Story Songs
A long, long time ago
I can still remember how that music
Used to make me smile
And I knew if I had my chance
That I could make those people dance
“American Pie” – Don McLean
All my memories gather 'round her
Miner's lady, stranger to blue water
Dark and dusty, painted on the sky
Misty taste of moonshine, teardrop in my eye
“Take Me Home, Country Roads” – John Denver
Well, I got a hammer, and I got a bell
And I got a song to sing all over this land
It's the hammer of justice, it's the bell of freedom
It's the song about love between all of my brothers
All over this land
If I Had a Hammer
Sad Sack was sittin' on a block of stone
Way over in the corner weepin' all alone
The warden said, "Hey, buddy, don't you be no square
“Jailhouse Rock” – Elvis Presley (1957)
I roamed and rambled and I followed my footsteps
To the sparkling sands of her diamond deserts
All around me a voice was a-sounding
This Land Is Your Land” – Woody Guthrie
Mother, mother
There's too many of you crying
Brother, brother, brother
There's far too many of you dying
You know we've got to find a way
To bring some lovin' here today, yeah
"What’s Going On” – Marvin Gaye
Well, my daddy left home when I was three
And he didn't leave much to ma and me
Just this old guitar and a empty bottle of booze
Now, I don't blame him 'cause he run and hid
But the meanest thing that he ever did
Was before he left, he went and named me
“A Boy Named Sue” – Johnny Cash
Well it goes from St Louis, down to Missouri
Oklahoma city looks oh so pretty
You'll see Amarillo and Gallup, New Mexico
Flagstaff, Arizona don't forget Winona
Kingsman, Barstaw, San Bernadino
Would you get hip to this kindly trip
And take that California trip
Route 66” – Chuck Berry version
You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will live as one
“Imagine” – John Lennon
Nobody seemed to know where John called home
He just drifted into town and stayed all alone
He didn't say much, he kinda quiet and shy
And if you spoke at all, he just said
“Big Bad John” – Jimmy Dean (1961)
If you miss the train I'm on
You will know that I am gone
You can hear the whistle blow a hundred miles
500 Miles” – Peter, Paul and Mary
People get ready, there's a train a-coming
You don't need no baggage, you just get on board
All you need is faith to hear the diesels humming
People Get Ready
Some folks are born made to wave the flag
Hoo, they're red, white and blue
“Fortunate Son” – Creedence Clearwater Revival (1969)
Woah, woman, oh woman, don't treat me so mean
You're the meanest old woman that I've ever seen
I guess if you say so
I'll have to pack my things and go (that's right)
What'd you say?
"Hit the Road Jack” – Ray Charles
a kingdom on a mountain
And the valley folk below
On the mountain was a treasure
Buried deep beneath a stone
And the valley people swore
They'd have it for their very own
One Tin Soldier
I am just a poor boy, though my story's seldom told
I have squandered my resistance for a pocketful of mumbles
Such are promises
All lies and jest
“The Boxer” – Simon & Garfunkel
Two drifters, off to see the world
There's such a lot of world to see
We're after the same rainbow's end
Waitin' 'round the bend
My huckleberry friend
I dreamed the world had all agreed
To put an end to war
I dreamed I saw a mighty room
The room was filled with men
And the paper they were signing said
They'd never fight again
Last Night I Had the Strangest Dream
My mother was a tailor
She sewed my new blue jeans
And my father was a gamblin' man
Way down in New Orleans
“The House of the Rising Sun” – The Animals (1964)
I got me ten forward gears and a Georgia overdrive
I'm takin' little white pills, and my eyes are open wide
I just passed a Jimmy and a White
I been a-passin' everything in sight
“Six Days on the Road” – Dave Dudley
Give me my freedom for as long as I be
All I ask of the living is to have no chains on me
All I ask of living is to have no chains on me
And all I ask of dying is to go naturally
And When I Die – Blood, Sweat & Tears