Comments on: She reads Simone de Beauvoir in her American circumstance

Question: She reads Simone de Beauvoir in her American circumstance

ifjuly — Sun, 30 Apr 2006 16:20:29 -0800

Song ideas for a mix tape themed around writers and/or literature, please. I'd like to make a mix tape for my housemate, who's a music and literature snob, and I figured if the theme was songs that mention writers and books he'd at least have to appreciate the idea behind it, if not the songs, ha. Of course, double points for songs that are actually good!

The best example I've come up with, in that he'd actually like the song and he likes the book mentioned too, is Piano Magic's "I Am The Sub-librarian" (A steady diet of Brautigan...). But any and all suggestions are heartily welcomed.

Also, if you know how I can go about finding suggestions elsewhere, I'd appreciate that too. I've searched the archives and tags, as well as Google and some mix communities I belong to, and haven't come up with gold yet. (Maybe my search-fu is broken, but it seems an easy query to get lots of false results for.) Also, I have a feeling Mefites would be great at coming up with unique ideas.

Thank you for your help!

By: blackkar

blackkar — Sun, 30 Apr 2006 16:24:21 -0800

Ryan Adams has a song called Sylvia Plath.

By: camcgee

camcgee — Sun, 30 Apr 2006 16:26:44 -0800

"Killing an Arab" by The Cure, which is based on L'Étranger by Albert Camus.

By: Airhen

Airhen — Sun, 30 Apr 2006 16:27:17 -0800

Indigo Girls' "Virginia Woolf"
Belle and Sebastian "Wrapped up in Books"

By: gsh

gsh — Sun, 30 Apr 2006 16:29:37 -0800

"My Baby Loves a Bunch of Authors" by Moxy Fruvus.

By: jodic

jodic — Sun, 30 Apr 2006 16:31:15 -0800

Everyday I Write The Book, Elvis Costello & The Attractions
Bookmark, Paul Westerberg
Pressed in a Book, The Shins
Bookends, Simon & Garfunkel
Books About UFOs, Husker Du
Company Book, Sugar
Open Book, Cake
The Book I Read, Talking Heads
Lady Writer, Dire Straits
Mr. Writer, Stereophonics
Paperback Writer, The Beatles
Screenwriter's Blues, Soul Coughing
The Writer, Even in Blackouts
Young Fiction Writer, Kind of Like Spitting
I Type for Miles, Jets to Brazil
Type Slowly, Pavement
Rollover DJ, Jet
Hey Jack Kerouac, 10,000 Maniacs
Don't Stand So Close To Me, The Police
Crackle and Drag, Paul Westerberg
Bukowski, Modest Mouse
Sylvia Plath, Ryan Adams
Romeo and Juliet, Dire Straits
Romeo And Juliet, Indigo Girls
I Don't Want To Get Over You, The Magnetic Fields
Bite Your Tongue, Tommy Stinson
Highlands, Bob Dylan
Family Tree, Ben Kweller

By: amarynth

amarynth — Sun, 30 Apr 2006 16:31:55 -0800

Myla Goldberg by The Decemberists

By: TochterAusElysium

TochterAusElysium — Sun, 30 Apr 2006 16:32:28 -0800

"My Baby Loves a Bunch of Authors" by Moxy Fruvous.

By: TochterAusElysium

TochterAusElysium — Sun, 30 Apr 2006 16:33:11 -0800

Dang it, gsh!

By: fire&wings

fire&wings — Sun, 30 Apr 2006 16:34:27 -0800

"Cemetery Gates" by The Smiths
"Faster" by Manic Street Preachers
"Scentless Apprentice" by Nirvana
"Wuthering Heights" by Kate Bush

By: juv3nal

juv3nal — Sun, 30 Apr 2006 16:38:37 -0800

There used to be a label called Milles Plateaux. If she's a snob of the pomo theory variety she might know what that refers to. I don't think their releases are particularly literary though (I can't think of any with lyrics at all off the top of my head).

Also, Bill Burroughs has done a bunch of spoken word stuff, sometimes set to music.

By: the_bone

the_bone — Sun, 30 Apr 2006 16:45:32 -0800

"Holiday" by Weezer has a Kerouac reference.

By: anglophiliated

anglophiliated — Sun, 30 Apr 2006 16:48:49 -0800

Rachel's (aka 'the Rachels') Pablo Neruda themed 'The Sea and The Bells' though you would likely need to explain in your notes.

By: greycap

greycap — Sun, 30 Apr 2006 16:49:32 -0800

Booklovers by the Divine Comedy is pretty much perfect for this. Check out the lyrics here, it would make a great opening track.

By: amro

amro — Sun, 30 Apr 2006 16:56:06 -0800

Stranger Than Fiction by Bad Religion.

By: greycap

greycap — Sun, 30 Apr 2006 16:56:50 -0800

Link to preview for Divine Comedy here. (Sorry, forgot to add this in - you really need to listen to it to get the impact).

By: IndigoRain

IndigoRain — Sun, 30 Apr 2006 16:59:57 -0800

Here's a link to help you out in the future (I'm in no way affiliated with the site):

Mix Tape Generator

By: amro

amro — Sun, 30 Apr 2006 17:00:02 -0800

Windmills by Toad the Wet Sprocket contains an allusion to Don Quixote.

By: vers

vers — Sun, 30 Apr 2006 17:02:52 -0800

Anything from the LP, Homage a Duras.

By: anglophiliated

anglophiliated — Sun, 30 Apr 2006 17:03:31 -0800

and David Foster Wallace by Tsunami

By: scody

scody — Sun, 30 Apr 2006 17:15:20 -0800

Another Divine Comedy suggestion: their song "Lucy" is based Wordsworth (and of course, extra points for the band name derived from Dante). There's also "Marx and Engels" by Belle & Sebastian if your housemate's a political theory snob, too.

By: scody

scody — Sun, 30 Apr 2006 17:15:59 -0800

based ON Wordsworth...

By: CrunchyFrog

CrunchyFrog — Sun, 30 Apr 2006 17:16:37 -0800

"Cherry Lips" by Garbage was based on two novels by JT LeRoy.

By: greycap

greycap — Sun, 30 Apr 2006 17:21:27 -0800

The Lucy suggestion sparked another memory - the Verve's History is based on the poem London by William Blake.

By: amro

amro — Sun, 30 Apr 2006 17:24:26 -0800

The first and last lines of If You Really Want to Hear About It by The Ataris are the same as the first and last lines of Catcher in the Rye.

By: Hildago

Hildago — Sun, 30 Apr 2006 17:28:50 -0800

There She Goes by Nick Cave

By: amro

amro — Sun, 30 Apr 2006 17:29:18 -0800

Wait, I take that back. Not the first line, the title of the song.

By: dmo

dmo — Sun, 30 Apr 2006 17:44:22 -0800

Previous ask mefi thread: Songs about writing.

By: Jeanne

Jeanne — Sun, 30 Apr 2006 17:45:10 -0800

"Don Quixote," Gordon Lightfoot

By: Biblio

Biblio — Sun, 30 Apr 2006 17:45:12 -0800

"love is more thicker than forget" by the Story is an e.e. cummings poem.

Greg Brown set Blake's "Innocence and Experience" poems to music.

Peter Gabriel's "Mercy St."

Alan Parsons Project "Tales of Mystery and Imagination" is all Poe stuff.

By: evil holiday magic

evil holiday magic — Sun, 30 Apr 2006 17:48:04 -0800

ZWAN - Number of the Beast (Kerouac mentioned)
Material - Soul Killer (Burroughs featued)
Manic Street Preachers - The Girl Who Wanted To Be God (about Plath)
Manic Street Preachers - 1985 (Nietzsche referenced)

By: meech

meech — Sun, 30 Apr 2006 17:51:15 -0800

Franz Kafka at the Zoo - The Clean [very good name-dropping in this one...]
Reader meet Author - Morrissey
Book Depository - Michael Nyman [The Cook, The Theif Soundtrack...instrumental]
The House the Jack Kerouac Built - Go Betweeens

Alan Parsons Project "Tales of Mystery and Imagination" is all Poe stuff.

Lou Reed recently set some music to Poe - The Raven.

And points for recognizing the Lloyd Cole lyric?

By: Cochise

Cochise — Sun, 30 Apr 2006 17:52:16 -0800

"Richard Cory" by Simon and Garfunkel (and later performed by Them) is based on the poem by Edward Arlington Robinson

"The Highwayman" by Loreena McKennitt is a musical version of the poem by Alfred Noyes

There are also some bootleg recordings of Bob Dylan and Allen Ginsberg

By: ktrey

ktrey — Sun, 30 Apr 2006 17:56:39 -0800

There's a pretty brief allusion to Thomas Mann's Death In Venice in Rufus Wainwright's song "Grey Gardens."

By: ROTFL

ROTFL — Sun, 30 Apr 2006 17:57:56 -0800

"Goldenhair" by Syd Barrett -- a musical setting of a James Joyce poem.

By: Gator

Gator — Sun, 30 Apr 2006 18:00:39 -0800

Loreena McKennitt has also recorded a version of Tennyson's "The Lady of Shalott."

By: juv3nal

juv3nal — Sun, 30 Apr 2006 18:03:12 -0800

Ah all that talk about Poe (Edgar Allen) reminds me, other Poe's album Haunted supposedly references her brother, Mark Z Danielewski's novel House of Leaves though I've not listened to the album. The book is freaking awesome though.

By: mullacc

mullacc — Sun, 30 Apr 2006 18:24:37 -0800

"Who Wrote Holden Caulfield" by Green Day, and the response, "I Wrote Holden Caulfield" by Screeching Weasel. Though, the lyrics of both leave something to be desired.

By: jeffmshaw

jeffmshaw — Sun, 30 Apr 2006 18:41:48 -0800

Our Retired Explorer (Dines With Michel Foucault In Paris, 1961) by The Weakerthans.

By: radioamy

radioamy — Sun, 30 Apr 2006 18:55:43 -0800

Sonic Youth has a song called "Pattern Recognition," based on William Gibson's book about coolhunters.

By: dagnyscott

dagnyscott — Sun, 30 Apr 2006 19:02:53 -0800

"Golden Hair" is good for music and lit snobs, though it doesn't mention writers or books. Along that theme, Emerson, Lake and Palmer did a version of the hymn "Jerusalem", which draws its lyrics from a poem by William Blake.

Haunted is a great album and references House of Leaves all over the place but if you haven't read House of Leaves it might not seem so literary.

Bob Dylan is full of literary references.... "Desolation Row" pops into my head for its mention of Ezra Pound and T.S. Eliot, and because it's one of my favorite songs, but I'm sure there are many others you can find.

Led Zeppelin is all about the Tolkien references ("Battle of Evermore", "Ramble On")

By: shinybeast

shinybeast — Sun, 30 Apr 2006 19:17:16 -0800

Peter Blegvad - "The Unborn Byron"

By: WCityMike

WCityMike — Sun, 30 Apr 2006 19:30:21 -0800

I can't believe nobody has suggested "La Vie Boheme" yet, from the musical Rent. Lyrics.

By: jdl

jdl — Sun, 30 Apr 2006 19:31:31 -0800

English Murder Mystery - the Lucksmiths ("I love her but she loves Agatha Christie / And shes so wrapped up in the English Murder Mystery")

By: dilettante

dilettante — Sun, 30 Apr 2006 19:46:45 -0800

"Lorca's Novena", "Hell's Ditch" (references Jean Genet), and "Down All the Days" (about Christy Brown), all by the Pogues.

Parts of Tom Waits' The Black Rider were written and performed with William Burroughs.

There's also the entire conceit around the album cover art for Thick as a Brick, but that's probably not quite what you're looking for.

By: hermitosis

hermitosis — Sun, 30 Apr 2006 19:52:40 -0800

"Heroes" by Jill Sobule. A lot of the heroes she mentions are authors.

By: hydrophonic

hydrophonic — Sun, 30 Apr 2006 19:53:22 -0800

Joanna Newsom - Inflammatory Writ
The Fall - How I Wrote Elastic Man
John Cale - Graham Greene
The Cocktails - Waiting for Godot
Brigitte Fontaine - Comme Rimbaud
The Mekons/Kathy Acker - Pussy, King of the Pirates
Sonic Youth - Hits of Sunshine (For Allen Ginsberg)
Cornershop w/ Allen Ginsberg - When the Light Appears Boy
The Embarrassment - Hip and Well Read

Also, have you seen this very long list of songs inspired by literature?

By: scody

scody — Sun, 30 Apr 2006 19:57:34 -0800

Another: "Spanish Bombs" by the Clash references Garcia Lorca.

By: scody

scody — Sun, 30 Apr 2006 19:58:34 -0800

(hit "post" too soon!) And "Absolute Beginners" by the Jam was written in reference to the Macinnes novel of the same name.

By: theora55

theora55 — Sun, 30 Apr 2006 20:07:17 -0800

Stephen Merritt The Book of Love

By: carsonb

carsonb — Sun, 30 Apr 2006 20:23:37 -0800

Farrar, Straus & Giroux (Sea of Tears) by Destroyer. literate is the sixth mood.

Mastodon's Leviathon is based in its entirety upon Moby Dick. I like the track Blood & Thunder.

By: Ostara

Ostara — Sun, 30 Apr 2006 20:54:53 -0800

Richard Cory - Simon and Garfunkle
Rime of the Ancient Mariner - Iron Maiden
Where Eagles Dare (based on the Icarus myth) - Iron Maiden
Stranger in a Strange Land - Iron Maiden
Hey Jack Kerouac - 10,000 Maniacs
The Wanderer - Johnny Cash and U2 - contains the great line "I went out walking, with a bible and a gun"

By: Kronoss

Kronoss — Sun, 30 Apr 2006 21:05:21 -0800

The Fall - Jerusalem (incorporates lines from William Blake's hymn of the same name)

By: hydrophonic

hydrophonic — Sun, 30 Apr 2006 23:16:42 -0800

The Rolling Stones' "Sympathy for the Devil" is based on The Master and Margarita by Mikhal Bulakov. I just noticed it got left out of the Artists for Literacy song list that I linked to earlier.

By: hydrophonic

hydrophonic — Sun, 30 Apr 2006 23:26:27 -0800

Oh wait, there they are, under "T" for The.

By: willnot

willnot — Mon, 01 May 2006 00:32:50 -0800

The SIBL Project is a CD of songs inspired by literature. Half the songs are really good, the other half, not so much. It benefits a worthy cause though.

By: smartypanties

smartypanties — Mon, 01 May 2006 03:55:14 -0800

There's a Queensryche-esque metal band from the late '80s / early 90's called Crismon Glory that does a song "Masque of the Red Death" based on the Poe story of the same name. Funny. I actually (oh the shame) spoke in my high school lit class and played this song comparing the two works many years ago.

By: UbuRoivas

UbuRoivas — Mon, 01 May 2006 04:15:06 -0800

Magazine : *a song from under the floorboards* - based around Dostoyevski: *notes from the underground*.

Jah Wobble has an entire CD of William Blake set to music, but that could be cheating...

hydrophonic: WTF? Jagger et al were cool enough to know Bulgakov?!?!? My world has been turned upside-down...

By: ludwig_van

ludwig_van — Mon, 01 May 2006 06:17:50 -0800

It's "Song for Myla Goldberg" by The Decemberists.

Also:

Engine Driver - The Decemberists
Billy Liar - The Decemberists
The Tain - The Decemberists
I Should be Suspended from Class - Camera Obscura
Fiction - The Lucksmiths
World Encyclopedia of 20th Century Murder - The Lucksmiths
Get Me Away From Here, I'm Dying - Belle and Sebastian
Judy and the Dream of Horses - Belle and Sebastian

By: bryghtrose

bryghtrose — Mon, 01 May 2006 08:59:05 -0800

Just Like Hemingway-Blue Clocks Green

By: Packy_1962

Packy_1962 — Mon, 01 May 2006 10:19:00 -0800

To Jane Gallagher by Steve Goldberg

By: mykescipark

mykescipark — Mon, 01 May 2006 17:46:03 -0800

There's also "Sylvia Plath" by Peter Laughner.

"Bernice Bobs Her Hair" is another Divine Comedy song modeled after a work by F. Scott Fitzgerald; they also adapt Wordsworth's "Lucy" to beautiful effect.

By: mykescipark

mykescipark — Mon, 01 May 2006 17:49:15 -0800

... and to redeem the doublepost of Wordsworth's "Lucy," I offer the arrangement of Blake's "London" by Sparklehorse for your list/mix.

By: AmbroseChapel

AmbroseChapel — Tue, 02 May 2006 00:02:18 -0800

Just because nobody's mentioned it yet -- "Rave On, John Dunne" by Van Morrison.