I’ve recently gotten into songs where the entire lyrics are the singer talking to someone. For example,

Sophie by The Altogether - https://youtu.be/k2KRDetyGhs

Dear McCracken by Bug Hunter - https://youtu.be/aWGolv2iqM0

Dance of the Dead by Iron Maiden - https://youtu.be/gG_JLYxbqpQ

Something Stupid - https://youtu.be/0f48fpoSEPU

GMF by John Grant - https://youtu.be/ekFWPsXXcg0

Angel of the Morning - https://youtu.be/K7Qfqle_2Bs

Mariner’s Revenge Song by The Decemberists - https://youtu.be/iPAr7kL-mmg

Jolene by Dolly Parton - https://youtu.be/Ixrje2rXLMA

Genre is no bar - I just want the song to feel like a conversation.

Please help me scratch this itch. I know it sounds a bit vague, especially when there’s a lot of songs that have some “talking” parts sprinkled in them, but that’s not what I want.

If anyone could tell me what genre of music this is, I would appreciate it a lot. I guess a lot of ballads are similar to this style, but I’m not very sure

Edit: Thanks a lot everyone for your suggestions. I’m gonna take my time listening to each of these :)

  • Little Talks - Of Monsters and Men is, lyrically, a conversation between two people.

    One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer - George Thorogood is like a dude telling a story, with a bit of song in between the story.

    Same with Alice’s Restaurant Massacree by Arlo Guthrie, but a funnier and longer story.

    I know a lot of love songs that sound like they are someone talking to a person, which is what I thought of seeing Jolene in your list. I don’t think what you’re after is a specific genre though, and given the examples I could probably just list every single song I have favorited on Spotify that isn’t purely instrumental.

    • shufflerofrocks@beehaw.orgOP
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      1 year ago

      I loved your suggestions, thanks a lot

      Little Talks was cute, it reminds me of Anyone Else But You by The Moldy Peaches but with more energy

      George Thorogood’s song is not the kind of music I usually listen to, but damn is he engaging and jivey

      I think Alice’s Restaurant is my fav from your suggestions, but lol it’s almost an audiobook with it’s length

      Love songs seem to be the most common in this style - I also have a large number of such songs in my library. I prolly should’ve asked for non-love songs specifically tbh, but the current suggestions are pretty great so can’t complain.

  • sapo@beehaw.org
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    1 year ago

    Some classics I didn’t see here yet:

    Pink Floyd - Wish you were here (all the songs from that album, come to think of it, are in the second person and usually pretty specificially talking to Syd Barrett)

    Bob Dylan - Like a rolling stone

    Now for a completely different take on “feeling like a conversation”, I have an instrumental recommendation: Bernstein and Brubeck - Dialogues for Jazz Combo and Orchestra

    Edit: just noticed that a lot of songs by Steely Dan are also in the second person, usually directed and criminal or tragic figures. Kid Charlemagne is my favorite in that format.

  • mrGarbanzo@beehaw.org
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    1 year ago

    Admit it by Say Anything The Noose by A Perfect Circle Never there, rock and roll lifestyle, or Walk on By by Cake (they do this a lot) Kiss me I’m shitfaced by Dropkick Murphys Save Tonight - eagle eye cherry The Most Beautiful Girl (in the room) - Flight of thr Conchords

  • the w@beehaw.org
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    1 year ago

    Clutch is a stoner rock band with some really unique lyrics - Neil Fallon has the manic poetry of someone who has seen The Truth and has lived to tell the tale. The first 3nsongs of their 2015 album Psychic Warfare are presented as the singer recounting a weird tale to the authorities after the fact.

    The Affidavit is spoken word opener where a cop or someone asks the singer to just write down everything that happened.

    X-ray visions launches into the tale pychi warfare, conspiracies and the vengeful spirits of Ronald and Nancy Reagan.

    Firebirds continues the tale: the singer encounters a strange girl who demands classic automobiles and energy weapons or else.

    For extra credit a subsequent album revisits the same speaker years later trying to explain it all to his young son - In Walks Barbarella

    Probably most clutch songs have this storytelling style and I can’t recommend them enough

    • Pantoffel@beehaw.org
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      1 year ago

      Love clutch, the lyrics are certainly something that helps them stand out from the crowd

  • StrandedRez@beehaw.org
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    1 year ago

    This might be what you’re looking for. Basically a monologue over a scratchy beat

    Baz Luhrmann - Everybody’s Free To Wear Sunscreen