Songs With a Story

Songs With a Story was a feature from the Xfm days in which Karl got to pick a song to be played. He only likes songs that tell stories, and thus only chose tracks that had a clearly defined narrative. He says he likes those kinds of songs because "you can't fade them out"; you have to listen to the end.

The feature, which ran in Xfm Series 2, involved Ricky, Steve and Karl playing a track and then analyzing its lyrics. Often times Karl didn't fully comprehend the stories in the songs.

Below is a complete list of the songs featured:

12 October 2002

SONG: "Living For The City (single edit)" by Stevie Wonder
STORY: A poor boy from Mississippi moves to New York to start a new life. He is tricked into transporting drugs and gets sentenced to ten years in prison. (The single edit is half the length of the album version and thus leaves out a significant chunk of the story.)

19 October 2002

SONG: "Living For The City (album version)" by Stevie Wonder
STORY: (see above) After Karl heard the full story, he still missed some important points. He assumed the song's protagonist got ten years for neglecting to pay his bus fare.

26 October 2002

SONG: "24 Hours From Tulsa" by Gene Pitney
STORY: While driving home to his wife after a long trip, a man falls in love with another woman while staying the night in a motel. Karl was very annoyed at the narrator for leaving his wife so easily. Plus, "he can't see his mates" anymore, he said.

02 November 2002

SONG: "Lola" by The Kinks
STORY: At a bar one night, a man meets what he thinks is an attractive woman, only to discover that it's actually a transvestite. "If you think you might be talking to a bloke in drag, look at the Adam's apple," Karl said.

09 November 2002

SONG:
STORY:

18 June 2005

SONG: "Pinball Wizard" by The Who
STORY: A deaf, dumb and blind boy becomes a pinball champion. "Why did he bother putting money in the machine?", Karl asks.

• "The Killing of Georgie" by Rod Stewart

A "little gay fellah" (who Karl inexplicably believed was Scottish) leaves his oppressive father and moves to New York, only to be murdered after seeing a Broadway show. Karl used this song to defend his theory that homosexuals stay out too late.

• "Babooshka" by Kate Bush

A woman dons a disguise and seduces her untrustworthy husband. Karl speculates that the adulterous man in the song may just be playing along with his wife's rouse to spice things up in the bedroom.

• "Wonderful Tonight" by Eric Clapton

A fairly self-explanatory love song, Karl somehow thinks it's about a "little disabled fella" being cared for. He cites the couplet "Everyone turns to see / This beautiful lady who's walking around with me" as evidence.

• "Ruby, Don't Take Your Love To Town" by Kenny Rogers

A disabled Vietnam veteran catches his wife cheating on him.

See also

Karl's Favorite Music