We bookworms love words. When we listen to music, most of us pay a lot of attention to the lyrics. We love the poeticism and once the words combine with a tune, it’s a masterpiece. If you’re a bookworm, odds are you’ve stopped a song, hit rewind, and listened to a lyric over and over. Why? Because, occasionally, a bookish surprise awaits in the form of a literary reference.
Here are 10 songs with lyrics inspired by literature! Do you know any more? Tell us in the comments!
1) “The Lady of Shalott” by Loreena McKennitt
Reference: The Lady of Shalott by Alfred Lord Tennyson
Lyric: “Four grey walls, and four grey towers,
Overlook a space of flowers,
And the silent isle imbowers
The Lady of Shalott.”
2) “Wuthering Heights” by Kate Bush
Reference: Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë
Lyric: “Heathcliff, it’s me, Cathy
Come home, I’m so cold!
Let me in-a-your window”
3) “Hurricane” by Thirty Seconds to Mars
Reference: The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe
Lyric: “Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there wondering, fearing, doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before.”
4) “Thieves in the Night” by Black Star
Reference: The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
Lyric: “Give me the fortune, keep the fame,” said my man Louis
I agreed, know what he mean because we live the truest lie
I asked him why we follow the law of the bluest eye
He looked at me, he thought about it
Was like, “I’m clueless, why?”
4) Annabel Lee by Stevie Nicks
Reference: Annabel Lee by Edgar Allan Poe
Lyric: “That the wind came out
Of the cloud that night
Killing my, my Annabel Lee”
5) “I Am the Walrus” by The Beatles
Reference: The Walrus and the Carpenter by Lewis Carroll
Lyric: “I am the eggman (Ooh)
They are the eggmen (Ooh)
I am the walrus
Goo goo g’ joob”
6) “Lost Boy” by Ruth B
Reference: Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie
Lyric: “I am a lost boy from Neverland
Usually hanging out with Peter Pan
And when we’re bored we play in the woods
Always on the run from Captain Hook
“Run, run, lost boy,” they say to me,
“Away from all of reality.”
7) “Oedipus” by Regina Spektor
Reference: Oedipus Rex by Sophocles
Lyric: “And one morning I woke up
And I thought Oedipus, Oedipus, Oedipus, Oedipus
Then one morning I woke up and I thought Rex, Rex, Rex
Then one morning I woke up
And I thought Oedipus, Oedipus, Oedipus, Oedipus…”
8) “Off to the Races” by Lana Del Rey
Reference: Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
Lyric: “Light of his life, fire of his loins
Keep me forever, tell me you own me
Light of your life, fire of your loins
Tell me you own me, give me them coins.”
9) Forrest Gump by Frank Ocean
Reference: Forrest Gump by Winston Groom
Lyric: “I know you Forrest
I know you wouldn’t hurt a beetle
But you’re so buff and so strong
I’m nervous Forrest
Forrest Gump.”
10) “The Cave” by Mumford & Sons
Reference: The Odyssey by Homer
Lyric: “So tie me to a post and block my ears
I can see widows and orphans through my tears
I know my call despite my faults
And despite my growing fears”
Featured image courtesy of Newsweek