There are literally dozens and dozens of ways to tell a story and capture an audience’s imagination. But among those, there’s one that stands apart as singularly evocative.

It is an undeniable truth that great songs tell great stories. And what’s more, they connect to us all because we can imagine ourselves living through the tales they tell—either as one of the characters or just connecting with the feelings those experiences create in us. Those feelings that get pulled from our memories.

The Power of Delight & Surprise

I could list a long string of great examples now, instead, I’ll tell a little story about one night when I was driving down a long, empty highway. It was late and there were very few other cars on the road and very little choice on the radio. As I scanned the dial, I landed on a tune I knew and liked and listened through it to the end without thinking about much more than getting home.

Then, the first tinny banjo notes of a song I’d never heard came over the waves. It’s another reason to still listen to actual broadcast radio these days. You can still hear things that surprise and delight you that you may never have heard otherwise.

Merry Go ‘Round is one such thing. It’s sad and pretty and evocative of very specific people in a very specific place, but in a way that we can all understand and respond to. It weaves an extraordinarily cinematic and middle-American story. It made me buy the album.

Give it a listen and tell me what you think.