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Songs that Tell a Story

They used to be called "ballads," but now any old name will do. These are songs that use music as a narrative device. This practice actually has a long history, going back through operas, epics, poetry, and even to ancient Greece.

The stories these songs tell might be happy or sad, truth or fiction, frivolous or serious. But they'll all have one thing in common: Having a little more depth to them and a lot more thought put into them than your average teenage love ditty. Follow the story and identify with the characters; the journey you find mat parallel your own life, for good or bad.

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  (Old Dogs, Children And) Watermelon Wine
  Tom T. Hall
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  A Boy Named Sue
  Johnny Cash
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  A Horse With No Name
  America
• 
  A Little Piece of Heaven
  Avenged Sevenfold
• 
  Alice's Restaurant
  Arlo Guthrie
• 
  All I Wanna Do Is Make Love to You
  Heart
• 
  All Too Well
  Taylor Swift
• 
  All-American Girl
  Carrie Underwood
• 
  America
  Simon & Garfunkel
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  Amnesia
  5 Seconds of Summer
• 
  And So it Goes
  Billy Joel
• 
  Ariel
  Dean Friedman
• 
  At Seventeen
  Janis Ian
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  Bad, Bad Leroy Brown
  Jim Croce
• 
  Ballad of Frankie Lee and Judas Priest
  Bob Dylan
• 
  Bat Out of Hell
  Meat Loaf
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  Best Friend
  Foster the People
• 
  Big Iron
  Marty Robbins
• 
  Billy and Bonnie
  Steve Earle
• 
  Billy Brown
  Mika
• 
  Billy Don't Be a Hero
  Bo Donaldson and The Heywoods
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  Blown Away
  Carrie Underwood
• 
  Bohemian Rhapsody
  Queen
• 
  Boulevard of Broken Dreams
  Green Day
• 
  Boxing
  Ben Folds Five
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  Brandy (You're a Fine Girl)
  Looking Glass
• 
  Brick
  Ben Folds Five
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  Brick by Boring Brick
  Paramore
• 
  Bulletproof Love
  Pierce the Veil
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  Burma Shave
  Tom Waits
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  Car Radio
  Twenty One Pilots
• 
  Carolina Drama
  Raconteurs, The
• 
  Casimir Pulaski Day
  Sufjan Stevens
• 
  Cat's in the Cradle
  Harry Chapin
• 
  Chesterfield King
  Jawbreaker
• 
  City of New Orleans
  Steve Goodman
• 
  Coat of Many Colors
  Dolly Parton
• 
  Come Dancing
  Kinks, The
• 
  Concrete Angel
  Martina McBride
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  Convoy
  Red Sovine
• 
  Copacabana (At the Copa)
  Barry Manilow
• 
  Country Death Song
  Violent Femmes
• 
  Coward of the County
  Kenny Rogers
• 
  Daughter
  Pearl Jam
• 
  David's Last Summer
  Pulp
• 
  Deathbed
  Relient K
• 
  Della and the Dealer
  Hoyt Axton
• 
  Do I Wanna Know?
  Arctic Monkeys
• 
  Don't
  Ed Sheeran
• 
  Drink A Beer
  Luke Bryan
• 
  El Paso
  Marty Robbins
• 
  Eleanor Rigby
  Beatles
• 
  End Up Here
  5 Seconds of Summer
• 
  Escape (The Pina Colada Song)
  Rupert Holmes
• 
  Every Rose Has Its Thorn
  Poison
• 
  Fancy
  Reba McEntire
• 
  Fast Car
  Tracy Chapman
• 
  Fireball
  Pitbull
• 
  Forever
  Papa Roach
• 
  Frankie and Johnny
  Lead Belly
• 
  Funhouse
  Pink
• 
  Glory Days
  Bruce Springsteen
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  Goodbye Again
  John Denver
• 
  Goodbye Earl
  Dixie Chicks
• 
  Green, Green Grass of Home
  Tom Jones
• 
  Hand of Sorrow
  Within Temptation
• 
  Harper Valley PTA
  Jeannie C. Riley
• 
  Headlights
  Eminem
• 
  Heart Made Up on You
  R5
• 
  Hero Of War
  Rise Against
• 
  Hey There Delilah
  Plain White T's
• 
  Highway Don't Care
  Tim McGraw & Taylor Swift
• 
  Hold On Till May
  Pierce the Veil
• 
  Honey
  Bobby Goldsboro
• 
  Honeymoon Suite
  Suzanne Vega
• 
  Hot Rod Lincoln
  Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen
• 
  How to Save a Life
  Fray, The
• 
  Hurricane
  Bob Dylan
• 
  Hurricane
  Bridgit Mendler
• 
  I Love Rock 'n' Roll
  Joan Jett
• 
  I See Fire
  Ed Sheeran
• 
  I'll Walk
  Bucky Covington
• 
  In the Ghetto
  Elvis Presley
• 
  Into the Great Wide Open
  Tom Petty
• 
  Jack and Diane
  John Mellencamp
• 
  Jeremy
  Pearl Jam
• 
  Jesus Of Suburbia
  Green Day
• 
  Kenji
  Fort Minor
• 
  Knife
  Rockwell
• 
  Light Pollution
  Bright Eyes
• 
  Lily, Rosemary, and the Jack of Hearts
  Bob Dylan
• 
  Little Lady
  Ed Sheeran
• 
  Living on a Prayer
  Bon Jovi
• 
  Love is Thicker Than Water
  Andy Gibb
• 
  Love Story
  Taylor Swift
• 
  Love Vigilantes
  New Order
• 
  Lyin' Eyes
  Eagles
• 
  Mack the Knife
  Bobby Darin
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  Matty Groves
  Joan Baez
• 
  Me and Bobby McGee
  Janis Joplin
• 
  Me and My Uncle
  Grateful Dead, The
• 
  Memories
  Panic! At The Disco
• 
  Mr Bojangles
  Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, The
• 
  Ob-la-di, Ob-la-da
  Beatles
• 
  Ode to Billie Joe
  Bobbie Gentry
• 
  Old Rivers
  Walter Brennan
• 
  One
  Metallica
• 
  One Thing
  Finger Eleven
• 
  Papa Was A Rollin' Stone
  Temptations, The
• 
  Paradise by the Dashboard Light
  Meat Loaf
• 
  Phantom 309
  Red Sovine
• 
  Polk Salad Annie
  Elvis Presley
• 
  Problem
  Ariana Grande
• 
  Red Ragtop
  Tim McGraw
• 
  Reminder
  Mumford & Sons
• 
  Ring of Fire
  Johnny Cash
• 
  Rocky Raccoon
  Beatles
• 
  Roller Coaster
  Luke Bryan
• 
  Run Joey Run
  David Guetta
• 
  Saginaw, Michigan
  Lefty Frizzell
• 
  Same Old Lang Syne
  Dan Fogelberg
• 
  Save the Life Of My Child
  Simon & Garfunkel
• 
  Scarlet Ribbons (For Her Hair)
  Browns, The
• 
  Shooting Star
  Bad Company
• 
  Sk8er Boi
  Avril Lavigne
• 
  Small Town Southern Man
  Alan Jackson
• 
  Smile
  Avril Lavigne
• 
  Sometime Around Midnight
  Airborne Toxic Event
• 
  Space Oddity
  David Bowie
• 
  Stan
  Eminem
• 
  Story of My Life
  One Direction
• 
  Take the Money and Run
  Steve Miller Band
• 
  Tangled Up In Blue
  Bob Dylan
• 
  Teddy Bear
  Red Sovine
• 
  Teenagers
  My Chemical Romance
• 
  Terrible Things
  Mayday Parade
• 
  The A Team
  Ed Sheeran
• 
  The Boxer
  Simon & Garfunkel
• 
  The Dance
  Garth Brooks
• 
  The Death of Sis Draper
  Guy Clark
• 
  The Deeper In
  Drive-By Truckers
• 
  The Devil Went Down to Georgia
  Charlie Daniels
• 
  The Dilemma
  You Me At Six
• 
  The Eighth of November
  Big & Rich
• 
  The End
  Macklemore
• 
  The Gambler
  Kenny Rogers
• 
  The Gift
  Velvet Underground, The
• 
  The Highwayman
  Loreena McKennitt
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  The Last Time I Saw Richard
  Joni Mitchell
• 
  The Letter
  Midnight Youth
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  The Lighthouse's Tale
  Nickel Creek
• 
  The Man Who Can't Be Moved
  Script, The
• 
  The Mariner's Revenge Song
  Decemberists, The
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  The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia
  Reba McEntire
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  The Queen and the Soldier
  Suzanne Vega
• 
  The Roadblock
  Stan Ridgeway
• 
  The Way
  Fastball
• 
  The Wreck of The Edmund Fitzgerald
  Gordon Lightfoot
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  Thinking 'Bout You
  Frank Ocean
• 
  Three Wooden Crosses
  Randy Travis
• 
  Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree
  Tony Orlando and Dawn
• 
  Tom's Diner
  Suzanne Vega
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  Travelin' Soldier
  Dixie Chicks
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  Turn the Page
  Bob Seger
• 
  View from Heaven
  Yellowcard
• 
  West Coast
  Lana Del Rey
• 
  What Makes You Beautiful
  One Direction
• 
  Where Have all the Cowboys Gone?
  Paula Cole
• 
  Where the Wild Roses Grow
  Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
• 
  Whispering Jesse
  John Denver
• 
  Who Knew
  Pink
• 
  Wild Wild Life
  Talking Heads
• 
  You are in Love
  Taylor Swift
• 
  You Belong With Me
  Taylor Swift
• 
  You Don't Mess Around with Jim
  Jim Croce
• 
  You Know What They Do to Guys Like Us in Prison
  My Chemical Romance
• 
  Young Turks
  Rod Stewart
• 
  Ziggy Stardust
  David Bowie

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