If you watch streaming TV, you’ve likely internalized its formula for plot, how the opening scene introduces a murder or illness that the heroes spend the rest of the episode trying valiantly (but mostly failing) to solve.
Ballads, sea shanties, pantoums. As a creative nonfiction writer I often immerse myself in the "facts" (characters, circumstances, context) and there are stories which reveal themselves to be country western love songs or villanelles or bee-bop tunes. Musical forms of storytelling provide great inspiration for finding narrative structure. It made me take a closer look at "Veins of Coal" by Richie & Rosie, one of my favorite bluegrass ballads. (Richie Stearns on banjo.) Great craft exercise.
I will learn "Veins of Coal" immediately -- thank you! So many powerful coal ballads. "Sixteen Tons" doesn't really tell a linear story, but it's a classic. "Coal Tattoo" is something like a personal essay.
You're now reminding me of "Gallows Pole" -- two great covers by Led Zeppelin and Neil Young.
thanks for the link to the Willie Watson version of Gallows Pole. What a great example. I'm also struck by the way it slows down the narrative enough with its almost call and response verses so the listener can take in the full emotional impact of its meaning. The pacing and suspense leading up to a public hanging.
"Gallows Pole" doesn't have a ton of depth, so I don't typically include it as a model. But I appreciate your point about the call and response, and there's definitely a rudimentary suspense. The twist or strangeness comes from both parents disavowing their son, admitting that they're not coming to rescue him but to watch his execution. That is pretty haunting!
It's a Leadbelly song. I think there is a whole lotta depth there in his rendition. Originally the folk song was based on a song about a maid. Leadbelly changed its meaning to imply lynching in the early 1930s.
Folksinger Peggy Seeger published a collection of traditional folk ballads (lyrics and music) in the early 60s. During lockdown I read through the lyrics and was shocked at just how sad many of these songs were, but also how persistent the songs were and the stories they told, as Seeger notes, with countless variations over the years, sometimes over centuries, and new songs borrowing old songs’ tunes, sometimes even a verse or two (so-called floater verses).
Many of these songs are also about women or told from a woman’s point of view.
One ballad Seeger did not include is “Mary Hamilton,” which Joan Baez recorded. Virginia Woolf folks here probably know this song since Woolf alludes to the tale of “The Four Marys” behind the song in “A Room of One’s Own.” The sound is not great on the live recording below of Baez, so I’ve included a link to the lyrics. The three surviving Marys mentioned in the last verse are all named in Woolf’s essay.
Wow, Frank, what a fantastic share. I didn't know "Mary Hamilton." You're right that most of these folk tunes are sad. The murder ballad is a genre unto itself. But perhaps it's not unsurprising, since the folk tradition draws from the working class, from people living hard lives. I do appreciate how timeless many of these melodies are. A tune like "Shady Grove" will never grow stale.
The version of “The Golden Vanity” that I know begins, “Captain, captain, what’ll you give me if I should sink the Golden Vanity?” With this challenge, the story is launched. Anonymous was one hell of a storyteller.
Expanding on this (sorry!): what strikes me about great ballads is how they can say so much - character, setting, a story with an ending - with so very few words. Great art under a severe constraint. From Pancho and Lefty: “the desert’s quiet and Cleveland’s cold” is fantastic economy in saying so much
Thanks for the two new leads (both new to me)! Yes, ballads pack a punch with few words. "Gypsy Davey" is great, too. "Cold Missouri Waters" is one of my favorite contemporary ballads. And John McCutheon's "The Red Corvette" adds a touch of humor.
Where to start? This old folkie remembers so many examples. “Mary Hamilton,” already mentioned here, is sublime storytelling, a brew of sexual jealousy and power politics in which the powerless Mary, raped by the king and condemned to death by the queen, choses agency at the gallows over a reprieve granted by her abuser. I also love Dave Van Ronk’s “Frankie’s Blues,” a story of sexual obsession in which Frankie murders Albert for two-timing her, only to realize that he is irreplaceable. There are many versions; I lime this one for the precision of the narrative. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=othKNOwuGNc
I love this comparison and think it is "right on." Eleanor and I discussed song writing a bit here though we admitted we were not experts and I consulted a few: https://marytabor.substack.com/p/persesphone-asks Some about representation but, from my end, ultimately about the force of poetics.
Thanks, Mary -- appreciate the reminder of your excellent post. Yes, there's a lot to be said about music as poetry, too. Someday I'll get around to writing an essay on lyricism. Telling a story through verse may be one of the most difficult art forms.
Maybe someday I'll have a home studio set up and can record something worth sharing! Until then, you'll just have to let me know if you're in central Pennsylvania. A backyard singalong might be possible to arrange :)
A great topic. Your description of "Tennessee Stud" is a good example of how the emotional hook may be different than what drives the plot -- they should connect (as you describe) but they don't need to precisely overlap.
The description of John Henry reminds me of what I like about the Peter Tosh cover of "Johnny B Goode" which, to my ears, takes Chuck Berry's story of hustle and rise to stardom and pushes it in the direction of "John Henry." Listening to it, I have the sense that Johnny's drive and talent mean something more than just popular success but also that the story doesn't necessarily have a happy ending -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_k0_GkopSM
I love Liam Clancy's version of "The Mary Ellen Carter" in which he also makes clear that the emotional hook is not the same as the plot: https://youtu.be/g7Fwg3mowGU
Also, interesting to hear some different version of "The Golden Vanity". I posted this version which does a good job of making the story clear if the listener is unfamiliar with it: https://youtu.be/cyoyhAkXyTk
Someone in comments mentioned a version of Jake Xerxes Fussell which is a nice example of a contemporary recording which feels true to the spirit of a folk ballad. It takes it's time and you feel like the point of the song isn't just telling the story, but forging a connection with all the people who have sung versions of the story for almost 400 years . . . https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3DtDCrVrVkk
"The Golden Vanity" is new to me, though I'm more versed in Western ballads than in songs of the sea. Good distinctions between the emotional hook and plot, though I think they do intersect if the emotional hook involves an internal conflict! Lisa Cron offers some elaborate templates for mapping internal conflict onto external conflict, but I prefer to keep that principle in the back of my mind as a reminder.
I was trying to come up with an easy summary, but I appreciate that your original post doesn't try to build an intellectual schema for analyzing ballads -- it keeps the focus on, "listen to the song and think about what makes it work."
Yup, a lot of good writing is developing an intuitive ear for language. Sometimes you can break that down, but often it's more like taste or touch than a cerebral deliberation.
Thanks, David. A classic! There are several ballads on the eponymous "Cry, Cry Cry" album, including the Norman Maclean-inspired "Cold Missouri Waters."
But this is another rollicking one: "Shades of Gray."
Ballads, sea shanties, pantoums. As a creative nonfiction writer I often immerse myself in the "facts" (characters, circumstances, context) and there are stories which reveal themselves to be country western love songs or villanelles or bee-bop tunes. Musical forms of storytelling provide great inspiration for finding narrative structure. It made me take a closer look at "Veins of Coal" by Richie & Rosie, one of my favorite bluegrass ballads. (Richie Stearns on banjo.) Great craft exercise.
I will learn "Veins of Coal" immediately -- thank you! So many powerful coal ballads. "Sixteen Tons" doesn't really tell a linear story, but it's a classic. "Coal Tattoo" is something like a personal essay.
You're now reminding me of "Gallows Pole" -- two great covers by Led Zeppelin and Neil Young.
Here's "Veins of Coal" for anyone interested.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JeZJRo9Ak6o&t=13s
And a nice rendition of "Gallows Pole" by Willie Watson.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NedEQ6sHloE
thanks for the link to the Willie Watson version of Gallows Pole. What a great example. I'm also struck by the way it slows down the narrative enough with its almost call and response verses so the listener can take in the full emotional impact of its meaning. The pacing and suspense leading up to a public hanging.
"Gallows Pole" doesn't have a ton of depth, so I don't typically include it as a model. But I appreciate your point about the call and response, and there's definitely a rudimentary suspense. The twist or strangeness comes from both parents disavowing their son, admitting that they're not coming to rescue him but to watch his execution. That is pretty haunting!
It's a Leadbelly song. I think there is a whole lotta depth there in his rendition. Originally the folk song was based on a song about a maid. Leadbelly changed its meaning to imply lynching in the early 1930s.
Folksinger Peggy Seeger published a collection of traditional folk ballads (lyrics and music) in the early 60s. During lockdown I read through the lyrics and was shocked at just how sad many of these songs were, but also how persistent the songs were and the stories they told, as Seeger notes, with countless variations over the years, sometimes over centuries, and new songs borrowing old songs’ tunes, sometimes even a verse or two (so-called floater verses).
Many of these songs are also about women or told from a woman’s point of view.
One ballad Seeger did not include is “Mary Hamilton,” which Joan Baez recorded. Virginia Woolf folks here probably know this song since Woolf alludes to the tale of “The Four Marys” behind the song in “A Room of One’s Own.” The sound is not great on the live recording below of Baez, so I’ve included a link to the lyrics. The three surviving Marys mentioned in the last verse are all named in Woolf’s essay.
https://www.shazam.com/song/713902225/mary-hamilton
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCnP9E4lUzo
Wow, Frank, what a fantastic share. I didn't know "Mary Hamilton." You're right that most of these folk tunes are sad. The murder ballad is a genre unto itself. But perhaps it's not unsurprising, since the folk tradition draws from the working class, from people living hard lives. I do appreciate how timeless many of these melodies are. A tune like "Shady Grove" will never grow stale.
The version of “The Golden Vanity” that I know begins, “Captain, captain, what’ll you give me if I should sink the Golden Vanity?” With this challenge, the story is launched. Anonymous was one hell of a storyteller.
“If you sang ‘John Henry’ as many times as me… you’d have written ‘How many roads must a man walk down?’ too.” —Bob Dylan
Pancho and Lefty is a beautiful model of storytelling by ballad. And Ode to Billie Joe, of course. Great piece!
Expanding on this (sorry!): what strikes me about great ballads is how they can say so much - character, setting, a story with an ending - with so very few words. Great art under a severe constraint. From Pancho and Lefty: “the desert’s quiet and Cleveland’s cold” is fantastic economy in saying so much
Thanks for the two new leads (both new to me)! Yes, ballads pack a punch with few words. "Gypsy Davey" is great, too. "Cold Missouri Waters" is one of my favorite contemporary ballads. And John McCutheon's "The Red Corvette" adds a touch of humor.
Where to start? This old folkie remembers so many examples. “Mary Hamilton,” already mentioned here, is sublime storytelling, a brew of sexual jealousy and power politics in which the powerless Mary, raped by the king and condemned to death by the queen, choses agency at the gallows over a reprieve granted by her abuser. I also love Dave Van Ronk’s “Frankie’s Blues,” a story of sexual obsession in which Frankie murders Albert for two-timing her, only to realize that he is irreplaceable. There are many versions; I lime this one for the precision of the narrative. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=othKNOwuGNc
Wow -- thank you, Rona. "Frankie's Blues" is a killer. Do you know Gillian Welch's "Caleb Meyer"? Similar storyline, only without the regret.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nugXkgd_-84
I must return to it. Gillian Welch is a mesmerizing songwriter.
I love this comparison and think it is "right on." Eleanor and I discussed song writing a bit here though we admitted we were not experts and I consulted a few: https://marytabor.substack.com/p/persesphone-asks Some about representation but, from my end, ultimately about the force of poetics.
Thanks, Mary -- appreciate the reminder of your excellent post. Yes, there's a lot to be said about music as poetry, too. Someday I'll get around to writing an essay on lyricism. Telling a story through verse may be one of the most difficult art forms.
Would have loved hearing you sing and play these instead.
Maybe someday I'll have a home studio set up and can record something worth sharing! Until then, you'll just have to let me know if you're in central Pennsylvania. A backyard singalong might be possible to arrange :)
A lovely offer! Thanks Joshua! I’ll give you a jingle when I’m on my way 🤗
A great topic. Your description of "Tennessee Stud" is a good example of how the emotional hook may be different than what drives the plot -- they should connect (as you describe) but they don't need to precisely overlap.
The description of John Henry reminds me of what I like about the Peter Tosh cover of "Johnny B Goode" which, to my ears, takes Chuck Berry's story of hustle and rise to stardom and pushes it in the direction of "John Henry." Listening to it, I have the sense that Johnny's drive and talent mean something more than just popular success but also that the story doesn't necessarily have a happy ending -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_k0_GkopSM
There are so many great examples.
In working on this post ( https://earnestnessisunderrated.substack.com/p/what-is-your-favorite-song-about )
I love Liam Clancy's version of "The Mary Ellen Carter" in which he also makes clear that the emotional hook is not the same as the plot: https://youtu.be/g7Fwg3mowGU
Also, interesting to hear some different version of "The Golden Vanity". I posted this version which does a good job of making the story clear if the listener is unfamiliar with it: https://youtu.be/cyoyhAkXyTk
Someone in comments mentioned a version of Jake Xerxes Fussell which is a nice example of a contemporary recording which feels true to the spirit of a folk ballad. It takes it's time and you feel like the point of the song isn't just telling the story, but forging a connection with all the people who have sung versions of the story for almost 400 years . . . https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3DtDCrVrVkk
"The Golden Vanity" is new to me, though I'm more versed in Western ballads than in songs of the sea. Good distinctions between the emotional hook and plot, though I think they do intersect if the emotional hook involves an internal conflict! Lisa Cron offers some elaborate templates for mapping internal conflict onto external conflict, but I prefer to keep that principle in the back of my mind as a reminder.
I was trying to come up with an easy summary, but I appreciate that your original post doesn't try to build an intellectual schema for analyzing ballads -- it keeps the focus on, "listen to the song and think about what makes it work."
Yup, a lot of good writing is developing an intuitive ear for language. Sometimes you can break that down, but often it's more like taste or touch than a cerebral deliberation.
Thanks Josh. Those small details! My favorite ballad is Harry Chapin's "Taxi."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c5dwksSbD34
Thanks, David. A classic! There are several ballads on the eponymous "Cry, Cry Cry" album, including the Norman Maclean-inspired "Cold Missouri Waters."
But this is another rollicking one: "Shades of Gray."
https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=ZeeQ0lAGuuI&list=OLAK5uy_mXoCmXemeNKnVuEwPFETPyR5CcmtE6cmE