13 Examples of Literature in Song
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.
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.
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Man Stacks 61 Objects On His Cat While Serenading Him
(YouTube Link)
Sam Hart wrote a love song for his cat entitled “Kitty Song.” Then he sang it to his cat while stacking 61 objects on top of him. Most of them are just playing cards, but others are quite large. You can find the lyrics to the song at the YouTube link.
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Prisencolinensinainciusol
The song is called Prisencolinensinainciusol, written by Italian artist Adriano Celentano in 1972. Recorded by Celentano and Raffaella Carrà in an American accent, it sounds like it should be English, but the lyrics are pure gibberish. Link -via Metafilter
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The Anacreontic Song
A group of amateur musicians formed a club in London in the mid-1700s called the Anacreontic Society. They had day jobs as the pillars of society, but at night they would get together and present concerts. Member John Stafford Smith wrote a song that became known as the Anacreontic Song with six stanzas that became the official anthem of the group.
In all probability some drinking did occur at Society meetings, but the primary purpose of the Society (and its song) was to promote an interest in music. [The song] was commonly used as a sobriety test: If you could sing a stanza of the notoriously difficult melody and stay on key, you were sober enough for another round.
You can listen to a version of the Anacreontic Song on YouTube and hear why why this song is so remarkable. Learn more at Scribal terror. Link
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Gibbon Uses Slamming Door In Her Singing
Tool use in apes is not unheard of, but this gibbon has taken it to a whole new level by enhancing her singing with the sound of an enclosure door slamming:
Each time her song reached its natural climax, the gibbon slammed shut the door of her enclosure, using the loud noise it made to accentuate her call.
The gibbon used the door to create a single beat rather than a rhythm.
But her behaviour is yet another example of how smaller ape species are also capable of novel tool use, says the primatologist who witnessed it.
Link – via monkeydaynews
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What the Animals Want for Christmas
It’s 15 days to Christmas, so here’s a Christmas song, "sung" by animals from the BBC’s Breathing Places. It’s kind of creepy and cute – crute?- at the same time.
Hit play or go to Link [YouTube] – Thanks Andy!
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Mario Kart Love Song
(YouTube link)
YouTube member blinktwice4y wrote a song about Mario Kart and love. The lyrics are available at the YouTube page. My younger daughter will adore this! She recently traded in ALL her Nintendo DS games to get Mario Kart. I didn’t realize that my older daughter didn’t have any games of her own until every game cartridge in the house was suddenly gone! -via Viral Video Chart
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The Mean Kitty Song
Cat lovers will love this song and video. Those who don’t like it, beware…Sparta will bite you! Enjoy! LINK
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Guy's Neat Performance with a Woman's Voice
Nick Patera sings “Part of Your World” with an awesome woman’s voice! I am sure anyone who listens to his singing with their eyes closed would have think that the singer was a female.
Link: YouTube
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