Moss Posted August 19, 2010 Share Posted August 19, 2010 So to kick off the school year I thought I would make my daughter a mix tape of songs that have literary references. She is a fan of rock trivia and puzzles so I'm hoping to keep her busy figuring out the references for awhile (If this has been done already I would love to get a link). Just a few off the top of my head to get the ball rolling: Nantucket Sleighride - Mountain - Moby Dick (possibly the finest whaling song in rock?)Ramble On - Zep - Lord of the ringsDon't stand so close to me - Police - Lolita Quote Link to post Share on other sites
PopTodd Posted August 19, 2010 Share Posted August 19, 2010 "Graham Greene" - John Cale - Graham Greene (writer)"A Child's Christmas in Wales" - John Cale - A Child's Christmas in Wales Quote Link to post Share on other sites
LouieB Posted August 19, 2010 Share Posted August 19, 2010 Richard Buckner - The Hill from spoon River anthology.Bob Dylan and Allen Ginsburg - some of William Blakes songs set to music (I do like Nantucket Sleighride....)How about Ophelia by The Band? Not sure. LouieB Quote Link to post Share on other sites
GtrPlyr Posted August 19, 2010 Share Posted August 19, 2010 The Beatles - I Am the Walrus ("Man you should have seen them kicking Edgar Allan Poe") X - Adult Books ("jackie susann meant it that way") Not sure if this counts as literature, but anyway... The Magnetic Fields - I Don't Want to Get Over You ("I could make a career of being blue--I could dress in black and read Camus") Blur - Country House (He's reading balzac, knocking back prozac") Simon & Garfunkel - The Dangling Conversation ("And you read your Emily Dickinson, and I my Robert Frost") Loudon Wainwright III - Cobwebs ("Yeah it might have started back with Jack Kerouac") Dexy's Midnight Runners - Dance Stance ("never heard about (Oscar Wilde) / don't want know about (and Brendan Behan) / don't think about (Shaun O'Casey) / don't care about (George Bernard Shaw, Samuel Beckett) / won't talk about (Gene O'Neil) / won't know about (Edna O'Brian) / won't think about (Laurence Sterne)") Prince - The Ballad of Dorothy Parker Wilco & Billy Bragg - Walt Whitman’s Niece Van Morrison - Too Long in Exile ("Just like James Joyce, baby / Too long in exile Just like Samuel Beckett baby / Too long in exile Just like Oscar Wilde") Quote Link to post Share on other sites
moxiebean Posted August 19, 2010 Share Posted August 19, 2010 Kate Bush - Wuthering HeightsThe Cure - Killing an Arab Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Shakespeare In The Alley Posted August 19, 2010 Share Posted August 19, 2010 Sparklehorse - London Musical version of a William Blake poem. Very good. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
bigshoulders Posted August 19, 2010 Share Posted August 19, 2010 The Smiths' "Cemetry Gates" (Keats and Yeats are on your side... while Wilde is on mine) Buckner's "The Hill" is a great, great choice. It made me pick up a copy of the Spoon River Anthology. I'd only read a few of the poems in school. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
The High Heat Posted August 19, 2010 Share Posted August 19, 2010 Hey Jack Kerouac ~ 10,000 Maniacs Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Lammycat Posted August 19, 2010 Share Posted August 19, 2010 Bob Dylan, "Desolation Row" Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Griddles Posted August 19, 2010 Share Posted August 19, 2010 Boys and Girls in America - The Hold Steady. (On the Road) Quote Link to post Share on other sites
PopTodd Posted August 19, 2010 Share Posted August 19, 2010 Syd Barrett - "Golden Hair" (a James Joyce poem set to music) Quote Link to post Share on other sites
bigshoulders Posted August 19, 2010 Share Posted August 19, 2010 Tom Waits — "Jack and Neal/California Here I Come" Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ih8music Posted August 19, 2010 Share Posted August 19, 2010 First one to pop into mind is Paul Westerberg's "Crackle and Drag" (about Sylvia Plath - title taken from her final poem, "Edge") Also not sure how strictly you're defining "literary" but Lucero's "The Devil and Maggie Chascarillo" is based on the character in the Love and Rockets comic series. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Moss Posted August 19, 2010 Author Share Posted August 19, 2010 The Dylan thread may find it's way in here... I was thinking about songs that might make my daughter have to do a little work to figure out what the literary references are. For example I would not put "Romeo and Juliet" by Dire Straits on the list. But the topic is interesting to me so even the more obvious ones are great and thanks to everyone for the great ideas so far. It's funny, when I read PopTodds "Golden Hair" for some reason I read it as "Sister Golden Hair" by America. I was trying to make sense of that being a Joyce poem. I was thinking the Piper at the Gates of dawn would work but then realized that's an album, not a song. I believe The Crane Wife by the Decemberists is based on a book of some sort. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
anthony Posted August 20, 2010 Share Posted August 20, 2010 I was thinking the Piper at the Gates of dawn would work but then realized that's an album, not a song. My first thought was PF's Animals - whole record based upon Animal Farm Quote Link to post Share on other sites
PopTodd Posted August 20, 2010 Share Posted August 20, 2010 "Flan Awoke" - Dogbowl (Flan by Stephen Tunney) Of course, Dogbowl is Stephen Tunney. And the album, Flan, is based entirely upon the book that he wrote, himself. But still... that counts, huh? Oh, and Iron Maiden has a ton of these...• "Murder in the Rue Morgue"• "Flight of Icarus"• "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner"• "Prodigal Son"• "Phantom of the Opera"• "Stranger in a Strange Land"• "Brave, New World"etc.... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ih8music Posted August 20, 2010 Share Posted August 20, 2010 Well lookie here... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_songs_that_retell_a_work_of_literature Quote Link to post Share on other sites
LouieB Posted August 20, 2010 Share Posted August 20, 2010 Thank goodness for Wikipedia...there is no reason to talk about any of this stuff anymore... LouieB Quote Link to post Share on other sites
bigshoulders Posted August 20, 2010 Share Posted August 20, 2010 Bummer Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Moss Posted August 20, 2010 Author Share Posted August 20, 2010 Thank goodness for Wikipedia...there is no reason to talk about any of this stuff anymore... LouieB I guess I could have saved everbody some time by doing the Wiki thing first! Thanks for the link. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Calexico Posted August 20, 2010 Share Posted August 20, 2010 The Magnetic Fields - I Don't Want to Get Over You ("I could make a career of being blue--I could dress in black and read Camus") A great lyric from a stellar album full of great lyrics. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ih8music Posted August 20, 2010 Share Posted August 20, 2010 Thank goodness for Wikipedia...there is no reason to talk about any of this stuff anymore... LouieB Well, given that many/most of the songs mentioned here are not on that list, I think there's still plenty of room to discuss the topic. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
PopTodd Posted August 20, 2010 Share Posted August 20, 2010 Well, given that many/most of the songs mentioned here are not on that list, I think there's still plenty of room to discuss the topic. I think that was Louie's point. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.