A solid concept can turn a good song into an odyssey of storytelling, and these four bands and musicians did just that with their legendary tracks. Let’s take a look at just four of the greatest characters ever created for songs!
1. Major Tom from “Space Oddity” by David Bowie
“Space Oddity” is one of David Bowie’s most memorable songs, and Major Tom is one of his most legendary characters. Outside of Ziggy Stardust, of course.
Videos by American Songwriter
Major Tom is an astronaut of Bowie’s invention that appears in “Space Oddity” as well as three other tracks from Bowie’s career. In a way, the character is Bowie. Or, in a way, the character can be seen as representative of Bowie’s existential crisis and views of the world. In “Space Oddity”, Major Tom struggles when seeing how small Earth really is, and opts to float through space instead of returning to the big blue planet and all of its problems.
2. Mrs. Robinson from “Mrs. Robinson” by Simon & Garfunkel
This famous Simon & Garfunkel tune has been covered quite a bit through the years, and we get why. “Mrs. Robinson” features one of the greatest characters found in songs of all time.
While the character Mrs. Robinson is often associated with the protagonist Anne Bancroft of The Graduate, Paul Simon said that the original inspiration behind the song was First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, who was an activist and figure in counterculture.
3. Pink from “Another Brick In The Wall” by Pink Floyd
The character Pink from the 1979 three-part song “Another Brick In The Wall” wasn’t simply the invention of Pink Floyd’s Roger Waters. Rather, Pink could be seen as representative of Roger Waters himself.
Pink is the protagonist of the song, as well as the whole of The Wall. He is broken down by the system and then rallies against that very system throughout the album. One could see the character as a representation of Waters’ feelings as both a man under the boot of the establishment as well as a rock star removed from the people around him. Few rock opera characters are as legendary as Pink.
4. Jolene from “Jolene” by Dolly Parton
She’s one of the greatest characters ever created in any country songs, and she’s still well-known today.
Dolly Parton wrote “Jolene” about her own insecurities and fears of abandonment, and Jolene became the figure of desire and envy that formed the basis of one of the most famous desperate love songs of all time. And according to Parton, Jolene was based on a real woman who had a crush on her husband.
Photo by Tom Hill/WireImage
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.