“Everyone in Nacadoches knew Tom Ames would come to some bad end.”
- Tom Ames' Prayer/Steve Earle
The question I saw yesterday was “Name a great song about a fictional character.” I'll bet you immediately went to Bad, Bad, Leroy Brown, didn't you? Yes? No? It would be pretty hard not to, at least for someone from the 1900s. I also instantly thought of Skynyrd's, The Ballad of Curtis Loew. I'll save that one for a later discussion.
I will be interested to hear of any less well-known personalities you might know of in song. I'm going to offer three. A couple I know I've referenced before. I can't not on a question like this because they're such fine story-songs about compelling characters. That's hard to pull that off in three or four minutes.
Dr. Bernice/Cracker: A big influence on me, Cracker and its frontman/songwriter David Lowery. He writes songs that can be romantic, wry and sardonic, angry, absurd, and somehow they connect, at least for me. I think it's the gift of a good songwriter when they can write things that move you somehow but you can't explain why. Anyway, whatever you do, don't you drive around with Dr. Bernice.
E.E. Lawson/The Ozark Mountain Daredevils: I love this greasy song. I recently mentioned the book/movie Winter's Bone which is set here in the bowels of the Ozark hills among some of its, shall we say, impoverished denizens. This song captures that whole vibe. I've been around a few E.E. Lawsons in life. You proceed with caution.
Tom Ames' Prayer/Steve Earle: Earle was in his early 20s when he wrote this song of the wayward youth, Tom Ames. That's just irritating that someone that young could write a song this good.