Story Songs, Example Songs, and Hybrid Songs
Background: In previous blogs, I have alluded to “Story Songs” and “Example Songs”, and every time I tell someone about this concept, they always bring up a third type of song, which is a little bit of both. To me, story songs tell a somewhat linear story: “Tangled Up in Blue” begins with someone wondering what ever happened to his ex, and then recounts their rise and fall, as well as times after the fall when they ran into each other. It skips time frames, but concludes with him moving on, so we still get some closure, like a good story usually provides us with. But we also have example songs, which don’t necessarily tell a story, but instead give an example of a concept, usually detailed in the chorus. Finally, you have what I call “Hybrid Songs,” which tell a story while using examples of a concept. We will look at all three in this blog, which means you’ll get six songs analyzed instead of the normal four.
Story Song 1: “Lily, Rosemary, and the Jack of Hearts” by Bob Dylan
Lyrically: This song tells the tale of the titular Lily, Rosemary, and the Jack of Hearts, taking place at a cabaret. A festival had just taken place at the cabaret and there were people “drilling in the wall” trying to rob the place. Big Jim, one of the patrons at the cabaret, is romantically involved with Lily, though he is married to Rosemary. Despite Big Jim’s strength and pull in town, “Owning the town’s only diamond mine,” both Lily and Rosemary could not resist the temptation of the Jack of Hearts, despite his criminal ways. Big Jim, on the other hand, was hell-bent on eliminating the Jack of Hearts, and Rosemary, though “Sick of playing the role of Big Jim’s wife” thought she could win his favor by helping him out in that regard and doing “One good deed before she died.” Despite this, she still had feelings for the Jack of Hearts, and ended up killing Big Jim instead. “The Backstage Manager” in the song continued trying to bring Jack and his fellow thieves, as well as Rosemary to justice by finding the hanging judge, “But the hanging judge was drunk,” so he would rule in favor of Jack, Rosemary, and the thieves. In the end, all of them got away and were able to thwart justice. The entire song serves as an allegory for what Dylan (The Jack of Hearts) was able to get away with while he was married, because of his irresistible charm. Sure, others may have seen through it, but the good guy always wins, and the robbers and killers in this case are seen as doing so justifiably–being the hero of his own story.
Melodically: This song uses an acoustic guitar and an upright bass that are present throughout the entire song. Like many Dylan songs, there are multiple versions of it from live performances. However, since this came from Blood on the Tracks, there are two versions that were originally recorded for the album. The chords I’m going to talk about are based on the version he re-recorded in Minneapolis that wound up on the album, but I will embed both that and the original New York version, so you can listen for any differences. On the album version, he uses D, G, and A (a I, IV, V pattern) throughout the song, which is played using standard tuning, though it is tuned a half step down. The song as a whole is written in D.
Structurally: The song uses all verses, of which there are fifteen. Similar to “Tangled Up in Blue,” the second part to each verse changes chord patterns, and his vocals go higher, before singing the refrain about the Jack of Hearts. There is so much going on in this story that a chorus simply would not make sense. Getting out all the information in the verses is the way to go.
“Lily, Rosemary, and the Jack of Hearts” is embedded below.
2. Story Song 2: “Chemistry” by Semisonic
Lyrically: This song is a first person narrative, told from the perspective of someone looking for love. He starts off by recounting when he “first found out about chemistry,” at a young age, but old enough so he knew it was something he wanted. As the song progresses, we realize that chemistry is actually a metaphor for love, and him “conducting experiments” led to a bunch of trial and error with a “fine fine girl with nothing but good intentions and a bad tendency to get burned.” In the second verse, we see that they lacked chemistry, because “The things (they) put together had a bad tendency to explode.” In the bridge, he reveals that he has been traveling around on his own, and this leads to the revelation in the third verse that although he and the girl from verse two are no longer together, he still learned a lot from her, and one day will find that chemistry with another, thanks to the things he learned from her.
Semisonic’s drummer, Jake Slichter wrote in his book, So You Wanna Be a Rock n Roll Star, that writing for what would become the band’s third album, All About Chemistry, ironically began with all the members writing songs on their own. The title track, simply called “Chemistry” progresses the same way. It begins with the narrator discussing when he first learned about chemistry and the “experiments” he conducted were largely of his own initiation (even if it was with other people), until he found someone in the second verse who had been through similar bad luck with their experiments. Though I still consider this to be a story song, it’s worth noting that we’re not really sure what happened to the girl from the second verse. Instead, we find out that he’s moved onto other places (from Minneapolis’ River Road in verse 2 to the California Waves mentioned in the bridge), and in the last verse, he reflects on what he learned from that love interest, “When (he’s) feeling alone and unworthy.” The big reveal at the end of the third verse is that it was never about finding love (what we think “chemistry” is all about), but instead about the importance of trial and error within the scientific method.
Melodically: The song is driven by a piano part, which is played throughout, along with electric guitar (mostly lead, but rhythm starting in the second verse), bass, and drums. In the bridge, there are mostly just drums, but piano and a stringed instrument of some sort can be heard as well. Toward the end of the song, an organ sound can be heard, which was played on keyboard. The chords switch between E, D, and A throughout the intro, verses and choruses (a V, IV, I pattern) but the bridge uses E, D, E, Bm, E, C, G, and D (a V, IV, V, ii, V, III, VII, IV pattern). The solo and intro are the same. As a whole, the song is written in A major.
Structurally: This song uses a verse, chorus, verse, chorus, bridge, solo, verse, chorus format. Though this is a story song, it doesn’t end up happily ever after with the narrator and “the fine fine girl with nothing but good intentions.” However, the use of a chorus is crucial, because it serves as an inner monologue for the narrator as he’s navigating the ups and downs of life with his own “bad tendency to get burned.”
“Chemistry” is linked below. I’m all about it and I hope you are too.
3. Example Song 1: “Welcome to the Future” by Brad Paisley
Lyrically: This song looks at future advancements in three different ways. In verse one, Brad flashes back to his childhood, when he wished he could watch TV during a long drive with his family. He also wished he could have a Pac Man game at home, saying, “I used to have to get a ride down to the arcade. Now I’ve got it on my phone.” The second verse talks about how his grandpa fought in World War II against the Japanese, and how his grandpa used to mail letters to his grandma while he was stationed overseas. The end of the second verse shows two advancements: advancement one, similar to the first verse, is going from letter writing to video chatting with people as a form of communication. Number two, and the most important, is how the U.S. has repaired its relationship with Japan since WWII, since his video chat was “with a company in Tokyo.” The third verse gets more serious and talks about how people at his high school burned a cross in the front yard of the running back (who was Black) “For asking out the homecoming queen.” He then pivots by saying,”I thought about him today, and everybody who’s seen what he’s seen. From a woman on a bus to a man with a dream.” This song was written on election night of 2008 after Barack Obama got elected. Paisley was in New York, promoting his new album, Play, and was so touched by the amount of hope in the people around him, that he wrote this song, celebrating how far we’d come. Each verse gives an example of how we’ve been ushered into the future in positive ways, and although it’s a little bit of a story (touching on historical events), it’s a great example of an example song, because it does not really conclude.
Melodically: The intro to the song uses G, D, G, D, while the verses use G, C, G, D, D, C, C, G, G, G, C, G, D, D, C, and C, while the chorus uses Em, C, G, G, D, Em, D, G, and an interlude of G and D in between the first and second verse. The bridge uses Em, C, and G, G, D, and Em, which repeats once, before ending on G, D, C, D, C, C, D, and C, D, C. The first and last verses are played on acoustic guitar with a slide guitar thrown in, before a more electric sound comes in in the second half. The second verse is dominated by electric guitar.
Structurally: The song uses a verse, chorus, verse, chorus, bridge, solo, verse, chorus format. The best story songs begin and end with the most powerful verse. Though this song is an example song, Brad still follows the same rule of thumb. The most powerful example (the verse about the running back on his high school football team), comes last. It’s a beautifully constructed song.
“Welcome to the Future” is embedded below.
4. Example Song 2: “Movin’ Out (Anthony’s Song)” by Billy Joel
Lyrically: This song talks about a young man named Anthony, who works at the grocery store to save up for a place of his own. His mom encourages him to live in the suburbs, where it might be more expensive, but he’d be happier away from it all. Yet Anthony refuses to be a pawn for The Man, realizing that hard work does not always pay off and get you where you want, but instead traps you in a capitalistic machine. He expresses this with the line, “Who needs a house out in Hackensack? Is that all you get for your money?” Of course most of the people around him think he’s lazy for not wanting to work that hard. However, in the second verse, the example of Sergeant O’Leary comes in as to why Anthony never wants to work himself to death. Sergeant O’Leary works as a mechanic. It is revealed that he has a broken back, but he and his boss both agree that “If he can’t drive with a broken back, at least he can polish the fenders.” What’s more, his job as a mechanic can’t pay the bills, so he needs to moonlight as a bartender to make ends meet. In this verse, he concludes, “You can pay Uncle Sam for your overtime, is that all you get for your money?” In other words, the money he makes at his second job is still taxed, so he’s not really coming out ahead. This song is not fully a story, but more of a snippet into Anthony’s life, paired with examples as to why he will not work himself to death.
Melodically: The song is written in the key of F major. The intro uses Dm, Gm7, C, and F (a vii, ii, V, I pattern), which gets played twice. This is followed by Dm, Gm, and C7, F (a vi, ii, V, I pattern) in the verses. The pre-chorus, which you oughta know by now can give you a heart attack-ack-ack-ack ack-ack, uses the chords, D, Gm, Bb, and C (a VII, ii, IV, V pattern), followed by the Dm, Gm, C7, F pattern from earlier in the verses, while the chorus uses Bb, C, A7, Dm, Bb, Em, and A7 pattern (III, IV, v, III, vi, III) . The interlude is the same as the intro, and gets played after each chorus. The outro uses D, G, A, G, and D (VII, II III, II, VII).
Structurally: The song uses all verses, with the refrain repeated at the end, “If that’s movin’ on then I’m movin’ out.” When I talked about “Road Song” by Fountains of Wayne, I mentioned how the narrator’s breaking of the 4th wall was appropriate because his exhaustion level wouldn’t allow his mind to come up with anything more creative. And the structure of this song applies to Anthony. He’s so fed up with his life making minimum wage as a grocery clerk and seeing people slave away for nothing but health problems and near financial ruin, there’s no way he could come to a long, booming conclusion, instead simply reiterating the hook every time.
Mama Leone left a note on the door that said, “Movin’ Out (Anthony’s Song)” is embedded below.”
5. Hybrid Song 1: “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” by The Rolling Stones
Lyrically: This song talks about many common occurrences, such as running into your ex who’s with another person and making conversation with another person while standing in line somewhere, while also capturing the zeitgeist of the 1960s protests (“I went down to the demonstration to get my fair share of abuse”) that was prevalent throughout Let it Bleed, the song’s parent album. Each verse gives examples of the thesis in the chorus: “You can’t always get what you want, but if you try sometimes, you might find you get what you need.” To me, this is not a story song, because all it does is give examples without a significant conclusion.
Melodically: The song is written in the key of C, and uses C and F (the I and the IV) throughout both the verses and the chorus. The solo before the last verse uses a pattern of Dm, Am7, F, Dm, and G (a ii, vi, III, ii, V), before going to a C, F pattern (the I and IV, which gets played 3 times), followed by D and F (the II and IV). When the vocals come back in, singing, “you get what you need!” C and F (the I and IV) get played again, and that pattern gets repeated as the song fades.
Before any instruments come in, the London Bach Choir sings the first verse and the chorus. Then, the acoustic guitar comes in, along with the bass (the acoustic being played by Keith Richards, and bass being played by Bill Wyman.) Along with this, you hear a French Horn, which was played by Al Kooper (the guy who snuck in to play organ on “Like a Rolling Stone”). Kooper also plays piano and organ on the song, which can be heard most prominently during the solo and outro of the song. The percussion was handled by Jimmy Miller (who is the “Mr. Jimmy” that gets referred to in the third verse) and Ricky Dijon, who played the congas, maracas, and tambourine. It should be noted that this song is absent from the normal bluesy sound The Rolling Stones had become known for. This is one of about four songs (the others being “Wild Horses,” “Dead Flowers,” and “Country Honk”) that were inspired by Graham Parsons’ California Sound, which was much more acoustically driven.
Structurally: This song uses a verse, chorus, verse, chorus, verse, chorus, verse, chorus structure, not counting the first verse being sung the first time by the choir. The last verse is a variation on the first. The second time around, there is a bleeding man in her glass, instead of wine and a footloose man at her feet. It was also revealed in the last verse that she was “practiced at the art of deception” instead of the first line, which was, “I knew she was gonna meet her connection.” Through the vignettes of the verses (not necessarily a sequential story), the anthemic realization that you can’t always get what you want is appropriate, and lets us hear more examples, rather than getting bogged down with a long chorus. Because as it is, the song is already over 7 minutes long!
“You Can’t Always Get What You Want” is embedded below. I think it’s just what you need.
6. Hybrid Song 2: “Ain’t No Rest for the Wicked” by Cage the Elephant
Lyrically: This song’s story structure comes in the form of a third-person observer, who keeps observing people trying to get by in various different ways: You have a prostitute in the first verse who tells the narrator that for the right price he could have a good night, the second verse sees him getting robbed at gunpoint, and the third verse sees him sitting at home, watching a preacher on TV getting arrested for taking money from the church. Each chorus sees the perpetrators in these crimes telling the narrator they do such things, due to their financial situations, because “There ain’t no rest for the wicked, money don’t grow on trees.” The last chorus is sung from the perspective of the narrator, rather than the perpetrator, implying that he finally understands why people do things like this.
Pro tip: The title to this song was inspired by something a co-worker said to the lead singer, while he was working as a plumber. He wrote the lyrics to the song on a piece of drywall when he had some free time. Being on the listen for good lines like this is crucial to being a prolific songwriter. Making sure you write them down as soon as possible and wherever possible will help you remember to write those great songs, based on those great lines!
Melodically: The song is written in the key of F major. The intro uses G, Bb, and C (II, IV, V), while the verses use G, Bb, C, F, G, Bb, C, F (II, IV, V, I, II, IV, V, I), and the choruses use G, Bb, C, F (The II, IV, V and I). The song is dominated by acoustic guitar and steel guitar in the intro and verses. In the chorus, the aforementioned guitars continue, but percussion is added in. Electric guitar comes in during the solo between the second and third verse, and is prominent throughout the third verse as well.
Structurally: This song follows a verse, chorus, verse, solo, verse, chorus format. Due to the prominent use of examples throughout the song, rather than being bogged down by a storytelling format, it allows the main point of the chorus to stick out a lot more. And since all of these instances are either one off interactions or a realization by the narrator in the last chorus, the chorus only needs to be sung one time after each instance is discussed. I know I sometimes get bogged down in thinking I have to sing the chorus twice at the end, but do whatever is right for the song.
“Ain’t No Rest for the Wicked” is embedded below.
