This episode centers around story songs. I’ve always appreciated the way a song can tell a story, whether as a broad-strokes character sketch (“Martin,” “Loyola,” “Kiss the Bottle”), an anecdotal glimpse (“Smithers-Jones,” “Shut Your Little Trap, Inc.,” “Kiss the Bottle”) or as a full-fledged short-story that happens to fit into the conventional structure of a pop song (“Fancy,” “No Regrets,” “Home Sweet Home,” & the rest, basically).

I hope you get to check these songs out on a drive or on a jog, or something; any context where you can hear the lyrics & get a sense of what the songwriter’s doing with his/her protagonist(s). These are the songs that come to mind whenever I hear someone singing a song about how they feel. There’s been quite enough of those songs, thank you. More songs about people who don’t write songs, please!

Oh—I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention that the show concludes with the most brilliantly-written song ever written, “The Ballad of the Shape of Things.” Check out the lyrics. (I just got a chill re-reading them!) Up yours, Dashboard Confessional!*

* arbitrary example

The Revolutionary Plastics Hour: Volume Thirteen

Beans – Nude Paper (instrumental)