Discussion » Questions » Music » What's a song you like that is based upon an actual event?

What's a song you like that is based upon an actual event?



Gordon Lightfoot's  "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald"  is one of mine


Posted - July 4, 2023

Responses


  • 13277
      July 4, 2023 7:00 PM MDT
    7

  • 23659
    I remember a controversy with a song and The Smothers Brothers Show. But I don't remember details. i bet this is it.
    I like the song and when I looked it up, I read about the controversy, too. 
    Unsettling a bit with the drowning but a good song to me. I don't think I knew of it specifically until listening a while ago.
      July 17, 2023 5:33 PM MDT
    5

  • 13277
    Pete Seeger was great. I grew up listening to him with The Weavers and solo.
      July 17, 2023 6:55 PM MDT
    3

  • 23659
    And I listened to Seeger and the Weavers a bit a bit ago. I recognized I'd heard them more than I thought I had. Yup, I like them.
      July 19, 2023 6:29 PM MDT
    4

  • 10052
    I like "The Night Chicago Died".  I don't remember the name of the artist. 
      July 4, 2023 7:01 PM MDT
    8

  • 13277
    Paper Lace
      July 5, 2023 7:58 PM MDT
    6

  • 10052
    Yes! Thank you, Stu. 
      July 7, 2023 6:54 PM MDT
    4

  • 13277
    Thank Google, lol.
      July 7, 2023 7:27 PM MDT
    4

  • 10052
    But you Googled for me instead of telling me that its my friend. 

    :P
      July 7, 2023 8:06 PM MDT
    5

  • 13277
    Google is my friend and I am yours, lol.
      July 7, 2023 8:33 PM MDT
    5

  • 53526
    (its it’s)

      July 7, 2023 9:46 PM MDT
    4

  • 10052
    Like I didn't do that on purpose. Nice try, though. 
      July 8, 2023 9:35 AM MDT
    4

  • 53526

      A likely story, nice try yourself.
      This could have been a simple administrative infraction, now you’ve escalated it into an actual arrest. Come along with me, please. There is a special holding cell in the sub-basement waiting just for you.




    ~

      July 8, 2023 9:51 AM MDT
    4

  • 23659
    I like that song, too.

    Whoa - - do I discredit the song for my question since, according to Wikipedia, it's about a fictional event?  :)

    Nah. Hearing music is a good thing for me.
      July 17, 2023 5:36 PM MDT
    4

  • 53526

     

      As a Marine Corps veteran, Billy Joel’s 1982 song “Goodnight, Saigon” resonates with me very well. Also along those same lines, as a patriotic American and a Marine veteran, Bruce Springsteen’s 1984 hit “Born in the USA”.

    “Ode to Billie Joe” by Bobbie Gentry”, 1967.

    “Strange Fruit” by Billie Holiday, 1939.

    “Over There” by George M. Cohen, 1917.

    “The Star-Spangled Banner” by Francis Scott Key, 1814.

    “Joshua Fit The Battle of Jericho”



    And many more . . .
      ~

      July 4, 2023 8:06 PM MDT
    10

  • 23659
    Like I mentioned to SavvyAnsley, do I discredit your "Ode to Billie Joe" answer for my question since that song is not based upon an actual event? (Though, according to what I've read, Gentry was inspired for the song by the 1954 murder of Emmett Till, an event that gets my blood boiling.) 

    But, on a happier note -- Ha! Get it? Ha! --I must accept your answer with glee since, as I've said before, and will continue to say until I hear something better to me - - if forced to choose, I choose Bobbie Gentry's "Ode to Billie Joe" as "THE Best Song I've Ever Heard."

    OMG -- I didn't know the song "Strange Fruit" by Billie Holiday whose voice I adore. just now, I read a bit about the story behind the song and I'm crying. I'll be back another time.

    Why, why, why can't we humans get along with each other?

    Thanks for opening eyes a bit more. I have a feeling I'm going to like Holiday's fruits for sure.
      July 17, 2023 5:50 PM MDT
    4

  • 23659
    "Strange Fruit" was, indeed, difficult for me to hear. Had not heard it before. But both Meeropol's/Allan's song and Holiday are great. So painful for me, though.

    And I realize I skipped down to your list of songs and missed Billy's and Bruce's songs. I know of Bruce's and I like it; unsure if I know Billy's but I bet I do. 

    My goal is to work through the answers to my question.

    Thanks, Randy D  :)
    Be Well
      July 18, 2023 1:35 PM MDT
    4

  • 23659
    And my heavy heart continues with these songs (though, somehow, I mean that in a healthy way).

    I listened to, and watched this video to, Joel's "Goodnight Saigon." 
    Somehow, I had not heard this song until now.
    This song was difficult, also, for me.
    All I can say at the moment is "thank you" to you and anyone who has served in the military.

    Out of here for the night again for me. Will be back.  :)

    This post was edited by WelbyQuentin at August 11, 2023 8:04 PM MDT
      July 18, 2023 6:46 PM MDT
    5

  • 53526

     

      Welby, the video you tried to post here does not work.
    ~

      August 1, 2023 7:49 AM MDT
    2

  • 23659
    The video for Joel's song was posted here for many, many, many days after my posting on July 18 and it did work.

    Then it suddenly was declared "child-restricted."
    Men with naked torsos were included.
    Seemingly-actual images of men in battle, too.
    It's a good video and I'm leaving it as is, in case the age-restricted children grow old enough to see it. 

    And, regardless of what it says, I did NOT edit anything on July 31, at 9:21pm.
      August 4, 2023 3:21 PM MDT
    2

  • 23659
    Based on my track record with your answers, believe it or not, I know the last three songs in your list.  :) This post was edited by WelbyQuentin at August 1, 2023 7:48 AM MDT
      July 19, 2023 6:31 PM MDT
    1

  • 17620
      July 5, 2023 3:44 PM MDT
    8

  • 23659
    Oh, my, yes --  this song always pulls me in. Thanks for your answer, Thriftymaid.
      July 19, 2023 6:32 PM MDT
    4

  • 17620
    Seems the good, they die young.

    Yes, it does too often.
      July 20, 2023 1:07 PM MDT
    3