a story in a song!

I like songs that tell little cute stories.... what songs do you like that kinda tell a story, it can be silly or cute or just anything really :D Tell us some of the stories!

I love the story of Nickee Coco in a song by Of Montreal.

Nickee Coco and the Invisible Tree
Nickee finds an invisible tree so she climbs it and falls asleep in it. Everyone thinks she has gone missing and calls out a search but noone could find her, but she was okay eating mangos in her dream :D Well then an owl happened to fly by and found her and they got an owl translator and found out and then it was all ok :D

"After an owl translator was called in and the owl's wonderful message was understood the whole town joyously followed the owl back to the invisible tree where little Nickee was still fast asleep." I just love that bit, owl translator :3

I can't remember the others I was going to mention so thats it for now :D

leroy brown

Pretty much any Steely Dan song.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by The Decemberists - The Mariner's Revenge Song

We are two mariners
Our ships' sole survivors
In this belly of a whale

Its ribs our ceiling beams
Its guts our carpeting
I guess we have some time to kill

You may not remember me
I was a child of three
And you, a lad of eighteen

But I remember you
And I will relate to you
How our histories interweave

At the time you were
A rake and a roustabout
Spending all your money
On the whores and hounds
Oh Ohhhhh

You had a charming air
All cheap and debonair
My widowed mother found so sweet

And so she took you in
Her sheets still warm with him
Now filled with filth and foul disease

As time wore on you proved
A debt-ridden drunken mess
Leaving my mother
A poor consumptive wretch
Oh Ohhhhh

And then you disappeared
Your gambling arrears
The only thing you left behind

And then the magistrate
Reclaimed our small estate
And my poor mother lost her mind

Then one day in spring
My dear sweet mother died
But before she did
I took her hand as she, dying, cried:
Oh Ohhhhh

"Find him, bind him
Tie him to a pole and break
His fingers to splinters
Drag him to a hole until he
Wakes up naked
Clawing at the ceiling
Of his grave
*sigh*"

It took me fifteen years
To swallow all my tears
Among the urchins in the street

Until a priory
Took pity and hired me
To keep their vestry nice and neat

But never once in the employ
Of these holy men
Did I ever once turn my mind
From the thought of revenge
Oh Ohhhhh

One night I overheard
The Prior exchanging words
With a penitent whaler from the sea

The captain of his ship
Who matched you toe to tip
Was known for wanton cruelty

The following day
I shipped to sea
With a privateer

And in the whistle
Of the wind
I could almost hear...
Oh Ohhhhh

"Find him, bind him
Tie him to a pole and break
His fingers to splinters
Drag him to a hole until he
Wakes up naked
Clawing at the ceiling
Of his grave

"There is one thing I must say to you
As you sail across the sea
Always, your mother will watch over you
As you avenge this wicked deed"

[haunting, sailor-esque musical interlude lead by mandolin, accordion and tuba]

And then that fateful night
We had you in eye sight
After twenty months at sea

Your starboard flank abeam
I was getting my muskets clean
When came this rumbling from beneath

The ocean shook
The sky went black
And the captain quailed

And before us grew
The angry jaws
Of a giant whale

[instrumental noise]
Oh Ohhhhhhhhhh
[screaming]
Ohhhhh
[screaming]

Don't know how I survived
The crew all was chewed alive
I must have slipped between his teeth

But, O! What providence!
What divine intelligence!
That you should survive
As well as me

It gives my heart
Great joy
To see your eyes fill with fear

So lean in close
And I will whisper
The last words you'll hear
Ohh Ohhhhh

---

<3

The Devil Went Down to Georgia plz

Oh yes, Decemberists! I have not listened to my Picaresque CD nearly enough!

Pain of Salvation's Remedy Lane. Entirely.

But if you want to get more specific:

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by 'Rope Ends' by Pain of Salvation

She is still young...

Another day of emptiness
This life is wearing her down
The room around her is a mess
Her children safe with her mom

She is still young but feeling old
Two children with different fathers
She sits on the bathroom floor alone
The shower chain broke
Her neck hurts

Then another night of emptiness to wear her down
Naked to the world she wraps her sadness in a gown
Her children fast asleep she sears the dark with glassy eyes
Choosing carefully among her husband's business ties

"Over!" she cries through rope ends and silk ties
Beautiful life escaping her young blue eyes
But life holds her hand, refusing to let go
Leaving her breathing on the floor

They're still asleep don't hear her cry
And she's still obsessed with rope ends
This time she picks a stronger tie
With Winnie the Pooh and friends

She is still young but feeling old
A child dying to be a mother
Now she hangs from the ceiling all alone
All pressure is falling from her

Seeing guilt has taught her guilt she's raised on disbelief
Merely twenty beautiful but with a taste for grief
She has learnt all that there is to know about hopelessness
Seeing that no effort in this world can stand her test

"Over!" she cries through rope ends and silk ties
Beautiful life escaping her young blue eyes
And Winnie is strong, would never let her fall
Prevents her from breathing till she's not there at all
But life holds her hands, refusing to let go
Leaving her breathing on the floor

[Johan Hallgren]

[Daniel Gildenlow]

Seeing guilt has taught her guilt she's raised on disbelief
Merely twenty beautiful but with a taste for grief
She has learnt all that there is to know about helplessness
Seeing that no caring in this world can ease her stress

Helpless she lies in rope ends and undies
Unseeing eyes fixating Eeyore's smile
"Over!" she cries as she's going unblind
Still in this life
Still in this troubled mind
The ceiling let go, the old house let her fall
Dropping her breathing to the hard cold floor
Hitting her head - a broken china soul
Red stains on porcelain and she's not there at all

Breathing she cries for rope ends and silk ties
Beautiful eyes Piglet stands shy behind
Broken she lies undead and unblind
Beautiful life
Beautiful crying young eyes
Blackened and bruised, learning how to see
Staring at her tooth - crimsoned ivory
Hours they pass this broken china soul
Red stains on porcelain
And she's not there at all...

"...and years later I would find You hanging
alas the subte irony in shortering life with an extension lead
before I could get You down I died so many times...
thoughts about running to the kitchen for a knife to cut You down
but I learned that there is no way of leaving the room
when someone is hanging from the ceiling
Your body just won't allow You that rest
You stay
to watch her face slowly turn blue
finally to let You weight add to hers
doubling the burden
awaking her to the burden
that brough her there in the first place:
LIFE"

"The Sisters of Solitude...

They love and hurt, break and are broken, the sisters of solitude
They cannot shake the dust from the ground
Cannot rise from the ashes, the sisters of solitude
They reach out to embrace the world, good and evil, weak and strong
They will settle for nothing less, the sisters of solitude
They love that they be loved, give that they be given
Hurt that they get hurt, the sisters of solitude
Hence, one loses weight by the second
Throws up what she can instead of what she cannot
Hence, two have tried to hang themselves, too strong to shut life out
Yet too weak to live it
Hence, the little one dissapears, melts into the walls, stands back
Agrees, unsatisfied
They all carry the end of the world in their chests
Heirs of sadness and irony, of settling for less, of bitter consent
Of mothers and mothers of solitude
They all carry to break free, the sisters of solitude
I fear them all so...
I love them all so..."

---

hmm listen to the red hot chilli peppers song California it tells a story and i know how to play the beat on drums so thats a self improvement...!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Jeffrey Lewis - Back When I Was 4

Back when I was 4 and I knew the name of every dinosaur
I knew how to read ROM comic books
My babysitter said I was really smart
When the lights went out everything changed
The radio music made me feel strange
And I had a real bad dream about a gorilla in the bathroom

Back when I was 6 I took everything real serious
And I thought that every song that came on the radio
Was referring to strange sexual acts
Because they thought I wouldn't know the facts
And being small is hard and no one ever tells you how

And back when I was 8 I'd sit outside on an old milk crate
And look out at the world from the stoop across the street
The boomboxes and the hot concrete
And every Halloween they hung
A million rubber skeletons across ninth street.

Back when I was 12 or so I swear to god I never felt so low
Everyone but me was making out and eating cookies
I had more than my brain could stand
I threw my life in a garbage can
I felt so weird
I had to disappear
In crying suicide disease.

At 15 getting stoned felt good and it sent me back to childhood
And nothing ever mattered to me more than that.

But then 16 became eclipse
My brain became apocalypse
I was lost and found and I've never been the same.

Back when I was 22 I left the best thing that I knew
and I gave it up for fortune and for fame
I played like I didn't know how
I shocked the world
I wowed the crowd
But I deserved more than what they gave

Back when I was 27 still nothing had been forgiven
Clay turns into rock and rock just sits
So sitting on a crowded beach
I'd pretend I was a leach
And stick to things here and there for a little bit

Back when I was 31 I knew I'd become what I'd become
Nothing left to reveal
And nowhere else to turn
So shocked and withered dumb and bitter
And in need of a babysitter
I'd gladly let my hand fall off and burn burn burn

Back when I turned the big 4-0 I realized just how much there was to go
And I started to think that being alone forever
Wasn't where it was at
So I pulled my head out of the window
And I taught myself how to love real fast
I started talking about painting
With a woman in the laundromat

Back when I was 50 and my first wife had just left me
I felt okay and I sang my daughter
Funny little songs
And just when I thought the best was past
I fell in love for real at last
And it didn't even matter that it had taken me so long

Back when I was 63 the public rediscovered me
My comic books and records had all become rare cult-collector items
Both my parents were deceased
So they didn't see my records get re-released
And I got a dog for the first time in my life

Back when I was 74 my dog died and I got two more
I still felt really good about my daughter
And also about my girlfriend
And I'd sing and draw a little bit
But mostly I'd wake up early and sit
And hang out with the puppies and wish that I could live forever

Back when I was 87 my grandson had just turned eleven
My woman was dead
And my dogs were getting pretty old
My body didn't work quite like it should
But overall things were pretty good
I was getting decent royalties from the reissued comic books and records

Back when I was 106
My only friend
Was one goldfish
Everyone I ever knew was dead and gone
The goldfish never had a name
And the neighbors thought I was insane
And I flushed it down the toilet when I saw it floating upside down

Back when I was 128 I would sit outside on an old milk crate
And look out at the world from the stoop across the street
The boomboxes and the hot concrete
And every Halloween they hung
A million rubber skeletons across 9th street
Every Halloween they hung
A million rubber skeletons
Every Halloween they hung
A million rubber skeletons
Every Halloween they hung
A million rubber skeletons

---

And most other songs by Jeffrey Lewis, too. =D

Good choice, Jowy. That song is amazing.

Joanna Newsom - Monkey & Bear
A deceitful monkey and a dancing bear escape from captivity on a farm. In order to eat, the monkey convinces the bear to continue dancing in order to provide food, promising her that soon they will be in a land of plenty. So she dances for the children in a local village. One night the bear went away from the camp at night to bathe in the seaside caverns (maybe so she wouldn't be so scary to the children), and that scared the monkey, because he was afraid of spelunking down in those caves. The bear went far out, however, and didn't come back. Seemingly on purpose.

I would post the lyrics, but it's long, albeit comparatively short compared to some songs on the album.

Of Montreal - Du Og Meg of course :D

Quote:

---

She fell in love with a boy
Who spoke a second language
and who lived across the ocean in the evil empire

He awoke her sleeping heart
and swept away the darkness
and acute fear of flying couldn't keep her away
ooh ooh ooh

She landed on her feet
and joined his fledgling rock group
as they toured the evil empire
selling t shirts at the shows

She taught him what was real
she taught him he was okay
that his thoughts were not just rubbish
that he had something good to give

Still his heart was so ambivalent and homesick
of her he was never sure
She gave in so sweetly that the spirit said
boy you better go run to her

So when she split her hopped on a plan
with his parents and his brother
he told her that he loved her
they were married in the summer
ooh ooh ooh

---

Quote:

---

Way back when I was just a little bitty boy living in a box under the stairs in the corner of the basement of the house half a block down the street from Jerry's Bait Shop...you know the place...Well anyway, back then life was going swell and everything was juuuuust peachy...except of course for the undeniable fact that every single morning my
mother would make me a big ol' bowl of sauerkraut for breakfast.

Dawww!! Big bowl of sauerkraut!
Every single mornin'! It was driving me crazy.

I said to my mom, I said, "Hey, mom, what's up with all the sauerkraut?" And my dear, sweet mother, she just looked at me like a cow looks at an oncoming train. And she leaned right down next to me, and she said, "IT'S GOOD FOR YOU!" And then she tied me to the wall and stuck a funnel in my mouth and force fed me nothing but sauerkraut until I was 26 and a half years old.

That's when I swore that someday, someday I would get outta that basement and travel to a magical, far away place, where the sun is always shining and the air smells like warm root beer, and the towels are oh so fluffy! Where the shriners and the lepers play their ukuleles all day long, and anyone on the street will gladly shave your back for a nickel!

Wocka wocka, doo doo, yeah!

Well, let me tell you, people, it wasn't long at all before my dream came true. Because the very next day, a local radio station had this contest to see who could correctly guess the number of molecules in Leonard Nimoy's butt. I was off by three, but I still won the grand prize. That's right, a first class, one-way ticket...

to Albuquerque! Albuquerque!

Oh yeah. You know, I'd never been on a real airplane before, and I gotta tell ya, it was really great... except that I had to sit between two large Albanian women with excruciatingly severe body odor. And the little kid in back of me kept throwin' up the whole time. The flight attendants ran out of Dr. Pepper and salted peanuts, and the in-flight movie was Bio-Dome with Pauly Shore...and, oh yeah, three of the airplane engines burned out, and we went into a tailspin and crashed into a hillside and the plane exploded in a giant fireball and everybody died. Except for me. You know why?

'Cause I had my tray table up
And my seat back in the full upright position
Had my tray table up
And my seat back in the full upright position
Had my tray table up
And my seat back in the full upright position

Ah-ha-ha-ha. Ah-ha-ha. Aahhh. So I crawled from the twisted, burnin' wreckage, I crawled on my hands and knees for three full days, draggin' along my big leather suitcase and my garment bag and my tenor saxophone and my 12-pound bowlin' ball and my lucky, lucky autographed glow-in-the-dark snorkel. But finally I arrived at the world famous Albuquerque Holiday Inn where the towels are oh so fluffy! And you can eat your soup right out of the ashtrays if you wanna. It's OK, they're clean.

Well, I checked into my room, and I turned down the A/C, and I turned on the SpectraVision, and I'm just about to eat that little chocolate mint on my pillow that I love so very, very much, when suddenly there's a knock on the door. Well, now, who could that be?

I say, "Who is it?" No answer.
"Who is it?" There's no answer.
"WHO IS IT!?" They're not sayin' anything.
So finally, I go over and I open the door, and just as I suspected, it's some big, fat hermaphrodite with a flock of seagulls, haircut, and only one nostril. Oh, man, I hate it when I'm right.

So, anyway, he bursts into my room, and he grabs my lucky snorkel, and I'm like, "Hey, you can't have that! That snorkel's been just like a snorkel to me."

And he's like, "Tough!"
And I'm like, "Give it!"
And he's like, "Make me!"
And I'm like, "'kay!"

So I grabbed his leg and he grabbed my esophagus, and I bit off his ear and he chewed off my eyebrows, and I took out his appendix and he gave a colonic irrigation, yes indeed, you better believe it. And somehow in the middle of it all, the phone got knocked off the hook. And twenty seconds later, I heard a familiar voice. And you know what it said? I'll tell ya what it said! It said:

"If you'd like to make a call, please hang up and try again.
If you need help, hang up and then dial your operator.
If you'd like to make a call, please hang up and try again.
If you need help, hang up and then dial your operator."

In Albuquerque! Albuquerque!

Well, to cut a long story short, he got away with my snorkel. But I made a solemn vow right then and there that I would not rest, I would not sleep for an instant, until the one-nostrilled man was brought to justice. But first, I decided to buy some donuts.

So I got in my car, and I drove over to the donut shop, and I walked on up to the guy behind the counter and he says, "Yeah, whaddaya want??"

I said, "You got any glazed donuts?"
He said, "Nah, we're outta glazed donuts."
I say, "Well, you got any jelly donuts?"
He said, "No, we're outta jelly donuts."
I said, "You got any Bavarian cream-filled donuts?"
He said, "No, we're outta Bavarian cream-filled donuts."
I said, "You got any cinnamon rolls?"
He said, "No, we're outta cinnamon rolls!"
I said, "You got any apple fritters?"
He said, "No, we're outta apple fritters!"
I said, "You got any bear claws?"
He said, "Wait a minute, I'll go check."

"No, we're outta bear claws!"

I said, "Well, in that case...in that case, what do you have?"
He says, "All I got right now is this box of one dozen starving crazed weasels."
I said, "OK, I'll take that."

So he hands me the box, and I open up the lid, and the weasels jump out and they immediately latch onto my face and start bitin' me all over. Oh, man, they were just goin' nuts! They were tearin' me apart! You know, I think it was just about that time that a little ditty started goin' through my head. I believe it went a little somethin' like this:

DOH! Get 'em off me! Get 'em off me! Ohhh! No, get 'em off, get 'em off! Oh, oh God, oh God! Oh, get 'em off me! Oh, oh God! Ah, AaaaaaahhhhhhhhhOhhhhhhhhhh!

I ran out into the street with these flesh-eating weasels all over my face, wavin' my arms all around and just runnin', runnin', runnin' like a constipated wiener dog. And as luck would have it, that's exactly when I ran into the girl of my dreams. Her name was Zelda. She was a calligraphy enthusiast, with a slight overbite, and hair the color of strained peaches. I'll never forget the very first thing she said to me. She said, "Hey, you've got weasels on your face."

That's when I knew it was true love. We were inseparable after that. Aw, we ate together, we bathed together, we even shared the same piece of mint-flavored dental floss. The world was our burrito. So we got married, and we bought us a house and had two beautiful children, Nathaniel and Superfly. Oh we were so very, very, very happy, oh yeah. But then, one fateful night, Zelda said to me, she said, "Sweetie-pumpkin? Do you wanna join the Columbia Record Club?" I said, "Woah! Hold on now, baby! I'm just not ready for that kind of a commitment!"

So we broke up, and I never saw her again, but that's just the way things go...

In Albuquerque! Albuquerque!

Anyway, things really started lookin' up for me, because about a week later, I finally achieved my lifelong dream. That's right, I got me a part-time job at the Sizzler! I even made employee of the month after I put out that grease fire with my face. Aw yeah, everybody was pretty jealous of me after that. I was gettin' a lot of attitude.

OK, like one time, I was out in the parkin' lot, tryin' to remove my excess earwax with a golf pencil, when I see this guy Marty tryin' to carry a big ol' sofa up the stairs all by himself. So I-I say to him, I say, "Hey, you want me to help you with that?" And Marty, he just rolls his eyes and goes, "No, I want you to cut off my arms and legs with a chainsaw."

So I did.

And then he gets all indignant on me! He's like, "Hey, man, I was just being sarcastic!" Well, that's just great. How was I supposed to know that? I'm not a mind reader, for cryin' out loud. Besides, now he's got a really cute nickname - Torso-Boy! So what's he complaining about?

Say, that reminds me of another amusing anecdote. This guy comes up to me on the street and he tells me he hasn't had a bite in three days. Well, I knew what he meant, but just to be funny, I took a big bite out of his jugular vein. And he's yelling and screaming and bleeding all over, and I'm like, "Hey, come on, don't you get it?" But he just keeps rolling around on the sidewalk, bleeding and screaming, "Aaaahhhh! AaaaahhhhOhhhhh! Aaaaahhhh!" You know, completely missing the irony of the whole situation. Man, some people just can't take a joke, you know?

Anyway, um...um...where was I? Kinda lost my train of thought.

Uh, well, uh, OK, anyway, I-I know it's kind of a roundabout way of saying it, but, I guess the whole point I'm tryin' to make here is...

I HATE SAUERKRAUT!

That's all I'm really tryin' to say. And, by the way, if one day you happen to wake up and find yourself in an existential quandry, full of loathing and self-doubt and wracked with the pain and isolation of your pitiful meaningless existence, at least you can take a small bit of comfort in knowing that somewhere out there in this crazy ol' mixed-up universe of ours, there's still a little place...

called Albuquerque! Albuquerque!
Albuquerque! (Albuquerque!)
Albuquerque! (Albuquerque!)
Albuquerque! (Albuquerque!)
Albuquerque! (Albuquerque!)

I said A! (A!)
L! (L!)
B! (B!)
U! (U!)
.... querque! (querque!)

(Albuquerque, Albuquerque, Albuquerque, Albuquerque)
(Albuquerque, Albuquerque, Albuquerque, Albuquerque)
(Albuquerque, Albuquerque, Albuquerque, Albuquerque)
(Albuquerque, Albuquerque, Albuquerque, Albuquerque)
Al...buquerque!
*burp*
heh heh heh heh

---

<3 Weird Al

Ice Cube - It Was A Good Day

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Wikipedia ofc

The song's music video and the lyrics itself, tell a story about how one man (Ice Cube), surprisingly enjoys a good day in South Central Los Angeles, which came not often enough on the streets of LA. "Waking up in the morning, gotta thank God...no barking from the dog, no smog...nobody I know got killed in South Central LA, today was a good Day...today I didn't even have to use my AK," are some examples of the lyrics.

---

Frank Sinatra - It Was a Very Good Year is good too. Just realised they have a similar name :chef:

One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer, by George Thoroughgood & The Destroyers.

I found the lyrics on the first MSN search, and didn't read through them. But they oughta be accurate. This isn't rap we're dealing with:

Wanna tell you a story,
About the house-man blues
I come home one Friday,
Had to tell the landlady I'd-a lost my job
She said that don't confront me,
Long as I get my money next Friday
Now next Friday come I didn't get the rent,
And out the door I went

So I goes to the landlady,
I said, "You let me slide?"
I'll have the rent for you in a month.
Next I don't know
So said let me slide it on you know people,
I notice when I come home in the evening
She ain't got nothing nice to say to me,
But for five year she was so nice
Loh' she was lovy-dovy,
I come home one particular evening
The landlady said, "You got the rent money yet?",
I said, "No, can't find no job"
Therefore I ain't got no money to pay the rent
She said "I don't believe you're tryin' to find no job"
Said "I seen you today you was standin' on a corner,
Leaning up against a post"
I said "But I'm tired, I've been walkin' all day"
She said "That don't confront me,
Long as I get my money next Friday"
Now next Friday come I didn't have the rent,
And out the door I went

So I go down the streets,
Down to my good friend's house
I said "Look man I'm outdoors you know,
Can I stay with you maybe a couple days?"
He said "Let me go and ask my wife"
He come out of the house,
I could see it in his face
I know that was no
He said "I don't know man, ah she kinda funny, you know"
I said "I know, everybody funny, now you funny too"
So I go back home
I tell the landlady I got a job, I'm gonna pay the rent
She said "Yeah?" I said "Oh yeah"
And then she was so nice,
Loh' she was lovy-dovy
So I go in my room, pack up my things and I go,
I slip on out the back door and down the streets I go
She a-howlin' about the front rent, she'll be lucky to get any back rent,
She ain't gonna get none of it
So I stop in the local bar you know people,
I go to the bar, I ring my coat, I call the bartender
Said "Look man, come down here", he got down there
So what you want?

One bourbon, one scotch, one beer
Well I ain't seen my baby since I don't know when,
I've been drinking bourbon, whiskey, scotch and gin
Gonna get high man I'm gonna get loose,
Need me a triple shot of that juice
Gonna get drunk don't you have no fear
I want one bourbon, one scotch and one beer
One bourbon, one scotch, one beer

But I'm sitting now at the bar,
I'm getting drunk, I'm feelin' mellow
I'm drinkin' bourbon, I'm drinkin' scotch, I'm drinkin' beer
Looked down the bar, here come the bartender
I said "Look man, come down here"
So what you want?

One bourbon, one scotch, one beer
No I ain't seen my baby since the night before last,
Gotta get a drink man I'm gonna get gassed
Gonna get high man I ain't had enough,
Need me a triple shot of that stuff
Gonna get drunk won't you listen right here,
I want one bourbon, one shot and one beer
One bourbon, one scotch, one beer

Now by this time I'm plenty high,
You know when your mouth a-getting dry you're plenty high
Looked down the bar I say to my bartender
I said "Look man, come down here", he got down there
So what you want this time?
I said "Look man, a-what time is it?"
He said "The clock on the wall say three o'clock
Last call for alcohol, so what you need?"

One bourbon, one scotch, one beer
No I ain't seen my baby since a nigh' and a week,
Gotta get drunk man till I can't even speak
Gonna get high man listen to me,
One drink ain't enough Jack you better make it three
I wanna get drunk I'm gonna make it real clear,
I want one bourbon, one scotch and one beer
One bourbon, one scotch, one beer

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Jowy

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by The Decemberists - The Mariner's Revenge Song

We are two mariners
Our ships' sole survivors
In this belly of a whale

Its ribs our ceiling beams
Its guts our carpeting
I guess we have some time to kill

You may not remember me
I was a child of three
And you, a lad of eighteen

But I remember you
And I will relate to you
How our histories interweave

At the time you were
A rake and a roustabout
Spending all your money
On the whores and hounds
Oh Ohhhhh

You had a charming air
All cheap and debonair
My widowed mother found so sweet

And so she took you in
Her sheets still warm with him
Now filled with filth and foul disease

As time wore on you proved
A debt-ridden drunken mess
Leaving my mother
A poor consumptive wretch
Oh Ohhhhh

And then you disappeared
Your gambling arrears
The only thing you left behind

And then the magistrate
Reclaimed our small estate
And my poor mother lost her mind

Then one day in spring
My dear sweet mother died
But before she did
I took her hand as she, dying, cried:
Oh Ohhhhh

"Find him, bind him
Tie him to a pole and break
His fingers to splinters
Drag him to a hole until he
Wakes up naked
Clawing at the ceiling
Of his grave
*sigh*"

It took me fifteen years
To swallow all my tears
Among the urchins in the street

Until a priory
Took pity and hired me
To keep their vestry nice and neat

But never once in the employ
Of these holy men
Did I ever once turn my mind
From the thought of revenge
Oh Ohhhhh

One night I overheard
The Prior exchanging words
With a penitent whaler from the sea

The captain of his ship
Who matched you toe to tip
Was known for wanton cruelty

The following day
I shipped to sea
With a privateer

And in the whistle
Of the wind
I could almost hear...
Oh Ohhhhh

"Find him, bind him
Tie him to a pole and break
His fingers to splinters
Drag him to a hole until he
Wakes up naked
Clawing at the ceiling
Of his grave

"There is one thing I must say to you
As you sail across the sea
Always, your mother will watch over you
As you avenge this wicked deed"

[haunting, sailor-esque musical interlude lead by mandolin, accordion and tuba]

And then that fateful night
We had you in eye sight
After twenty months at sea

Your starboard flank abeam
I was getting my muskets clean
When came this rumbling from beneath

The ocean shook
The sky went black
And the captain quailed

And before us grew
The angry jaws
Of a giant whale

[instrumental noise]
Oh Ohhhhhhhhhh
[screaming]
Ohhhhh
[screaming]

Don't know how I survived
The crew all was chewed alive
I must have slipped between his teeth

But, O! What providence!
What divine intelligence!
That you should survive
As well as me

It gives my heart
Great joy
To see your eyes fill with fear

So lean in close
And I will whisper
The last words you'll hear
Ohh Ohhhhh

---

<3

---

Yes. <3

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by The Arrogant Worms

I used to be a farmer, and I made a living fine,
I had a little stretch of land along the city line
But time went by and though I tried, the money wasnt there
And bankers came and took my land and told me fair is fair
I looked for every kind of job, the answer always no
Hire you now? theyd always laugh, we just let twenty go!
The government, they promised me a measly little sum
But I've got too much pride to end up just another bum.
Then I thought, who gives a damn if all the jobs are gone?
I'm gonna be a pirate on the river Saskatchewan!!!
(arrr! arrr! arrr! arrr! arrr!!)

Cause it's a heave-ho, hi-ho, comin' down the plains
Stealin' wheat and barley and all the other grains
It's a ho-hey, hi-hey farmers bar yer doors
When ya see the jolly roger on reginas mighty shores

Well, you'd think the local farmers would know that I'm at large
But just the other day I found an unprotected barge
I snuck up right behind them and they were none the wiser,
I rammed their ship and sank it and I stole their fertilizer!
A bridge outside of moosejaw spans a mighty river
Farmers cross in so much fear their stomachs are aquiver
Cause they know that tractor jack is hiding in the bay
I'll jump the bridge and knock them cold and sail off with their hay!

Cause it's a heave-ho, hi-ho, comin' down the plains
Stealin' wheat and barley and all the other grains
It's a ho-hey, hi-hey farmers bar yer doors
When ya see the jolly roger on reginas mighty shores

Well, mountie Bob he chased me, he was always at my throat
He'd follow on the shoreline cause he didnt own a boat
But cutbacks were a-coming and the mountie lost his job
And now he's sailing with us, and we call him Salty Bob!
A swingin' sword, a skull and bones and pleasant company
I never pay my income tax and screw the GST (screw it!!)
Prince Albert down to Saskatoon I'm the terror of the seas
If you wanna reach the co-op, boy, you gotta get by me!

Cause it's a heave-ho, hi-ho, comin' down the plains
Stealin' wheat and barley and all the other grains
It's a ho-hey, hi-hey farmers bar yer doors
When ya see the jolly roger on reginas mighty shores
Arrrr, mateys! get it? matey? (hey, that's really funny! you know, Louis real? )

Well, pirate lifes appealing but you just don't find it here,
I've heard that in Alberta theres a band of buccaneers
They roam the Athabaska and sail to Fort Mckay
And you're gonna loose your stetson if you have to pass their way!
Well, winter is a-comin and a chill is in the breeze
My pirate days are over once the river starts to freeze
I'll be back in springtime but now I have to go
I hear theres lots of plundering down in New Mexico!

Cause it's a heave-ho, hi-ho, comin' down the plains
Stealin' wheat and barley and all the other grains
It's a ho-hey, hi-hey farmers bar yer doors
When ya see the jolly roger on reginas mighty shores

Cause it's a heave-ho, hi-ho, comin' down the plains
Stealin' wheat and barley and all the other grains
It's a ho-hey, hi-hey farmers bar yer doors
When ya see the jolly roger on reginas mighty shores
When ya see the jolly roger on reginas mighty shores...

---

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Iron Maiden - The Rime of the Ancient Mariner

Hear the rime of the Ancient Mariner
See his eye as he stops one of three
Mesmerises one of the wedding guests
Stay here and listen to the nightmares
of the Sea

And the music plays on, as the bride passes by
Caught by his spell and
the Mariner tells his tale.

Driven south to the land of the snow and ice
To a place where nobody's been
Through the snow fog flies on the albatross
Hailed in God's name,
hoping good luck it brings.

And the ship sails on, back to the North
Through the fog and ice and
the albatross follows on

The mariner kills the bird of good omen
His shipmates cry against what he's done
But when the fog clears, they justify him
And make themselves a part of the crime.

Sailing on and on and North across the sea
Sailing on and on and North 'till all is calm

The albatross begins with its vengeance
A terrible curse a thirst has begun
His shipmates blame bad luck on the Mariner
About his neck, the dead bird is hung.

And the curse goes on and on at sea
And the curse goes on and on for them and me.

"Day after day, day after day,
we stuck nor breath nor motion
As idle as a painted ship upon a painted ocean
Water, water everywhere and
all the boards did shrink
Water, water everywhere nor any drop to drink."

There, calls the mariner
there comes a ship over the line
But how can she sail with no wind
in her sails and no tide.

See... onward she comes
Onwards she nears, out of the sun
See... she has no crew
She has no life, wait but there's two

Death and she Life in Death,
they throw their dice for the crew
She wins the Mariner and he belongs to her now.
Then ... crew one by one
They drop down dead, two hundred men
She... She, Life in Death.
She lets him live, her chosen one.

"One after one by the star dogged moon,
too quick for groan or sigh
Each turned his face with a ghastly pang
and cursed me with his eye
Four times fifty living men
(and I heard nor sigh nor groan),
With heavy thump, a lifeless lump,
they dropped down one by one."

The curse it lives on in their eyes
The Mariner he wished he'd die
Along with the sea creatures
But they lived on, so did he.

And by the light of moon
He prays for their beauty not doom
With heart he blesses them
God's creatures all of them too.

Then the spell starts to break
The albatross falls from his neck
Sinks down like lead into the Sea
Then down in falls comes the rain.

Hear the groans of the long dead seamen
See them stir and they start to rise
Bodies lifted by good spirits
None of them speak
and they're lifeless in their eyes

And revenge is still sought, penance starts again
Cast into a trance and the nightmare carries on.

Now the curse is finally lifted
And the Mariner sights his home
Spirits go from the long dead bodies
Form their own light and
the Mariner's left alone

And then a boat came sailing towards him
It was a joy he could not believe
The Pilot's boat, his son and the hermit
Penance of life will fall onto Him.

And the ship it sinks like lead into the sea
And the hermit shrieves the mariner of his sins

The Mariner's bound to tell of his story
To tell his tale wherever he goes
To teach God's word by his own example
That we must love all things that God made.

And the wedding guest's a sad and wiser man
And the tale goes on and on and on.

---

Also:

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Iron Maiden - Dance of Death

Let me tell you a story to chill the bones
About a thing that I saw
One night wandering in the everglades
I'd one drink but no more

I was rambling, enjoying the bright moonlight
Gazing up at the stars
Not aware of a presence so near to me
Watching my every move

Feeling scared and I fell to my knees
As something rushed me from the trees
Took me to an unholy place
And that is where I fell from grace

Then they summoned me over to join in with them
To the dance of the dead
Into the circle of fire I followed them
Into the middle I was led

As if time had stopped still I was numb with fear
But still I wanted to go
And the blaze of the fire did no hurt upon me
As I walked onto the coals

And I felt I was in a trance
And my spirit was lifted from me
And if only someone had the chance
To witness what happened to me

And I danced and I pranced and I sang with them
All had death in their eyes
Lifeless figures they were undead all of them
They had ascended from hell

As I danced with the dead
My free spirit was laughing and howling down at me
Below my undead body
Just danced the circle of dead

Until the time came to reunite us both
My spirit came back down to me
I didn't know if I was alive or dead
As the others all joined in with me

By luck then a skirmish started
And took the attention away from me
When they took their gaze from me
Was the moment that I fled

I ran like hell faster than the wind
But behind I did not glance
One thing that I did not dare
Was to look just straight ahead

When you know that your time has come around
You know you'll be prepared for it
Say your last goodbyes to everyone
Drink and say a prayer for it

When you're lying in your sleep, when you're lying in your bed
And you wake from your dreams to go dancing with the dead
When you're lying in your sleep, when you're lying in your bed
And you wake from your dreams to go dancing with the dead

To this day I guess I'll never know
Just why they let me go
But I'll never go dancing no more
'Til I dance with the dead

---

Although I generally prefer concept albums telling stories, there are some single songs telling stories that are cool.

Such as:
Edge of Sanity - Crimson (I'm aware that the English is occassionally incorrect)

Quote:

---

[Prologue:]
In a very distant future, the last generation of planet earth
has come to a point where they cannot breed anymore.
When everybody had lost their faith, a child was born, but no
one could be the father, except for a god.
This child was a gift from the skies of life-divine or...

Another sky is young...
Another frozen future has passed.
Another breed, another cast.
The rivers will run, brought to life by the sun, the circle is
still unbroken.
Oh, what a sight to see.
Reborn life, destined for all eternity.
Hail the king!
For he has chosen not to drain the godsent child, a gift from
the skies of life divine.
Now we know.
A glimpse of hope grow inside, a change of tide.
Answered prayers of survival.
Miracles.
The offspring of the unknown gods beautifies the aura of this
dying breed.
So they succeed in their quest for continued time.
Celebrate.
The knowledge of the everlasting, never-dying.
Cursed to be walkin in the shadows of death for a lifetime.
No more fears for what the years will bring.
Rebuild the shattered dream.
And now a brighter future has come, another end remains undone
and an era begins,
bringing life free from sins.
Oh, it's a token, the circle is broken.
(The drop of blood from her mouth slowly fell down to the
ground.
The child inside dried her out. The king's beloved is no more.)
[03:21]The chosen one felt the time had come to show the world what
had grown within.
This day of life, a sacred moment in time, when joy and pain
collide.
It takes a life to create a life.
Now she's gone.
Anger and hate.
fear and despair fills up his mind.
In search for answers he can't find.
What god would end a life so pure.
She was the one worth dying for.
Alone with princess angel-sent.
Her eyes so blue, my hate relents.
Her destiny is in my hands.
She was born to rule these desert lands.
[05:18]A sacrifice. A life arises, when one love has come, another dies.
I let her go and I do not know where to find her soul so alone.
Oh, does she hold the power, is she a blessing from the skies?
Is this the answer to where the secret lies.
And in her eyes I see a light is shining through.
I feel that there is hope for a world so brave and new.
Many seasons have changed and the king is old and weak.
The princess has come of age, but still the gift of life they seek.
In the chambers of crimson sleep.
In this vault of souls to reap.
The future lies in the hands of the shrewd [Harmony: Andreas]
or the earth will die in solitude.

The darkest night the enchanted skies were united in a storm.
Unholiness and all that's unblessed appeared in another form.
Like a raging plague all across the land all women gave birth to man.
Raped by the wind and forced to bring life to the hundred
bastard sons.
The unholy ones will give strength for all evil to live and
the fires of death burn high.
The time has come for the king to die.

[Lead Guitar: Mike]

A whole world is mourning the loss of their king.
In sorrow a new day dawning.
Now the princess is their everything.
A procession to the chambers where they kiss their fathers ring.
Can you hear the angel of sadness sing... with broken wings.

[Harmony: Andreas]

And with death came disorder, who were they now to obey?
No leader, no followers.
No trust, no faith.
The princess is too young to tame a land, a new king must be
chosen.
In search for such a man of trust there will be contradictions.
Coming forth on desert ground, the incarnation of a king in
sleep profound.
Another self-proclaimed king, set to rule in the new empire.
On a mission to save the forsaken ones and to re-light the
dying fire.
The crowd was confused and divided in two, a battle was about
to begin.
Another man with a will as strong declared a war to win.
His army of believers was faithful, mighty and brave.
Set to capture the liar, to forever enslave.
His troops were marching on to the battlefield to set this
world on fire.
His forces are never giving yield.

[14:22]
War! ...Messengers of hell. They fought for what would be a blood-stained crown.
Utter chaos supreme.
The sand absords the colour of dawn.
Nevermore shall they dream, nevermore!
The years went by under a blood-red sky, the king still suppress
the rebellian lie.
He is the one, the self-chosen son, master of the throne he rules upon.
The sacred child awakened from her crystal sleep.
And the earth was shaking, and the people prayed for their souls to keep.
The light of day is flowing into her virgin eyes.
Oh, the sun is stolen.

[16:55]
A dark formation in the skies.
Unites the powers in her eyes.
Her soul's inhaling all the living light.
Bringing on the dark, eternal night.
Gathering evil in all its might.
Seven years.
Purity.
Innocence.
Dignity.
Hail, hail the queen!
Ruling supreme.
She is queen alone in the human zone, dethroned the king unpure.
The masses were assured, she fought without a sword.
She regained their hope and faith.
Draining the liar in the crimson water.
To bring him eternal pain.
His soul is slaughtered.
Eternalizing bane.
Scream in silence, no one shall hear his cries encaged.
The unroyal king, surrended to the child of life divine.
A hundred fortnights passed but still no signs of aging.
Her endless youth... amazed, the world was raging.
A shattered race in this broken land this child came to restore, like an
order from the gods.
The queen and all the children gathered around the chambers
where the elder ones are joined
in sleep profound.
In wrath she crush the tanks of crystal glass.
The crimson water gushed on to the ground in the unholy macecration.
Their souls no longer cried.
Die!
Their gifts are denied.

[21:11]
She drinks the life-blood from the feebled man.
Empty bodies, soul-drained by the virgin queen.
Finally given the pleasure to die.
She aligns the hate inside their hearts.
Her chosen knights will make sure all life departs.
Soon comes the end of all, she watched a chamber fall.
She heard her master call.
"Live my words, oh, sacred child. You're soon to leave this
world defiled."
"Then what awaits me my lord?"
"Trust me my child, your wishes shall not be ignored"
And then he spoke his mind, now his will is hers.
"The earth shall fall. The eternal curse is cast on the sands
they walk.
Now you must use your power. Show the human race you are the one.
Use their trust forever and then deceive their weakened minds.
Fool them to destroy themselves in hopelessness.
Belie their seeds, belie their dreams. Hope has ceased to be."
The people worshiped their queen.
Such beauty before her time was unseen.
Their were fooled by her presence and disguise.
Faithfully they listened and swallowed all her lies.
"The times are changing, re-arranging the pattern of our lives.
So let your heart stop beating beneath this twisted sky."
They were embraced by sadness, but not afraid to die.
"So pass this sacred dagger and let yourself fly free.
So pretend you're dreaming and rise above this world of you and me."

[25:55]
Liar!
All those who died with you by their side were denied access
to the higher ground.
Betrayal!
Eternal detest from the ones left unblessed, so possessed.
Their last caress was your knife in their hearts.
Fed from her deed, watching them bleed.
In her own conceit, a world to delete, lies at her feet.
Her demon inside do no longer hide.
Showing its face of hate and disgrace leaving their saviour
unpraised.

The ones who didn't follow.
Now sharing this moment of grief.
The end of their own existence?
In death they had no belief.
Despite all the faith in their queen they couldn't believe
what they had seen.
What was the reason to this sacrifice.
Nothing is gained from this great demise.
After the ordeal we know she has the powers to decieve us all.
But their dream of sons and daughters has made them standing tall.
For the king had showed them it could be done when his woman
gave birth to the sacred one.
But is she of man, made of flesh and blood, or is she the
offspring of the unholy
God!

A leader was chosen to unveil the hidden truth.
The brave ones were gathered, the strongest were sent to the queen.
Her reason to be must be known.
After many moons the troops reach the temple of their majesty.
Guarded by a hundred faithful knights.
There is no escape, there's no entry to her sacred halls.
Is our vision true or false?
They tried to find the answer but they were led astray into a
maze of slumper far from the light of day.
The riddle remained unanswered.
The queen could read ones mind, make sure that no one will find
the reason for her mission here.
The highness writhe in anger, her trust had been betrayed.
The queen was filled with langour, her decision has been made.
She would unleash her hate.
Destined to devastate.
She heard her demons roar, marching into war.

[32:38]"The spirit of their beloved king ho spoke unto his men,
he came to bring a message of great importance and trust.
The gift from the gods has come to cover the world in dust.
Her forces are closing into your sanctuary.
So use your imagination to end her reign.
Remember these words, and be strong!"

The chosen few were sacrificed for the others life.
They were the bait, they would seal the soldiers fate.
A massive grave, to break the soldiers spell.
The forces fell into the abyss, never to rise again.
Towards the queen the last of the brave ones wandered,
to terminate this creature non-divine.
The loss of troops forced her powers to release the magic
uncontrolled that had wasted a thousand soul.
The palace controlled by demons is the heart of all evil possessed by the
queen and her unholy servants.
"If we destroy it, the earth will be ours and it will bring us
eternal existance.
We'll pray for the gift of breeding. This is a game we can't concede,
it is worth all the blood we may bleed.

[35:31]
We must close the gate
so she can't return. We'll seal her fate, watch her temple
burn and we'll capture her soul in the chambers of crimson sleep.
And there she will suffer eternally for what she has done to man.
We fought our way into her dwelling-place, we searched the corridors
of this infernal maze, to seek our enemy the one to slay.
We are the ones, we will not obey.
A disillusioned servant with great knowledge in her secrets,
we found him walking aimlessly trying to find his peace.
He said:
'Cover her eyes, they are the root of her inhuman forces.
Then she's just the child you thought she,
disconnect all her sources.'"
They found a way to blind her and it could cost some lives.
But they must seal the entry from where all evil derives.
Two of the brave ones were sent to distract her while the
others made their way to behind her throne.
She saw her enemies for the last time
as their leader covered her eyes.
We saw the return of innocence, the symbol of purity we once knew.
We carried her to the chambers to forever lock-up her soul.
The uncovered arise and the crimson waters....
And now the reborn earth, blessed with the gift of birth can
see her in this cage that eternally preserves her rage.
They captured all her soldiers and forever encaged their cries.
They had found a new leader to worship.
A king with her clear-blue eyes.

---

And the sequel, Crimson II

Quote:

---

Let no man breach the gate to this most blasphemous of halls
Lest bitterness and chaos be the harvest they wouldst reap
He must n'er become a slave to this Child's beck and call
For she must never waken from her Crimson Sleep..
The monastery stood towering above the ruined city
It shadowed all the new emerging settlements and homes
To look down on the ruins was to sympathize and pity
All the suffering and heartache, all the graves and broken bones
For buried there a testament to the evil of a queen
A misery that spread across a weak and stricken land
The crimson birth that swamped the earth in dark and deadly dreams
And all mankind did bow beneath the power of her hand

And in the monastery garden sat a woman with a book
A manuscript that lay within her frail and trembling arms
She looked around her nervously as guilt rose in her heart
But the sway of curiosity had drawn her out too far

She wavered on the threshold of a dangerous decision
For this dark tome was no for human eyes to ever read
The pages dripped with legions of persuasive words and visions
So the volume had been hidden well, but now it had been freed

For no apparent reason had the woman been drawn in
Perhaps it was a twist of fate, an absence of real thought
She wandered to a room that before she'd never been
And all at once the interest of her senses had been caught
For no apparent reason had the women been drawn in
Where rows of dusty books lay in an ominous display

But one ancient leather binding had the grain of human skin
And seized with curiosity she stole this book away

And now she sat alone in the concealment of the night
She was hungry now to liberate the writings from their cage
The glimmer of a feeble moon provided her with light
As she opened up the cover and began to read the page
Fly, soul, the body's guest,
Upon your impish arrant
Let none be guiled by false confession
Truth shall be your warrant
Fly soul for your body must die

But for those who seek eternity
For those who yearn prosperity
From this single act of sanity
Will raise you far above humanity

Oh willing host who doth not know
The full desire of this prisoner
You walk where angels fear to go
Thou shalt soon embrace the reckoner
Thy halo of glory, hope's true gage
May prove to be an evil pilgrimage

Something had happened beyond her control
A moment of madness unfettered a soul
That would relish a freedom denied once before
By a desperate nation with it's back to the wall
Within a split second of reading this text
The spirit was free and had fled from its nest
It was eager to grow from this sudden reprieve
And thus in the woman a life was conceived
From the beginning the world was misled
As a baby was born in a monastery bed
The miracle happening here on this Earth
Was perceived as a glorious new Virgin Birth

From the moment in time that baby was born
The sun did now rise on a new Crimson dawn
And the creature just bided its time undiscovered
So safe in the cradling arms of the mother

[Lead: Dan]

But for those who seek eternity
For those who yearn prosperity
From this single act of sanity
Will raise you far above humanity

Secure from the world, the child remained hidden
A serpent disguised in the Garden of Eden
And all who looked down on this newly born babe
Were ignorant now of the path this would take
The people were blind to the subtle control
That was exercised daily upon every soul
With no room to question this delicate life
All fears would be drowned and all doubts would be stifled

But one single mind did stand out from the crowd
Though quiet at first - with hardly a sound
The Mother Superior harbored suspicion
Brought to her heart by three simple vision

[The Visions:]

The first was a planet engulfed by the sea
No dry land in sight, not a mountain or tree
No rock jutted out from the endless horizon
Or flowers to mark out the changing of seasons

No animals dwelt in the forests or fields
All life was extinct; its fate had been sealed

By the curse of a violent unstoppable flood
Mankind had been drowned in an ocean of blood

The next revelation was vivid and cruel
It depicted two swordsmen engrossed in a duel
The one held a sword that was silver and pure
The other a sword that was red to the core

They fought as the sun rose high in the sky
Their fight would not end until one of them died
No room did they have for an error to make
For the future of life was the trophy at stake

But one of the warriors flouted the rules
And with cunning and guile had the other one fooled
As he held up his hands in a gesture of peace
The silver opponent allowed this retreat

Then the man with the red sword attacked from behind
Left the silver sword fighter defeated and blind
Then carnage ensued that no man could condone
As the bloody red blade sliced through sinew and bone

All day did the swordsman attack without halt
Though the other lay dead from the frenzied assault
Until by the twilight and all that remained
Were the echoes of death and a fresh crimson stain

And so came the third of these unyielding visions
A picture of war and ferocious divisions
An army of saviors marching as one
Aware that the end had already begun

They arrived in a field, which was wide and expansive
They waited in silence both ready and pensive
The grassland was strewn with small crimson petals
Their fragrance was sweet with the stench of the devil

And slowly but surely they fell into sleep
Their consciousness gone as they slumped in defeat
And there they still lie bereft of their willpower
Brought to their knees by the strength of a flower

The three visions, the Mother Superior bore
A bitter forewarning of what was in store
This infant so frail must not grow to be strong
The world was at risk if she waited too long
So veiled by the blackness of night she did creep
And enter where mother and child were both asleep
And onwards she moved to where the crib lay
She leant over the baby and started to pray
She prayed for forgiveness for what she would do
She prayed that the knife in her hand would aim true
But all of a sudden she was now paralyzed
The baby daughter had opened her eyes

[Lead: Mike]

And into those eyes, the woman gazed
The look in her face was both haunted and crazed
She was smothered and swamped in confusion and sadness
The first to be gripped by this foul crimson madness
This brutal psychosis could not be explained
No one single cause was suggested or blamed
But no one could think that a child was involved
And the mystery illness remained unresolved

So all seemed as normal for seven short years
A veil of deception dissolved any fears
But there was one lapse in the child's disguise
And that could be seen in the depths of her eyes

The message could clearly be discovered there
In the glimpse of the universe found in her stare
Her gaze hypnotic, unbearably strong
Suspicions were growing, it wouldn't be long
Oh willing host who doth not know
The full desire of this prisoner
You walk where angels fear to go
Thou shalt soon embrace the reckoner

Now and then a question would be raised
Strong misgivings threatened to be voiced
But these were judgments wiser not to say
To doubt the child could prove to be a rash and deadly choice
By now the Crimson reign had proved too much
The monastery was shadowed under dread
But fear decreed that hostile thoughts be crushed
For the creature had the power to crawl inside your head
The mother in her darkest moment knew
The time had come for action to be taken

A journey must be made to hidden truths
She must return and read again the book she had forsaken

This tome presented many further views
Essential rules of power were revealed
And thus the pages offered up one clue
The child bore one significant Archilles Heel
Should the Crimson Queen be blinded, then powerless she'll be
Bereft of piercing vision, her victims will be free

Salvation lies in banishing this creature to the dark
Let not your hand be hesitant or death will be your mark
Lest regained sight should speed her flight away from burning hell
A steady heart must seal her back within her crimson cell

And thou who didst release this most vindictive enemy
Must serve to be her warder there for all eternity

One quiet night the lady traveled out beyond the monastery
Her quest was one of urgency and human preservation
She traveled with companions to reach the ruined city
Where lay the means to save her kind, a path to their salvation
When there they searched for evidence of where the Queen once slept
And came upon a gateway, which was tightly closed and barred
A stark inscription warned them of the risk of their next step
But choices were no more; they had already come too far

Let no man breach the gate to this most blasphemous of halls
Lest bitterness and chaos be the harvest they wouldst reap
He must n'er become a slave to this Child's beck and call
For she must never waken from her Crimson Sleep:

[Lead: Mike]

With fresh resolve the women carried on towards their goal
And found themselves a cell where crimson shade were scattered
A sight so dreadful it chilled their very souls
The cell had long been drained and all around the glass lay shattered

A movement in the shadows
A flash of blazing light
The child stood before them
With murder in her eyes
The women ran towards her
To try to stem the tide
Of purse and crimson anger
There was nowhere left to hide
Too slow was their reaction
They were thrown back off their feet
Their throats were filled with panic
As they stared as harsh defeat
Too weak was their protection
They couldn't staunch the trail
Of vitriol and vengeance
Meted out for this betrayal
So the mother's brave compatriots
Consumed with damning pain
Died writhing in the dirt
They were bleeding and insane
They'd looked into the child's eyes
And crumbled in despair
From images too hideous
For human minds to bear
Salvation lies in banishing
This creature to the dark
Let not your hand be hesitant
Or death will be your mark"
But there was still one single hope
No room for fear or doubt
The mother knew there was no choice
She had to end this now

She crawled across the bloodstained ground
Her eyes averted from the steely glare
But secretly she knew she'd found
A way beyond this nightmare

[Lead: Simon/Mike]

A few more seconds spanned the path
Between success or damnation
Mankind would face the aftermath speed
Of this deadly confrontation
Got to strike for the eyes
Leave the monster running blind
Go to cross the line
Got to strike for those unforgiving eyes

She veiled herself with trivial thought
A mask of insignificance
Her daughter failed to see beyond
The fabric of irrelevance

For a moment they were face to face
No sign of what was soon to be
But still her mind refused to break
Those thoughts must not be seen
Got to strike for the eyes
Leave the monster running blind
Go to cross the line
Got to strike for those unforgiving eyes

[Lead: Simon]

Striking hard, striking fast in desperation
The world around is filled with shades of red
Forced to stand in weak anticipation
As rivulets of blood run down the Child's head
The chamber fills with screams of violent rage
Of petulance and impotent frustration
Consumed with frenzied tidal waves of hate
The princess falls to earth in dark sedation

Her blindness stunts the growth of nascent power
That grows within her like some poisonous flower
The blade of darkness strikes her to the hilt
And so the flower inside begins to wilt
But time is short for action to be taken
No chance to dwell on pity or mistakes
No chance for dark excuses to be found
The moment of Salvation must be now!

Cast me to the crimson flames
Thou hast the power should I be blind
To overthrow my wicked reign
And throw me to the pit of time
Cast me to the crimson flames
Thou shalt bar the doors of hell
Incant these words of sacred rule
Seal me in my crimson cell

[Lead: Dan]

And thus was read the incantation
Voices echoed round and round
The woman smiled in weak elation
Mesmerized inside the sounds

[Lead: Dan]

And with these chants of higher lore
So mortal flesh began to fade
Soon child and mother were no more
Their earthly bodies now decayed

Cast me to the crimson flames
Thou shalt bar the doors of hell
Incant these words of sacred rule
Seal me in my crimson cell

[Lead: Mike]

And still inside the chamber stands
A single cell with crimson hue
Resealed by spoken word of Man
Imbued with power from spiritual Truth
Two souls imprisoned for eternity
Light and dark forever bound
Two souls that never can be freed
A pathway back will not be found
For trapped beyond some foolish reach
And far away from prying eyes

No channel now to lead or preach
No chance to influence or guide
The final sacrifice she took
Ensured the hope of the human race
And thus she holds the sacred book
A captive in her crimson space

Lest bitterness and chaos be the harvest they wouldst reap
For she must never waken from this Crimson Sleep

---

Slick Rick’s A Children’s Story. A young boy who perverts to a crooked lifestyle, and is eventually gunned down by the police.

EDIT: what the smurf?

Jowy stole mine >:O

All Decembrists songs are fantastic stories, though. Eli the Barrow Boy tends to kill my soul when I think about it. Same with Play Crack the Sky by Brand New.

I think I'll quote Tonight Is The Night I Fell Asleep At The Wheel by Barenaked Ladies, though. It's a very interesting song.

Quote:

---

Driving home to be with you
The highway's dividing, the city's in view
As usual, I'm almost on time
You're the last thing that's on my mind
I wish I could tell you the way that I feel
But tonight is the night I fell asleep at the wheel

No commotion, no screaming brakes
Most of it's over before I awake
From the ceiling, my coffee cup drips
While out my window, the horizon does flips
The worst part was hitting the ground -
Not the feeling so much as the sound
Can't help but wonder if all this is real
Cause tonight is the night I fell asleep at the wheel

Rubberneck traffic and passersby
And Slow Motion Walter the fire engine guy
Stand around with their mouths open wide
I heard some idiot ask if someone's inside
With the Jaws of Life they tried and they tried
Nobody here can know how I feel
Cause tonight is the night I fell asleep at the wheel

I guess it's over now
Cause I've never seen so much
Never seen so much, never seen so much
Never seen so much, never seen so much
I guess it's over now
Cause I've never seen so much
Never seen so much, never seen so much
Never seen so much, never seen so much
So much blood

In all the confusion, there's something serene
I'm just a posthumous part of the scene
Now I'm floating above looking in
As the radio blares and wheels spin
I can see my face slump with a grin
And you...you're the last thing on my mind
You're the last thing on my mind
You're the last thing on my mind
You're the last thing on my mind

---

edit: Man, I didn't even about rap songs. Gonna Be Your Man by MC Frontalot has a funny story. I guess that's all I can think of for that!

• The Decemberists - The Island

1. Come and See There's an island hidden in the sound Lapping currents lay your boat aground Affix your barb and bayonet The curlews carve their arabesques And sorrow fills the silence all around Come and see There's a harbor lost within the reeds A jetty caught in overhanging trees Among the bones of cormorants No boot-mark here nor fingerprint The rivers roll down to a soundless sea Come and see The tides all come and go witnessed by no waking eye The willows mark the wind And all we know for sure amidst this fading light We'll not go home again Come and see In the lowlands, nestled in the heath A briar-cradle rocks its babe to sleep Its contents watched by Sycorax and Patagon in parallax A foretold rumbling sounds below the deep Come and see Chorus 2. The Landlord's Daughter As I was a-ramble down by the water I spied in sable the landlord's daughter I produced my pistol, then my saber Said, "Make no whistle or thou will be murdered!" She cursed, she shivered, she cried for mercy "My gold and silver if thou will release me!" "I'll take no gold, miss. I'll take no silver. But I'll take those sweet lips and thou will deliver!" 3. You'll Not Feel the Drowning I will dress your eyelids W' dimes upon your eyes Lay you close to water Green your grave will rise Go to sleep now, little ugly Go to sleep now, you little fool Forty winking in the belfry You'll not feel the drowning You'll not feel the drowning Forget you once had sweethearts They've forgotten you Think you not on parents They've forgotten too Chorus Hear you now the captain Heave his sorrow'd cry The weight upon your eyelids Is dimes laid on your eyes

I'm going to go with something much less morbid and a little more humorous, though most guys would probably disagree with the morbid part. :p

The Ballad of Lorena Bobbitt
Tom Paxton

Oh, my wife's name is Lorena
And you really shoulda seen her
She's beautiful is what I always said
My name is John Wayne Bobbitt,
I work hard at my job it
was my right to have a little fun in bed.

Well, she wasn't in the mood then,
And I musta gotten rude then
And I guess I got a little out of line
I was finished, I was sleepin'
When Lorena came a-creepin'
And she took something important that was mine.

My angry little wifey
Took her little kitchen knifey
She did a little homemade surgery.
She took the knife I bought her
And made me a little shorter
She took off with the very best of me.

She hopped in her Toyota
And took off with my promoter
And she knew how much I missed her when she'd gone.
Then Lorena told a coppy
Where she'd flung my little floppy
And a very kindly doctor sewed it on.

I got back my little buddy
It's my little understudy
And it's going to work according to reports.
But it cowers and it cringes
And it's tender round the hinges
So I guess I better keep it in my shorts!

Lots of Dylan songs are stories; has to be "Lily, Rosemary and the Jack of Hearts" for me, though. It's quite sad, but oh-so-beautiful.

[q]The festival was over, the boys were all plannin' for a fall,
The cabaret was quiet except for the drillin' in the wall.
The curfew had been lifted and the gamblin' wheel shut down,
Anyone with any sense had already left town.
He was standin' in the doorway lookin' like the Jack of Hearts.

He moved across the mirrored room, "Set it up for everyone," he said,
Then everyone commenced to do what they were doin' before he turned their heads.
Then he walked up to a stranger and he asked him with a grin,
"Could you kindly tell me, friend, what time the show begins?"
Then he moved into the corner, face down like the Jack of Hearts.

Backstage the girls were playin' five-card stud by the stairs,
Lily had two queens, she was hopin' for a third to match her pair.
Outside the streets were fillin' up, the window was open wide,
A gentle breeze was blowin', you could feel it from inside.
Lily called another bet and drew up the Jack of Hearts.

Big Jim was no one's fool, he owned the town's only diamond mine,
He made his usual entrance lookin' so dandy and so fine.
With his bodyguards and silver cane and every hair in place,
He took whatever he wanted to and he laid it all to waste.
But his bodyguards and silver cane were no match for the Jack of Hearts.

Rosemary combed her hair and took a carriage into town,
She slipped in through the side door lookin' like a queen without a crown.
She fluttered her false eyelashes and whispered in his ear,
"Sorry, darlin', that I'm late," but he didn't seem to hear.
He was starin' into space over at the Jack of Hearts.

"I know I've seen that face before," Big Jim was thinkin' to himself,
"Maybe down in Mexico or a picture up on somebody's shelf."
But then the crowd began to stamp their feet and the house lights did dim
And in the darkness of the room there was only Jim and him,
Starin' at the butterfly who just drew the Jack of Hearts.

Lily was a princess, she was fair-skinned and precious as a child,
She did whatever she had to do, she had that certain flash every time she smiled.
She'd come away from a broken home, had lots of strange affairs
With men in every walk of life which took her everywhere.
But she'd never met anyone quite like the Jack of Hearts.

The hangin' judge came in unnoticed and was being wined and dined,
The drillin' in the wall kept up but no one seemed to pay it any mind.
It was known all around that Lily had Jim's ring
And nothing would ever come between Lily and the king.
No, nothin' ever would except maybe the Jack of Hearts.

Rosemary started drinkin' hard and seein' her reflection in the knife,
She was tired of the attention, tired of playin' the role of Big Jim's wife.
She had done a lot of bad things, even once tried suicide,
Was lookin' to do just one good deed before she died.
She was gazin' to the future, riding on the Jack of Hearts.

Lily washed her face, took her dress off and buried it away.
"Has your luck run out?" she laughed at him, "Well, I guess you must
have known it would someday.
Be careful not to touch the wall, there's a brand-new coat of paint,
I'm glad to see you're still alive, you're lookin' like a saint."
Down the hallway footsteps were comin' for the Jack of Hearts.

The backstage manager was pacing all around by his chair.
"There's something funny going on," he said, "I can just feel it in the air."
He went to get the hangin' judge, but the hangin' judge was drunk,
As the leading actor hurried by in the costume of a monk.
There was no actor anywhere better than the Jack of Hearts.

Lily's arms were locked around the man that she dearly loved to touch,
She forgot all about the man she couldn't stand who hounded her so much.
"I've missed you so," she said to him, and he felt she was sincere,
But just beyond the door he felt jealousy and fear.
Just another night in the life of the Jack of Hearts.

No one knew the circumstance but they say that it happened pretty quick,
The door to the dressing room burst open and a cold revolver clicked.
And Big Jim was standin' there, ya couldn't say surprised,
Rosemary right beside him, steady in her eyes.
She was with Big Jim but she was leanin' to the Jack of Hearts.

Two doors down the boys finally made it through the wall
And cleaned out the bank safe, it's said that they got off with quite a haul.
In the darkness by the riverbed they waited on the ground
For one more member who had business back in town.
But they couldn't go no further without the Jack of Hearts.

The next day was hangin' day, the sky was overcast and black,
Big Jim lay covered up, killed by a penknife in the back.
And Rosemary on the gallows, she didn't even blink,
The hangin' judge was sober, he hadn't had a drink.
The only person on the scene missin' was the Jack of Hearts.

The cabaret was empty now, a sign said, "Closed for repair,"
Lily had already taken all of the dye out of her hair.
She was thinkin' 'bout her father, who she very rarely saw,
Thinkin' 'bout Rosemary and thinkin' about the law.
But, most of all she was thinkin' 'bout the Jack of Hearts.[/q]

Whip-crack went his Whoopy tail,
And the beast was done.

:p

Oh yeah, and Tribute by Tenacious D is a great one, hehe I love funny stories more than serious ones maybe ^__^

This is a song called Don't Turn Away (The YMCA Sportspark Anti-Massacre) by the band The Lost Trailers. It's kind of a country song, which is usually not my thing, but it's such an entertaining story you can't help but love it. I first heard it from a guy who lived in the town the band was from, and I believe the song is based on a true story. :p

Quote:

---

Well, it was near dark-30 in the soccer field, we were a hundred strong and kids were coming still,
Up the drive of the Y Sportspark, to park beneath the trees.
I hadn't seen that many kids in one place since the Winger Concert or the dirt track race,
And I thought this was definitely the coolest thing that I'd ever seen in Albany.
We had Kodiak and we spit in the dirt, and watched the Senior girls in their skirts,
And prayed for the day when we had girls that looked good and drank beer.
Our lives were filled with nervous excitement as we waited for that epic fight,
Of Clint Cecil and Clay Taylor, and the history they'd make.

So don't turn away, you don't have to run; every day has a rising sun,
And one day yours is gonna come and take your blues away.
So don't turn away.

Cause when you're in ninth grade it's a big deal, to stand shoulder to shoulder on a soccer field,
With 18 year olds who are too preoccupied to punch you in the gut.
Yeah these people came for just one thing, to see Clay and Clint in this human ring,
Cause both guys were tough as nails, and roughest of the rough.
Well, Clay we didn't know so good cause he grew up outside our neighborhood,
But I guess I first heard of him in Merry Acres Middle School.
Some are just fighters, and Clay always was,
But he never used a knife or a gun,
He preferred to win or get beat on the strength of his will.
Consequently, Clint was notoriously known, for being bit by a rattlesnake in a berry grove,
He was only ten then, and he swelled up like a weather balloon.
But it couldn't kill him, it only hardened 'em a bit,
And after that he never took no stuff, and that'prob'ly why he and Clay met that afternoon.

So don't turn away, you don't have to run; every day has a rising sun,
And one day yours is gonna come and take your blues away.
So don't turn away.

Well, Clint and Clay should have never a fought, it was a lie that was started by my friends dad's daughter,
Which would usually be called a sister but she was more than that.
Cause his dad had an affair with my friend's mom's mother,
And had two kids, and maybe others, One was my friends uncle, and the other was his aunt.
So his quasi-aunt-step-sister-person had done a bad thing and worsened it,
By hitting Clay's parked car and starting a lie.
She was confused already with the way she was, and she didn't want to piss off the boy she loved,
Cause she had a crush on Clay since she was nine.
Which was something we didn't quite understand, cause girls dug Clay but he was an ugly man,
Much like us, so he gave us hope, or at least a fighting chance.
We just knew he wasn't someone to mess with, so it was no surprise when he got the message,
That he skipped his class and ran out in a rage.
He yelled, "Whichever dead man hit my car, you know what you did and you know who you are,
And if you was worth a damn, you'd fess up to what you did."
From the group of kids rose a shaking hand, it was the one of my friend's sister-aunt,
And she said, "Clay, I saw it all and it was Clint!"
Well, Clint yelled out, "You lyin' inbred!" and Clay cried, "You little punk, you're dead!
You meet me at the Y soccer fields a quarter after dark."
Clint said, "I didn't hit that piece of crap, but nobody talks to me like that,
And you're gonna wish you never called me out to that park."

So don't turn away, you don't have to run; every day has a rising sun,
And one day yours is gonna come and take your blues away.
So don't turn away, keep your toes on the line,
Keep your head up kid, everything will be fine.
Those bitter grapes are gonna turn to wine,
And wash your blues away. So don't turn away.

Well, dusk bit into the far horizon, it's teethmarks found a dust trail rising,
Across the clay alley towards the vending machines.
At first nobody really noticed, 'till the dustcloud hit the soccer goals,
Then some kid yelled, "Hey, I think that's Clay Taylor's Jeep!"
He was gunning it, with the hammer down,
And when he got near us he spun it around and stuck the brakes until the gravel bled.
And we all stared at disbelief at the strangest sight I'd ever seen,
A butt naked Clay Taylor, with pantyhose on his head.
Now, you've got to know what this meant to us, this was pre-Braveheart and William Wallace,
Clay was revolutionizing the art of war in 1991.
It was weird as hell, downright frightening, as he called for the man he was supposed to fight,
But who could know the horrorshow had only just begun.

So don't turn away, you don't have to run; every day has a rising sun,
And one day yours is gonna come and take your blues away.
So don't turn away.

We were shocked, speechless, the field was silent,
'till a growl pierced the air like a mountain lion's,
and got closer and closer shaking needles from the trees.
Kids were looking around, all confused, cause the sound grew near but there was still no view,
'Till the southside of the crowd let out in screams.
And the sea of people all around, parted to reveal a clown, running full speed with a chainsaw in his hands,
I'd never seen a clown in full sprint, then I realized "Hey, that's really Clint. And I do believe he aims to kill a man."
Now there is one thing scarier than a mad clown, that's a midget on crank and there ain't many around,
To be honest, I've never seen one in the real.
So the whole crowd got spooked and ran, and left a solitary man,
Standing in the middle of a trampled soccer field.

Well it really doesn't matter who won or lost, I can only say that Clint paid the cost,
Of an ill-fated rumor and a heart of pride.
It wasn't his fault how things turned out, he tried to have something that he was born without,
The kind of toughness a few like Clay keep trapped inside.
The kind that looks someone square in the eye, as he's rushin' at you in a clown disguise,
Brandishing a Yamaha chainsaw from his Daddy's toolshed.
And not flinchin' a bit, not bitin' yer lip,
Not quiverin' shiverin', or faking a limp.
Just spittin' out whiskey right there in the mud, and sayin' "Bring it on, son."
Well, that's the stuff you only see in Albany,
Clay might have been crazy but he was braver than any other SOB I've seen in all my years.
So when the taxman calls, or rent gets late,
Or we've played a show, and we didn't get paid,
I think, "Well it ain't no chainsaw bearing clown, so what do I got to fear."

So don't turn away, you don't have to run; every day brings a rising sun,
And one day yours is gonna come and take your blues away.
So don't turn away, keep your toes on the line,
Keep your head up kid, everything will be fine,
Those bitter grapes are gonna turn to wine,
And take your blues away.

---

How about this?