Songs That Tell Stories

Song/Artist you like
What kind of song / music do you like?








Trick me lick me hold me kiss me.touch me tease me come and please me.when im stressed i need a press so come on baby do ur best!

crazybiker, welcome to A2K! Our musical tastes vary wildly, and this thread is dedicated to songs that tell stories, in whatever style, by whatever artist. Post your favourites!

Biker, here's a thread where people discuss their faves


http://www.able2know.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=18704&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=30

Who? Me/us?
I like a hodgepodge of old rock, folk, Calypso, pop, protest as exemplified by the artists: Dylan, Leonard Cohen, Harry Belafonte, Jerry Lee Lewis, Phil Ochs, the Coasters, Little Richard, Joan Baez, the Butterfield Blues Band, Clyde McPhatter, Jackie Wilson, Lena Horne, Peggy Lee, Huddie Ledbetter, Pete Seeger, Arlo Guthrie, the Kingston Trio, the Platters, the Diamonds, Fats Domino, the Del Vikings, Elvis, Janis Joplin, Janis Ian, etc etc etc

Eclectic Hippie

That's my boy Edgar

blah blah blah

etc etc etc

ATLANTIS
Donovan

The continent of Atlantis was an island
which lay before the great flood
in the area we now call the Atlantic Ocean.
So great an area of land, that from her western shores
those beautiful sailors journeyed
to the South and the North Americas with ease,
in their ships with painted sails.

To the East Africa was a neighbour, across a short strait of sea miles.
The great Egyptian age is but a remnant of The Atlantian culture.
The antediluvian kings colonised the world
All the Gods who play in the mythological dramas
In all legends from all lands were from fair Atlantis.
Knowing her fate, Atlantis sent out ships to all corners of the Earth.
On board were the Twelve:
The poet, the physician, the farmer, the scientist,
The magician and the other so-called Gods of our legends.
Though Gods they were -
And as the elders of our time choose to remain blind
Let us rejoice and let us sing and dance and ring in the new
Hail Atlantis!
Way down below the ocean where I wanna be she may be,
Way down below the ocean where I wanna be she may be,
Way down below the ocean where I wanna be she may be.
Way down below the ocean where I wanna be she may be,
Way down below the ocean where I wanna be she may be.
My antediluvian baby, oh yeah yeah, yeah yeah yeah,
I wanna see you some day
My antediluvian baby, oh yeah yeah, yeah yeah yeah,
My antediluvian baby,
My antediluvian baby, I love you, girl,
Girl, I wanna see you some day.
My antediluvian baby, oh yeah
I wanna see you some day, oh
My antediluvian baby.
My antediluvian baby, I wanna see you
My antediluvian baby, gotta tell me where she gone
I wanna see you some day
Wake up, wake up, wake up, wake up, oh yeah
Oh glub glub, down down, yeah
My antediluvian baby oh yeah yeah yeah

The one that started it all-



Donovan - Catch The Wind


In the chilly hours and minutes
Of uncertainty
I want to be
In the warm hold of your loving mind.

To feel you all around me
And to take your hand
Along the sand
Ah, but I may as well try and catch the wind.

When sundown pales the sky
I wanna hide a while
Behind your smile
And everywhere I'd look, your eyes I'd find.

For me to love you now
Would be the sweetest thing,
T'would make me sing
Ah, but I may as well try and catch the wind.

Dee dee da da la da da da da da
Ya da da, da da, da da

When rain has hung the leaves with tears
I want you near
To kill my fears
To help me to leave all my blues behind.

For standing in your heart
Is where I wanna be
And I long to be,
Ah, but I may as well try and catch the wind.

Ah, but I may as well try and catch the wind
...

The Gypsy's Wife - Leonard Cohen


And where, where, where is my Gypsy wife tonight
I've heard all the wild reports, they can't be right
But whose head is this she's dancing with on the threshing floor
whose darkness deepens in her arms a little more
And where, where is my Gypsy wife tonight?
Where, where is my Gypsy wife tonight?

Ah the silver knives are flashing in the tired old cafe
A ghost climbs on the table in a bridal negligee
She says, "My body is the light, my body is the way"
I raise my arm against it all and I catch the bride's bouquet

And where, where is my Gypsy wife tonight?...

Too early for the rainbow, too early for the dove
These are the final days, this is the darkness, this is the flood
And there is no man or woman who can't be touched
But you who come between them will be judged

And where, where is my Gypsy wife tonight?...

Another from the poet lauerate of Canada

Jazz Police



Can you tell me why the bells are ringing?
Nothing's happened in a million years
I've been sitting here since Wednesday morning
Wednesday morning can't believe my ears

Jazz police are looking through my folders
Jazz police are talking to my niece
Jazz police have got their final orders
Jazzer, drop your axe, it's Jazz police!

Jesus taken serious by the many
Jesus taken joyous by a few
Jazz police are paid by J.Paul Getty
Jazzers paid by J.Paul Getty II

Jazz police I hear you calling
Jazz police I feel so blue
Jazz police I think I'm falling,
I'm falling for you

Wild as any freedom loving racist
I applaud the actions of the chief
Tell me now oh beautiful and spacious
Am I in trouble with the Jazz police?

Jazz police are looking through my folders ...

They will never understand our culture
They'll never understand the Jazz police
Jazz police are working for my mother
Blood is thicker margarine than grease

Let me be somebody I admire
Let me be that muscle down the street
Stick another turtle on the fire
Guys like me are mad for turtle meat

Jazz police I hear you calling
Jazz police I feel so blue
Jazz police I think I'm falling,
I'm falling for you

High Noon
Frankie Laine

[Words and Music by Ned Washington and Dmitri Tiomkin]

Do not forsake me, oh my darlin'
On this, our weddin' day
Do not forsake me, oh my darlin'
Wait, wait along

I do not know what fate awaits me
I only know I must be brave
For I must face a man who hates me
Or lie a coward, a craven coward
Or lie a coward in my grave

Oh, to be torn 'tweenst love and duty
S'posin' I lose my fair-haired beauty
Look at that big hand move along
Nearin' high noon

He made a vow while in state prison
Vowed it would be my life or his'n
I'm not afraid of death but, oh
What shall I do if you leave me

Do not forsake me, oh my darlin'
You made that promise as a bride
Do not forsake me, oh my darlin'
Although you're grievin', don't think of leavin'
Now that I need you by my side
But wait along,(wait along) wait along
Wait along
(Wait along, ,wait along, wait along, wait along)

Eagles
The Last Resort

She came from providence,
The one in rhode island
Where the old world shadows hang
Heavy in the air
She packed her hopes and dreams
Like a refugee
Just as her father came across the sea

She heard about a place people were smilin'
They spoke about the red man's way,
And how they loved the land
And they came from everywhere
To the great divide
Seeking a place to stand
Or a place to hide

Down in the crowded bars,
Out for a good time,
Can't wait to tell you all,
What it's like up there
And they called it paradise
I don't know why
Somebody laid the mountains low
While the town got high

Then the chilly winds blew down
Across the desert
Through the canyons of the coast, to
The malibu
Where the pretty people play,
Hungry for power
To light their neon way
And give them things to do

Some rich men came and raped the land,
Nobody caught 'em
Put up a bunch of ugly boxes, and jesus,
People bought 'em
And they called it paradise
The place to be
They watched the hazy sun, sinking in the sea

You can leave it all behind
And sail to lahaina
Just like the missionaries did, so many years ago
They even brought a neon sign: 'jesus is coming'
Brought the white man's burden down
Brought the white man's reign

Who will provide the grand design?
What is yours and what is mine?
'cause there is no more new frontier
We have got to make it here

We satisfy our endless needs and
Justify our bloody deeds,
In the name of destiny and the name
Of god

And you can see them there,
On sunday morning
They stand up and sing about
What it's like up there
They call it paradise
I don't know why
You call someplace paradise,
Kiss it goodbye

That had to be written by Don Henley. Call it a prequel to "The End Of The Innocence"

I think you're right. *Henely* is written all over it though at a quick glance, I couldn't find the credit. Your prequel idea hits home.

Everlast
What its like

We've all seen the man at the liquor store beggin' for your change
The hair on his face is dirty, dread-locked, and full of mange
He asks a man for what he could spare, with shame in his eyes
"Get a job you fcuking slob," is all he replies
God forbid you ever had to walk a mile in his shoes
'Cause then you really might know what it's like to sing the blues


Then you really might know what it's like
Then you really might know what it's like
Yeah then you really might know what's it like
To have the blues


Mary got pregnant from a kid named Tom that said he was in love
He said, "Don't worry about a thing, baby doll
I'm the man you've been dreaming of."
But 3 months later he say he won't date her or return her calls
And she swear, "God damn, if I find that man I'm cuttin' off his balls."
And then she heads for the clinic and
she gets some static walking through the door
They call her a killer, and they call her a sinner
and they call her a whore
God forbid you ever had to walk a mile in her shoes
'Cause then you really might know what it's like to have to choose


Then you really might know what it's like
Then you really might know what it's like
Yeah then you really might know what's it like
To have the blues


I've seen a rich man beg
I've seen a good man sin
I've seen a tough man cry
I've seen a loser win
And a sad man grin
I heard an honest man lie
I've seen the good side of bad
And the downside of up
And everything between
I licked the silver spoon
Drank from the golden cup
And smoked the finest green
I stroked the fattest dimes at least a couple of times
before I broke their heart
You know where it ends, yo, it usually depends on where you start


I knew this kid named Max
who used to get fat stacks out on the corner with drugs
He liked to hang out late
he liked to get ****-faced and keep the pace with thugs
Until late one night there was a big old fight and Max lost his head
He pulled out his chrome .45, talked some ****, and wound up dead
Now his wife and his kids are caught in the midst of all of this pain
You know it comes that way
at least that's what they say when you play the game
God forbid you ever had to wake up to hear the news
'Cause then you really might know what it's like to have to lose


Then you really might know what it's like
Then you really might know what it's like
Yeah then you really might know what's it like

To have the blues

Edgar - not sure if you've lost interest or not, but I heard this one today, and thought of this thread.


Traveling Wilburys
Tweeter And The Monkey Man

Tweeter and the Monkey Man were hard up for cash
They stayed up all night selling cocaine and hash
To an undercover cop who had a sister named Jan
For reasons unexplained she loved the Monkey Man

Tweeter was a boy scout before she went to Vietnam
And found out the hard way nobody gives a damn
They knew that they found freedom just across the Jersey Line
So they hopped into a stolen car took Highway 99

(Chorus)
And the walls came down all the way to hell
Never saw them when they're standing
Never saw them when they fell

The undercover cop never liked the Monkey Man
Even back in childhood he wanted to see him in the can
Jan got married at fourteen to a rackateer named Bill
She made secret calls to the Monkey Man from a mansion on the hill

It was out on thunder road - Tweeter at the wheel
They crashed into paradise - they could hear them tires squeal
The undercover cop pulled up and said "Everyone of you's a liar
If you don't surrender now it's gonna go down to the wire

(Chorus)

An ambulance rolled up - a state trooper close behind
Tweeter took his gun away and messed up his mind
The undercover cop was left tied up to a tree
Near the souvenir stand by the old abandoned factory

Next day the undercover cop was hot in pursuit
He was taking the whole thing personal
He didn't care about the loot
Jan had told him many times it was you to me who taught
In Jersey anything's legal as long as you don't get caught

(Chorus)

Someplace by Rahway prison they ran out of gas
The undercover cop had cornered them said "Boy, you didn't
think that this could last"
Jan jumped out of bed said "There's someplace I gotta go"
She took a gun out of the drawer and said "It's best if you dont' know"

The undercover cop was found face down in a field
The monkey man was on the river bridge using Tweeter as a shield
Jan said to the Monkey Man "I'm not fooled by Tweeter's curl
I knew him long before he ever became a Jersey girl"

(Chorus)

Now the town of Jersey City is quieting down again
I'm sitting in a gambling club called the Lion's Den
The TV set been blown up, every bit of it is gone
Ever since the nightly news show that the Monkey Man was on

I guess I'll to to Florida and get myself some sun
There ain't no more opportunity here, everything's been done
Sometime I think of Tweeter, sometime I think of Jan
Sometime I don't think about nothing but the Monkey Man

(Chorus)

The Gambler- Kenny Rogers

On a warm summer's evening on a train bound for nowhere
I met up with the gambler we were both too tired of sleep
So we took turns at staring out the window at the darkness
Till boredom overtook us, and he began to speak

He said, Son, I've made my life out of reading people's faces
And knowing what their cards were by the way they held their eyes
So if you don't mind my saying, I can see you're out of aces
For a taste of your whiskey I'll give you some advice.

So I handed him my bottle and he drank down my last swallow
Then he bummed a cigarette and asked me for a light
And the night got deathly quiet, and his face lost all expression
Said, If you're gonna play the game, boy, ya gotta learn to play it right

You got to know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em,
Know when to walk away and know when to run.
You never count your money when you're sitting at the table
There'll be time enough for counting when the dealing's done

Now Every gambler knows that the secret to surviving
Is knowing what to throw away and knowing what to keep
Cause every hand's a winner and every hand's a loser
And the best that you can hope for is to die in your sleep.

And when he'd finished speaking, he turned back towards the window
Crushed out his cigarette and faded off to sleep
And somewhere in the darkness the gambler, he broke even
But in his final words I found an ace that I could keep

You got to know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em
Know when to walk away and know when to run.
You never count your money when you're sitting at the table
There'll be time enough for counting when the dealing's done

Walking After Midnight (original) Donn Hecht, Alan Block

I go out walkin after midnight,
Out in the moonlight, just like we used to do,
I'm always walkin after midnight searchin for you ~
I walk for miles along the highway,
Well, that's just my way of sayin "I love you,"
I'm always walkin after midnight searchin for you ~

I stop to see a weepin willow cryin on his pillow
Maybe he's cryin for me ~
And as the skies turn gloomy, night winds whisper to me,
I'm lonesome as I can be...

I go out walkin after midnight,
Out in the starlight, just hopin you may be
Somewhere a-walkin after midnight searchin for me.

I stop to see a weepin willow cryin on his pillow
Maybe he's cryin for me ~
And as the skies turn gloomy, night winds whisper to me,
I'm lonesome as I can be...
I go out walkin after midnight,
Out in the starlight, just hopin you may be
Somewhere a-walkin after midnight searchin for me.

I haven't lost interest. A bit preoccupied just now.

Mmmkay. Take 'er easy.