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- “100% Dundee”// The Roots. The Roots named their fourth studio album after the novel Things Fall Apart by legendary Nigerian writer Chinua Achebe, and the song “100% Dundee” refers to both the novel and Achebe by name.
- “Happiness” // Taylor Swift. Taylor Swift, who frequently references books in her songs, seems to have adapted a famous line from F. Scott’s Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby in evermore’s “happiness”: “I hope she’ll be a beautiful fool / Who takes my spot next to you.”
- “How Soon is Now” // The Smiths. The Smiths’ work contains multitudes of literary references; perhaps their most overt homage is within the 1984 B-side “How Soon Is Now.”
- “Killing An Arab” // The Cure. “Killing an Arab”—which has unsurprisingly courted controversy over the years due to people taking its title literally—tells a condescended version of the plot of L’Étranger (The Stranger) by philosopher Albert Camus, in which the main character kills a man on a beach.
- Kate Bush – Wuthering Heights. This iconic single from British Artpop pioneer Kate Bush is, perhaps, one of the most notorious examples of a pop song taking direct influence from literature.
- The Beatles – Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds. Unlike many other lyrics on this list, The Beatles took direct inspiration from a children's book for this classic track off the ubiquitous 1967 album Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band.
- David Bowie – 1984. With his chameleonic approach both to performing and writing music, David Bowie's career incorporated musical and novelistic influences from an eclectic array of genres.
- Manic Street Preachers – Faster. There are few, if any novels, that have directly inspired the world of alternative music to the level of George Orwell’s 1984.
Jun 2, 2023 · Andrew Hozier-Byrne, famously known as Hozier, is an irish singer-songwriter that is best known from his acclaimed hit song “Take Me To Church”. In most of his works, he often uses literary...
Mar 2, 2024 · While many artists have been able to channel their personal pain into their songs, artists like Nirvana and Metallica have found ways to subvert expectations by drawing from works of fiction. Throughout rock history, artists have used literature as a primary resource for inspiration on their biggest hits.
Explore the realm of poetry references in popular music with notable examples that draw inspiration from renowned poets like William Blake, Emily Dickinson, Pablo Neruda, as well as references to literary giants such as Shakespeare and Yeats.
Oct 19, 2016 · We’ve found that songs often contain subtle (and sometimes even obvious) literary references—from beloved children’s classics to ancient mythology to short stories, and more. So, here are...
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From the tender melodies that bring beloved characters to life, to the powerful anthems that echo the triumphs and tribulations of literary worlds, these songs have seamlessly woven the art of storytelling into the fabric of sound.
