The Ballad of Claude Dallas by Ian Tyson is one of the best of this type
Better story teller than Edmund Fitzgerald?
There was a thread on A'gon about the most perfect song. We had reasons for picking various, but for me it was Gordong Lightfoot's Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.
Perhaps it featured an aspect of song writing that no one else much cared for: A deep and detailed story in the song.
So I ask you, A'goners, what songs are as good or better at telling a story of a historical event?
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Strange Fruit, while a very important song, is not a great story teller. It is taken from a poem which sets up an allegorical scene and is about a general subject (horrible as it was). To be a truly great story-telling song it has to have details, be about a specific person or event, and tell us things we might not otherwise know. |
Gordon is truly a master singer / songwriter & that is one of my all time favorites. He had many great songs that tell a story. Another o e is “Circle of Steel” on Sundown. Harry Chaplin had two great ones also: Taxi & Cats in the Cradle. Interesting to note that almost all the songs mentioned are of sadness & despair. I wonder if we can name some of happiness & love? I can’t think of any. |
@larryi - 'And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda' was by the Skids, no? |
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