Sing me a story

I love short stories. My shelves are lined with anthologies and collections, novellas and cuttings; I'm a bit of a collector. I have a special affinity for stories that make me cry, or stories that make me pause mid-paragraph and look up at the clouds, just savoring a sentence. In song-writing, I look for the same qualities. I love songs that tell you a complete, perfect story. Song-writers don't get nearly enough kudos for their ability to distill whole lives and melodramas into three short minutes so here is a mini-mix I have made for you of little stories. Don't fold the pages and they'll last you a life time. A brief explanation follows the music!

Bishop Allen - Click Click Click Click

Badly Drawn Boy - Magic in The Air

Joanna Newsom - Peach Plum Pear

The Handsom Family - So Much Wine

'Click Click Click Click' - Bishop Allen. I love this song and it is a shining example of story telling through song. It has past, present and future in one three minute track, and nicely moves between characters in a highly literate narrative style. And it's also completely gorgeous. I love it because the chorus just makes me think of my friend who is obsessed with her camera and pretty much photographs everything she deems interesting. And people, to her, everything is interesting.

'Magic in the Air' - Badly Drawn Boy. This song is a perfect love song, simply delivered with unadorned piano accompaniment. It tells the story of one magic night at the start of a relationship. How lovely.

'Peach Plum Pear' - Joanna Newsom. Everyone that knows this song knows it's a great example of narrative song writing, and also a fine display of weirdness. It's totally love or hate on the first listen so listen to it in a good mood, it's a keeper. If this was a short story, I would have underlined so many phrases.

'So Much Wine' - The Handsome Family. This song is one of my favourite christmas songs. It's about alcoholism so it's not very festive but they do say 'Christmas' within the first 30 seconds so it counts. The Handsome family have a knack for spinning tales into their song-writing, and this is no different. Download it, however, if not for the lyrics, but for the beautiful harmonies in the chorus, they will absolutely absorb you.