^ Yes, a story in a song has a lot of appeal, and your one, clocking in at over eight minutes is quite an acheivement. It sounds like Alfred Noyes, along with many writers of the Victorian-Edwardian era had a taste for death and melodrama. Especially in the early part of that period, ballads were often written about famous true murder cases. Here´s one example with some nice old photos to go with:-
But speaking in general, I agree with what the other posters are saying - it´s all about the singer´s delivery, and what they can convince us of. For instance, Witney Houston´s "I will always love you" sounds much more heartfelt to me than the Dolly Parton original, although it was presumably DP who actually felt sad enough to write the song in the first place.
So I suppose that singing has more to do with acting than fact or fiction - which of course your avatar guy, David Bowie, realized from the start of his glittering career.
Who are the other stars and failures of singer-as-actor, I wonder ?
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"Am I enjoying this moment? I know of it and perhaps that is enough." - Sybille Bedford, 1953
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