# examples of ecphrasis **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 5, 2007, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-ecphrasis/410641 "2007-07-05T20:33:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2007, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-ecphrasis/410641/21 "2007-07-06T11:49:03Z")
Oh, and **Jimmy Eat World** ’s “Authority Song” is about listening to **John Cougar Mellencamp** ’s song of the same name on a jukebox. It name-checks several other 80s hits as well. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2007, 11:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-ecphrasis/410641/22 "2007-07-06T11:54:09Z")
[QUOTE=Mark Ryle] I notice, on that same webpage, William Carlos Williams also wrote a poem, _Landscape With The Fall Of Icarus_. Also there are one or two other poems there related to the painting. Thanks for the link. I’ll share it with my niece. Brings it full circle. Good one. [/QUOTE] Well, I never knew that! Cool tidbit! Re: the Don McLean thing. ---
**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:** [July 6, 2007, 12:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-ecphrasis/410641/23 "2007-07-06T12:02:14Z")
The Beatles “For The Benefit of Mr. Kite” was based on an old circus poster. And CATS the musical based on Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats. ---
**Author:** ![Chez\_Guevara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/aeb1de/32.png) [@Chez\_Guevara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chez_Guevara)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2007, 12:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-ecphrasis/410641/24 "2007-07-06T12:11:28Z")
The Pogues’ second album [_Rum, Sodomy, and the Lash_](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rum%2C_Sodomy%2C_and_the_Lash) features Géricault’s [_The Raft of the Medusa_](http://www.shunya.net/Text/Islam/Maps/RaftMedusa.jpg) on the cover. In a slight change to the original, the faces of the band members feature among those on the ill-fated vessel. In a further tribute to this painting, their fifth album _Hell’s Ditch_ includes the song [_The Wake of the Medusa_](http://www.lyricstime.com/pogues-the-wake-of-the-medusa-lyrics.html). ---
**Author:** ![denquixote](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9bd4f/32.png) [@denquixote](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/denquixote)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2007, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-ecphrasis/410641/25 "2007-07-06T12:35:36Z")
“It wasn’t god who made honky tonk angels” by Kitty Wells refers to “Wild side of life” by Hank Thompson. Is this an example? ---
**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2007, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-ecphrasis/410641/26 "2007-07-06T12:47:15Z")
Here’s a three-in-one: **Peter Schilling** ’s “Major Tom” is meant to be a sequel to **David Bowie** ’s “Space Oddity,” which is itself a pun on **Arthur C. Clarke** ’s _2001: A Space Odyssey._ ---
**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:** [July 6, 2007, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-ecphrasis/410641/27 "2007-07-06T13:04:29Z")
Neil Sedanka wrote “Oh Carol” about his nigh school girlfriend Carol Klein. Carol changed her last name to King and wrote “Oh Neil” ---
**Author:** ![Ichbin\_Dubist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/51bf81/32.png) [@Ichbin\_Dubist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ichbin_Dubist)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2007, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-ecphrasis/410641/28 "2007-07-06T13:06:19Z")
Stew’s song “Bijou” (on the album _Guest Host_) is essentially a long description of a Georges Brassai photograph. Apparently the Getty Museum in LA commissed a number of songwriters to write captions for a Brassai exhibition; not sure if any other songs are available. The title of Sufjan Stevens’s instrumental “The Vivian Girls Are Visited in the Night by Saint Dargarius and His Squadron of Benevolent Butterflies” makes reference to the works of outsider artist Henry Darger. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2007, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-ecphrasis/410641/29 "2007-07-06T14:10:38Z")
[QUOTE=OneCentStamp] Well, keeping in the spirit of Don… “Killing Me Softly (With His Song)” —\> Don McLean [/QUOTE] In the spirit of this one, **The Jayhawks** have a song entitled [Miss Williams’ Guitar](http://www.lyricsfreak.com/j/jayhawks/miss+williams+guitar_20070181.html) about the ear-opening experience of hearing **Victoria Williams** play. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2007, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-ecphrasis/410641/30 "2007-07-06T14:33:55Z")
Bruce Springsteen’s song [Nebraska](http://www.lyricsfreak.com/b/bruce+springsteen/nebraska_20025149.html) was inspired by a viewing of the movie [Badlands](http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0069762/). ---
**Author:** ![Mark\_Ryle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8dc957/32.png) [@Mark\_Ryle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mark_Ryle)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2007, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-ecphrasis/410641/31 "2007-07-06T15:22:08Z")
[QUOTE=Kalhoun] Well, I never knew that! Cool tidbit! Re: the Don McLean thing. [/QUOTE] _Killing Me Softly_, Roberta Flack’s version, won Song of the Year, Record of the Year and Best Pop Vocal Performance by a Female Performer for 1973, according to Wikipedia. It is _about_ Don McLean. Don McLean was big. ---
**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2007, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-ecphrasis/410641/32 "2007-07-06T15:23:13Z")
**Mark Ryle** , what is up with your bizarre font choices? I feel as if I’m reading a ransom note. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2007, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-ecphrasis/410641/33 "2007-07-06T15:40:19Z")
[QUOTE=Chez Guevara] The Pogues’ second album [_Rum, Sodomy, and the Lash_](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rum%2C_Sodomy%2C_and_the_Lash) features Géricault’s [_The Raft of the Medusa_](http://www.shunya.net/Text/Islam/Maps/RaftMedusa.jpg) on the cover. In a slight change to the original, the faces of the band members feature among those on the ill-fated vessel. In a further tribute to this painting, their fifth album _Hell’s Ditch_ includes the song [_The Wake of the Medusa_](http://www.lyricstime.com/pogues-the-wake-of-the-medusa-lyrics.html). [/QUOTE] Julian Barnes’s book _A History of the World in 10 1/2 Chapters_ uses the _The Raft of the Medusa_ as the kick-off for several chapters; it also (IIRC) mentions the references that the painting itself includes. ---
**Author:** ![jackelope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@jackelope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackelope)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2007, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-ecphrasis/410641/34 "2007-07-06T16:03:47Z")
[QUOTE=spoke-] [Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosencrantz_&_Guildenstern_Are_Dead), a Tom Stoppard play which follows the misadventures of two minor characters from Shakespeare’s **Hamlet**. [/QUOTE] Stoppard’s done quite a bit of this. _Travesties_ was centered around _The Importance of Being Earnest_, and _Shakespeare in Love_ revolves around _Romeo and Juliet_. _Travesties_ also includes Joyce, Lenin, and Tristan Tzara as characters. [David Ives](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Ives) does this a lot too; several of the short plays in _All in the Timing_ focus on other works. “Words Words, Words” has some chimps (named Milton, Swift, and Kafka) trying to write _Hamlet_, and “Philip Glass Buys a Loaf of Bread” is fairly obvious in its subject matter. Peter Shaffer’s _Amadeus_, and Milos Forman’s movie of it, work with a lot of Mozart’s music, and surely enhance the listening for a lot of people who (like me) don’t know a whole lot about classical music. And Exhibit A in this discussion should be Joyce’s _Ulysses_. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2007, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-ecphrasis/410641/35 "2007-07-06T16:14:07Z")
[QUOTE=panache45] There are tons in classical music. [/QUOTE] And Leoš Janáček’s String Quartet No. 1, “The Kreutzer Sonata,” inspired by the Tolstoy story which was, in turn, named after a violin sonata by Beethoven. ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2007, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-ecphrasis/410641/36 "2007-07-06T16:32:19Z")
Does [The Aristocrats](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0436078/), a movie about a vaudeville joke, count? Sailboat ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2007, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-ecphrasis/410641/37 "2007-07-06T16:35:34Z")
[QUOTE=Mark Ryle] _Killing Me Softly_, Roberta Flack’s version, won Song of the Year, Record of the Year and Best Pop Vocal Performance by a Female Performer for 1973, according to Wikipedia. It is _about_ Don McLean. Don McLean was big. [/QUOTE] Right. I got that (I helped boost it up the charts). I just never knew it was about Don McLean. I thought it was a nameless, faceless rock star. That’s the tidbit I was remarking about. ---
**Author:** ![Mark\_Ryle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8dc957/32.png) [@Mark\_Ryle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mark_Ryle)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2007, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-ecphrasis/410641/38 "2007-07-06T16:46:11Z")
[QUOTE=OneCentStamp] **Mark Ryle** , what is up with your bizarre font choices? I feel as if I’m reading a ransom note. 😛 [/QUOTE] I write only in verdana but its italics are unsatisfactory. I like Times New Roman italics but there is a mismatch in size when used with verdana. I would prefer to use TNR italics at 11 points, or 10.5, but we are only offered 8, 10 and 12 (1, 2 and 3 on SDMB). Thus the mismatch. Ten is too small, the verdana overpowers it. Using 12-point (3 on SDMB) messes up line spacing too, I don’t know if you noticed. Thanks for the criticism – I mean that. I’m shocked it has a ranson note effect. My personal feeling (up till now) has been verdana is able to stand up well with the larger, impressive, Times New Roman italics. I may have to reconsider. I don’t know where to go, though. I have tried everything and come back to verdana/TNR time and again. It’s better in Word owing to the finer size gradations. They’re perfect together, by the way, when size is ironed out. ---
**Author:** ![Chez\_Guevara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/aeb1de/32.png) [@Chez\_Guevara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chez_Guevara)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2007, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-ecphrasis/410641/39 "2007-07-06T16:47:37Z")
[QUOTE=jjimm] Julian Barnes’s book _A History of the World in 10 1/2 Chapters_ uses the _The Raft of the Medusa_ as the kick-off for several chapters; it also (IIRC) mentions the references that the painting itself includes. [/QUOTE] I really should read that book. Looking at Wikipedia we are further informed that rock group Great White also used this painting as the cover art for their album _Sail Away_. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2007, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-ecphrasis/410641/40 "2007-07-06T17:12:38Z")
[QUOTE=Chez Guevara] I really should read that book. [/QUOTE] It’s wonderful. Bizarre, but beautifully written and painstakingly researched. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-ecphrasis/410641.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-ecphrasis/410641.md?page=3)