3 Forgotten Folk Songs That Rival the Storytelling Genius of Bob Dylan

Bob Dylan is one of the greatest storytellers in folk music; there’s no doubt about that. However, one can’t help but wonder if another folk artist had the chance, they could’ve given Dylan some serious competition. Here are a few forgotten gems that give the folk icon a run for his money.

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“Sam Stone” by John Prine

Often referred to as a “protest singer”, Bob Dylan has been known to write plenty of songs about the Vietnam War. This song by Prine offers a perspective that’s not often told: what happens to soldiers once they come home from the war. You really have to listen to this one for yourself to get a feel for it, but don’t be surprised if it makes you a little bit emotional in the process. Prine’s attention to detail alone in this one deserves recognition. Near the end of the song, he sings of the death of the character, Sam Stone, from an overdose.

But life had lost its fun
There was nothing to be done
But trade his house that he bought on the GI bill
For a flag-draped casket on a local hero’s hill.

“Annabelle” by Gillian Welch

Yeah, this one’s pretty gut-wrenching. But poetic all the same. Gillian Welch’s “Annabelle” tells the story of a poor sharecropper who has to bury their child. It reflects on loss, but also on the gratitude and sense of perspective that can come from losing someone in your life. In the last verse, Welch sings:

When I’m dead and buried
I’ll take a hard life of tears
From every day I’ve ever known
Anna’s in the churchyard
She got no life at all
She only got these words on a stone.

This, followed by the song’s simple refrain, makes for some top-notch songwriting.

“Love At The Five & Dime” by Nanci Griffith

This one’s a personal favorite of mine. Although Nanci Griffith didn’t achieve the scope of a career that Dylan did, she definitely has songs in her catalog that deserve that level of recognition. “Love At The Five & Dime” tells the classic tale of two characters who fall in love. They go their separate ways and find their way back to each other in the end. If anything, you have to admit that Griffith’s voice on this one makes for the perfect narrator. There’s a certain magic in this song that just can’t be beat.

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