Dear all,

Do you have any favorite songs that tell a story --- a
character
pursuing a goal and dealing with conflict?

For example, "Just A Friend" by Biz Markie tells a
first-person
cautionary tale of what happens if you date women who
have attractive
male friends. Highly humorous stuff.

If so, e-mail [log in to unmask] with the song title,
artist, plot
summary, and any other info you want to include.

I will be compiling the list and posting them on our
official blog --
Professional Writer's Anonymous - at
oupwsa.blogspot.com.

Why am we doing this?

1. It's fun.
2. These songs are really short stories set to music.
Practice your
story analysis skills by analyzing where the
plotting/character/conflict works well or where it
wanders off track.

Sincerely,

Will Prescott
PWSA Co-President

P.S. Here are some other examples:

"Black Steel in the Hour of Chaos" by Public Enemy --
Chuck D refuses
induction into the army and is imprisoned. Angered, he
plots a jail
break with the other prisoners.

"Children's Story" by Slick Rick -- Slick Rick tells a
bed-time story
to his little nephews about a "stick-up kid" who ends
up being pursued
by the police.

"Hurricane" by Bob Dylan -- third-person recounting
the story of Rubin
"Hurricane" Carter, a 1960s boxer wrongly imprisoned
for the murder of a convienience store clerk.

"Trapped in the Closet - Pts 1-5" by R Kelly -- a
crappy example, but
still a story song. First person account of R Kelly's
extremely bad
experiences the day after he cheats on his woman.


William D. Prescott

University of Oklahoma

office no. 405-325-2710

[log in to unmask]