I was looking over a recent copy of The Believer (the annual music issue) and was much pleased to see there was an article on singer/poet/songwriter Gil Scott-Heron, once of the long-ago Last Poets, who were known for their anthemic “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised.”About this time I also came across a new recording by Randy Newman, (Harps and Angels). The film music writer/singer started as a singer-songwriter (“You Can Leave Your Hat On,” “Let’s Burn Down the Cornfield”) before he turned to the family business (he is the son of film-score producer Alfred Newman) with Toy Story and other Pixar movies.
As a devotee of good stories, I am also devoted to songs like Newman’s: those that deliver a compelling narrative in a small time frame—as also, despite their commercial intention, some TV commercials are able to nail a complete story in under a minute. That’s valuable stuff in the new short-attention-span economy. And that new economy is why I am going to give you a list instead of attempting to wax eloquent on my favorites. Here are a few “story” songs that stand out in my hazy recollection of the last 30 years or so of recording. In no particular order:
- “God’s Song (That’s Why I Love Mankind)” by Randy Newman (lyrics)
- “911 Is a Joke” by Public Enemy (lyrics)
- “That Don’t Make It Junk” by Leonard Cohen (lyrics)
- “The Last Time I Saw Richard” by Joni Mitchell (lyrics)
- “Meaning of Loneliness” by Van Morrison (lyrics)
- “But I Was Cool” by Oscar Brown, Jr. (lyrics)
- “Work for Peace (Military and the Monetary)” by Gil Scott-Heron (lyrics)
- “La Raza” by Kid Frost (lyrics)
- “Workingman’s Blues #2” by Bob Dylan (lyrics)
- “Lush Life” by Billy Strayhorn (lyrics)
- “Strange Boat” by the Waterboys (lyrics)
- “Midnight Sun” by Johnny Mercer (lyrics)