# Most songs inspired by a particular woman (or man) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 3, 2008, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-songs-inspired-by-a-particular-woman-or-man/443832 "2008-04-03T19:01:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2008, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-songs-inspired-by-a-particular-woman-or-man/443832/21 "2008-04-04T12:43:42Z")
Surely **Elvis Presley** must make the list: **Elvis Is Everywhere** - Mojo Nixon **Black Velvet** - Alannah Myles **The King Is Gone (So Are You)** - George Jones **Sean** - The Proclaimers (_“Sean, I’d say the best one came from Tupelo Mississippi…”_) **Blue Moon Revisited (Song for Elvis)** - Cowboy Junkies **Epitaph** - Blue Mountain **The King Is Gone** - Ronnie McDowell …just to name a few (Or is Elvis a “historical figure” within the OP’s meaning?) ---
**Author:** ![Billdo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/billdo/32/315_2.png) [@Billdo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Billdo)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2008, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-songs-inspired-by-a-particular-woman-or-man/443832/22 "2008-04-04T18:07:07Z")
[QUOTE=spoke-] Surely **Elvis Presley** must make the list: [/QUOTE] Also, **Walking in Memphis** - Marc Cohn ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2008, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-songs-inspired-by-a-particular-woman-or-man/443832/23 "2008-04-04T18:10:06Z")
[QUOTE=Billdo] Also, **Walking in Memphis** - Marc Cohn [/QUOTE] Add **Graceland** by **Paul Simon** - he uses Graceland as an almost-mythical place where he can lay his burden down or something - but whatever the reason, Elvis is at the center of it… ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2008, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-songs-inspired-by-a-particular-woman-or-man/443832/24 "2008-04-04T18:12:10Z")
[QUOTE=Darryl Lict] I was just thinking that Marilyn Monroe must have inspired a few. Of course, there is Candle in the Wind by Elton John. I cheated and looked her up on Wiki. Oddly enough, the punk band The Misfits named their band after Marilyn’s last completed movie _The Misfits_. They wrote “Who Killed Marilyn?” about Marilyn Monroe’s death. Wiki also claims that she is is the title character “Miss American Pie” in the Don McClean song “American Pie”. This seems strange to me. This [site](http://www.fiftiesweb.com/amerpie-1.htm) claims Miss American Pie _is_ rock and roll music. Don McLean dated a Miss America candidate during the pageant, supposedly. There’s a bunch of other references, but I don’t know the songs so I ain’t counting them. [/QUOTE] I recall a scene from [_Mondo New York_](http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0093558/) with a female punk-rocker singing a song about Marilyn Monroe, but I’m don’t know whether it’s the Misfits song to which you refer. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2008, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-songs-inspired-by-a-particular-woman-or-man/443832/25 "2008-04-04T18:12:21Z")
Question: Would Beethoven’s [Immortal Beloved](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immortal_Beloved) (link to very thin Wikipedia entry) count? Didn’t he write some of his works for, or inspired by, her? ---
**Author:** ![Qwertyasdfg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/ecc23a/32.png) [@Qwertyasdfg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qwertyasdfg)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2008, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-songs-inspired-by-a-particular-woman-or-man/443832/26 "2008-04-04T18:16:29Z")
Erykah Badu is the inspiration for 2 classic rap songs: OutKast’s “Ms. Jackson” and Common’s “The Light.” Andre 3000 and Common both dated her. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2008, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-songs-inspired-by-a-particular-woman-or-man/443832/27 "2008-04-04T18:18:40Z")
Jesus Christ. What do I win? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2008, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-songs-inspired-by-a-particular-woman-or-man/443832/28 "2008-04-04T18:22:38Z")
A lifetime’s supply of Christian rock and “inspirational” CDs. Enjoy your prize, Mr. Smart Guy. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2008, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-songs-inspired-by-a-particular-woman-or-man/443832/29 "2008-04-04T18:26:28Z")
I guess “Mama” might be too generic. ---
**Author:** ![Cuckoorex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ad7895/32.png) [@Cuckoorex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cuckoorex)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2008, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-songs-inspired-by-a-particular-woman-or-man/443832/30 "2008-04-04T18:50:38Z")
[QUOTE=Krokodil] I guess “Mama” might be too generic. [/QUOTE] As would “baby.” ---
**Author:** ![SiXSwordS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/49beb7/32.png) [@SiXSwordS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SiXSwordS)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2008, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-songs-inspired-by-a-particular-woman-or-man/443832/31 "2008-04-04T19:30:57Z")
Boiled in Lead has a Song, Hard Times, that is, for the most part, about the assassination of McKinley. That’s one for him. Jesse James Does Santa count? Satan? Jimi Hendrix ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2008, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-songs-inspired-by-a-particular-woman-or-man/443832/32 "2008-04-04T19:37:45Z")
[QUOTE=RealityChuck] In a sense, many of Benjamen Britten’s operas were inspired by his partner, Peter Pears. Britten made sure there was a major part for Pears to sing. [/QUOTE] Could the same be said about Kurt Weill and his great love, Lotte Lenya? I mean, I’m not sure when he was and wasn’t singing about her, but he wrote a lot of music that she was famous for singing… ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2008, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-songs-inspired-by-a-particular-woman-or-man/443832/33 "2008-04-04T21:49:01Z")
[QUOTE=pepperlandgirl] And John Lennon . . . I], Paul Simon’s _The Late Great Johnny Ace_ . . . [/QUOTE] Not to downplay John Lennon, but per Paul Simon in a couple of documentaries, Johnny Ace was a singer from a time before the Beatles. Per wiki: [Johnny Ace (June 9, 1929 – December 25, 1954), born John Marshall Alexander, Jr. . .](http://http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnny_Ace) ---
**Author:** ![maggenpye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecc23a/32.png) [@maggenpye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/maggenpye)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2008, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-songs-inspired-by-a-particular-woman-or-man/443832/34 "2008-04-04T21:56:24Z")
[QUOTE=spoke-] Surely **Elvis Presley** must make the list: **Elvis Is Everywhere** - Mojo Nixon **Black Velvet** - Alannah Myles **The King Is Gone (So Are You)** - George Jones **Sean** - The Proclaimers (_“Sean, I’d say the best one came from Tupelo Mississippi…”_) **Blue Moon Revisited (Song for Elvis)** - Cowboy Junkies **Epitaph** - Blue Mountain **The King Is Gone** - Ronnie McDowell …just to name a few (Or is Elvis a “historical figure” within the OP’s meaning?) [/QUOTE] And Velvet Elvis, by Weird Al Yankovich. ---
**Author:** ![pepperlandgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f17d59/32.png) [@pepperlandgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pepperlandgirl)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2008, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-songs-inspired-by-a-particular-woman-or-man/443832/35 "2008-04-04T22:35:46Z")
[QUOTE=Yllaria] Not to downplay John Lennon, but per Paul Simon in a couple of documentaries, Johnny Ace was a singer from a time before the Beatles. Per wiki: [Johnny Ace (June 9, 1929 – December 25, 1954), born John Marshall Alexander, Jr. . .](http://http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnny_Ace) [/QUOTE] Ahh. The wiki [for the song](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Late_Great_Johnny_Ace) indicates it’s about both Johnny Ace and John Lennon. That’s why I mentioned it. ---
**Author:** ![feppytweed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/feppytweed/32/4280_2.png) [@feppytweed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/feppytweed)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2008, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-songs-inspired-by-a-particular-woman-or-man/443832/36 "2008-04-04T22:37:14Z")
[QUOTE=JohnT] Jesus Christ. What do I win? 😉 [/QUOTE] Damn it! You beat me to it. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2008, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-songs-inspired-by-a-particular-woman-or-man/443832/37 "2008-04-04T22:58:45Z")
[QUOTE=pepperlandgirl] Ahh. The wiki [for the song](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Late_Great_Johnny_Ace) indicates it’s about both Johnny Ace and John Lennon. That’s why I mentioned it. [/QUOTE] Gotcha. That fits. He did say, in at least one documentary, that he was using Johnny Ace as a metaphor for John Kennedy, John Lennon, and, by extension, all of the other public deaths that he experienced after that first one. Thanks for the additional link. ---
**Author:** ![Darryl\_Lict](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7cd45c/32.png) [@Darryl\_Lict](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darryl_Lict)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2008, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-songs-inspired-by-a-particular-woman-or-man/443832/38 "2008-04-05T06:27:47Z")
[QUOTE=JohnT] Jesus Christ. What do I win? 😉 [/QUOTE] Nothing! I mentioned the big guy in the OP. ---
**Author:** ![phungi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/phungi/32/395_2.png) [@phungi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phungi)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2008, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-songs-inspired-by-a-particular-woman-or-man/443832/39 "2008-04-05T14:44:42Z")
[QUOTE=Askance] In the same line, John Lennon wrote a number of songs about Yoko Ono: Woman Oh Yoko Jealous Guy The Ballad of John and Yoko Oh MY Love and no doubt others I’ve missed. [/QUOTE] Barenaked Ladies wrote a song: _Be My Yoko Ono_, and there are a few Yoko-related verses in _Magical Misery Tour_ (profanity, thus NSFW: http:// [www.youtube.com](http://www.youtube.com) /watch?v=7qrMEEN6WxM) ---
**Author:** ![Two\_and\_a\_Half\_Inches\_of\_Fun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ea666f/32.png) [@Two\_and\_a\_Half\_Inches\_of\_Fun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_and_a_Half_Inches_of_Fun)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2008, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-songs-inspired-by-a-particular-woman-or-man/443832/40 "2008-04-05T14:53:55Z")
Not a woman or man, but Eros seems to being well for himself. > **[Eros](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eros_%28mythology%29)** > > In Greek mythology, Eros (UK: /ˈɪərɒs, ˈɛrɒs/, US: /ˈɛrɒs, ˈɛroʊs/; Ancient Greek: Ἔρως, lit. 'Love, Desire') is the Greek god of love and sex. His Roman counterpart was Cupid ('desire'). In the earliest account, he is a primordial god, while in later accounts he is described as one of the children of Aphrodite and Ares and, with some of his siblings, was one of the Erotes, a group of winged love gods. > He is usually presented as a handsome young man, though in some appearances he is a juvenile b... [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-songs-inspired-by-a-particular-woman-or-man/443832.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-songs-inspired-by-a-particular-woman-or-man/443832.md?page=3)