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Ever wonder where musicians get their ideas for lyrics? In some cases they get them from books! We’ve compiled a list of book references in songs, along with the lyrics that correlate to them. The books and CDs listed can be placed on hold and picked up at the library.
1) Book: 1984 by George Orwell
Song: 1984 by David Bowie
Lyrics: “They’ll split your pretty cranium and fill it full of air / And tell that you’re eighty, but brother, you won’t care / Beware the savage jaw of 1984!”
2) Book: The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
Song: Ramble On by Led Zeppelin
Lyrics: “’Twas 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.”
3) Book: Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
Song: Don’t Stand So Close to Me by The Police
Lyrics: “Just like the old man in that book by Nabokov.”
4) Book: Venus in Furs by Leopold von Sacher-Masoch
Song: Venus in Furs by The Velvet Underground
Lyrics: “Severin, down on your bended knee…”
5) For Whom The Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway
Song: For Whom the Bell Tolls by Metallica
Lyrics: “Men of five, still alive through the raging glow / Gone insane from this pain that they surely know.”
6) Book: Pet Sematary by Stephen King
Song: Pet Sematary by The Ramones
Lyrics: “Molars and fangs, the clicking of bones / Spirits moaning among the tombstones.”
7) Book: The Stand by Stephen King
Song: The Stand by The Alarm
Lyrics: “I met the Walking Dude, religious in his worn-down cowboy boots / He walked like no man on earth, I swear he had no name.”
8) Book: Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
Song: White Rabbit by Jefferson Airplane
Lyrics: “The White Knight is talking backwards / And the Red Queen’s ‘Off with her head!’ / Remember what the Dormouse said…”
9) Book: The House at Pooh Corner by A. A. Milne
Song: The House at Pooh Corner by Loggins & Messina
Lyrics: “Christopher Robin and I walked along under branches lit up by the moon / Posing our questions to Owl and Eeyore as our days disappeared all too soon.”
*These book references were found with the help of Shortlist.com.