>and I have to admit I am stumped.

I will say I am surprised that most of the serious contenders (most of which I have not heard, at least not in entirety) come from hip hop. It's probably no mystery, as hip hop lends itself to the narrative particularly well.

Of course the other genre that does the same is the folk ballad, and you could easily add Dust Bowl Ballads to the list. On the other hand, Fairport Convention's 'Babbacombe Lee' is less stellar. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babbacombe_Lee_%28album%29

>I was gonna say Tommy, but you're right... It's completely
>retarded, and I've always known that right from the beginning.
>In fact, I had to teach myself to see the story as anything
>other than inane.

I know it's a cornerstone of your artistic and aesthetic development, as it is with me, so it hurts to admit it. If yo have any doubts, plug the movie in again - while I know you have utmost respect for the ways it uses images and sound to tell the story, I mean... the story itself is lame enough, but a few things the movie added push it to the simply ridiculous. The fight between the bike gangs, with Tommy on a hang glider? FOH. And that's before we even get to the baked beans.