NOTEWRTHY: Storytelling In Music

Welcome back to NOTEWRTHY, where it takes me way too long to think of these intro sentences.

In this post, let’s talk about how a story can be expressed through a piece of music, and how it can be used to discuss a variety of topics. For the sake of brevity and variety, I’ll only be using 1 song from any given album.

First, I’ve got to mention “Whatsername” by Green Day. When it comes to albums that really hit a special place for me, American Idiot (2004) by Green Day is one of them, and the final track “Whatsername” is a perfect way to round out the album. On an album all about experiencing emotions and dealing with how your life changes as you get older, it would be foolhardy to not talk about dealing with a relationship that regrettably had to end, or fell to the wayside. The speaker talks about how he was very invested in a relationship that he previously had, but then for some reason or another, they ended things and both grew apart, as seen by the line “She went away, and then I took a different path.” He also mentions that this relationship’s end was very damaging for him, and that he has since taken measures to forget the person he dated, as seen in the lines where he mentions that he “…made a point to burn all the photographs.” He can still remember her face, but not the name, hence the use of “Whatsername” as a placeholder. However, it seems that for the most part, these measures have been futile. He later remarks that the regrets he has are useless to remember, but he still does; and that while he tries to forget it all, he closes the song by mentioning that he’ll forget her but not the time and experiences. Ultimately, this song has some very relatable lines and overall subject matter, making it all the more special.

Next up, we’ve got “The Art of Peer Pressure” by Kendrick Lamar. Coming off of the critically acclaimed album good kid, m.A.A.d city (2012), the song is a part of the overall story told from this album and functions as the first major event in the plot that Kendrick describes to the listeners. The album is about Kendrick’s youth in Compton and the life that he led as a young man. The tracklist plays out like a short film, with discernable characters and events marking certain points in the story. “The Art of Peer Pressure” is about Kendrick hanging out with his friends. He mentions in the first couple of lines that he isn’t the kind of guy to smoke, drink or be violent, but he feels pressured to when around his friends. Kendrick is at the point in his life where his mom can no longer make decisions for him, and all she can do is give him advice and that the lifestyle he seems to be starting will only lead to ruin. The song describes Kendrick and his friends planning a robbery and eventually breaking into the house they were casing. Unfortunately, the house had someone inside, and they called the cops. They were able to get away unharmed, but it’s still the first major event in Kendrick’s story on this project. Kendrick starts to realize that his mom was right, and it starts to evolve his thinking about his actions and his friends, more specifically, the choices he needs to make with them. The track really sets the tone and informs the listeners what is going to happen in this story from here on out.

“ARE WE STILL FRIENDS” by Tyler, The Creator, from his 2019 project, Igor, is another song with heavy reflective themes and tells another story about a relationship that fell apart. The difference from the aforementioned song “Whatsername” is that the situation Tyler is going through seems to be more one-sided towards him being the one who was rejected by this person who he had feelings for. We see him pleading with the person who’s distancing him from them to please not fully break contact with him, and that he still cares for them greatly. He still wants to know them and be with them to some degree, even if it’s not a relationship. It seems that by the end of the song, Tyler bitterly accepts that this person was very much put off by his advances, and is angry both with himself and this person at this development. He even says in the song “I don’t want to end this season on a bad episode.” Once again, unrequited love is another extremely common topic. Almost everyone has had a crush on someone who didn’t like them back, so it makes this song very easy to relate to. The desperation, the pain, the harsh reality — these are all extremely real and uncomfortable parts of this process, and we see Tyler experiencing this firsthand. Being able to picture and empathize with feelings so specific is one of the best parts of songs with stories behind them, and one of the things that makes this a great final track.

Finally, let’s close out with one of the best-known storytelling songs of all time, “Stan” by Eminem, from his 2000 album The Marshall Mathers LP. It’s quite common for songs to inspire popular culture or even add terms to modern slang vocabulary, but there’s a reason we call overly dedicated fans “Stans,” and it’s because of this track. Coming to us first from the perspective of a man named Stan, we get him reading a series of letters he writes to “Slim.” He starts out a little annoyed that Slim hasn’t written him back after he said he would write him back if he was sent a letter, but he chalks it up to the address not being written clearly. We also learn that Stan is a super fan of Slims and that he has been for a while. In the second one, we see a now annoyed, but not yet angry, Stan writing to Slim again. This time talking again about how much he supports and empathizes with his music, but now he’s also annoyed that he didn’t sign an autograph after a show for his brother, who idolizes the rapper. The third letter we get is also the enactment of Stan’s suicide, and also a letter that is never sent out. Stan talks about how he now hates Slim because he never wrote back, and that it drove him to rage and insanity. In the said fit of rage, he traps his pregnant girlfriend in the car with him and drives their car off a bridge as he’s writing the letter. Of course, Slim never receives this letter. However, the last letter we get is actually from Slim’s point of view. He talks about how he has been busy with the tour and stuff, and that he didn’t get to Stan’s letters until this moment. He apologizes, then asks about how things are going. He also expresses concern about some of the behaviors Stan was talking about in the letters that he was sent and realizes at the end that the guy he saw committed suicide by crashing his car on the news was Stan, based on the stuff they found in the crash. With this song, we get a great story of a fan who took things too far, and we see the process of him losing his mind over the events that transpire beautifully illustrated. This is one of those songs that very directly is a series of events, where sometimes they are more loosely connected. Eminem does an amazing job of depicting these characters and serves us a warning about what can happen if you take fandom too seriously.

Obviously, there are many many great storytelling songs, but these are just a few favorites of mine. Definitely go check these out.