As I usually am when I make discussion posts, right now I’m bored, so here I am!
First of all, Merry Christmas to everyone! (Or Happy Holidays, whatever, you know what I mean.) For Christmas, I got 50 Greatest Hits, the 3 disc box set from Reba McEntire, so needless to say, I’ve been listening to a lot of Reba, and I mean a lot! (According to my lastfm page, I’ve listened to around 70 Reba songs since yesterday) Listening to most of her singles in a row, I’ve heard a lot of good music recently, What stuck out to me was the number of story songs, from “Fancy” to “Somebody”, there are so many!
So for tonight, here’s the topic:
What is your favorite story song? Why?
Now, it can be as recent as “Already Gone” by Sugarland, or something like “The Night The Lights Went Out In Georgia” by Reba, it doesn’t matter. Just include why you love the story so much.
So to start, I have so many, but I’ll try to dig out something interesting from my iTunes library…

Nickel Creek
Here we go! “The Lighthouse’s Tale” by Nickel Creek. If you don’t know them, they were a New-grass trio who are on an indefinite hiatus after making 3 albums, winning one Grammy, and being nominated for a few more. They are all acoustic, except for the material from their last studio album, Why Should The Fire Die? The band consists of Chris Thile, the amazing mandolin player, Sara Watkins, the fiddle player, and her brother Sean Watkins, the guitar player. Chris and Sara are almost always the lead vocalists, but the trio also harmonizes frequently. (They also trade instruments sometimes, but anyways…)
This song is from their first major album, Nickel Creek, released in 2000.
The song is a traditional 3 act story song, but it’s from the point of view of a lighthouse! Yes a lighthouse, I know, sounds crazy, right? Well it works, and comes off as a haunting and tragic love song. (Yes I said love song, just keep reading.) The song starts with the lighthouse introducing himself:
“I’ll tell a story, paint you a picture from my past
I was so happy but joy in this life seldom lasts.”
The narrator describes his keeper,and his fiancé. Needless to say, I don’t want to spoil the story, but it doesn’t end happily.
This story song is clever, while recounting a classic story, but it sounds fresh, and is entertaining. Maybe it’s Chris Thile’s normally amazing violin? His expressive lead vocals? The lyrics? Who knows, but it’s great.
Here are my honorable mentions, I love all of these story songs:
“Where’ve You Been” by Kathy Mattea
“Devil On The Left” by Jamie O’Neal
“She Didn’t Have Time” by Terri Clark
Listen to “The Lighthouse’s Tale” on Last FM.
Watch the music video.