A song that tells a story

[Penny Lane]

fitz that's blocked at work but i will turn it around w/these shorties:

The Wreck Of Edmund Fitzgerald
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 crew 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 every man knew, as the captain did too,
T'was 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.

Sailing To Philadelphia M (Knopfler)
I am Jeremiah Dixon
I am a Geordie boy
A glass of wine with you, sir
And the ladies I'll enjoy
All Durham and Northumberland
Is measured up by my own hand
It was my fate from birth
To make my mark upon the earth...

Sailing to Philadelphia
He calls me Charlie Mason
A stargazer am I
It seems that I was born
To chart the evening sky
They'd cut me out for baking bread
But I had other dreams instead
This baker's boy from the west country
Would join the Royal Society...

We are sailing to Philadelphia
A world away from the coaly Tyne
Sailing to Philadelphia
To draw the line
A Mason-Dixon Line

Now you're a good surveyor, Dixon
But I swear you'll make me mad
The West will kill us both
You gullible Geordie lad
You talk of liberty
How can America be free
A Geordie and a baker's boy
In the forests of the Iroquois...

Now hold your head up, Mason
See America lies there
The morning tide has raised
The capes of Delaware
Come up and feel the sun
A new morning has begun
Another day will make it clear
Why your stars should guide us here...

We are sailing to Philadelphia
A world away from the coaly Tyne
Sailing to Philadelphia
To draw the line
A Mason-Dixon Line

[megalicious]

this song gives me chills:

Hollis Brown
He lived on the outside of town
Hollis Brown
He lived on the outside of town
With his wife and five children
And his cabin fallin' down

You looked for work and money
And you walked a rugged mile
You looked for work and money
And you walked a rugged mile
Your children are so hungry
That they don't know how to smile

Your baby's eyes look crazy
They're a-tuggin' at your sleeve
Your baby's eyes look crazy
They're a-tuggin' at your sleeve
You walk the floor and wonder why
With every breath you breathe

The rats have got your flour
Bad blood it got your mare
The rats have got your flour
Bad blood it got your mare
If there's anyone that knows
Is there anyone that cares?

You prayed to the Lord above
Oh please send you a friend
You prayed to the Lord above
Oh please send you a friend
Your empty pockets tell yuh
That you ain't a-got no friend

Your babies are crying louder
It's pounding on your brain
Your babies are crying louder
It's pounding on your brain
Your wife's screams are stabbin' you
Like the dirty drivin' rain

Your grass it is turning black
There's no water in your well
Your grass is turning black
There's no water in your well
You spent your last lone dollar
On seven shotgun shells

Way out in the wilderness
A cold coyote calls
Way out in the wilderness
A cold coyote calls
Your eyes fix on the shotgun
That's hangin' on the wall

Your brain is a-bleedin'
And your legs can't seem to stand
Your brain is a-bleedin'
And your legs can't seem to stand
Your eyes fix on the shotgun
That you're holdin' in your hand

There's seven breezes a-blowin'
All around the cabin door
There's seven breezes a-blowin'
All around the cabin door
Seven shots ring out
Like the ocean's pounding roar

There's seven people dead
On a South Dakota farm
There's seven people dead
On a South Dakota farm
Somewhere in the distance
There's seven new people born

[Love Dogg]

I'll turn it back around... ;)

The Deeper In
by: Drive-By Truckers (Patterson Hood)

By the time you were born there were four other siblings
with your Mama awaiting your Daddy in jail
Your oldest brother was away at a home
and You didn't meet him til you was nineteen years old
Old enough to know better, old enough to know better
but you took to his jaw line and long sandy hair
How he made you feel like none off the others
and the way he looked at you touched you deep down in there.

So you jumped on his bike and rode into the sunset
but the sequel it started with the next morning sun
and the dew on the bike seat and you all a glow
from the love he put in you and a life on the run.

Now, the District Attorney said He might of forgiven
You had lots of reasons to turn out this way
But He'll throw you in jail for them four little babies
you made and delivered along the way

Last night you had a dream about a Lord so forgiving
He might show compassion for a heathen he damned
You awoke in a jail cell, alone and so lonely
Seven years in Michigan

[Penny Lane]

this came to me in a dream--how could i forget one of my favorite love stories:

Jenny and the Ess-Dog (Stephen Malkmus)

Jennifer dates a man in a 60s cover band
Hes the ess-dog, or sean if you wish
Shes 18, hes 31
Shes a rich girl, hes the son
Of a coca-cola middle man

Kiss when they listen
To brothers in arms
And if theres something wrong with this
They dont see the harm
In joining their forces and singing along

See those rings on her toes check that frisbee in his volvo
Its a volvo with ancient plates
Theyve got a dog she named trey
A retriever with a frayed bandana around his neck

Trey has a window into their relationship
The baby talk voices
And the post class-a nasal drip
But it all seems to function
At least in her dogs mind

Let me out of here
Let me out of here
You got to let me out of here
You got to let me out of here
Let me out of here
Out of here
Out of here, out of here
Let me out of here ill hit the ground running

Jennifer left for school up in boulder
And the ess-dog came to visit when he could
But the strain was too much
They could not make up for distance
And the distance between their years

Neither one listens
To brothers in arms
The ess-dog waits tables
And he sold his guitar
Jenny pledged kappa and she started pre-law
And off came those awful toe rings
Off came those awful toe rings

[searchinbig]

this song gives me chills:

Hollis Brown
He lived on the outside of town
Hollis Brown
He lived on the outside of town
With his wife and five children
And his cabin fallin' down

You looked for work and money
And you walked a rugged mile
You looked for work and money
And you walked a rugged mile
Your children are so hungry
That they don't know how to smile

Your baby's eyes look crazy
They're a-tuggin' at your sleeve
Your baby's eyes look crazy
They're a-tuggin' at your sleeve
You walk the floor and wonder why
With every breath you breathe

The rats have got your flour
Bad blood it got your mare
The rats have got your flour
Bad blood it got your mare
If there's anyone that knows
Is there anyone that cares?

You prayed to the Lord above
Oh please send you a friend
You prayed to the Lord above
Oh please send you a friend
Your empty pockets tell yuh
That you ain't a-got no friend

Your babies are crying louder
It's pounding on your brain
Your babies are crying louder
It's pounding on your brain
Your wife's screams are stabbin' you
Like the dirty drivin' rain

Your grass it is turning black
There's no water in your well
Your grass is turning black
There's no water in your well
You spent your last lone dollar
On seven shotgun shells

Way out in the wilderness
A cold coyote calls
Way out in the wilderness
A cold coyote calls
Your eyes fix on the shotgun
That's hangin' on the wall

Your brain is a-bleedin'
And your legs can't seem to stand
Your brain is a-bleedin'
And your legs can't seem to stand
Your eyes fix on the shotgun
That you're holdin' in your hand

There's seven breezes a-blowin'
All around the cabin door
There's seven breezes a-blowin'
All around the cabin door
Seven shots ring out
Like the ocean's pounding roar

There's seven people dead
On a South Dakota farm
There's seven people dead
On a South Dakota farm
Somewhere in the distance
There's seven new people born

Yesssss.... I agree.

Ever hear the Neville Brothers version? It's on Yellow Moon I believe.

[capt. scotty]

All these pills and powder could not make me stay
I'm on my merry way in the morning light
Cold New England winters have got me coughing
As the Lincoln turns down Memory Street

"Tell me Judge. what's the bounty
On that boy from Lawrence County?
He's a friend of mine
If I had a way to trap him
Would you swear to pay up Captain?
He's a friend of mine"

The door swang slowly open
The committee room was dark
The bailiff marked the chairs in red
Recalled a boy in orange as he slowly passes
Awkward as a calf with its legs wobbling

"Be so kind, tell me warden
Who's in line to die this morning?
Could I see the show?
If he bore his teeth to scare us
Would we see our likeness sheriff
In the pearly glow?"

Roll on old silver river through the Iron Range
Past the sleeping trains that wait
Gold and amber peddles in your water wade
Like the hand of Jesse James in wait
Rain it beats the window, makes it hard to see
Who's on a drunken spree in the city lights
Silent are the dying, silent are the young
And it's silent where I'm from

"Tell me love of your husband
Will we see his headlights coming?
Will he know it's us?
When his tired eyes have lifted
Will he see your bed has shifted?
Is he bad at love?"

"I got the money that I owe you
Something else to show you
Could you meet me there?
Take the road out past the station
To the river basin
I'll be waiting there"

All these pills and powder
could not make me stay
I'm on my merry way in the morning light
All these dying matadors in dusty rings
have killed my will to sing
And I'm gone

Tell me Judge, what's the bounty
On that boy from Lawrence County?
He's a friend of mine
If I had a way to trap him
Would you swear to pay up Captain?
He's a friend of mine

[ManNamedTruth]

Virgil Caine is the name and I served on the Danville train
  'Til Stoneman's cavalry came and tore up the tracks again
  In the winter of '65, we were hungry, just barely alive
  By May the tenth, Richmond had fell, it's a time I remember oh so well

  The night they drove Old Dixie down and the bells were ringing
  The night they drove Old Dixie down and the people were singin', they went  
  La-la-la  la-la-la,  la-la-la  la-la-la,  la-la-la-la

  Back with my wife in Tennessee, when one day she called to me
  "Virgil, quick, come see, there goes Robert E. Lee!"
  Now I don't mind choppin' wood, and I don't care if the money's no good
  Ya take what ya need and ya leave the rest
  But they should never have taken the very best

  The night they drove old Dixie down and the bells were ringing
  The night they drove old Dixie down and all the people were singin', they went  
  Na-na-na  na-na-na,  na-na-na  na-na-na,  na-na-na-na

  Like my father before me, I will work the land
  And like my brother before me, who took a rebel stand

  He was just eighteen, proud and brave  
  But a Yankee laid him in his grave
  I swear by the mud below my feet
  You can't raise a Caine back up when he's in defeat

  The night they drove old Dixie down and the bells were ringing
  The night they drove old Dixie down and all the people were singin', they went  
  Na-na-na  na-na-na,  na-na-na  na-na-na,  na-na-na-na

  The night they drove old Dixie down and all the bells were ringing
  The night they drove old Dixie down and the people were singin', they went  
  Na-na-na  na-na-na,  na-na-na  na-na-na,  na-na-na-na

[jones]

A song that tells a story:

Greatest Story Ever Told
Grateful Dead

[xmascriminal]

NW3 by The Pogues. My favorite song by them. It never made it onto an album. It was rewritten in a lesser form by Shane on a solo album but the only place to find this version is on their box set, which has a ton of great stuff:

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VdgLVUUVQ_Q[/media]

It was 1962
I was two years out of school
When I got on board a boat
that was bound for Liverpool
The day I went away
I remember it so well
Said goodbye to the North Wall
And bid a fond farewell

When I got down to the smoke
It was 1963
I got a job doing meals on wheels
Round NW3
I was terrorising grannies
For ten lousy bob a week
I was smashed and blacked
And drunk and young in NW3

In the filth and piss they lived in
They would sometimes hum an air
Or talk in tongues of madness
Keeping time upon the chair
And for their wrists a numbered tab
In Westminster morgue
On a cold hard slab
When I was still a young man
In NW3

Now spent of love and rage
I'm going home again
Never did nobody wrong
Never turned a decent wage
So thanks for sweet fuck all
once more back to the north wall
Said goodbye to all of that
And bid a fond farewell

At the top of the Pentonville Road
I watched the sun setting
The town spread out before me
Looked beautiful to me
Away from all the sighing
The suffering and the dying
I dreamed of the future
Of the young and the free

But the years they went by quickly
Now I swear I won't return here
Where each year just bring me closer
To the final misery
My kids will never scrape shit round here
I won't die crying in a pint of beer
Or eat their stinking meals on wheels
In NW3.