# Share a favorite song inspiration
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-a-favorite-song-inspiration/451927
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [June 5, 2008, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-a-favorite-song-inspiration/451927 "2008-06-05T20:46:05Z")
**Posts on this page:** 16
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Birdmonster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Birdmonster)
#### Post date: [June 5, 2008, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-a-favorite-song-inspiration/451927/1 "2008-06-05T20:46:05Z")
Millions,
I just discovered, while perusing a list of songs written about or inspired by New York City, that George Gershwin wrote “Rhapsody in Blue” after hearing the “steely rhythms” and rattle-ty bang" of a NYC locomotive. He says he heard the music in the “very heart” of the noise of that train journey and, by the time he arrived in Boston, the piece had more or less solidified in his mind.
Now, admittedly, this is an odd inspiration but it got me thinking about other famous ones. “Sweet Caroline,” reportedly, was inspired by JFK’s then-eleven-year-old daughter, while that underrated Bonnie Raitt tune “I Can’t Make You Love Me” originated when a countrified defendant, after shooting up his ex-lovers car, was asked by a judge if he learned anything from his trial, responded “you can’t make a woman love you if she don’t.”
What I’m soliciting are other interesting song inspirations from our knowledgeable store of music geeks.
Oh, and a caveat: I’ve been absent from the Dope for quite some time and, admittedly, a similar post may have been made, maybe even by me, some time ago. That said, I couldn’t find it and I figure this is a nearly inexhaustible category, so why not take it for a spin?
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### Author:  [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)
#### Post date: [June 5, 2008, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-a-favorite-song-inspiration/451927/2 "2008-06-05T20:48:57Z")
The Bee Gees “Jive Talking” and ABBA’s “Take a Chance on Me” were also inspired by the sound of trains.
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### Author:  [@Cluricaun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cluricaun)
#### Post date: [June 5, 2008, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-a-favorite-song-inspiration/451927/3 "2008-06-05T20:53:10Z")
What’s up **Birdmonster**? Good to see you back around.
The song Bertha by the Grateful Dead was written to the rhythm of a large floor fan that would walk itself around the bands office when turned up too high.
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### Author:  [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)
#### Post date: [June 5, 2008, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-a-favorite-song-inspiration/451927/4 "2008-06-05T21:00:42Z")
“Savoy Truffle,” a Beatles song written by George, was inspired by a box of fancy chocolates (or more specifically, the card in the box that alerted the consumer as to what was in each chocolate). “But you’ll have to have them all pulled out before the Savoy Truffle” meant your teeth would rot and a dentist would have to take them out.
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### Author:  [@WoodenTaco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WoodenTaco)
#### Post date: [June 5, 2008, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-a-favorite-song-inspiration/451927/5 "2008-06-05T21:17:20Z")
We all came out to Montreux (in Switzerland)
On the Lake Geneva shoreline
To make records with a mobile ([the Rolling Stones Mobile Studio](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rolling_Stones_Mobile_Studio))
We didnt have much time
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### Author:  [@SkipMagic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SkipMagic)
#### Post date: [June 5, 2008, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-a-favorite-song-inspiration/451927/6 "2008-06-05T21:42:51Z")
I’m sorry to have butchered your post with all of the links, **WoodenTaco**. Unfortunately, because of copyright concerns, we ask that you post just a few lyrics and link to the rest. When you get a moment, please take a gander at our [forum rules](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=343601).
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### Author:  [@Birdmonster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Birdmonster)
#### Post date: [June 5, 2008, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-a-favorite-song-inspiration/451927/7 "2008-06-05T21:44:34Z")
SkipMagic with the party foul.
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### Author:  [@Sternvogel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sternvogel)
#### Post date: [June 5, 2008, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-a-favorite-song-inspiration/451927/8 "2008-06-05T22:03:05Z")
While the lyrics of many songs about historic events tell stories that are only loosely based on the truth, Gordon Lightfoot’s _Wreck of the **Edmund Fitzgerald** _ is a notable exception. The Canadian singer-songwriter was inspired by a _Newsweek_ story about the sinking of “that good ship and crew”, and the first few lines are essentially a [rephrasing of the opening sentence of the article in question.](http://gordonlightfoot.com/wreckoftheedmundfitzgerald.shtml)
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### Author:  [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)
#### Post date: [June 5, 2008, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-a-favorite-song-inspiration/451927/9 "2008-06-05T22:17:14Z")
I always liked Sting’s story about the inspiration for the song King of Pain.
He and his wife were on vacation in Jamaica (IIRC) and she squinted up and saw a sunspot and told him “There’s a little black spot on the sun today.” He responded very metaphysically “That’s my soul up there.” She snorted and said “That’s you, always the king of pain.”
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### Author:  [@Birdmonster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Birdmonster)
#### Post date: [June 6, 2008, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-a-favorite-song-inspiration/451927/10 "2008-06-06T00:00:32Z")
You know, **RikWriter** I was just reading a Sting on MSNBC piece about his inspiration and found him so insufferably pompous I had to abandon ship. Your story squares nicely with his general tone throughout the piece.
Still, the man can certainly sing.
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### Author:  [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)
#### Post date: [June 6, 2008, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-a-favorite-song-inspiration/451927/11 "2008-06-06T00:35:24Z")
[QUOTE=Annie-Xmas]
The Bee Gees “Jive Talking” and ABBA’s “Take a Chance on Me” were also inspired by the sound of trains.
[/QUOTE]
According to Barry Gibb, “Jive Talking” was inspired by the sound of the car they were in crossing a bridge on the way to the studio.
The Boomtown Rats’s “I Don’t Like Mondays” came from a girl who started shooting her classmates in school. When asked why, she said, “I don’t like Mondays.”
“Layla” was inspired by Patti Harrison, George’s wife. Eric Clapton fell for her and they eventually married.
“Killing Me Softly With His Song” was inspired by a performance by Don McLean.
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### Author:  [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)
#### Post date: [June 6, 2008, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-a-favorite-song-inspiration/451927/12 "2008-06-06T01:52:23Z")
Paul Simon’s “Mother and Child Reunion” was inspired by a chicken-and-egg dish at a Chinese restaurant.
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### Author:  [@Birdmonster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Birdmonster)
#### Post date: [June 6, 2008, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-a-favorite-song-inspiration/451927/13 "2008-06-06T02:37:41Z")
[QUOTE=winterhawk11]
Paul Simon’s “Mother and Child Reunion” was inspired by a chicken-and-egg dish at a Chinese restaurant.
[/QUOTE]
Please, please, please tell me you aren’t joking.
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### Author:  [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)
#### Post date: [June 6, 2008, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-a-favorite-song-inspiration/451927/14 "2008-06-06T02:45:18Z")
[QUOTE=Birdmonster]
Please, please, please tell me you aren’t joking.
[/QUOTE]
[Nope.](http://www.snopes.com/music/songs/mother.asp)
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### Author:  [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)
#### Post date: [June 6, 2008, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-a-favorite-song-inspiration/451927/15 "2008-06-06T04:10:57Z")
[QUOTE=RealityChuck]
According to Barry Gibb, “Jive Talking” was inspired by the sound of the car they were in crossing a bridge on the way to the studio.
[/QUOTE]
Captain Beefheart’s “Bat Chain Puller” was inspired by the rhythm of windshield wipers.
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### Author:  [@Kolga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolga)
#### Post date: [June 6, 2008, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-a-favorite-song-inspiration/451927/16 "2008-06-06T04:15:20Z")
[QUOTE=RealityChuck]
The Boomtown Rats’s “I Don’t Like Mondays” came from a girl who started shooting her classmates in school. When asked why, she said, “I don’t like Mondays.”
[/QUOTE]
The girl was 16 and shooting at the elementary school across from her house, so they weren’t her classmates. No children died, although two school employees were killed.
[Obligatory snopes article](http://www.snopes.com/music/songs/mondays.asp)