Lyric poetry—the poetry of song—is often defined in opposition to narrative. In this work, we examine this relationship by carrying out an empirical study to measure the degree of narrativity present in contemporary songs, using a dataset of popular (Billboard Hot 100) and prestigious (Grammy-nominated) songs spanning 1960–2024. While we might expect the 1960s (with ballad-driven folk singers like Joan Baez, Bob Dylan and Simon & Garfunkel) to be a high-water mark for narrativity, we find the opposite: narrativity has been steadily increasing over this period, largely due to the rise of the strongly narrative genres of hip hop and rap. We also find that it is a marker of prestige for country music, with Grammy-award nominated “Best Country” songs displaying significantly higher narrativity rates than non-nominated songs from the same album.