1. Civil War soldier volunteers for mission and gets killed despite girlfriend's wishes: "Billy Don't Be A Hero," Bo Donaldson and the Heywoods
2. Three miners are trapped but only two are found; where's the other?: "Timothy," The Buoys
3. Stoner cab driver picks up old girlfriend and gets huge tip: "Taxi," Harry Chapin
4. Football player's blind father dies following penultimate game: "The Last Game of the Season (A Blind Man In The Bleachers)", David Geddes
5. Recently-released prisoner on bus looks for tree decoration: "Tie A Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree," Dawn featuring Tony Orlando
6. Daughter of traveling performers gets pregnant by hitchhiker: "Gypsys, Tramps and Thieves," Cher
7. She's a dancer, he's a bartender, he gets shot by wealthy club patron, she drinks: "Copacabana," Barry Manilow
8. Father ignores son; grown son ignores father: "Cat's in the Cradle," Harry Chapin
9. Police and gangsters do battle in Lake Michigan: "The Night Chicago Died," Paper Lace (if you're wondering, the "East Side of Chicago" is the lake)
10. Great Lakes shipping disaster: "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald," Gordon Lightfoot
11. Satan loses fiddle-playing contest: "The Devil Went Down to Georgia," Charlie Daniels Band
12. Quick-stepping father is persuaded not to leave by young child: "Daddy Don't You Walk So Fast," Wayne Newton
13. Woman in New Orleans catches her man with the same fortune teller who told her to leave him; shoots both: "Dark Lady," Cher
14. Fight between pool hustlers: "You Don't Mess Around With Jim," Jim Croce
15. Innocent brother of singer murdered during Southern power failure: "The Night The Lights Went Out In Georgia," Vicki Lawrence
16. Man accidentally shoots daughter when he was trying to hit her boyfriend: "Run Joey Run," David Geddes
17. Pony breaks loose after his owner dies: "Wildfire, Michael Martin Murphey

Bonus: Cocaine-snorting engineer and sleeping switchman cause train wreck: "Casey Jones," Grateful Dead