The other day DocOc mentioned the famous George Orwell quote "Who controls the past, controls the future, who controls the present, controls the past" from the book 1984. Besides having previously read this book, the quote seemed very familiar. I got into my car after school to get over to swim practice and turned on the radio as I always do and the song Testify by Rage Against The Machine and the lyrics of the bridge of this song is the same Orwell quote we talked about in class! I began to think of how literature influences music and the connection between the two. I then began to think of what songs I listened to on a regular basis had alluded to books and short stories I had read.
Mr. Raven- MC Lars
MC Lars graduated as an english major from Stanford University, so it makes sense his raps have a literary basis. This song is clearly based on the short story/poem The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe and uses its most famous lines such as "While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping" and the repetition of the phrase "Nevermore".(He has also written songs about Moby Dick and Hamlet, check out his discography, smart dude).
Dead Souls- Joy Division
Pioneers of "Emo", Joy Division, wrote many allusions to darker, off-beat literature in their songs, including this one based off of Nikolai Gogol's book Dead Souls.
The Battle of Evermore- Led Zeppelin
Besides the fact Led Zeppelin may be one of the best bands of all time, they wrote this song (off Led Zeppelin IV) about the book Lord Of The Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien.
Literature is everywhere, just take a listen.
I thought this was a really relevant post, Chloe. While reading it, I realized there’s one more song, that is possibly even more mainstream: Love Song by Taylor Swift. I’m sure you’ve heard it by now, but if you didn’t understand the connection, it’s based on Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet.
ReplyDeleteI think it is really interesting however that so little of the mainstream music that people listen to doesn’t come from anything remotely intellectual. Take what may be a completely overused example (but is still so effective...): Hannah Montana. Sure she writes about her boyfriends, but she never sings of anything that could make a person think. And knowing that my sister and all of her friends listen to Hannah Montana, it seems like music that does not require much thought is really what is popular today.
Cool idea for a post, Chloe. And I love the RATM video!
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