the Fire,” Billy Joel (a great review outline for a 20thcentury history class):
.
Imagine if this song were updated to the present day. I’m not sure one could fit the events of the last ten years into a single verse, let alone a single song.
Happy weekend,
Glenn