Do you know a long song that doesn’t repeat itself and sort of tells a story through music (maybe without words)?
Dating myself a bit here, but Meatloaf’s Paradise By The Dashboard Light, and Billy Joel’s Scenes from an Italian Restaurant are 2 that need to be on this list.
Alice’s Restaurant by Arlo Gurhtie. Actually, just about anything by Arlo Guthrie and his dad, Woody.
Indian Ira Hayes by Johnny Cash. It’s not very long, but a poignant story that shouldn’t be forgotten.https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL1CPB-gBhcNVqwY0-fWgIdjnkPeMcfFFE David Bowie narrates Sergei Prokofiev’s ‘Peter And The Wolf’. The narrator tells a story and the orchestra illustrates by using different instruments to play a “theme” that represents each character in the story.
For modern stories I like The Curse. It’s about an archeologist that falls in love with a mummy that comes to life.
A bunch of stuff in the classical realm fits that bill, holst’s the planets, a bunch of operas some with words some without many in other languages you wouldn’t understand. One modern song with words that I want to be in these comments is Albuquerque by weird Al. I’ll also mention Maggot brain by funkadelic
I had forgotten about maggot brain, such a great song! Thanks for reminding me.
Beethoven’s Symphonies come to mind. His 5th and 6th symphonies really do tell stories and are very engaging.
I actually had a music teacher that used the 5th as an example. It’s a story of dundundun duuuun
Variations on a theme of dundundun duuuun
Most of Coheed and Cambria’s albums follow along with a graphic novel written by Claudio, the lead singer. I’ve never read them and don’t know the story, but if you listen to an album start to finish, you can tell that it’s more than just lyrics.
Ten Speed of God’s Blood and Burial. Perfectly clear.
The Coheed and Cambria comics are awesome. They’re hard to get your hands on, after Umbrella Academy got popular, but worth it.
Arlo Guthree’s Alice’s Restaurant has you covered. I play it every Thanksgiving.
So does my family! I think it’s a New England thing.
Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald
The whole album Days of Future’s Past by the Moody Blues (with the London orchestra)
The Decline - NoFX
Here you are, was definitely the first thing to come to mind.
2112 by Rush
Jesus of Suburbia by Green Day
And almost anything by The Mars Volta
Green Day actually has quite a few, it would really be worth listening to their entire discography. They started out with a lot of teenage love songs (angst and longing) and over the years it faded but love is still a very common topic for Green Day!
Most recently, Father to a Son, from the album Saviors.
I’m not sure anything with Omar Rodriguez-Lopez can be said to have a narrative. You’ll go on quite a journey, but it’s not really a story.
I don’t know about without words (and only slight repetition for effect), but I really like The Mariner’s Revenge by The Decemberists.
If you want to get into older music, Der Erlkonig by Shubert is a good one.
Came here to say Mariners revenge. Love that song.
the repeat itself part is a bit tough with music. music is sorta a repeating sequence of notes and usually even the most complex will have some sorta of repeating element. That being said the band jethro tull has many songs that are story and two are album length. Pretty much all of them have at least a significant meaning but most are basically stories. The one that I think would most meet your criteria is passion play https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0XrlWumWbUU&t=241s&pp=ygUMcGFzc2lvbiBwbGF5 side one and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FUyIhIhf3A4&pp=ygUMcGFzc2lvbiBwbGF5 being its from the days of records they needed a way of linking the two sides. Curiously in this one did it with a unrealted story that just sorta starts getting told in the middle of the song. You may not like that. Its other album length song, thick as a brick https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ldXdnZtTWp8&pp=ygUQdGhpY2sgYXMgYSBicmljaw%3D%3D https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GTWQv8RsI6s&pp=ygUQdGhpY2sgYXMgYSBicmljaw%3D%3D , is a story but its not as straight forward and more flowery being a bit more about life and society and the struggles of the individual. Its transition is really neat as the music blends with this wind sound which fades and then starts back up on side B. Its a great transition. If I get some time I will do a list of some other songs along with the idea of the story but they are not super long although most of their songs are not exactly short.
First I have to mention that there was an overlay of one of the shortened versions (20 or so minutes) of thick as a brick with a silent black and white short film called “an occurrence at owl creek bridge” but I can’t find it. Likely it was taken down. But it is one of the best overlay music to film type of things I ever experienced.
While goign through I realized how hard it is to say something has become a proper story and im not sure all of these are. There is a sort of tale around most all tull songs but many sorta walk the line between story and just sort of meaning. Also I likely lack some context to understand the story from some.
“For Michael Collins, Jeffrey and Me” - this is about the guy who stayed in the lunar module on the first moon landing - 4mins “Aqualung” - about a homeless man - over 6 mins “cross eyed mary” - about a teenage prostitute - 4mins “Locomotive Breath” - shorter song about the plight of life - 4minish “Wind-Up” - about why worship of a god is necessary - 6mins “sweet dream” - if the collection of music videos made in a dvd called slipstream is to be believed its about a vampire seducing a girl. - 4mins “The Witch’s Promise” - boy being seduced by witch - almost 4mins “Minstrel in the Gallery” - farciful story of a bard getting it over on the man - 8mins “Baker St. Muse” - adding this in because I feel its the songs the bard from minstrel in the gallery might of sung. Its one song that is sorta 4 songs and goes for 16mins “we used to know” - this song is sorta a meloncholy nostalgia for the band when it started and those not with it and sorta works as a brief story of being in a band before and after success “Quizz Kid” - about the game show cheating scandal from the 1950’s - 5mins “Crazed Institution” - about being famous - just under 5mins “From a Dead Beat to an Old Greaser” - exactly as it sounds about generational divide - 4mins “Too Old to Rock ‘n’ Roll: Too Young to Die” - about generations sorta selling out. could be silent generation but I think its about boomers especially given its late seventies and its about where is your rock and roll spirit that defined you - 5+mins “Hunting Girl” - high status girl gets rare opportunity alone with a young nobody from the perspective of the nobody - 5mins “Velvet green” - guy trying to convince girl to take a roll in the hay - 6mins “Pibroch (Cap in Hand)” - guy walks in on cheating wife - 8mins “fire at midnigh” - guy walks home to loving wife - 2+mins “…And the Mouse Police Never Sleeps” - about cats - 3mins “Moths” - about the allure of fire - 3+mins “journeyman” - commuting home on a train - 4ish
“Rover” - being a dog - 4+mins “One Brown Mouse” - mouse in a cage - 3+mins “Heavy horses” - about horses - almost 9 mins “weathercock” - man ponders the life of a weather vane - 4mins “Something’s on the Move” - icequeen tale - 4+mins
that last one is just one from the album which is sorta an enviromentalism type of album and the last form the 70’s. Im going to put a few more but getting weary of the task that was at first fine so it will just be a smattering. very often the albums have a theme and are constucted in a particular way. This is one thing I hate about remix albums as it loses the very intentional construction of the album and if I ask amazon to play an album it will always choose the latest remix one. sigh
“Working John, Working Joe” - like it sounds - 5mins “Black Sunday” - putting sunday as the worst day instead of monday. Its hard to relate now but before the 80’s in much of the western world practically nothing was open on sundays - 6+mins “and further on” - not a story but seems to be a reaction to someones death and just love the emotion it conveys. very complex to me and reminiscent of “we used to know” but totally different mix of complex emotions - 4+mins “Flying Colours” - dude describing what fighting with a loved one is like - 4+ “Steel Monkey” - either a high rise steel worker or a male prostitute - 3+mins “Farm on the Freeway” - losing the farm - 6+mins “I’m Your Gun” - about being a gun - 3+mins “Down at the End of Your Road” - making it big in real estate - 3+mins “17” - nostalgia about being young - 3+mins “Big Riff and Mando” - dude steals bands guitar - almost 6mins
ok lastly just putting a note that when the band reformed in recent times their first album “zealot gene” which was delayed by covid ended up being such a good summation of that first trump administration. The band has the strange distinction now of having musical commentary from nixon till present. One of the funny things is I associate it with the US but im sure plenty of it is more about the UK. Its amazing how close our political idiocy tends to be to each other.
Wow, thanks, that’s a lot of stuff, I will investigate!
City Hall by Tenacious D
This is a pretty epic story telling song by a dude called Ren.
Iron Maiden - Empire of the Clouds
Iron Maiden - Rime of the Ancient Mariner
Hell yeah
Iced Earth’s debut album was called Night of the Stormrider. It weaves a pretty dark tale of a mans betrayal by religion, subsequent turn to the dark side and final regrets over the course of nine tracks (46 minutes).
Queensryche’s (arguably) best album Operation: Mindcrime. It tells the tale of a young malcontent who becomes involved in an underground revolution as an assassin. This is another that is not just one song, but a story that spans fifteen tracks. One of the best rock operas that was ever pulled off in my opinion.
Manowar’s album The Triumph Of Steel has a first track called Achilles, Agony and Ecstasy in Eight Parts. It is essentially a telling of the tale of Hector and Achilles. It’s nearly 30 minutes over the eight unique sounding parts.
Ice Nine Kills has now (2) entire albums with tracks inspired by horror movies, but I wouldn’t call them long. Their song Meat & Greet would be a great example. It’s a retelling of “The Silence of the Lambs”.
Animals Without Leaders has a song called CAFO that I just adore. Its pretty long and although it speaks no tale, it’s so sonically unique that it feels like it does. Some of those ultra technical metal bands feel like that (to me at least).
