I was listening to some 80's music on youtube and rediscovered this song by Bruce Springsteen called "Atlantic City". It is different from alot of music on the radio in that it tells a story. This story is about a man who has fallen on hard times and with nothing to loose buys some bus tickets for him and his girl to go to Atlantic City. It doesn't say why he chose Atlantic City, maybe it was a place where they have lots of good memories and hope the fondness they have for it might bring some light to thier dismal situation. The song is kind of sad but it's well written because it makes you think of different possibilities for meanings in the lyrics, and Bruce's blue collar voice adds an element of believabilty to it. Other songs that tell a good story are "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" Gordon Lightfoot, "Southern Cross" CSN&Y , "Manhattan Project" by Rush (not Limbaugh) and "Faimily Portrait" by Pink.
What are some songs that you like that tell a good story?
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3 comments:
You are such a good writer! You really should think about writing a book. Let's see . . . a song that tells a story. I guess I'd have to say 80's love songs because they really speak to my soul. Something like Chicago's Hard Habit to Break or Journey's Faithfully. They speak a story to me, but then again, I look for a story in everything I hear!
Monica
"Faithfully" is a good song! Steve Perry had a unique voice and that song had a melancholy feeling to it, I guess because we can all relate to being pulled away from those we love by work, circumstance etc. Good song Monica! I'm going to pull it up on youtube.
Atlantic City in the 80's...when we were first married, we lived about an hour away. Lots of young folks worked in the casinos...pay was good. Lots of people took the buses there, free tokens with ticket. Meanwhile, the people of AC had their houses torn down, and overtaken by big real estate moguls like Trump.Two streets from the Boardwalk and it was bad and no money went towards those poor people. Crime went up, people got wasted and it was sad...it was no longer a family fun place at the boardwalk. Just a little tidbit from the past. Job market had bombed...kind of like today.
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