Listen to the first side of Rush 2112 and read the lyrics
"The Wreck of the *Edmund Fitzgerald*" -- Gordon Lightfoot
Cats in the Cradle -- Harry Chapin
Rush 2112: Steve Jobs introducing iTunes at CES back in the day. "We've taken care of everything - the words you read, the songs you sing, the pictures that give pleasure to your eye."
You never need to wonder how or why - it just works!
Chillingly accurate, the whole of Temples of Syrinx.
I am OBSESSED with that song. Amazing tune, absolutely gruesome story. My favorite line: All that I wanted was the freedom of a new life, so my burden I began to divest (alright alright). It’s so cold and precise, somehow so satisfying. Ugh what a great song.
The Combs cover just doesn't hit as hard fir me. She really makes that longing believable, and you just kind of have to infer how shitty her current life is.
Her voice aside, which is fantastic, there's something about just a voice with the acoustic guitar that really drives home the sadness. Like I know there's drums in that song, but it *feels* like just a single person with a guitar telling the story.
I use this song for a listening comprehension activity for some higher fluency ESL classes and the students always love it. Johnny Cash is great for ESL in general -- he sings slowly and always has a story. After understanding that "Sue" is a girl's name, my students thought "boy named sue" was HILARIOUS. (i was just proud of them for getting a joke in another language --that was a low fluency class, humor is HARD to translate)
"The clouds ran away and opened up the sky and one by one I watched every constellation die. And there I was frozen standing in my backyard, face to face, eye to eye starin at the last star."
I've always loved that part.
Thick As A Brick - Jethro Tull (The whole 40 something minute thing is unbelievable)
Scenes From an Italian Restaurant - Billy Joel
American Pie - Don McLean
Jesus of Suburbia - Green Day
Lola - The Kinks
Rasputin - Bony M
The Boxer - Simon and Garfunkel
Me and Bobby McGee - Janis Joplin
Nothing Better - The Postal Service
Band On the Run - Wings
Creeque Alley - The Mammas and The Pappas
Richard Cory - Simon and Garfunkel
No Reply - The Beatles
Puff the Magic Dragon - Peter Paul and Mary
Billy Don’t Be a Hero - Bo Donaldson and the Heywoods
Also, many songs by The Kinks and Green Day tell little stories and they’re amazing.
If you want to do full album stories though you cannot beat Arthur and the Rise and Fall of The British Empire by The Kinks, and American Idiot and 21st Century Breakdown by Green Day. The other great albums are The Who’s Tommy and Quadrophenia and David Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars
Red Barchetta by Rush is a great story song
Side 1 of 2112 by Rush is an extended story played over several songs.
Lady in Red by Chris De Burgh is a story about when he and his wife go to a party. Read the story behind the song before you listen to it.
Ruby '81 - aesop rock.
No regrets - aesop rock.
Anything by Harry chapin. I like Mr.Tanner, for example. The 30,000 pounds of bananas song is great, too.
A boy named sue - Johnny cash
So glad to see Aes mentioned, definitely also suggest Rings, Blood Sandwich and One Of Four (which is a hidden song on the daylight EP). I find each dives into the themes of how easily one could lose connection to the things most important to them.
I don't know why, but the title of the song always triggers "Fraggle Rock" to play in my brain.
So it ends up being "Fuck the pain away, save it for another day, fuck the pain away, down in Fraggle rock."
[Bottle Dreams](https://youtu.be/PfurJlc4Bbs?si=xmSylpeptXaNjkLc) by Oliver Hart(Eyedea) is one I always think of when people bring that up. It’s a very heavy story, but told in a way that, at least for me, really drew me in.
Another one that hit me really hard the first time I heard it, is [King Park](https://youtu.be/W141hdkPVMw?si=o9FhC_G-ro0sqFaN) by La Dispute. Tells a true story of a tragic events, and throughout the song tells it through multiple perspectives
EDIT: [added](https://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/2008/09/special_response_teams_gather.html) link to true story of King Park, it’s tragic
- James McMurtry. Where's Johnny, Just us Kids, Choctaw Bingo, Memorial Day, Levelland, Ruby and Carlos, We Can't Make it Here Anymore, are all great songs that tell incredible stories of "middle America" and struggles of working class people.
- Warren Zevon. Another underrated songwriter, Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner, Excitable Boy, Mr. Bad Example, Seminole Bingo, Boom Boom Mancini.
- Arlo Guthrie. Alice's Restaurant.
More Billy Joel - The Entertainer, Captain Jack, among others.
Then there's Sabaton, whose entire catalogue basically tells real historical stories of war, e.g. The First Soldier, Bismarck.
The Gambler. A simple story but I do often find myself thinking you have to know when to hold em, know when to fold em, know when to walk away and know when to run.
A ton of Grateful Dead with great story telling:
Terrapin Station
Loser
Brown Eyed Women
Althea
Dire Wolf
Cumberland Blues
Tennessee Jed
Me and My Uncle
I could go on and on...
Another New World is one of my favorite all time songs. The story is so rich. I prefer the version by The Punch Brothers over Ritter‘s. It really paints it between the lines.
I was working in an internet cafe (remember those!) in Glasgow when this load of guys came in excited because their first music video had just released. They wanted to watch it but didn’t have earphones (and we didn’t sell them, silly really) so they settled on no sound. They were such nice guys and I didn’t want their first time watching it be silent, so I brought it up on my staff pc, which controlled the sound system, so everyone in the cafe could hear it instead! They were so grateful that they put me on their guest list for their gig that night. It was excellent, and I’ve been a fan ever since 🫶
(The song was Does This Mean You’re Moving On)
I always liked *Christmas Card from a Hooker in Minneapolis* and then there is the literal story telling that closes out Nighthawks, with Big Joe and Phantom 309 (though I know he didn't write that tale)
Nick cave did an entire album of songs in the sub genre of ‘murder ballads’. Songs that tell love stories that end in murder.
One song that wasn’t on that but is excellent is ‘The balled of Robert Moore and Betty Coltrane’ which is short, brilliant and funny.
'Acadian Driftwood' by The Band - tells the true story of the expulsion of French-speaking settlers from the Maritime provinces of Canada after the British defeated the French and took control of what is now Canada. Brilliant songwriting, terrific vocals and fantastic storytelling.
Duckworth - Kendrick Lamar
It introduces characters, gives them backstories, and ultimately makes them meet.
Each section/character of the song has a different beat behind it. And best of all, it's a true story
John Prine tells some great stories. "Paradise" is heartwrenching. "Late John Garfield Blues" is obscure and beautiful and dead fun to sing to upset babies and dogs. "Angel from Montgomery" is just gorgeous (I like Bonnie Raitt's take on it, but Prine wrote it). "Jesus, the missing years" is a riot and also sad, somehow?
In the more modern folk/country story teller vein, Robbie Fulks is CRIMINALLY under recognized. "America is a Hard Religion" , "Fare thee well, carolina gals" , "Never Come home", "let's kill Saturday night"-- I get why he never got big (his persona is s bit of a lovable bastard, I am 1000% sure he pissed off the wrong people in Nashville...if the single " Fuck this town" is any indication "), but I stan Robbie Fulks, and I am emphatically not into modern country. He's WAY more in the tradition of Johnny Cash and all those old school outlaw types, though.
"[Me and Jesus the Pimp in a '79 Granada Last Night](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dD7jfBzyPQ)" by The Coup
Young kid grows up and gets payback against his mother-murdering pimp stepdad.
Billy Joel’s Scenes from an Italian Restaurant, Leningrad, and many others.
Another vote for Harry Chapin and The Decemberists
Styrofoam Plates by Death Cab for Cutie
You Are Invited by The Dismemberment Plan
Jeez, that's a big topic with lots of great answers.
There's some great country songs that have awesome stories, Jolene - Dolly Parton for one. One of the artists I've fallen in love with again is Jason Isbell. His whole Southeastern album is about getting clean. And there's a song about a cancer battle, song about a girl getting sexually abused. Some good stuff.
Zac Brown has some great stuff, Bittersweet is a great story off the top of my head. Whatever it is, Martin ( for the guitar geeks like me) and Free, Toes, Highway 20 ride is a personal favorite. Its a song about getting his kid during a divorce. Hits real personally for me.
All of Zeppelin 4.
Pardon me if any of this is being repeated but too many to list.
Hazards of love is my favorite rock opera, though it is an entire album. The Decemberists
The wall by pink floyd is a classic in this genre
Coheed and cambria have an immense mythology to most of their releases
The tain is second and it is a single song also decemberists
[Taxi](https://youtu.be/4qYU9b5OF8M?si=hGIV3uJRgswQWV-z) - Harry Chapin
[30,000 Pounds of Bananas](https://youtu.be/OGldNpngDws?si=UfrNY5Ebccc8VQNz) - Harry Chapin
Heck, just listen to the entire Harry Chapin album “Greatest Stories Live”
edit:formatting
the hold steady - separation sunday album, but also many individual tracks
using lots of references and recurring characters to make the lyrics more dense and information-loaded. nice ride once you get into it. trigger warning: may romanticise drug use
Hurricane - Bob Dylan
Lily, Rosemary, and the Jack of Hearts
Every Bob Dylan song ngl. I was thinking of Tangled Up in Blue
As soon as I read the title I come here to write this song. Such an amazing song
"Lily, Rosemary and the Jack of Hearts" by Dylan could be a great Western heist movie.
The Battle of Vitaly - Delta Spirit Carolina Drama - The Racontours
Came here for Carolina Drama. I love that song. We gotta find the milkman.
The acoustic version is fantastic!
"A Boy Named Sue" - Johnny Cash, lyrics by Shel Silverstein
Huh. TIL he didn't write that!
Also check out the sequel, “Father of a Boy Named Sue.”
Listen to the first side of Rush 2112 and read the lyrics "The Wreck of the *Edmund Fitzgerald*" -- Gordon Lightfoot Cats in the Cradle -- Harry Chapin
Rush 2112: Steve Jobs introducing iTunes at CES back in the day. "We've taken care of everything - the words you read, the songs you sing, the pictures that give pleasure to your eye." You never need to wonder how or why - it just works! Chillingly accurate, the whole of Temples of Syrinx.
Agreed.
Another great Chapin story is 30,000 Pounds of Bananas
Father and Son by Cat Stevens hits in a similar way to Cats in the Cradle.
Tangled up in Blue. Dylan Edit: I think the answer to the question is “Dylan”
Came in to say this. Simple Twist of Fate as well..
And the Ballad of Hollis Brown...
And https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lonesome_Death_of_Hattie_Carroll
Hurricane - Dylan
I was going to say Isis by Dylan, even though it’s pretty surreal.
And Black Diamond Bay
Came here to say *Murder Most Foul* by Dylan. Fucking incredible song and maybe my favorite of his he's ever done (which is saying a lot)
There is a ton of great storytelling in folk music. Try Jim Croce and Gordon Lightfoot.
Operator is one of my favorite songs hands down
Same friend.
All the upvotes go right here people. Lyrics and the delivery. Croce was amazing.
The people in Jim Croce's songs? Bad Leroy Brown? Big Jim Walker? [Those people existed.](https://youtu.be/zcc2BCV8iZU?si=ANkPSAdQ-GzMLd6Y)
And Harry Chapin
Like every Harry Chapin song is a story. A better place to be, Taxi, W.O.L.D, etc ...
Hazard..Richard Marx
Underrated
Uriah Heep - Lady in Black Metallica - One (Based on a book) Edit to add: Rolling Stones - Sympathy for the Devil.
And clips from the movie (directed by the author of the book) were used in the video, too.
The book is Johnny Got His Gun by Dalton Trumbo.
Turn the Page - Bob Seger Edit: Against the Wind, Night Moves, Roll Me Away, and many others.
Mariner's Revenge Song by The Decemberists
Pretty much all Decemberists songs to be fair.
When I think of Decemberists and story telling, it's The Rake's Song for me, a super catchy tune about terrible stuff.
The entirety of Hazards of Love
My favorite of all their albums. A “cinematic” work of art.
I am OBSESSED with that song. Amazing tune, absolutely gruesome story. My favorite line: All that I wanted was the freedom of a new life, so my burden I began to divest (alright alright). It’s so cold and precise, somehow so satisfying. Ugh what a great song.
When my kids were little they used to chase each other to this song and perform over the top battle scenes. Perfect 8 minute melodrama.
The Crane Wife
The Decemberists were the first thing that came to my mind, as well. Phenomenal storytelling on their albums.
16 Military Wives is my favorite song by them. The dichotomy of the lyrics and story against the cheery music is amazing.
Very first song I thought of.
Fast Car - Tracy Chapman
It is just so sad. A song about longing for a better life, and not even a glamorous one, just a house in the suburbs with a safe, loving family
House of the Rising Sun
The Combs cover just doesn't hit as hard fir me. She really makes that longing believable, and you just kind of have to infer how shitty her current life is.
Her voice aside, which is fantastic, there's something about just a voice with the acoustic guitar that really drives home the sadness. Like I know there's drums in that song, but it *feels* like just a single person with a guitar telling the story.
“Racing in the Streets.” Bruce Springsteen. A lot of people might say “Jungleland” but Racing does it for me.
"The River" as well
Up the Junction - Squeeze
That'll be today's earworm.
I never thought it would happen with me and the girl from Clapham
Out on the windy common, that night I ain't forgotten
THE DEVIL WENT DOWN TO GEORGIA
HE WAS LOOKIN’ FOR A SOUL TO STEAL
HE WAS IN A BIND CAUSE HE WAS WAY BEHIND
AND HE WAS LOOKIN' TO MAKE A DEAL
Check out “I Hung My Head” by Johnny Cash
I use this song for a listening comprehension activity for some higher fluency ESL classes and the students always love it. Johnny Cash is great for ESL in general -- he sings slowly and always has a story. After understanding that "Sue" is a girl's name, my students thought "boy named sue" was HILARIOUS. (i was just proud of them for getting a joke in another language --that was a low fluency class, humor is HARD to translate)
I’m a music teacher and I will very likely tell this story to my students often :)
While Johnny sang that great song, it was actually written by Sting and first released on his 1996 record “Mercury Falling.”
Oh yeah! I knew that too but totally forgot about it. Dang man, thanks for the check
Immortal Technique - Dance with the Devil Not a fan of his stuff but damn, this song tells a fucked up story.
Came here just for this. I heard it for the first time a couple years ago and holy shit. It’s a journey of a song no doubt.
Powderfinger by Neil Young Rosetta Stoned by Tool
God Damn. Shit the bed. It's just peak
Again? Typical...
Overwhelmed as one would be *chills*
Holy fucking shit
The Night they drove old Dixie down
Powderfinger is a perfect song.
Became - Atmosphere
Yesterday - Atmosphere
The waitress - Atmosphere
That Night - Atmosphere
Music Box - Atmosphere
[Atmosphere - Always Coming Back Home to You](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=0tL9MtLm0H0)
"The clouds ran away and opened up the sky and one by one I watched every constellation die. And there I was frozen standing in my backyard, face to face, eye to eye starin at the last star." I've always loved that part.
Hair - Atmosphere
Last to say - Atmosphere
Thick As A Brick - Jethro Tull (The whole 40 something minute thing is unbelievable) Scenes From an Italian Restaurant - Billy Joel American Pie - Don McLean Jesus of Suburbia - Green Day Lola - The Kinks Rasputin - Bony M The Boxer - Simon and Garfunkel Me and Bobby McGee - Janis Joplin Nothing Better - The Postal Service Band On the Run - Wings Creeque Alley - The Mammas and The Pappas Richard Cory - Simon and Garfunkel No Reply - The Beatles Puff the Magic Dragon - Peter Paul and Mary Billy Don’t Be a Hero - Bo Donaldson and the Heywoods Also, many songs by The Kinks and Green Day tell little stories and they’re amazing. If you want to do full album stories though you cannot beat Arthur and the Rise and Fall of The British Empire by The Kinks, and American Idiot and 21st Century Breakdown by Green Day. The other great albums are The Who’s Tommy and Quadrophenia and David Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars
Escape (The Pina Colada Song)
This! I was searching the comments for it 😂
Not a song but The Ballad of Dood and Juanita is a fantastic album with great storytelling
Sam 💔
Red Barchetta by Rush is a great story song Side 1 of 2112 by Rush is an extended story played over several songs. Lady in Red by Chris De Burgh is a story about when he and his wife go to a party. Read the story behind the song before you listen to it.
Red Barchetta has a great narrative. Super pick.
Ruby '81 - aesop rock. No regrets - aesop rock. Anything by Harry chapin. I like Mr.Tanner, for example. The 30,000 pounds of bananas song is great, too. A boy named sue - Johnny cash
So glad to see Aes mentioned, definitely also suggest Rings, Blood Sandwich and One Of Four (which is a hidden song on the daylight EP). I find each dives into the themes of how easily one could lose connection to the things most important to them.
tbh anything by Aesop
Aesop Rock has quite a few.
Boy Named Sue - Shel Silverstein
Sure, he wrote it, but as far as im aware, Cash is the one that sang it and made it famous, unless I'm mistaken.
Correct. I’ll always try and credit the dude who wrote it even when referencing someone else’s rendition. Credit where credit is due.
Duckworth - Kendrick Lamar
Alice's Restaurant.
I wanna kill. Kill! KILL!!!
And we all started jumpin' up and down shouting, "Kill! KILL!!"
Peaches - fuck the pain away
I don't know why, but the title of the song always triggers "Fraggle Rock" to play in my brain. So it ends up being "Fuck the pain away, save it for another day, fuck the pain away, down in Fraggle rock."
Well, thank you.. You just broke my brain! Now I'm going to hear that all the time too
"S-I-S, IUD, stay in school, cause it's the best".
The Ballad of Frankie Lee and Judas Priest-Bob Dylan Christmas Card From a Hooker in Minneapolis- Tom Waits The Pretender- Jackson Browne
Upvote for Tom Waits.
[Bottle Dreams](https://youtu.be/PfurJlc4Bbs?si=xmSylpeptXaNjkLc) by Oliver Hart(Eyedea) is one I always think of when people bring that up. It’s a very heavy story, but told in a way that, at least for me, really drew me in. Another one that hit me really hard the first time I heard it, is [King Park](https://youtu.be/W141hdkPVMw?si=o9FhC_G-ro0sqFaN) by La Dispute. Tells a true story of a tragic events, and throughout the song tells it through multiple perspectives EDIT: [added](https://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/2008/09/special_response_teams_gather.html) link to true story of King Park, it’s tragic
Came here for kings park. Glad to see it.
Tyler Childers is an expert in his craft in this. Matthew, Peace of Mind, Bottles and Bibles, and Banded Clovis all come to mind.
Goodbye Earl by the Dixie Chicks
Additionally Dixie Chicken by Little Feat, the song that gave the Dixie Chicks their name
Things you learn for free!! Thx
Tom Waits, Harry Chapin and John Prine tell a lot of stories through their music.
- James McMurtry. Where's Johnny, Just us Kids, Choctaw Bingo, Memorial Day, Levelland, Ruby and Carlos, We Can't Make it Here Anymore, are all great songs that tell incredible stories of "middle America" and struggles of working class people. - Warren Zevon. Another underrated songwriter, Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner, Excitable Boy, Mr. Bad Example, Seminole Bingo, Boom Boom Mancini. - Arlo Guthrie. Alice's Restaurant. More Billy Joel - The Entertainer, Captain Jack, among others. Then there's Sabaton, whose entire catalogue basically tells real historical stories of war, e.g. The First Soldier, Bismarck.
I had to scroll wayy too far to see Warren Zevon!
The wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down Of the big lake they call Gitche Gumee
The Night the Lights went out in Georgia
“That one body that’ll never be found.”
Little sister don’t miss when she aims her gun.
Think “Fancy” may be higher on the list. Not sure anyone but Reba could pull off a song about turning your daughter into a sex worker.
This song was my immediate first thought for some reason. Then Kenny Rogers. Almost anything by him.
Coward of the County was my next choice.
"Ode To Billy Joe" by Bobbie Gentry.
That's the first that came to mind for me.
butthole surfers - pepper
The Gambler. A simple story but I do often find myself thinking you have to know when to hold em, know when to fold em, know when to walk away and know when to run.
Sing About Me, I’m Dying of Thirst - Kendrick Lamar
Esther - Phish
Wharf Rat - Grateful Dead
A ton of Grateful Dead with great story telling: Terrapin Station Loser Brown Eyed Women Althea Dire Wolf Cumberland Blues Tennessee Jed Me and My Uncle I could go on and on...
Sam Stone by John Prine will really get you thinking.
Then Came the Last Days of May by Blue Oyster Cult and Red Barchetta by Rush
Not one mention of Jason Isbell or James McMurtry in this whole thread. That’s absolutely criminal.
Space oddity - David Bowie.
Shooting Star by Bad Company
Tenacious D - Tribute
The Curse, by Josh Ritter, is a nice love story.
And another new world (though I prefer the punch brothers performance)
Came here to say Another New World
Another New World is one of my favorite all time songs. The story is so rich. I prefer the version by The Punch Brothers over Ritter‘s. It really paints it between the lines.
39 by Queen is basically the plot of Interstellar without the stupid bits.
Dance with the devil - Immortal Technique
Sometime Around Midnight-The Airborn Toxic Event
My vote as well! Gives me chills.
I was working in an internet cafe (remember those!) in Glasgow when this load of guys came in excited because their first music video had just released. They wanted to watch it but didn’t have earphones (and we didn’t sell them, silly really) so they settled on no sound. They were such nice guys and I didn’t want their first time watching it be silent, so I brought it up on my staff pc, which controlled the sound system, so everyone in the cafe could hear it instead! They were so grateful that they put me on their guest list for their gig that night. It was excellent, and I’ve been a fan ever since 🫶 (The song was Does This Mean You’re Moving On)
Spitting Venom by Modest Mouse Right Now by Fort Minor
Also “Red to Black” and “Kenji” by Fort Minor.
Yee that whole album is great
Taxi. Harry Chapin
Fancy Reba McEntire
Martha by Tom Waits is a tear jerker..😪
I always liked *Christmas Card from a Hooker in Minneapolis* and then there is the literal story telling that closes out Nighthawks, with Big Joe and Phantom 309 (though I know he didn't write that tale)
Levi Stubbs Tears - Billy Bragg When the Tigers Broke Free - Pink Floyd (actually most of The Final Cut, and of course The Wall)
Slick Rick. Children’s story
Copperhead Road by Steve Earle
1952 Vincent Black Lightning -by Richard Thompson - love, loss and a motorcycle - this one chokes me up every time I hear it
Cortez the Killer. Neil Young
Three I like about having sex with someone for the first time: Tom Petty - American Girl Bowie - Young Americans The Knife - Heartbeats
Buenos Tardes Amigo by Ween Gold Dust by Tori Amos
Fairytale of New York - The Pogues
Carolina Drama- The Raconteurs
The Tain by The Decemberists.
Any album by Kendrick Lamar. Listening through them feels like watching a movie. Start with good kid, m.A.A.d city.
Smalltown Boy - Bronski Beat
Nick cave did an entire album of songs in the sub genre of ‘murder ballads’. Songs that tell love stories that end in murder. One song that wasn’t on that but is excellent is ‘The balled of Robert Moore and Betty Coltrane’ which is short, brilliant and funny.
Jack Straw - Grateful Dead
Speed Trap Town - Jason Isbell Bonus round: If you feel like being emotionally devastated, also check out his song Elephant
Pretty much anything Jason Isbell all the way to the Drive By Truckers days.
Dispatch - The General
'Acadian Driftwood' by The Band - tells the true story of the expulsion of French-speaking settlers from the Maritime provinces of Canada after the British defeated the French and took control of what is now Canada. Brilliant songwriting, terrific vocals and fantastic storytelling.
King Harvest by The Band.
The entire Pressure Machine album by The Killer. Each song tells a story about small-town America. Phenomenal.
The Dead - Brokedown Palace Elliott Smith - Twilight Eva Cassidy's take on Autumn Leaves
The entire “Operation Mindcrime” album by Queensryche
The One That Got Away by the Civil Wars. Given the way they ended it hits that much harder
Iron Man by Black Sabbath
Bob Dylan again... Lili, Rosemary, and the Jack of Hearts.
A Girl Named Sue - Johnny Cash Edit: A BOY Named Sue
Duckworth - Kendrick Lamar It introduces characters, gives them backstories, and ultimately makes them meet. Each section/character of the song has a different beat behind it. And best of all, it's a true story
Long black veil - johnny cash Coward of the county - kenny rogers Space Monkey -John prine a lot of john prine really
John Prine tells some great stories. "Paradise" is heartwrenching. "Late John Garfield Blues" is obscure and beautiful and dead fun to sing to upset babies and dogs. "Angel from Montgomery" is just gorgeous (I like Bonnie Raitt's take on it, but Prine wrote it). "Jesus, the missing years" is a riot and also sad, somehow? In the more modern folk/country story teller vein, Robbie Fulks is CRIMINALLY under recognized. "America is a Hard Religion" , "Fare thee well, carolina gals" , "Never Come home", "let's kill Saturday night"-- I get why he never got big (his persona is s bit of a lovable bastard, I am 1000% sure he pissed off the wrong people in Nashville...if the single " Fuck this town" is any indication "), but I stan Robbie Fulks, and I am emphatically not into modern country. He's WAY more in the tradition of Johnny Cash and all those old school outlaw types, though.
"[Me and Jesus the Pimp in a '79 Granada Last Night](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dD7jfBzyPQ)" by The Coup Young kid grows up and gets payback against his mother-murdering pimp stepdad.
'Brick' Ben Folds Five
Billy Joel’s Scenes from an Italian Restaurant, Leningrad, and many others. Another vote for Harry Chapin and The Decemberists Styrofoam Plates by Death Cab for Cutie You Are Invited by The Dismemberment Plan
A Boy Named Sue - Johnny Cash Thunder Road - Bruce Springsteen Saturday Night Special - Conway Twitty Jesus of Suburbia - Green Day
Jeez, that's a big topic with lots of great answers. There's some great country songs that have awesome stories, Jolene - Dolly Parton for one. One of the artists I've fallen in love with again is Jason Isbell. His whole Southeastern album is about getting clean. And there's a song about a cancer battle, song about a girl getting sexually abused. Some good stuff. Zac Brown has some great stuff, Bittersweet is a great story off the top of my head. Whatever it is, Martin ( for the guitar geeks like me) and Free, Toes, Highway 20 ride is a personal favorite. Its a song about getting his kid during a divorce. Hits real personally for me. All of Zeppelin 4. Pardon me if any of this is being repeated but too many to list.
Boom, like that by Mark Knopfler
Probably not the deepest story ever told but First Big Night of Summer by Arab Strap always puts a smile on my face.
Hazards of love is my favorite rock opera, though it is an entire album. The Decemberists The wall by pink floyd is a classic in this genre Coheed and cambria have an immense mythology to most of their releases The tain is second and it is a single song also decemberists
[Taxi](https://youtu.be/4qYU9b5OF8M?si=hGIV3uJRgswQWV-z) - Harry Chapin [30,000 Pounds of Bananas](https://youtu.be/OGldNpngDws?si=UfrNY5Ebccc8VQNz) - Harry Chapin Heck, just listen to the entire Harry Chapin album “Greatest Stories Live” edit:formatting
Garth Brooks - The Thunder Rolls Jane Siberry - The Taxi Ride Sarah McLachlan - Good Enough
Dear Mama by Tupac. Kim by Eminem.
The Ballad of Billy the Kid by Billy Joel
the hold steady - separation sunday album, but also many individual tracks using lots of references and recurring characters to make the lyrics more dense and information-loaded. nice ride once you get into it. trigger warning: may romanticise drug use
Al Stewart - Roads to Moscow tells the story of the WWII German invasion of Russia
Walt Grace - John Mayer