Story Songs On Music 101

“Harper Valley P.T.A” became a hit single for Jeannie C. Riley

Story Songs On Music 101

Think of some of your favorite songs. Chances are they are best read as poetry and are open for interpretation. Story songs, on the other hand, are more straightforward. They almost set a small novel to music, in which characters reach a resolution. Along the way, songs are packed with novel-like detail, like Johnny Cash famously busting a chair across his villain’s teeth, in a “Boy Called Sue”, which is featured below.

Rare as they may seem today, in the late 60s and 70s, story songs were all over the charts. And what makes a good story song? Many of the same things that make a good story in print – a theme, a plot, characters, setting; even style and tone have to come together cohesively to satisfy the story element that listener’s come to expect.

Story Songs As Hits

The first narrative up in this week’s Music 101 is about attending a P.T.A meeting, from Jeannie C. Riley. “Harper Valley P.T.A” became a hit single for Riley, showing how influential the Story Song movement was becoming in the late 60s.

On our playlist, this is followed by “Ode to Billie Joe”, a first person narrative about a character named Billie Joe and his girlfriend, in which Billie Joe jumps off the Tallahatchie Bridge. Even though this song has resolution, to this day, music historians are still unsure why Billie Joe made the plunge to his demise.

Which goes to show, like our favorite books, the unexpected and the unknown often keep us coming back for more meaning. Which is why story songs retained so much appeal to the singer songwriters of their eras.

Other story songs that might be of interest:

Story Songs

Story Songs On Music 101

Story Songs As Hits

Melanie in Highlands Ranch

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