I'm always one to prefer a narrative in a song, music video, dance, performance, etc. I’m a words person. I like words. They have more of an impact than a tune does for me. A creation I can follow with a beginning, middle, and end is so much sweeter than something that feels random. Some media such as books and movies are (99% of the time) driven by narrative, but I could name dozens of songs that don't tell any kind of meaningful story.
Cold war kids' album "Robbers and Cowards" is one to take note of. Although over a decade old, it bellows with relevant lyrics and modern, orchestral melodies that tell subjective stories. Throughout the work, they use vocals to tell stories, which increases the value and quality of the music itself. For example, in "we used to vacation", it tells the story of an alcoholic father making excuses for his behavior:
That accident left everyone a little shook up But at the meetings I felt so empty This will blow over in time This will all blow over in time
Following the narrative, I fall into a world they portray for me. Each song has varying degree of mood, some are quite upbeat, yet all the songs play on one or multiple themes of abandonment, longing, abuse, illegal activity, and religion or lack thereof. It is not happy music, even if it sounds like it. There’s tamberines and fast tempos; “Saint John” even sounds like a sea shanty of sorts. Here is a sample of the lyrics from that sea-shanty-sounding song:
Young girl turn the corner with her clerk dress on, that girl was my sister Just got off the night shift at Penningtons Place, just wanna go home and get some sleep Boys grab her by the waist with their caffeine eyes, their hands all figdet and 'lectric I picked up a brick from my papa's front yard and threw it at the tallest boy's face Well blood was streaming like a well that sprung, I couldn't believe what I had just done Well the other boys ran and this one stayed on the ground and he would never move again
Dark, huh? It’s about an attempted assault and bloody subsequence. The full song is an even more robust depiction of the situation. Yet to me, this is a great, upbeat song that I will listen to walking to class. The storyline draws me in, it gives me something to think about. Podcasts are hugely popular right now, personally I don’t love them, but isn’t listening to music with a strong narrative sort of the same thing? Isn’t it like watching a movie with no visuals? Like reading a short story with a melody?
I feel passionate by listening to these songs. Following the narrative, I fall into a world they portray for me, that plays on themes of abandonment, longing, abuse. Yet with there is such appealing, interesting, fresh-sounding vocals and mixture of percussion with bass with tambourine with piano. It’s fantastic and a construction of new world through the medium of music.
I don’t know if I am the most credible source of music review. I don’t sing, I don’t play instruments, I don’t know about music theory, evolution, marketing or distribution. But I listen to it all the time. I listen to music when I’m alone and I listen to music when I’m with people. I sing in the shower and I fall asleep to slow, sad tracks. I listen to music when I work, when I play, when I cry, when I dance, yet I know nothing about the procedure that leads to my consumption. I am credible in the sense that this is what an average consumer thinks of this album. This is what someone distant from the source thinks of “Robbers and Cowards”. I love it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VxM4WY7U9IM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8rfDvpfC2bw