It's no real surprise that Wikipedia has a thorough list of these, but it's interesting to parse through the many, and find a neat collection of songs and albums that were based on, or influenced by books. Led Zeppelin has a scatological lyric library referencing JRR Tolkien, but let's see what else is out there. 13. Alan Parson's Project - The album is called Tales of Mystery and Imagination, and includes interpretations of Edgar Allen Poe's best, like "The Raven", "Dr. Tar and Professor Feather", and "The Cask of Amontillado." Here's the awesome "Dream Within A Dream" video. Also by Parsons: "I, Robot" (Isaac Asimov). 12. Rivendell (Rush) - A quiet, thematic representation of the Elf version of a Bed & Breakfast. (Tolkien's Lord of the Rings, of course.) 11. 2112 (Rush) - Side one* is loosely based on Anthem by Ayn Rand. 10. For Whom the Bell Tolls (Metallica) - Based on the classic by Ernest Hemingway. 9. The Thing That Should Not Be and The Call of Cthulu (Metallica) - These guys really let good classic fiction influence their songwriting. We get not one, but two songs in honor of H.P. Lovecraft's best character. Also by Metallica: "One", based on the book Johnny Got His Gun by Dalton Trumbo. 8. The Small Print (Muse) - "clearly alluding to Goethe's Faust, being sung from the point of view of the Devil to someone selling their soul to him in exchange for, presumably, musical prowess and fame..." source 7. Anthrax Loves Stephen King - As do a lot of bands like Pennywise (It). But Anthrax named one of their best albums Among the Living after King's character Randall Flagg in The Stand. They also penned a song called "Skeleton in the Closet" based on King's "Apt Pupil". 6. Tom Sawyer (Rush) - Wow, Rush. Even "Red Barchetta" is based on a vague book called A Nice Morning Drive by Richard S. Foster. At least Tom Sawyer is pretty well known both as a song and a book. Who can resist the urge to sing along when Geddy Lee croons, "The River!" 5. Tales of Brave Ulysses (Cream) - Psychedelically sums up all you need to know about all the ins and outs of Homer's The Odyssey. And I quote, "Tiny purple fishes run laughing through your fingers..." (This was actually a lyric inspired by lyricist Martin Sharp's travels in Ibiza.) But the Sirens are there, so that's cool. 4. The Ghost of Tom Joad (Bruce Springsteen) - Based on The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck. Henry Fonda and Bruce Springsteen would have had some cool conversations, I bet. 3. White Rabbit (Jefferson Airplane) -Based on Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland. Here's a nice rendition of that song.
YouTube Link 2. Animals (Pink Floyd) - It never actually occurred to me before, but an argument can be made that the Animals album, with it's corrupt pigs (be they on the wing, or three different ones), dogs and sheep, political overtones... Yeah, it's definitely based on George Orwell's Animal Farm. 1. Iron Maiden (Pretty much every song of theirs, ever) - At least a heavy handful. These Brit bad boys of metal must have had some scratched up library cards. Their adaptations include:
- Seventh Son, by Orson Scott Card (on the 7th Son of a 7th Son album, including all songs)
- Brave New World (Aldous Huxley)
- Flight of Icarus (Mythology)
- The Lord of the Flies (William Golding)
- The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner (Alan Sillitoe)
- Stranger in a Strange Land (Robert A. Heinlen)
- To Tame a Land (Dune, Frank Herbert)
- The Trooper (The Charge of the Light Brigade, Alfred Tennyson)
- Rime of the Ancient Mariner (Samuel Taylor Coleridge)
- Murders in the Rue Morgue (Edgar Allen Poe)
On second thought, an honorable mention should be made for Led Zeppelin's "The Battle of Evermore", as it pretty much describes the Battle of Pellennor Fields in The Return of the King. (Iron Maiden illustration by Ado Cedric & Tio Julio.) *For help with determining what this means, ask a grownup.
"T'was in the darkest depths of Mordor, I met a girl so fair.
But Gollum, and the evil one crept up and slipped away with her, her, her....yeah. "
"Songs of Distant Earth" by Mike Oldfield is an homage to the Arthur C. Clarke's novel.. does that count?
Why no electronic nor hip hop bands use literature for inspiration?
Geddy Lee does not croon. Dean Martin croons, Morrissey croons, Neil Diamond croons. Geddy Lee... I don't know, wails? Howls? Screeches? Meows?
I love Rush but Geddy Lee, man... the opposite of croon.
Of course, one has to be in the mood for metal/metal crossover to listen to the whole thing at once, but it makes for great driving music!
http://www.mgexperience.net/article/nice-drive.html
George Orwell's, "1984"
"Who controls the past now controls the future"
"It's no use, he sees her, he starts to shake and cough
Just like the old man in that book by Nabokov."
I'd call it literary allusion rather than inspiration, but bonus points on roping in an author's name, right? And Sting's "Moon over Bourbon Street" gets its juice from Interview with a Vampire.
As to Lord of the Rings, I'd bet you can form a list on that by itself. Been trashing old cassettes and noted that Styx had a song titled that.
Also, The Battle of Evermore may be Tolkien-inspired (Ringwraiths, the Dark Lord) but the majority of the lyrics are about events never in Tolkien and certainly not at Pelennor.
Literary references in song?
Too numerous to mention/lazy to look up would include:
Dylan, Leonard Cohen, Sting etc.
Crash Test Dummies (not a fan) went on about Prufrock in a song.
Additionally, though I don't know if you would consider this literature, their song Creeping Death is based on the 10th plage of Egypt from the book of Exodus.
They also makes tons of other literature references
They also makes tons of other literature references
Also Jake Armerding's "Ithaca" albeit the Dan is better known.
Quick corrections: the name is Edgar "Allan" Poe (middle name is spelled incorrectly twice) and the band is The Alan Parsons Project (no apostrophe). The Poe story mentioned is "The System of Dr. Tarr and Professor Fether."