Online Encyclopedia
List of songs that retell a work of literature
This is a list of songs which retell, in whole or in part, a work of literature. Albums listed here consist entirely of songs retelling a work of literature.
- "1984" by David Bowie is a retelling of George Orwell's 1984
- "Animal in Man" by Dead Prez from Let's Be Free is a retelling of George Orwell's Animal Farm
- "Animals" is an album by Pink Floyd which is a parody of George Orwell's Animal Farm
- "Barefoot Children in the Rain" by Jimmy Buffett partially retells the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
- "The Ballad of Bilbo Baggins" by Leonard Nimoy retells J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit.
- "Battle of Evermore" by Led Zeppelin retells J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord Of The Rings Trilogy, including "Ringwraiths" by name.
- "Bernice Bobs Her Hair" by The Divine Comedy is based on the short story of the same title by F. Scott Fitzgerald.
- "Bowling in the Hills" by Eddie From Ohio retells Washington Irving's short story Rip Van Winkle.
- "Candido & America" by Eddie From Ohio retells parts of T.C. Boyle's novel The Tortilla Curtain.
- Chronicle of the Black Sword by Hawkwind is based on Michael Moorcock's Elric novels
- "Cornflake Girl" by Tori Amos is about a character in Alice Walker's Possessing the Secret of Joy
- "From the Underworld" by The Herd is based on the Greek legend of Orpheus and Eurydice
- "Grendel" by Marillion is a retelling of John Gardner's novel Grendel, which is a retelling of Beowulf
- "The Ghost of Tom Joad" by Bruce Springsteen is about The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
- "Highway 61 Revisited" (from Highway 61 Revisited) by Bob Dylan retells the story of Abraham and his son from Genesis, Chapter 22
- The Highwayman is a Loreena McKennitt song which recounts a poem by Alfred Noyes
- I, Robot is an Alan Parsons Project LP which retells several Isaac Asimov stories
- "Home at Last" by Steely Dan retells Ulysses' encounter with the Sirens from the Odyssey
- Journey to the Center of the Earth by Rick Wakeman is an LP which retells Journey to the Center of the Earth by Jules Verne
- "Killing an Arab" by The Cure is closely related to Albert Camus's The Stranger
- "Lay Down" by The Strawbs is based on Psalm 23
- "Lullaby" by Lagwagon is based on Lullaby by Chuck Palahniuk
- "Moon over Bourbon Street" by Sting is describing a character from Anne Rice's Interview with a Vampire
- Narnia by Steve Hackett is based on The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C. S. Lewis
- Nightfall in Middle-Earth is an album by Blind Guardian that retells J. R. R. Tolkein's The Silmarillion.
- "Oor Hamlet" by Adam McNaughton retells Hamlet by William Shakespeare.
- "Out of the Silent Planet" by Iron Maiden partially retells the science-fiction novel of the same name by C.S. Lewis
- "Prince Caspian" by Phish is about C.S. Lewis' Prince Caspian, one of the Chronicles of Narnia, which retells the Bible in fantasy-allegory; hence, this song is also a retelling of the story of Moses in Exodus
- "Ramble On" by Led Zeppelin retells parts of J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord Of The Rings Trilogy, including "Mordor" and "Gollum" by name.
- "Richard Cory" by Paul Simon is about the Edwin Arlington Robinson poem "Richard Cory."
- "Rime of the Ancient Mariner" by Iron Maiden is a retelling of Samuel Taylor Coleridge's Rime of the Ancient Mariner
- "Sahara" by Eddie From Ohio retells Jon Krakauer's nonfiction book Into The Wild.
- "Scentless Apprentice" by Nirvana tells the story of Perfume by Patrick Süskind.
- "The Stranger" by Tuxedomoon quotes Albert Camus' novel "L'etranger".
- Tales of Mystery and Imagination is an Alan Parsons Project LP which retells several Edgar Allan Poe stories
- "Tea in the Sahara" by The Police is about The Sheltering Sky by Paul Bowles. King Crimson also has a song called "The Sheltering Sky" about the same book, although it is an instrumental work.
- "Tom Joad, Parts 1 and 2" by Woody Guthrie retells The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
- The War of the Worlds by Jeff Wayne is a big budget retelling of the novel by H. G. Wells in music and dramatization
- "White Rabbit" by Jefferson Airplane partially retells Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
- "Wuthering Heights" by Kate Bush is a re-telling of Emily Brontë's novel.
- "Xanadu" by Rush is based on Samuel Taylor Coleridge's poem Kubla Khan.
External links
- The Sibl Project has a similar goal that is more inclusive, creating a list of songs which simply refer to a work of literature
Last updated: 01-22-2005 17:41:17