this post was submitted on 20 Jul 2023
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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 :)

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[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

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.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 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.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 year ago (1 children)

The video starts off NSFW. Pillow Talking by Lil Dicky featuring Brain

It's a post-sex conversation between two people who presumably met on a hookup app.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

That song is hilarious. "Dont call brain names. The brain couldn't recall."

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 year ago
[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 year ago (2 children)
[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

This was also the first song I thought of

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

That was a great song, damn. Thanks a lot. It's so simple yet deep. It's gonna stick around in my head for a while

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago (3 children)
[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

I had to scroll too far to find this. I was going to suggest it if nobody else had. Thanks!

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

Wow, the song was an experience. Chills.

Thank you!

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago

Bohemian Like You - The Dandy Warhols https://youtu.be/ZJLDjYRfx3g

A dude trying to chat up someone he likes

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago

Telemiscommunications - Imogen Heap + deadmau5

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago

Tom Waits - Christmas Card from a Hooker in Minneapolis

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago* (last edited 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.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago

I mean it might sound an obvious choice but 'She Loves You' by The Beatles is basically this.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

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

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

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

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago (2 children)
[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Wow I'm so surprised someone beat me to MC Lars and Frontalot haha. Glad to see another Nerdcore enjoyer in the wild.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

Yeah and somehow I forgot to mention all the other MC Lars stuff... MC Lars and K Flay, MC Lars and Mega Ran, etc. Basically all conversational. That's kind of an MC Lars thing.

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[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago

Another Customer by Andy Ditzler

A guy talking to himself or to another person who is on the phone with customer service, and then while on hold starts to ponder about life.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 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

[–] [email protected] 4 points 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

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago
[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Interesting idea :) Gonna have to think about this one.

Not sure this song qualifies, but it does feel like he's expressing his frustrations to someone.

Kane Strang - My Smile Is Extinct

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

This one’s fairly new but I really like it.

https://song.link/i/1683111979

Coffee Conversations by FUTURISTIC & Oswin Benjamin

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

A lot of Bruce Springsteen’s songs are like that, but I’ll recommend one in particular that hits your mark:

Brilliant Disguise. https://open.spotify.com/track/0nqbZ17t9v52SCemAm1QP0

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

Here are some that came to mind for me, some might be closer to what you are expecting than others, but I feel like they fit the description decently.

Father John Misty - Mr.Tillman

  • The entire song is from the point of view of a hotel front desk clerk asking a guest about his odd behavior during a previous stay.

James and the Shame - Believe Me

  • Rhett McLaughlin of Good Mythical Morning fame's solo project where he details his struggle with his changing religious beliefs after a lifetime in the church and how he feels others see him now.

Bo Burnham - FaceTime with My Mom (Tonight)

  • Part of Bo Burnham's comedic yet serious special, Inside, he filmed and produced all by himself during the Covid lockdowns.

Head East - Never Been Any Reason

  • The singer asking trying to make up with his partner about being on the road for long durations and she feels like there is no reason to think about here when he is on tour.

Sheryl Crow - All I Wanna Do

A story telling describing drinking at a bar at noon during a workweek when the man sitting next to her starts a conversation.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

A lot of rock operas do this, Ayreon is one of my favourite projects here.

To pick one, The Human Equation is about a character in a coma, and has external and internal characters. Day Four: Mystery is his friend and his partner discussing the mystery of the car accident that put him there: https://youtu.be/fzsKhT3wHgI

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago
[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

Ooooh yes it does. I enjoyed the song a lot, thank you! I think I'm going to binge Pamplemousse entirely, their work seems like it'd jive with me

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

The first one that came to mind is a wife and mistress talking.

Does He Love You by Reba McIntyre - https://youtu.be/FUP9DnurODw

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

Tom Waits - Martha

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

You should check out Casiotone for the Painfully Alone. A lot of his songs are like this, the rest tend to be short stories set to music. Excellent band ( although I think it's just one guy named Owen Asheworth). He calls the project Advanced Base now, also really good

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

Would Everybody's Free by Baz Luhrmann count for this? (You might know it as "Wear Sunscreen")

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

Setting Sail, Coming Home by Darren Korb. For the game Bastion, by Supergiant Games (developers of Hades + a few other cool games).

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago
[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Dear McCracken is great!
Orange Juice by Noah Kahan

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Haunt Me by Sansa

upbeat loss

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

BB King - Lucille

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago
[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago
[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

maybe ME! (Brenden Urie and Taylor Swift, probably only kinda counts) and Just Give Me A Reason (P!nk and Nate Ruess)? I think Like I'm Gonna Lose You (Meghan Trainor, John Legend) might also work?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago
[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

XTC - Dear God

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