# People who are the subject of multiple songs **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 25, 2009, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-are-the-subject-of-multiple-songs/497589 "2009-05-25T18:11:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Catfood\_Purrito](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Catfood\_Purrito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Catfood_Purrito)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2009, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-are-the-subject-of-multiple-songs/497589/41 "2009-05-27T17:57:08Z")
[QUOTE=Hippy Hollow] Margaret Thatcher was an object of derision in tons of songs: “Celebrate (The Day After You),” by The Blow Monkeys, “Margaret on the Guillotine,” by Morrissey, and “Stand Down Margaret” by The Beat. [/QUOTE] “Tramp the Dirt Down” by Elvis Costello, too. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2009, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-are-the-subject-of-multiple-songs/497589/42 "2009-05-27T18:39:30Z")
Jackie Kennedy was named in at least the Misfits “Bullet” and the B-52s “52 Girls.” I’m sure many more. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2009, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-are-the-subject-of-multiple-songs/497589/43 "2009-05-27T18:41:59Z")
Bob Dylan is the subject of Jimi Hendrix’s “Highway Star,” Joan Baez’s “Diamonds and Rust,” David Bowie’s “Song for Bob Dylan,” among others. ---
**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:** [May 27, 2009, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-are-the-subject-of-multiple-songs/497589/44 "2009-05-27T20:46:02Z")
> [@control-z](#): > > Jackie Kennedy was named in at least the Misfits “Bullet” and the B-52s “52 Girls.” I’m sure many more. Human Sexual Response had a song called [Jackie Onassis](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TyqDnYBQsKw) ---
**Author:** ![Slade](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5ac83/32.png) [@Slade](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slade)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2009, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-are-the-subject-of-multiple-songs/497589/45 "2009-05-30T19:35:52Z")
> [@capybara](#): > > Stagger Lee? There’s at least three strands of Stagger Lee songs - the folk/blues version, the New Orleans version and the toast version - each of which has it’s own unique take on the story. If we’re counting covers, I’ve got 142 versions of the song in my own collection, and there’s an American collector who, last I heard, had 280. It’s a safe bet that the song’s been recorded well over 300 times (probably many more) and, although the vast majority spring from one of the three archetypes above, he’s undoubtedly one of the most biographied figures in popular music. Click the link below if you want to know more: [Stagger Lee](http://www.planetslade.com/stagger-lee1.html) ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2009, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-are-the-subject-of-multiple-songs/497589/46 "2009-05-30T19:40:55Z")
> [@E-Sabbath](#): > > HW also features strongly in Beck’s Loser “I’m a driver, I’m a winner, things are going to change, I can feel it.” I always thought that sounded like the elder Bush too, but according to Wiki it’s actually a sample from an indie film called _Kill the Moonlight_ that was directed by Beck’s friend Steve Hanft. ---
**Author:** ![Birdmonster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/71e660/32.png) [@Birdmonster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Birdmonster)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2009, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-are-the-subject-of-multiple-songs/497589/47 "2009-05-30T19:41:30Z")
Really interesting stuff, **Slade**. Thank you. Printing out that article for my commute. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2009, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-are-the-subject-of-multiple-songs/497589/48 "2009-05-30T19:55:36Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Elvis > > Lotsa songs about Elvis, most of them reportedly pretty awful. Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds’ \*Tupelo \*is about Elvis, and it is fucking awesome. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2009, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-are-the-subject-of-multiple-songs/497589/49 "2009-05-30T19:55:51Z")
> [@E-Sabbath](#): > > HW also features strongly in Beck’s Loser “I’m a driver, I’m a winner, things are going to change, I can feel it.” and KMFDM’s A Drug Against War. “Bomb the living bejeebus” Ministry also samples HW in “NWO” (New World Order), a song about Bush, as mentioned in this performance: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87b4a4a2wmY](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87b4a4a2wmY) ---
**Author:** ![Slade](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5ac83/32.png) [@Slade](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slade)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2009, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-are-the-subject-of-multiple-songs/497589/50 "2009-05-30T20:56:41Z")
> [@Birdmonster](#): > > Printing out that article for my commute. Hope it’s a long trip! ---
**Author:** ![tr0psn4j](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/958977/32.png) [@tr0psn4j](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tr0psn4j)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2009, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-are-the-subject-of-multiple-songs/497589/51 "2009-06-01T17:17:02Z")
Patsy Cline has a few songs about her too. She definitely deserved them. ---
**Author:** ![Angel\_of\_the\_Lord](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/angel_of_the_lord/32/2949_2.png) [@Angel\_of\_the\_Lord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Angel_of_the_Lord)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2009, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-are-the-subject-of-multiple-songs/497589/52 "2009-06-01T22:02:21Z")
> [@Hippy\_Hollow](#): > > I think some of the songs on the _Monster_ album were about, at least in part, River Phoenix. The album is dedicated to him. “Let me In,” which is off that album, is about Kurt Cobain. I don’t believe that there’s any specific song on _Monster_ that they’ve said is about River Phoenix. ---
**Author:** ![ouryL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ouryl/32/6067_2.png) [@ouryL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ouryL)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2009, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-are-the-subject-of-multiple-songs/497589/53 "2009-06-01T22:17:37Z")
Supposedly, all the Papa John songs he wrote for the Mamas and the Papas were about Mama Michelle. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-are-the-subject-of-multiple-songs/497589.md?page=2)