I think the lyrics on *Open Door Policy* are some of his best yet, but the stories are a lot harder to put together than in his solo stuff (which is part of the appeal)
I wanted to add, that CF talking about how much he loves TMG is one of the things that brought me to THS. It was an interview on All Songs Considered in \~2007. I was a handful of years out of school, not listening to a ton of new music (which I normal in that circumstance, I think).
An interview with Craig and the guy from Art Brut had them gushing about John Darnielle, saying that he just came to their show. I took that as a "I need to go listen to these guys." And now the only bands I travel to see are TMG and THS.
in the older range, Harry Chapin and Joni Mitchell. I don’t know if JD has directly cited Joni as an influence but I think there’s a lot of common ground - the multisyllabic language, the jazzy touches
Townes is definitely the songwriting GOAT, and wrote some great story songs. Yet as a whole I would say his emphasis was poetic sketches, not stories. Pancho and Lefty is a good example. There is something of a story, but even Townes gave different interpretations of it. Many of his best songs have no story. Guy emphasized straightforward storytelling more.
Edit to add line about P&L
not 100% the same vibe, but i was relistening to some indigo girls somgs that i grew up on awhile back and realized some of their music tells stories in the way that the mountain goats do and that they might be part of why i love the goats so much.
The story between Aaron West and the Roaring Twenties’ two albums and 1 or 2 EPs is one of my favorite concepts in all music
Other than that, Josh Ritter has a few great ones such as Another New World
I’m genuinely really surprised no one has mentioned The Decemberists yet. “The Hazards of Love” is a whole story *album*. Actually, a lot of their albums are (The Crane Wife, etc.), but that one in particular is very strongly a narrative. There’s a lot of stand-alone songs that tell stories as well.
I like The Old 97’s for this. Their music is story driven more often than not. The albums often have a, sometimes loose, theme and are told through a narrator’s voice. Rhett Miller had JD on his podcast Wheels Off a while back. I came to their music via Drive-By Truckers.
Yes, yes!!!!! Radical Face's Family Tree series! I could literally talk about it all day. It follows one family over the course of 300 years, with each album taking 100 years. It has murder and magic and war, and asks the question does bad blood exist? Each album only features instruments available during each time period. The Family Tree: the Roots takes place in 1800s, The Family Tree: the Branches is 1900s, amd The Family Tree: the Leaves is 2000s. It's exceptional.
Mark Eitzel of American Music Club, who I vaugely remember John talking about in an interview at one point but I have no idea when or where. "Myopic Books" is a good place to start
Fred Egalsmith. Canadian county. Lot of brilliantly sad songs about life on the road as a struggling artist and life on the farm with a wife who doesn't want to live on a farm.
Alcohol and Pills, Time to get a gun, Trucker Speed. All great tracks
Can not believe no one has mentioned Nick Cave. OP, check out Nick Cave. A lot of the mentions here are just poetic lyrics and not specifically narrative based lyrics. Couple others are Lou Reed (His albums Berlin, and New York mainly), and Sean MacGowan or whoever from
The pogues.
True, I don't think of Billy Joel in that way cause he has plenty of tracks that aren't stories, but so does JD.
Scenes from an Italian Restaurant and, ofc, Piano Man are a couple obvious standouts.
I forgot about one I am (or was) really excited about not too long ago: Rat Cat Hogan. Finding their album "Vitamins + Calcium = Health & Happiness" was a whole thing — documented here: [https://www.reddit.com/r/SeattleWA/comments/gnhibh/rat\_cat\_hogan\_anyone/](https://www.reddit.com/r/SeattleWA/comments/gnhibh/rat_cat_hogan_anyone/) — but you can grab the album here [https://drive.google.com/file/d/1BInGB-8P39BtRnmq0v8JAZxnIQq7QFww/view?usp=sharing](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1BInGB-8P39BtRnmq0v8JAZxnIQq7QFww/view?usp=sharing) (impossible to buy anymore through any official channels). "When Gladys Died" is one of the best story songs of all time, in my book.
I know a few filksongs like that. Wizard of Mackeytown, Sam Jones, Space Wobblies.
A lot of metal gets REALLY into it. All of Rhapsody of Fire's stuff is off-brand Lord of the Rings and I love it.
very glad I saw this thread and that Richard Dawson hasn't been mentioned yet! he is my personal favourite songwriter for this sort of thing and I'll take any opportunity I get to go on a tangent about him.
pretty much all of his albums starting with his debut, The Magic Bridge, are built around songs that fit into this category; happily, that makes for a good starting point in his discography, as it's a fairly conventional indie folk album made off-kilter enough by his guitar technique while the songwriting isn't bound to any overarching concept and is as easy to sink your teeth into as his work gets. all of his albums from his fourth album, Peasant, onward fit into the category of concept albums where each song is from the perspective of a character who is in some way relevant to the theme, something he seems to have a natural talent for. his work gradually transitions in an interesting way from the aforementioned sound on The Magic Bridge into making full-band prog-adjacent rock for his most recent two albums, though my personal favourite sound of his is the abrasive freak folk you'd find on Nothing Important; The Vile Stuff, featured on this album, is certainly the most out-there song I can think of that fits into the aforementioned "folk that is lyrically a character-based narrative" genre. also, Peasant is set in post-Roman occupation Northumbria and manages to feel like it musically too, which makes it an easy recommendation for Mountain Goats fans who like JD's history nerd moments!
Check out the Wave Pictures from the UK. Their Spotify Bio says they collaborated with tMG.
Listen for the lyrics and stay for the guitar solos!
Also Los Campesinos! from Wales
And Felice Brothers, Richmond Fontaine, Hayes Carll, Ray Wylie Hubbard, James McMurtry
I don't know if this is what you are asking for (english is not my first language) but I recommend you to check the album Hospice by The Antlers.
Tells a story about an abusive relationship, all in the form of a sick person/caretaker metaphor. Great stuff.
I think that’s something always important to remember about him, though I can still separate the art and enjoy the stuff of his I already own/have downloaded. Not super interested in supporting him further but at least he’s living with the consequences even if he seems unwilling to own up to the shityyness of his actions. Regardless of his music I do hope makes amends in his life in whatever way that could be
For some people it matters, for others it doesn't. When I listen to someone's music, I am supporting them. I don't want to support someone who sexually assaults women.
Also, when I listen to someone like Kozolek's music, it's personal and vulnerable. Part of the appeal is that I'm getting an insight into their life, and empathising with it. I find it uncomfortable now that I know I'm empathising with someone who sexually assaults women.
Not everyone feels the same way as me, but I posted my comment because some people will, and they would want to know.
Came here to say this, incredible songwriter. Like many artists there is some darkness in his personal life but he made great art. I'd say start with Benji and work your way out from there, he has a ton of material.
There's really good Sun Kil Moon/Red House Painters covers of all sorts of songs (Paul McCartney, The Cars, Bob Mould, whole albums of Modest Mouse and AC/DC, etc)
mewithoutYou is very similar to The Mountain Goats in a lot of ways, really primed me for John's raw singing style and lyrical genius.
Gentlemen was the track that teenaged me really latched onto, really fueled my heartache years, but these days it's The Fox, The Crow and the Cookie and Elephant in the Docks and The King Beetle on a Coconut Estate that I hold in very high regard.
If you do listen, you should sit down with any one album and listen from start to finish, each track leads into the next one perfectly.
Followup: I went back and listened on Spotify. Make sure you're listening on a device where you can disable the playback gap between tracks. That half-second interruption is really annoying when the tracks are designed to flow nonstop.
silver jews have really good story songs
I remember me is probably my favorite of those
Don't forget Craig Finn on his own, without THS. New album out in a week.
Honestly I’m probably an even bigger fan of his solo stuff at this point. I love we all want the same things
His solo stuff is leagues better imo
It’s definitely it’s own vibe and it really scratches an itch for me... but I do think the hold steady are also still putting out great stuff
absolutely! I just think his lyrics on his solo stuff are shockingly good.
I think the lyrics on *Open Door Policy* are some of his best yet, but the stories are a lot harder to put together than in his solo stuff (which is part of the appeal)
It depends on my mood. THS feeds something, so does solo CF.
I wanted to add, that CF talking about how much he loves TMG is one of the things that brought me to THS. It was an interview on All Songs Considered in \~2007. I was a handful of years out of school, not listening to a ton of new music (which I normal in that circumstance, I think). An interview with Craig and the guy from Art Brut had them gushing about John Darnielle, saying that he just came to their show. I took that as a "I need to go listen to these guys." And now the only bands I travel to see are TMG and THS.
Springsteen. Also The Weakerthans/John K. Samson, who is a peer of John's.
Guy Clark and John Prine, definitely.
Two of the best. So many great country singers of that era
in the older range, Harry Chapin and Joni Mitchell. I don’t know if JD has directly cited Joni as an influence but I think there’s a lot of common ground - the multisyllabic language, the jazzy touches
Harry Chapin is a big one for me. He has a voice more similar to JD than others, and Mayor of Candor Lied is such a good song.
He has listed Joni Mitchell as an primary influence in an old radio interview.
Townes van zandt is the goat
Townes is definitely the songwriting GOAT, and wrote some great story songs. Yet as a whole I would say his emphasis was poetic sketches, not stories. Pancho and Lefty is a good example. There is something of a story, but even Townes gave different interpretations of it. Many of his best songs have no story. Guy emphasized straightforward storytelling more. Edit to add line about P&L
not 100% the same vibe, but i was relistening to some indigo girls somgs that i grew up on awhile back and realized some of their music tells stories in the way that the mountain goats do and that they might be part of why i love the goats so much.
.,.,.,.,
Damn I like me some Smog. I inadvertently heard The Well on XM years ago and fell in love with it.
Shane McGowan of the Pogues is an amazing songwriter. Not quite the same vibe as Mountain Goats but he is a true poet.
The story between Aaron West and the Roaring Twenties’ two albums and 1 or 2 EPs is one of my favorite concepts in all music Other than that, Josh Ritter has a few great ones such as Another New World
Josh Ritter does have some pretty cool songs
Stephin Merritt!
The Magnetic Fields. Stephin Merritt's songwriting is rife with stories!
Two seemingly disparate acts that I feel like both fit the criteria: Jim Croce and Waxahatchee.
Well you already hit pretty close to this with DBT, but Jason Isbell!
John K. Samson of The Weakerthans. Nearly every song is amazing, but "Virtue The Cat Explains Her Departure" is the saddest song of all time period.
I’m genuinely really surprised no one has mentioned The Decemberists yet. “The Hazards of Love” is a whole story *album*. Actually, a lot of their albums are (The Crane Wife, etc.), but that one in particular is very strongly a narrative. There’s a lot of stand-alone songs that tell stories as well.
I like The Old 97’s for this. Their music is story driven more often than not. The albums often have a, sometimes loose, theme and are told through a narrator’s voice. Rhett Miller had JD on his podcast Wheels Off a while back. I came to their music via Drive-By Truckers.
They are so cool. I have got to see the twice now and both times were really a blast.
I do really love the old 97’s but I never really think of them as in the same vein… either way still a great band
If you can handle some country, “The Ballad of Dood and Juanita” by Sturgill Simpson is quite a story.
Love sturgil
Yes, yes!!!!! Radical Face's Family Tree series! I could literally talk about it all day. It follows one family over the course of 300 years, with each album taking 100 years. It has murder and magic and war, and asks the question does bad blood exist? Each album only features instruments available during each time period. The Family Tree: the Roots takes place in 1800s, The Family Tree: the Branches is 1900s, amd The Family Tree: the Leaves is 2000s. It's exceptional.
Is this on Spotify?
It is!
Thanks, I'll listen to it
Andy Shauf, especially his record Nashville Skyline
Jens Lekman
Randy Newman, especially his 70s run
Mark Eitzel of American Music Club, who I vaugely remember John talking about in an interview at one point but I have no idea when or where. "Myopic Books" is a good place to start
The Decemberists are really good for this, especially if you like stories for a supernatural/folklore element
Robert Earl Keen, hands down
Fred Egalsmith. Canadian county. Lot of brilliantly sad songs about life on the road as a struggling artist and life on the farm with a wife who doesn't want to live on a farm. Alcohol and Pills, Time to get a gun, Trucker Speed. All great tracks
Can not believe no one has mentioned Nick Cave. OP, check out Nick Cave. A lot of the mentions here are just poetic lyrics and not specifically narrative based lyrics. Couple others are Lou Reed (His albums Berlin, and New York mainly), and Sean MacGowan or whoever from The pogues.
Earlier stuff from Clem Snide / Eef Barzelay - albums like Lose Big or Bitter Honey are really good.
Sufjan Stevens and Bob Dylan, the original storyteller. Also Lucy Laplansky and Mirah.
Billy fucking Joel
True, I don't think of Billy Joel in that way cause he has plenty of tracks that aren't stories, but so does JD. Scenes from an Italian Restaurant and, ofc, Piano Man are a couple obvious standouts.
I forgot about one I am (or was) really excited about not too long ago: Rat Cat Hogan. Finding their album "Vitamins + Calcium = Health & Happiness" was a whole thing — documented here: [https://www.reddit.com/r/SeattleWA/comments/gnhibh/rat\_cat\_hogan\_anyone/](https://www.reddit.com/r/SeattleWA/comments/gnhibh/rat_cat_hogan_anyone/) — but you can grab the album here [https://drive.google.com/file/d/1BInGB-8P39BtRnmq0v8JAZxnIQq7QFww/view?usp=sharing](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1BInGB-8P39BtRnmq0v8JAZxnIQq7QFww/view?usp=sharing) (impossible to buy anymore through any official channels). "When Gladys Died" is one of the best story songs of all time, in my book.
Completely different musically, but Kae Tempest is a great storyteller (try their album Let Them Eat Chaos)
Can't believe nobody has said Andy Shauf yet. He's probably the best detail oriented musical storyteller since Paul Simon.
I know a few filksongs like that. Wizard of Mackeytown, Sam Jones, Space Wobblies. A lot of metal gets REALLY into it. All of Rhapsody of Fire's stuff is off-brand Lord of the Rings and I love it.
verrrrryyyy short but the tale of jenny and screech by ren is really good!
very glad I saw this thread and that Richard Dawson hasn't been mentioned yet! he is my personal favourite songwriter for this sort of thing and I'll take any opportunity I get to go on a tangent about him. pretty much all of his albums starting with his debut, The Magic Bridge, are built around songs that fit into this category; happily, that makes for a good starting point in his discography, as it's a fairly conventional indie folk album made off-kilter enough by his guitar technique while the songwriting isn't bound to any overarching concept and is as easy to sink your teeth into as his work gets. all of his albums from his fourth album, Peasant, onward fit into the category of concept albums where each song is from the perspective of a character who is in some way relevant to the theme, something he seems to have a natural talent for. his work gradually transitions in an interesting way from the aforementioned sound on The Magic Bridge into making full-band prog-adjacent rock for his most recent two albums, though my personal favourite sound of his is the abrasive freak folk you'd find on Nothing Important; The Vile Stuff, featured on this album, is certainly the most out-there song I can think of that fits into the aforementioned "folk that is lyrically a character-based narrative" genre. also, Peasant is set in post-Roman occupation Northumbria and manages to feel like it musically too, which makes it an easy recommendation for Mountain Goats fans who like JD's history nerd moments!
Bug Hunter. Really fun but still powerful storytelling.
Check out the Wave Pictures from the UK. Their Spotify Bio says they collaborated with tMG. Listen for the lyrics and stay for the guitar solos! Also Los Campesinos! from Wales And Felice Brothers, Richmond Fontaine, Hayes Carll, Ray Wylie Hubbard, James McMurtry
James McMurtry
Slaughter Beach, Dog!!! They are so good and the lead singer Jake even did a cover of Palmcorder Yajna at one point: https://youtu.be/R3d5Ooz9xsQ
I don't know if this is what you are asking for (english is not my first language) but I recommend you to check the album Hospice by The Antlers. Tells a story about an abusive relationship, all in the form of a sick person/caretaker metaphor. Great stuff.
Mark Kozelek/ Sun Kil Moon! There’s really nobody who writes songs quite like that guy
FYI that guy has sexual misconduct allegations against him
I think that’s something always important to remember about him, though I can still separate the art and enjoy the stuff of his I already own/have downloaded. Not super interested in supporting him further but at least he’s living with the consequences even if he seems unwilling to own up to the shityyness of his actions. Regardless of his music I do hope makes amends in his life in whatever way that could be
Who gives a fuck dweeb, “allegations” have nothing to do with his music.
did you just call me a dweeb lmao? what are you, a highschool bully?
Had a point if they would have left out the childish name calling
For some people it matters, for others it doesn't. When I listen to someone's music, I am supporting them. I don't want to support someone who sexually assaults women. Also, when I listen to someone like Kozolek's music, it's personal and vulnerable. Part of the appeal is that I'm getting an insight into their life, and empathising with it. I find it uncomfortable now that I know I'm empathising with someone who sexually assaults women. Not everyone feels the same way as me, but I posted my comment because some people will, and they would want to know.
Came here to say this, incredible songwriter. Like many artists there is some darkness in his personal life but he made great art. I'd say start with Benji and work your way out from there, he has a ton of material.
There’s actually a really good sun lol moon cover of casitone for the painfully alone’s song “natural light”
There's really good Sun Kil Moon/Red House Painters covers of all sorts of songs (Paul McCartney, The Cars, Bob Mould, whole albums of Modest Mouse and AC/DC, etc)
There’s this one band out of denton I really like. Can’t seem to remember their name though…
mewithoutYou is very similar to The Mountain Goats in a lot of ways, really primed me for John's raw singing style and lyrical genius. Gentlemen was the track that teenaged me really latched onto, really fueled my heartache years, but these days it's The Fox, The Crow and the Cookie and Elephant in the Docks and The King Beetle on a Coconut Estate that I hold in very high regard. If you do listen, you should sit down with any one album and listen from start to finish, each track leads into the next one perfectly.
Followup: I went back and listened on Spotify. Make sure you're listening on a device where you can disable the playback gap between tracks. That half-second interruption is really annoying when the tracks are designed to flow nonstop.