Songs That Tell Stories

I have sat through a few Godzilla Mothra films. Mmm mmm mm.

This Day in History: on this day in 1928, Steamboat Willie, the first Mickey Mouse cartoon to use synchronized sound, premiered in New York City. So, the next one will not be a song, although it has music.

This is an epic song from the writing, yes writing, of Maddie Prior, the voice of Steeleye Span. Nearly 10 minutes long, it tells the story of the not so lowly hare.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GFWzPiGHd_Y&feature=autoplay&list=PL10D0CDB90EBCE685&lf=plpp_play_all&playnext=3

Modern-day Bonnie and Clyde in a strip mall laudromat.

This song contains some of my favorite lines ever:
'Cause it was there in the paper the very next day
'Bout a couple and a baby and a Chevrolet
Who shot up an automatic teller machine
Took the money for the laundry and drove away clean

I also like the image of the baby just sitting there watching the whole thing and 'lookin' mean'.



Trudy and Dave
by: John Hiatt

Whatever you don't follow that shot, she rang those words out with all she got
With a baby and the laundry in the Chevrolet, well he thought about following anyway
But he drove 'em to the strip mall laundromat,
In his three day beard and his red man hat
Trudy washed their bell bottom jeans, while that baby just sat there lookin' mean

CHORUS:
Trudy and Dave
They're out of their minds
Trudy and Dave
They're out of their minds

Well David put a match to a Lucky Strike
And the smoke curled up 'round his head how he liked,
It made him feel a little mysterious
'Til Trudy said "David honey, what about us?"

So he thought about them and those shots ringing out
And other things he shouldn't be thinking about
Like how it wasn't them at all, just life that was mean
And how a twenty dollar pistol made him feel so clean

CHORUS

Didn't mean to do it baby, but I did it for love
The same shot his Daddy heard before him
A shot that can really blow you away
And when it is fired his mama told him
"David, you'll follow it to your grave"

Well Trudy and Dave, those crazy kids
Had a baby of their own and you heard what they did
In the middle of a strip mall shots rang out
Shots heard all over the world no doubt

'Cause it was there in the paper the very next day
'Bout a couple and a baby and a Chevrolet
Who shot up an automatic teller machine
Took the money for the laundry and drove away clean

I got the lyrics to Trudy and Dave, then returned to find them already posted.

That's one I know.

Don't know Trudy and Dave, but I liked it.

Well, we've done Richard Cory how about another poem that tells a story.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i2nU9N9bvds&feature=related

E.A. Robinson

E A is a favorite poet of mine, letty. I always like his work.

Here's another Civil War song (I'm pretty sure it's a true story but that the song changed his name to Laughlin, because his real name just wasn't singable. Unfortunately the recording of the vocals isn't as intelligible as I might like, so lyrics first)


Laughlin Boy (Wm. Jolliff / Trad)

have you heard many a story
told by old and young with joy
about the faithful deed of daring
that was done by the laughlin boy
that was done by the laughlin boy

chorus
listen to me children, well i wouldn't tell a lie
listen to me children, well i wouldn't tell a lie

that laughlin boy was a boy of honor
and he loved virginia well
but he would not fire a rifle
so he sat in a cold jail cell
so he sat in a cold jail cell

he was pierced and he was beaten
forty stripes he gladly bore
but he would not serve the devil
in that awful civil war
in that awful civil war

listen to me children, well i wouldn't tell a lie
listen to me children, well i wouldn't tell a lie

twelve grey soldiers stood before him
and they aimed their rifles true
he prayed lord, oh please forgive them
for they know not what they do
for they know not what they do

those young soldiers would not fire
they defied the general's plan
so the army changed his sentence
who could murder such a man?
who could murder such a man?

listen to me children, well i wouldn't tell a lie
listen to me children, well i wouldn't tell a lie

they hauled him far away to richmond
far away from his kids and wife
there, pneumonia wracked his body
that good man soon lost his life
that good man soon lost his life

now his wife is sadly weeping
seven children wonder why
lord it seems that truth and honor
sure can come at an awful price
sure can come at an awful price

listen to me children, well i wouldn't tell a lie
listen to me children, well i wouldn't tell a lie

oh, have you heard many a story
told by old and young with joy
about the faithful deed of daring
that was done by the laughlin boy
that was done by the laughlin boy

lyrics by Wm. Jolliff, tune adapted from "The Johnson Boys," trad. © 1999 Wm. Jolliff (BMI)

I remember hearing "Sagina, Michigan" on Top 40 stations when I was a kid, don't remember whether it was before or after my family moved from Michigan, but I don't think it was done by Lefty Frizzell. Did someone else cover it?

Never heard it by anybody else.

I found this

have you heard many a story
told by old and young with joy
about the faithful deed of daring
that was done by the laughlin boy
that was done by the laughlin boy

listen to me children, well i wouldn't tell a lie
listen to me children, well i wouldn't tell a lie

that laughlin boy was a boy of honor
and he loved virginia well
but he would not fire a rifle
so he sat in a cold jail cell
so he sat in a cold jail cell

he was pierced and he was beaten
forty stripes he gladly bore
but he would not serve the devil
in that awful civil war
Lyrics www.allthelyrics.com/lyrics/dave_carter/
in that awful civil war

listen to me children, well i wouldn't tell a lie
listen to me children, well i wouldn't tell a lie

twelve grey soldiers stood before him
and they aimed their rifles true
he prayed lord, oh please forgive them
for they know not what they do
for they know not what they do

those young soldiers would not fire
they defied the general's plan
so the army changed his sentence
who could murder such a man?
who could murder such a man?

listen to me children, well i wouldn't tell a lie
listen to me children, well i wouldn't tell a lie

they hauled him far away to richmond
far away from his kids and wife
there, pneumonia wracked his body
that good man soon lost his life
that good man soon lost his life

now his wife is sadly weeping
seven children wonder why
lord it seems that truth and honor
sure can come at an awful price
sure can come at an awful price

listen to me children, well i wouldn't tell a lie
listen to me children, well i wouldn't tell a lie

oh, have you heard many a story
told by old and young with joy
about the faithful deed of daring
that was done by the laughlin boy
that was done by the laughlin boy

Yes, edgar, Tradition is a terrible game to play. Do you recall my having played Tradition on the radio thread from Fiddler on the Roof?

Shirley Jackson shows the horror of such.

"The Lottery" is a short story by Shirley Jackson, first published in the June 26, 1948, issue of The New Yorker. Written the same month it was published, it is ranked today as "one of the most famous short stories in the history of American literature".

Response to the story was negative, surprising Jackson and The New Yorker. Readers canceled subscriptions and sent hate mail throughout the summer. The story was banned in the Union of South Africa. Since then, it has been accepted as a classic American short story, subject to critical interpretations and media adaptations, and it has been taught in middle schools and high schools for decades.

How about literature that tells stories.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PMhV3fwx5Sg&feature=related

Think of the C.O.' s that fled to Canada to avoid the Viet Nam War. Jimmy Carter later granted them amnesty.

Don't like that story, letty.

A song from Christy Moore that should be dedicated to the 80% of Americans who have not seen their buying power increase since 1979 . . . to the members of Occupy Wall Street . . . to those who are unemployed. If you agree with this song, post it to your FaceBook page, to a blog or any where you have an internet presence.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dsmAMKUIXbE&feature=autoplay&list=PLF3C7392F8468237A&lf=plpp_play_all&playnext=1

While I may be the only one (well, that's not exactly true) who can't get enough of oysterband, here is a great website, passed on to my through the . . . yep . . . you guessed it . . . not ancient aliens but oysterband:

http://www.rdio.com/#/artist/Oysterband/album/Granite_Years_(The_Best_Of_1986_–_1997)/

I got a "Page not found."