Best Storytelling Songs

The Top Ten
1 Stan - Eminem

Does this story really need to be explained?

It is the tragic story about a delusional fan who idolizes Slim Shady and mistakes him to be the actual Marshall Mathers, and writes him letters. As Eminem does not reply, he gets more and more mad and insane about the only person he feels that understands him simply not caring about him, and does something very stupid and tragic.

This is probably the most psychologically complex song I have ever heard. You can learn so much about Stan's psyche only from these letters, it's amazing. The last verse, in which Eminem finally replies, always sends a shiver down my spine.

The lyrical flow of this song. Eminiem really outdid himself with this one

2 Where the Wild Roses Grow - Nick Cave

It tells the story of three romantic dates of a young woman with a man who would ultimately turn out to be a psychopathic murderer and kill her on the third date. This is one of the saddest songs I heard, it is told from alternating views (Nick Cave portrays the man, Kylie Minigue the woman) and never gets really violent, it feels more tragic and poetic, especially since it frequently interpolates the imagery of roses.

3 And Then There Was Silence - Blind Guardian

It tells the story of the final days of Troy as foreseen by Cassandra, daughter of the Troy king. The song is epic (about 14 min).

4 There Only Was One Choice - Harry Chapin
5 One - Metallica
6 Lily, Rosemary and the Jack of Hearts - Bob Dylan
7 Dark Lady - Cher

It tells the story of a woman who visits a fortune teller, the "Dark Lady", who tells her that her man cheats on her with a woman very close to her. In that night, she realizes that the fortune teller's perfume was in her own room. She went back to the Dark Lady only to find her with her husband, and kills both of them with a gun.

8 Tangled Up in Blue - Bob Dylan
9 Cambodia - Kim Wilde

It tells the story of an Airforce wife and her husband, who would change after flying to Cambodia. He never says a word about what has happened in that country or why he was there, but behaved heavily traumatized and strange. Then he has to go back there again and despite having said to his wife he will be back, she never saw hil again. The last lines by Kim Wilde are haunting: "There's only one thing left I know for sure: she won't see his face again".

10 The Boxer - Paul Simon
The Contenders
11 Fiddler on the Green - Demons & Wizards

This is one of the saddest yet beautiful metal ballads. It's about a girl who dies in a car accident. Her soulmate in this life, a boy, also died in a car accident a week earlier. It's a very dark love story. Hansi Kürsch is an incredible storyteller - his voice intonation tells the story as much as the lyrics and music.

12 Dance with the Devil - Immortal Technique
13 Story of the Blues - Gary Moore
14 Curse My Name - Blind Guardian

It's about the killing of a king who didn't carry out his duties. On youtube there's a nice fan-made video with well fitting scenes from the movie To Kill a King.

15 Don Quixote - Gordon Lightfoot
16 Taxi - Harry Chapin
17 Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald - Gordon Lightfoot
18 Homecoming - Kanye West
19 Alison Hell - Annihilator
20 Isis - Bob Dylan
21 Dreckstück - Bushido

In this song, Bushido and his friend Fler meet up after Bushido and his girlfriend had a fight the night before. Fler encourages him to talk this out and drives him to her apartment. But as soon as they arrive there, they catch her with another man, beat up both of them and presumingly killing them.

This is a dark and dirty song that begins as a heartbreak song for the ladies but escalates really quickly and turns into a brutal, violent rampage. It was a controversial song, much like Eminem's "Kim", and was the main reason Bushido's classic album "Vom Bordstein bis zur Skyline" was pulled from the stores. It is a very emotional and unpleasant experience, but that's why it succeeds.

22 The Thunder Rolls - Garth Brooks
23 The Boy with a Moon and Star on His Head - Cat Stevens
24 Bohemian Rhapsody - Queen

One of the greatest songs of all time

25 The Trial - Pink Floyd
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