“The human animal differs from the lesser primates in his passion for lists.”
H. Allen Smith
People like reading lists. No doubt about it. When it comes to transmitting knowledge these days, it's the way a lot of it's done. In our bite-sized data, short attention span world, lists are how we like to get our information.
They're a dandy songwriting technique, too. They helps get ideas flowing. Can't think of anything to write about? Make a list and see where it goes. I think half of the songs I've written are in some way, lists. They're fun to do, lists, and isn't fun the best thing to have?
There are some well-known songs that are laundry lists of this and that. Two come immediately to my mind and I'll bet they come to yours too. Billy Joel's We Didn't Start the Fire and R.E.M.'s It's the End of the World as We Know it (And I Feel Fine). Joel's is a list of Cold War events and players with a chorus to tie them together. R.E.M.'s, as you'd expect, is a way more random blast of ideas examining the state of the world at the time. There are songs like those two that are mostly just one big long list with a recurring chorus, and then others that have shorter lists somewhere in them.
If you have any lesser known list songs that need a spotlight, please send.
Bob Dylan was no stranger to building a song around a list. Also, Rodney Crowell name-checks a few people in his tune, Earthbound.