American-Canadian rockstar grandson selects ten songs that build empathy through storytelling, where music is a vehicle to tell the stories of others.

'I Can’t Write Left Handed (Live At Carnegie Hall)' by Bill Withers

This song is, in my opinion, the greatest American political song of the 20th century. It’s the story of a Vietnam veteran who gets shot in his right arm in combat, needing to send a letter home. “Getting shot at didn’t bother him. It was getting shot that shook him up”. It’s so visceral, beautiful, specific, sad, powerful and the live version hits with Bill’s commentary beforehand. I first heard this song through The Roots and John Legend’s collab album and it is one of the biggest reasons I write political songs to this day.

'Maria' by Rage Against The Machine

Pure power. They could fill this whole playlist. It’s the story of a woman smuggled across the border from Mexico to work in a sweatshop in America, who ultimately commits suicide rather than continue to work under such cruel conditions. The perils of unregulated labor conditions, the fierceness of the band’s accompaniment. I covered this song years back, I was just completely haunted by it.

'Children’s Story' by Slick Rick

One of the great hip-hop songs of all time, a cautionary tale of greed, the wrong path, street life. The eye patch, the kitschy music video, I felt very cool knowing every word to this when I was 13 years old. I loved the details of the characters in the story, and the skit of the kids begging Uncle Ricky for a bedtime story to begin the song. “Dave the dope fiend shooting dope, who don’t know the meaning of water nor soap.” I used to be obsessed with the flow on “ratatat tata’d and all the cops scattered”. This was 1989! Hip-hop was still finding its legs in this post disco world, and this comes around.

'Eleanor Rigby' by The Beatles

Eleanor Rigby. Father McKenzie. Loneliness, the realisation everyone has their own story, many of whom we never hear. Paul cooked with this one. And the George Martin string arrangement? I love when a song sounds like the thing it is written about, and this song is my favourite example of that feeling.

'Stole' by Kelly Rowland

A girl who could’ve been anything, but never got the chance to grow up. It’s just a more creative and original way to tell a story than to stand on a soapbox and preach to people about gun violence, or the mental health epidemic in this country. Find the thread that resonates emotionally, get granular. And she sings the fucking lights off. The modulation for the chorus? Then the weird little sitar string instrument on the way out of the hook? I love mid 2000s R&B. The guitar sample in verse 2. This is my next karaoke song.

'King Park' by La Dispute

I found this song during the pandemic…oh my god. So heavy. My favorite post hardcore song. This was like the magnum opus of this playlist. The singer as the ghost that haunts through the halls of the story watching it all play out. It’s long and chilling and haunting and horrifying and again, a cautionary tale of street life in LA, morality. With an ending that will stay with you for a long time.

'Jeremy' by Pearl Jam

A true story of a boy who shot himself in his class in front of his classmates. This song is a monster. Alongside Bruce Springsteen, it was like the moral compass of American rock.

'The Ghost Of Tom Joad' by Bruce Springsteen

Capitalism! America! Wahoo! Bruce got in his bag with this one, digging deep into the American psyche. Amazing details of the prayer book in the sleeping bag. It inspired Rage Against The Machine deeply, who covered it. It also led to my buddy Tom Morello being in Bruce’s band. Rage inspired me. And I inspired you, maybe. So there you go.

'The Magician' by Andy Shauf

This is one of my favorite songs. Criminally underrated, he’s The Godfather of this lonely haunting folk-pop. This album is so good and this one is in that ‘Eleanor Rigby’ pocket of great and bittersweet solitary figures. It’s a four minute movie in your head, just close your eyes and listen.

'Cat’s Cradle' by Harry Chapin

This song makes you want to be a better person. It’s just a beautiful heartbreaking song about time. You reap what you sow. This and John Denver are my earliest childhood music memories. It’s a very melancholic song to be remembering as a child. Maybe that’s why I tell sad stories. I don’t know. Call your dad.