# Celebrities in pop songs **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 22, 2001, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-in-pop-songs/88804 "2001-10-22T04:10:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![amanset](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8dc957/32.png) [@amanset](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amanset)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2001, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-in-pop-songs/88804/21 "2001-10-22T12:18:36Z")
“Endless Art” by A House is basically a list of dead artists, including Sid Vicious, Jackson Pollack, Beethoven and Jack Kerouac. You can find the lyrics here: [http://www.geocities.com/sunsetstrip/plaza/7654/iamlyr.html](http://www.geocities.com/sunsetstrip/plaza/7654/iamlyr.html) Unfortunately, IIRC, it was pointed out that the lyrics contained no women, so on the B Side to the single they released “More Endless Art” which had just female artists in the lyrics. I can’t seem to find the lyrics anywhere though… ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2001, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-in-pop-songs/88804/22 "2001-10-22T12:22:16Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by AudreyK \* > \*\*Barenaked Ladies: > \*“Brian Wilson”-- Brian Wilson, Dr. Landy, Pavlov > \*“Be My Yoko Ono”-- Yoko Ono, John Lennon, The Beatles > “Ed’s Broken String”-- Seal (“Who’s that scarred-up bald black guy?/Oh my goodness, it’s Seal!”) > “Jane”-- Juliana Hatfield and Evan Dando > “A”-- Thelonius Monk > “Grade 9”-- Duran Duran, Led Zeppelin > “The King of Bedside Manor”-- Tom Jones, Styx > “New Kid on the Block”-- NKOTB, J.S. Bach, Elvis > “Blame It on the Rain”-- Milli Vanilli > “If I Had $1M”-- John Merrick (The Elephant Man) > “One Week”-- LeAnn Rimes, Bert Kaempfert, Harrison Ford, Sting, Akira Kurosawa > “In The Car”-- The Clash > “When You Dream”-- Del Shannon > “Care Less”-- Morton Downey > “Go Home”-- Catherine the Great, Joan of Arc > “Sell Sell Sell”-- Roman Polanski > “Baby Seat”-- Jack Kerouac > “Fight The Power (cover)”-- Elvis, Buddy Rich, Buddy Hackett, John Wayne > > \*[sub]-- The song’s not about the celebrity, but rather about someone who draws parallels between themselves or someone else and the celebrity. If it makes any difference.[/sub] \*\* You know, **AudreyK** , I can’t belive you omitted _One Week_, which includes Aquaman, Leann Rimes, Harrison Ford, Bert Kaemptfert, Sting, Kurasawa, and Sailor Moon. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2001, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-in-pop-songs/88804/23 "2001-10-22T12:25:47Z")
The first song that popped into my head was “Elvis is Everywhere” by Mojo Nixon. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2001, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-in-pop-songs/88804/24 "2001-10-22T12:27:40Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Superdude \* > \*\* > You know, **AudreyK** , I can’t belive you omitted _One Week_, which includes Aquaman, Leann Rimes, Harrison Ford, Bert Kaemptfert, Sting, Kurasawa, and Sailor Moon. \*\* My mistake, **Audrey**. I glossed right over that. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2001, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-in-pop-songs/88804/25 "2001-10-22T12:34:42Z")
Well, Milo Trembly did a song called “Debbie Gibson Is Pregnant With My Two-Headed Love Child.” Weird Al Yankovic sang “Stuck in a Closet With Vanna White,” while “Smells Like Nirvana” has references to both Nirvana and Madonna. Pinkard and Bowden sang “Elvis Was a Narc.” ---
**Author:** ![DarkJudicator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/da6949/32.png) [@DarkJudicator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DarkJudicator)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2001, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-in-pop-songs/88804/26 "2001-10-22T12:36:35Z")
“Fashion shoots with Back and Hanson, Courtney Love and Marilyn Manson…” – New Radicals, _Get What You Give_ ---
**Author:** ![DarkJudicator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/da6949/32.png) [@DarkJudicator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DarkJudicator)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2001, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-in-pop-songs/88804/27 "2001-10-22T12:39:33Z")
Re-reading the thread after I posted, I saw **drgonzo** mentioned We Didn’t Start the Fire. How could you think of that and no the REM classic, _It’s the End of the World as We Know It_? Lenny Bruce gets mentioned, and I’m sure a few other celebs are in there… I just can’t recall the lyrics at this moment. ---
**Author:** ![DarkJudicator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/da6949/32.png) [@DarkJudicator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DarkJudicator)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2001, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-in-pop-songs/88804/28 "2001-10-22T12:41:39Z")
…and if you really, REALLY want to scrape the bottom of the artistic barrel, Will Smith has lines about Shaq and Muhammed Ali (among others) in _Gettin’ Jiggy wid it_. Ugh… I feel unclean… ---
**Author:** ![TwistofFate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cdc98d/32.png) [@TwistofFate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TwistofFate)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2001, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-in-pop-songs/88804/29 "2001-10-22T12:44:00Z")
And the Idea of The New Radicals kicking anyones asses is hillarious. on topic, that song by Donovan (?) “Where so you go to My Lovely” whivh mentions Picasso, Marlene Dietrich, and a load of French sounding names that I cant remember. ---
**Author:** ![Legomancer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/779978/32.png) [@Legomancer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Legomancer)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2001, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-in-pop-songs/88804/30 "2001-10-22T12:45:28Z")
THere’s “David Duchovny” by Bree Sharp and “Claire Danes Poster” by Size 14. The Bogart and Bacall Suzanne Vega line is from “Freeze Tag”. The Jesus and Mary Chain have a song called “Bo Diddley is Jesus”. REM has tons of references to people. I’ll let you figure out the songs, but off the top of my head I can think of Lightnin’ Hopkins, Lester Bangs, Lenny Bruce, Leonid Brezhnez, Leonard Bernstein, Maria Callas, and Martin Luther King. Bogie and Bacall, incidentally, also appear in “Key Largo” by Bertie Higgins. ---
**Author:** ![OneChance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/74df32/32.png) [@OneChance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneChance)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2001, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-in-pop-songs/88804/31 "2001-10-22T12:52:36Z")
**Celluloid Heroes** (I know Joan Jett re-did it, but I don’t know who the original artist was. Maybe the Kinks?) mentions Greta Garbo, Rudolph Valentino, Bela Lugosi, Bette Davis, George Sanders (?), Mickey Rooney, and Marilyn Monroe. The song is referring mostly to their stars on Hollywood Blvd. ---
**Author:** ![Belegur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/65b543/32.png) [@Belegur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Belegur)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2001, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-in-pop-songs/88804/32 "2001-10-22T13:01:26Z")
REM’s “Man on the Moon” mentions Andy Kaufman, Moses, Newton, and Darwin. ---
**Author:** ![pldennison](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9fc29f/32.png) [@pldennison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pldennison)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2001, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-in-pop-songs/88804/33 "2001-10-22T13:09:19Z")
“High,” by Tal Bachmann, mentions Cleopatra and Joan of Arc. “Yer Blues,” by the Beatles, mentions Bob Dylan. Also, John Lennon’s “God” mentions Dylan (referred to by his real name, Zimmerman), the Beatles, and Yoko Ono. Dylan is quite popular . . . he’s also mentioned in “The Seeker,” by the Who, along with the Beatles and Timothy Leary. “Hey Hey, My My,” by Neil Young mentions Johnny Rotten. “Bring the Noise,” by Public Enemy, mentions Louis Farrakhan. Tom Petty’s “Running Down A Dream” mentions Del Shannon. ---
**Author:** ![OneChance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/74df32/32.png) [@OneChance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneChance)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2001, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-in-pop-songs/88804/34 "2001-10-22T13:10:45Z")
Oh, how could I have forgotten **Jackie Wilson Said** by Van Morrison. ---
**Author:** ![Coil](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@Coil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coil)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2001, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-in-pop-songs/88804/35 "2001-10-22T14:06:34Z")
Depeche Mode, [New Dress](http://www.depechemode.com/archive/Lyrics/Trainspotter/newdress.html) - Princess Di The Sisters of Mercy, [Doctor Jeep](http://www.thesistersofmercy.com/lyrics/drjeep.htm) - PeeWee Herman, Ike Eisenhower, Lucille Ball, Jane Fonda. The Sisters of Mercy, [Ribbons](http://www.thesistersofmercy.com/lyrics/ribbons.htm) - Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. Stan Ridgway, Harry Truman - Harry Truman (sorry no link for this one) “Harry Truman finally fropped the bomb so we could all go to sleep at night …” /Coil ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2001, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-in-pop-songs/88804/36 "2001-10-22T14:37:56Z")
Timothy Leary - Moody Blues ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2001, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-in-pop-songs/88804/37 "2001-10-22T14:45:21Z")
Vincent (VanGogh) - Don McLean (Otherwise known as Starry Starry Night) ---
**Author:** ![kung\_fu\_lola](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f4b2a3/32.png) [@kung\_fu\_lola](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kung_fu_lola)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2001, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-in-pop-songs/88804/38 "2001-10-22T14:49:40Z")
- Dar Williams’ song _I Won’t Be Your Yoko Ono_ mentions Yoko and John (natch), as well as Bo Diddley. - There is a Savage Garden song that talks about “slow-dancing to Madonna” ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2001, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-in-pop-songs/88804/39 "2001-10-22T14:54:33Z")
How could I forget these? All by John Mellencamp, in his various names: Frankie Lymon, Bobby Fuller, Mitch Ryder, Jackie Wilson, the Shangri-Las, the Young Rascals, Martha Reeves, and James Brown in “R.O.C.K In the USA” James Dean in “Jack & Diane” Marlon Brando, the Rolling Stones, Johnny Rotten, Bobby Seal, the Black Panthers, Sylvester Stallone, Nikita Kruschev, Fidel Castro, Vanessa Williams (“I saw Miss America/In a girlie magazine”) in “You’ve Gotta Stand for Something.” ---
**Author:** ![kung\_fu\_lola](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f4b2a3/32.png) [@kung\_fu\_lola](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kung_fu_lola)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2001, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-in-pop-songs/88804/40 "2001-10-22T14:57:13Z")
Whoops! Forgot to mention: The Tragically Hip: - _Fifty Mission Cap_ is about hockey (and urban!) legend Bill Barilko - _Bobcaygeon_ name-drops Willie Nelson - _Fireworks_ has a reference to Bobby Orr My knowledge of the Hip is rather limited. I’m sure there are others in their songs, but someone wiser than I will have to ferret them out. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-in-pop-songs/88804.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-in-pop-songs/88804.md?page=3)