Songs with a very specific three-vignette structure
April 24, 2024 6:38 PM Subscribe
I am looking for examples of songs that follow a very specific structure: the lyrics are made up of three separate but thematically related vignettes, with the refrain explicitly articulating the conceptual message that the vignettes illustrate.
Two examples: "What It's Like" by Everlast and "Bang Bang (Two Shots in the Head)" by "Black Attack.
Can you think of any other songs that fit this description?
An example that is very similar in concept is Lou Reed's "Take A Walk on the Wild Side" -- and a riff on that song by Garbage, "Bleed Like Me". They are not exactly right because they have more than three vignettes.
Two examples: "What It's Like" by Everlast and "Bang Bang (Two Shots in the Head)" by "Black Attack.
Can you think of any other songs that fit this description?
An example that is very similar in concept is Lou Reed's "Take A Walk on the Wild Side" -- and a riff on that song by Garbage, "Bleed Like Me". They are not exactly right because they have more than three vignettes.
The Mountain Goats, Deuteronomy 2:10 (caution, "I have no fear of anyone, I'm dumb and wild and free/ I am a flightless bird, and there'll be no more after me" is too devastating to take casually)
posted by praemunire at 6:52 PM on April 24 [1 favorite]
posted by praemunire at 6:52 PM on April 24 [1 favorite]
The Way It Is fits the pattern, albeit in a very cheesy 80s manner.
posted by SaltySalticid at 6:56 PM on April 24
posted by SaltySalticid at 6:56 PM on April 24
Ain't No Rest For The Wicked by Cage The Elephant is what you want.
posted by panhopticon at 7:00 PM on April 24 [3 favorites]
posted by panhopticon at 7:00 PM on April 24 [3 favorites]
(Also, "Closer to Fine" may qualify, depending on how rigorous you are about defining "vignette.")
posted by praemunire at 7:01 PM on April 24
posted by praemunire at 7:01 PM on April 24
Waterfalls - TLC, although the third "vignette" may combine story and rumination a bit.
posted by BlueBlueElectricBlue at 7:02 PM on April 24 [1 favorite]
posted by BlueBlueElectricBlue at 7:02 PM on April 24 [1 favorite]
Oh and Gold Digger - Kanye West.
posted by BlueBlueElectricBlue at 7:04 PM on April 24
posted by BlueBlueElectricBlue at 7:04 PM on April 24
Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm by the Crash Test Dummies
Digging For Fire by Pixies (maybe only 2 vignettes)
not really a chorus, but kind of the same:
She Don't Use Jelly by the Flaming Lips
posted by LionIndex at 7:08 PM on April 24 [4 favorites]
Digging For Fire by Pixies (maybe only 2 vignettes)
not really a chorus, but kind of the same:
She Don't Use Jelly by the Flaming Lips
posted by LionIndex at 7:08 PM on April 24 [4 favorites]
Drive (For Daddy Gene) by Alan Jackson
I Go Back by Kenny Chesney
Maybe Castle on the Hill by Ed Sheeran - I'm not sure if you'd count the vignettes as clearly defined enough or the refrain as articulating the theme explicitly enough, but the structure feels the same
posted by sigmagalator at 7:11 PM on April 24
I Go Back by Kenny Chesney
Maybe Castle on the Hill by Ed Sheeran - I'm not sure if you'd count the vignettes as clearly defined enough or the refrain as articulating the theme explicitly enough, but the structure feels the same
posted by sigmagalator at 7:11 PM on April 24
CCR's "Fortunate Son."
Arguably also another Mountain Goats song, "Song for Dennis Brown."
posted by praemunire at 7:12 PM on April 24
Arguably also another Mountain Goats song, "Song for Dennis Brown."
posted by praemunire at 7:12 PM on April 24
Tim McGraw, "Don't Take the Girl"
posted by brentajones at 7:20 PM on April 24
posted by brentajones at 7:20 PM on April 24
First Christmas, by Stan Rogers
Why didn't you say so before, by Celtic Connection
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 7:37 PM on April 24
Why didn't you say so before, by Celtic Connection
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 7:37 PM on April 24
The first thing that came to mind was Beck’s “Heartland Feeling” but it has five vignettes.
posted by credulous at 7:44 PM on April 24
posted by credulous at 7:44 PM on April 24
Stars and the Moon, from Songs for a New World by Jason Robert Brown
posted by hovey at 8:11 PM on April 24
posted by hovey at 8:11 PM on April 24
If you have a loose definition of 'vignettes', how about Joni Mitchell's 'Both Sides Now' (Clouds, then Love, then Life).
And if that's a winner, then check out Dave Van Ronk's incredible cover of the song.
posted by evadery at 8:21 PM on April 24
And if that's a winner, then check out Dave Van Ronk's incredible cover of the song.
posted by evadery at 8:21 PM on April 24
Get Off of My Cloud - Rolling Stones
It Sure Was Better Back Then - Steve Forbert
posted by Redstart at 9:48 PM on April 24
It Sure Was Better Back Then - Steve Forbert
posted by Redstart at 9:48 PM on April 24
Highwayman by The Highwaymen.
posted by dusty potato at 1:54 AM on April 25 [1 favorite]
posted by dusty potato at 1:54 AM on April 25 [1 favorite]
Wait sorry, that is four, I am bad at counting.
posted by dusty potato at 2:08 AM on April 25
posted by dusty potato at 2:08 AM on April 25
OK, so you’re a rocket scientist/you’re Brad Pitt/you have a car? That don’t impress me much! (bonus points for iconic leopard hooded duster in the video??)
posted by kickingthecrap at 4:09 AM on April 25
posted by kickingthecrap at 4:09 AM on April 25
Eleanor Rigby only has two vignettes, but it's what popped into my own head instantly when I read your question.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 4:10 AM on April 25 [2 favorites]
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 4:10 AM on April 25 [2 favorites]
Sticking with The Beatles, does Maxwell's Silver Hammer fit?
posted by saladin at 4:36 AM on April 25
posted by saladin at 4:36 AM on April 25
Depending on the level of importance of having a refrain/chorus between each vignette: "In Another Life" by Vienna Teng. It has sort of an unusual song structure, lacking a true chorus, but it does have three vignettes, with a sort of coda at the end that ties them all together. But each verse also begins with the same few words, which kind of serves the repetitive function of a refrain (albeit at the beginning of the verse, rather than the end of it), so maybe close enough?
posted by cellar door at 5:07 AM on April 25 [1 favorite]
posted by cellar door at 5:07 AM on April 25 [1 favorite]
There is a version of Oingo Boingo's "Only a Lad" that does this although I am not sure whether it is a version the band released or a sort of remix made by this fanvidder.
posted by brainwane at 5:15 AM on April 25
posted by brainwane at 5:15 AM on April 25
Both "1952 Vincent Black Lightning"" and "Beeswing" by Richard Thompson seem to fit the bill.
posted by Glomar response at 5:18 AM on April 25 [1 favorite]
posted by Glomar response at 5:18 AM on April 25 [1 favorite]
The Past, the Present, the Future: The Shangri-las. and maybe
Is That All there is?
posted by rongorongo at 6:29 AM on April 25
Is That All there is?
posted by rongorongo at 6:29 AM on April 25
My first thought was "Manhattan Project" by Rush, but I just looked up the lyrics and there are four vignettes, alas.
posted by indexy at 6:30 AM on April 25
posted by indexy at 6:30 AM on April 25
Loud Family - Top Dollar Survivalist Hardware
The three vignettes are Mr Vigilante (possibly Batman), Alexander The Great, and L Ron Hubbard.
Belle and Sebastian - If You're Feeling Sinister could fit if you consider the two Hillaries (one dies, one considers becoming a nun) as different people.
posted by The_Vegetables at 7:24 AM on April 25
The three vignettes are Mr Vigilante (possibly Batman), Alexander The Great, and L Ron Hubbard.
Belle and Sebastian - If You're Feeling Sinister could fit if you consider the two Hillaries (one dies, one considers becoming a nun) as different people.
posted by The_Vegetables at 7:24 AM on April 25
The canonical example of this — the song I immediately thought of when I read the question — is Life Is Hard by Timbuk 3.
posted by sesquipedalia at 11:04 AM on April 25 [1 favorite]
posted by sesquipedalia at 11:04 AM on April 25 [1 favorite]
Springsteen's "Glory Days"! (Probably an inspiration for Beck's send-up I mentioned earlier.)
posted by credulous at 11:04 AM on April 25
posted by credulous at 11:04 AM on April 25
Great Big Sea "Lucky Me
Frank Turner "Journey of the Magi"
posted by DebetEsse at 12:37 PM on April 25
Frank Turner "Journey of the Magi"
posted by DebetEsse at 12:37 PM on April 25
My read of You Can Call Me Al is three vignettes about three different men, but YMMV.
posted by Shepherd at 1:35 PM on April 25
posted by Shepherd at 1:35 PM on April 25
I cannot BELIEVE nobody has mentioned "99 Problems" - note that in none of the three vignettes is the "bitch" he's talking about actually a woman.
posted by branca at 3:53 PM on April 25
posted by branca at 3:53 PM on April 25
Lol. I couldn't believe it...because it wasn't true. Sorry dudekiller, I can't read!
posted by branca at 3:53 PM on April 25 [1 favorite]
posted by branca at 3:53 PM on April 25 [1 favorite]
Heart to Hang Onto by Pete Townshend and Ronnie Lane
posted by platinum at 8:10 PM on April 25 [1 favorite]
posted by platinum at 8:10 PM on April 25 [1 favorite]
Taylor Swift's Clara Bow
OT but I fervently hope that Swifties searching for this song stumble across the song of the same name by 50 Foot Wave.
posted by whuppy at 4:16 AM on April 26
OT but I fervently hope that Swifties searching for this song stumble across the song of the same name by 50 Foot Wave.
posted by whuppy at 4:16 AM on April 26
The first one I thought of was the immortal Angel From Montgomery, by John Prine
posted by Nibbly Fang at 7:33 PM on April 27
posted by Nibbly Fang at 7:33 PM on April 27
"Brief Candles" by the Zombies
posted by equalpants at 7:59 PM on April 27
posted by equalpants at 7:59 PM on April 27
Oddly enough, "Satisfaction" by the Stones?
1. Driving in my car
2. Watching my TV
3. Traveling 'round the world, doin' this, signin' that
But the way the song is structured, the chorus is the gentle part and comes first, instead of a verse.
posted by LionIndex at 10:04 AM on April 28
1. Driving in my car
2. Watching my TV
3. Traveling 'round the world, doin' this, signin' that
But the way the song is structured, the chorus is the gentle part and comes first, instead of a verse.
posted by LionIndex at 10:04 AM on April 28
One Arm Steve by Widespread Panic sort of has 3 vignettes (just not in very much detail). There isn't any repeated refrain, per se, but it's kind of there.
posted by Snowishberlin at 8:09 AM on April 29
posted by Snowishberlin at 8:09 AM on April 29
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posted by jabah at 6:51 PM on April 24 [2 favorites]