"Greatest Songs Based On Historical Events" Topic

"Songwriting and storytelling are two very distinct skills, and it is the rare artist who is capable of writing a song that also functions as a narrative. Sure, there are some folks who have pretty much made this their bread and butter; everybody knows, for instance, that the likes of Jim Croce and Bob Dylan could spin some pretty good musical yarns, and a handful of rap artists such as Ice-T and Slick Rick have also hung their Kangols on their storytelling skills. The best of these tunes can paint us a picture as vivid as any conjured up by a prose writer — and they can also bring just as much tension and drama, as evidenced by the tons of story songs where someone dies at the end.

If weaving a fanciful tale with musical accompaniment takes a lot of creative juice, though, then consider how much of that stuff it must take to entertainingly and at least somewhat accurately teach a history lesson. There are some great tunes that don't just tell a story — they are, as they say in Hollywood, based on true stories, many of which are among the most significant events of our time…"

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Armand

"Hey, Johnny Cope"
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There's a lot of Jacobite songs & most are real 'toe tappers'.

"Virgil Cane is my name . . .

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The greatest song of America.

Johnny Horton had a number of war ballads – Battle of New Orleans, Sink the Bismarck and Comanche.

The Battle of New Orleans hit the top of the charts and a Grammy
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1959
Song of the Year (awarded to composer Jimmy Driftwood)
Best Country & Western Performance (awarded to singer Johnny Horton)

2002
Inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame

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Tying east to west with a ribbon of steel

Ballad of the Alamo by Marty Robins
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The Hunters of Kentucky

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Sweet Betsy from Pike

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Buddy can you spare a dime?

The Sinking of the Ruben James by Woody Guthrie
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The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald by Gordon Lightfoot.
Candle in the Wind by Elton John
Sunday Bloody Sunday by U2
Ohio by CSN&Y

Remember the Alamo by Donovan
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Horton' album was my first record in the 1960s. I thought songs about historical events was common. Battle of New Orleans, Comanche and Sink the Bismarck were on it as well as others.

And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda by The Pouges
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The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald by Gordon Lightfoot.

Sorry about The Band Played Waltzing Matilda. That's definitly not it

This is it: YouTube link

by Eric Bogle

The Rising of the Moon by the Dubliners
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Springhill Mine Disaster by Peter, Paul & Mary
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Canadian Railroad Trilogy by Gordon Lightfoot
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Sorry for so many submissions, but I'm just an old folky from the '60s and the music is still with me.

Snoopy and the Red Baron!

Molasses to Rum to Slaves

Songs have always been great vehicles for protest.

Three on Vietnam:
"Born in the U.S.A." – often misunderstood as patriotic; it's largely about the treatment of Vietnam veterans after the Vietnam War.
"Fortunate Son" – a classic protest against class privilege and conscription during the Vietnam era.
"Rooster" (Alice in Chains)- a personal account of the Vietnam War that is hardly flattering to the war itself.

Let's not forget a favourite of mine:

"Masters of War" by Dylan It is not tied to a single event, but an attack on the military-industrial establishment during the Cold War.

"Roads to Moscow" by Al Stewart. Or, in fact, a lot of Al Stewart's catalogue.

Good choice, Mserafin. I forgot all about Al Stewart. That type of song was his specialty!

The Green Fields of France

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And, while much less well known, Horse Soldier by Corb Lund – after all, when did a singer mentions uhlans, cossacks and dragoons and actually use the terms correctly?

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And for the Celts – Bonnie Dundee!

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Opps didn't fully read the title, lets try again. Julia Eclar has done a rewrite of Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald to tell the story of Apollo 13
youtu.be/U54S4JM7OP0
Robert

"The Night Chicago Died" was a catchy tune.

Also "Sky Pilot"

Kim

Thanks!

Armand

How can we go past this from Charlie Drake
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Nic

Please, Mister Custer
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Is this thread meant to discuss "folk" or "traditional" songs or modern songs in that vein, but definitely modern, with known composers and pop arrangements?

The comments run the gamut.

The Corries (Scottish folk duo, 1960s-1980s) recorded and performed a lot of both, for example. They sang "Otterburn" (in part) and "Hughie Graeme" which are genuinely old and traditional Border ballads; and also modern songs written in the old style like "The Massacre of Glencoe" or "The Bloody Sarks"; and some in-between ("Kishmul's Galley"); and some wholly new but obviously influenced by the older idioms -- e.g., "Flower of Scotland," which has become a de facto national anthem of sorts.

"Ohio" by Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young would be a good example of a purely modern song.

Cam ye o'er frae France
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As long as we're doing Jacobite ditties.

On the list that Tango linked to, I never heard of 7 of them. Then, it kept crashing on Florence and the Machine, so I didn't continue. 🤷

Thanks also…

Armand