10 Immersive Songs That Would Make Killer Movies

10. Laurie - Dickey Lee

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G_NnUCxNmPw&safe=active In the early-to-mid 1960s, there was a rash of depressing rock n' roll story songs, all revolving around the untimely deaths of young hot-rodders and/or the teenage goddesses who loved them. Most of the songs (justly) get a lot of mocking, but some of them are really good (like J. Frank Wilson & The Caveliers' "Last Kiss" and Jan & Dean's "Dead Man's Curve"). This subgenre still maintains a cult following, and has even inspired some homages, such as Meat Loaf's "Bat Out Of Hell." Many artists tried their hand at the death-of-teens subgenre, but none visited said subgenre as often as Dickey Lee. Lee built his career on rock n' roll death songs, recording such songs as "Tell Laura I Love Her" and "Patches." The best of Lee's death songs, however, is "Laurie." "Laurie" is Lee's interpretation of the "vanishing hitchhiker" legend. You know the one: a teenage guy is headed to the prom when he sees a beautiful girl hitching a ride. The boy picks up the girl and takes her to the dance, where he promptly falls in love with her. On the way home, the girl shivers with cold. The young man offers the girl his sweater, which the girl accepts. The boy drops the girl off at home at the end of the night, only to realise later that the girl still has his sweater. He returns to the girl's house the next morning to retrieve his sweater, only to be told by the girl's parents that their daughter died years ago. The boy goes to the cemetery to investigate, only to find his sweater lying on the girl's grave. The story that "Laurie" tells isn't a new one, but the way the song tells the story makes the song special. The song boasts a classy, atmospheric arrangement, made up of a bass guitar, drums, what sounds like a harpsichord, guitars, and a choir, that gives the song a very melancholy tone. The arrangement also calls up feelings of teenage puppy love. A film adaptation of "Laurie" would keep the atmospheric feel that the song evokes. The film would be set in a '50s-sitcom sort of town, the last kind of place where you would imagine anything supernatural happening. One would cast the most attractive guy and girl one could find, keeping with the '50s-esque style. The script could be taken from the lyrics without embellishment, since they tell the story thoroughly. "Laurie" probably wouldn't make a good feature-length film, but it could make for a good thirty-minute short. It's time that one was made. By the way, if you want an interesting twist on the hitchhiker legend, check out David Allan Coe's "The Ride," in which a hitchhiker is picked up by the ghost of Hank Williams, Sr. I love both songs, but I love "Laurie" a little more.