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Songs inspired by dead people.
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Posted by ClareUK (My Page) on Mon, Nov 15, 04 at 4:48
| This just popped into my head.
There is an 80's song by Dream Academy called 'Life in a northern town'.I remember reading a while back that it was written about a 70's writer/singer called Nick Drake.
I believe Alanah Mile's 'Black Velvet' was about Elvis.
Can you think of any other songs that were inspired/written by a late entertainer? |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: Songs inspired by dead people.
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| Mr. Bojangles as mentioned in my in the post "Songs that mention other artists". This one mentions a few...
Rock and Roll Heaven by the Righteous Brothers
If you believe in forever,
Then life is just a one-night stand.
If there's a rock and roll heaven,
Well you know they've got a hell of a band, band, band. Jimmy gave us rainbows,
and Janis took a piece of our hearts.
Otis took us all to the dock of the bay.
Sing a song to light my fire,
Remember Jim that way.
They've all found another place,
Another place to play. If you believe in forever,
Then our gig's just a one-night stand.
If there's a rock and roll heaven,
Well you know they've got a hell of a band, band, band. Remember bad, bad Leroy Brown,
Hey Jimmy touched us with that song.
And time won't change the friends
We used to know.
Bobby gave us Mack the Knife,
Well look out, he's back in town.
They'll all be there, another day,
When they meet in one big show. If you believe in forever,
Then our gig's just a one-night stand.
If there's a rock and roll heaven,
Well you know they've got a hell of a band, band, band. There's a spotlight waiting,
No matter who you are.
Everybody's got a song to sing,
Everyone's a star (everybody's got to be a star). If you believe in forever,
Then our gig's just a one-night stand.
If there's a rock and roll heaven,
Well you know they've got a hell of a band. (repeat twice, fade out)
*** Jodi- |
RE: Songs inspired by dead people.
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Great, but what about songs that dont mention artists names.
Just the style of the song and subtle descriptions in the lyrics.
eg Alanah Miles slow sultry song like 'In the Ghetto'with black velvet refering to Elvis's hair. |
RE: Songs inspired by dead people.
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| Well of course there's American Pie, which we all know is a reference to the Big Bopper, Richie Valens and Buddy Holly. Without actually mentioning their names. |
RE: Songs inspired by dead people.
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| Isn't "In My Life" by the Beatles about Brian Epstein? And Mimi, I think. Or "Julia", which was a tribute to Lennon's mother. |
RE: Songs inspired by dead people.
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| All THose Years Ago by George Harrison...sung about John Lennon. |
RE: Songs inspired by dead people.
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| Paul's "Hey Jude" was about John's son Julian. Bill |
RE: Songs inspired by dead people.
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| Boy, won't Julian Lennon be surprised to read of his untimely demise. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think he's still among the living. As he was when "Hey Jude" was penned. "Empty Garden" by Elton John comes to mind, a tribute to Julian's pop. |
RE: Songs inspired by dead people.
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| And then there is Julian Lennons song about his father, "Much to late for good-byes". There was an interesting video for this song. "Candle in the wind" by Elton John was about Marliyn Monroe. The Allman Brothers great instrumental piece, "In memory of Elizabeth Reed" which was inspired by a tombstone. |
RE: Songs inspired by dead people.
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| I understand that 'birdsong,' by robert hunter and jerry garcia, is for janis joplin... 'all I know is something like a bird within her sang/
all I know, she sang a little while and then flew off...' |
RE: Songs inspired by dead people.
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| Killing Me Softly was actually inspired by Don McLean. Lori Lieberman saw him in concert, wrote some poetry about her feelings in her diary, and called it Killing Me Softly With His Blues. Then Norman Gimbel and Charles Fox took that and turned into a song. Then Roberta Flack recorded it and it became a huge hit. |
Doh!
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| But Don's not dead! Sorry, Don. |
RE: Songs inspired by dead people.
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"Hey Jack Kerouak"
10,000 Maniacs, 1987 Abraham Martin and John - Dion |
RE: Songs inspired by dead people.
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| Bauhaus's Bela Legosi's Dead, but on the other hand Weezers's Buddy Holly, isn't he dead. |
Person
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I think I have that Dream Academy, anyway the one that made me feel sad was by the Buzz Poets, Angel Eyes. It's a pretty song and foregt the persons name who died but it's on a really great cd, one of my favorites.
Now if you really want 'People', I'll look. |
Here is a link that might be useful: http://www.lyricsdepot.com/buzz-poets/angel-eyes.html
RE: Songs inspired by dead people.
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| Ballad Of Bonnie and Clyde by Georgie Fame "Bonnie and Clyde, they lived a lot together, and finally together, they died." Jodi- |
RE: Songs inspired by dead people.
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| "Oh No,Not John."by Louden Wainwright.A song about the murder of John Lennon. |
RE: Songs inspired by dead people.
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RE: Songs inspired by dead people.
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| Man on the Moon - R.E.M. - about Andy Kaufman (questionably dead, but wouldn't be surprised it's all a big joke). |
RE: Songs inspired by dead people.
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| Wasn't "Starry Starry Night" about Vincent Van Gough? boomchuckchuck |
RE: Songs inspired by dead people.
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| I Just Shot John Lennon - THe Cranberries |
RE: Songs inspired by dead people.
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| "Edie [Ciao baby]" [Sedgwick] The Cult |
RE: Songs inspired by dead people.
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| Poison's "Every Rose Has it's Thorns", I believe, was about a good friend of Brett Michael's that had died. |
RE: Songs inspired by dead people.
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'Night Shift' - Commodores, about Marvin Gaye, Jackie Wilson
'Six White Horses' - Tommy Cash, about John Kennedy, Martin Luther King & Robert Kennedy
'Abraham, Martin & John' - Dion, Smokey Robinson, Marvin Gaye, about Abraham Lincoln, John Kennedy & Martin Luther.
Candle In The Wind - Elton John, about Marilyn Monroe |
RE: Songs inspired by dead people.
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Patchwork Quilt
About: Jerry Garcia
By: Warren Haynes |
RE: Songs inspired by dead people.
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tonight's the night
neil young |
RE: Songs inspired by dead people.
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| Neil sedaka released a single in the 1970s called the immigrant that was about john lennon. |
RE: Songs inspired by dead people.
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| Fort Worth Blues is a Guy Clark song about Townes Van Zandt (AND it fits the requirements that A. Townes is really dead and B. It doesn't mention him by name. People Who Died - drawing a blank--by the Basketball Diaries guy. Although nobody mentioned in the song is famous--but they were all his friend and they DIED, to paraphrase. |
RE: Songs inspired by dead people.
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| Alisonn -- The Jim Carroll Band did that song (he was the Basketball Diaries guy). Good one, I'd forgotten about it. |
RE: Songs inspired by dead people.
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| U2s "Angel of Harlem" was about the late singer Billie Holiday -- it also mentions John Coltrane and Miles Davis. |
RE: Songs inspired by dead people.
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| There are alot of songs about dead people, fictional dead people, so we'll ignore those, but here are some songs, yet to be mentioned, about actual dead people, mentioned in the song title or not. The Kingston Trio's "Tom Dooley." About Tom Dooley, who was hanged for murder after the American Civil War. Stonewall Jackson's "Waterloo," not only about Tom Dooley, but also Adam and Napoleon Bonaparte. And I think he is dead, now. Though, of course, he wasn't dead, when the song was written. Jimmy Dean's "Big Bad John." About a man whose first name was John, and as Jimmy Dean stood six foot three, one of the few men Jimmy actually knew who was taller than him. And one song written by a dead man. "Guantanamera." Written by a Cuban patriot, the night before he was to be shot by the Spanish in Cuba, sometime during the last half of the 19th century. |
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| Joe Hill, or I Dreamed I saw Joe Hill. Sung by everybody. Lots of songs about martyrs in the labor/left movement. |
RE: Songs inspired by dead people.
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| Elton John - Song for Guy. Wasn't that about a real person he knew who was murdered for no reason at all? As far as I can recall, there aren't a lot of clues in the lyrics, with it being an instrumental title and all that. |
RE: Songs inspired by dead people.
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| Anyanka, according to my research (love that Google advanced search, don't you?) "'Song for Guy' was a tribute to a Rocket Records motorcycle messenger, Guy Burchett, who was killed in a road accident." I think the only lyrics are, "life isn't everything." |
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| Thanks, Petaloid - now that you say it, I remember some vocals (it's years since I heard the song, not a big Elton John fan!). Couldn't ever make out the lyrics. |
RE: Songs inspired by dead people.
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| Has Anybody Here Seen Hank? by The Waterboys (about Hank Williams). It's a really good song, btw. |
Here is a link that might be useful: Has Anybody Here Seen Hank?
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