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Better story teller than Edmund Fitzgerald?

There was a thread on A'gon about the most perfect song.  We had reasons for picking various, but for me it was Gordong Lightfoot's Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.

Perhaps it featured an aspect of song writing that no one else much cared for:  A deep and detailed story in the song.

So I ask you, A'goners, what songs are as good or better at telling a story of a historical event? 

erik_squires
jonwatches1
125 posts
 

“Get Down” by Nas

ezwind's avatar
ezwind
58 posts
 

Grateful Dead- Casey Jones

Warren Zevon - Boom Boom Mancini

Neil Young - Cortez the Killer

viperrgd
4 posts
 

“Paradise by the Dashboard Lights” by the late Mr. M. Loaf.  Very clever lyrics many of us can relate to 😁

blackbag20
418 posts
 

I would include Rush' Camera Eye.

(Was Neil's writing better that arranging or performing ... I vacillate.  I miss him. That's fo sho ...)

larryi
3,798 posts
 

While the thread is supposedly about retelling of actual historical events, a lot of the fictional storytellers mentioned above, such as James McMurtry (son of novelist Larry McMurtry) are fantastic.  His stories are funny and touching.  I would add to this list of fictional storytellers Greg Brown.  His "Poet Games" album has some terrific lyrics, particularly the title track and a track called "Brand New '64 Dodge" (a story about childhood innocence just before the assassination of President Kennedy).   

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