The Annoying Drummer Boy:
But here we are at 3 a.m.
With Ringo Starr of Bethlehem
Frank Mills:
He resembles George Harrison
Of The Beatles
American Pie:
When the jester sang for the king and queen
In a coat he borrowed from James Dean
Sweet Home Alabama:
I hope Neil Young will remember,
Southern Man don’t need him around anyhow.
Al Stewart, Flying sorcery:
With your photographs of Kitty Hawk
And the biplanes on your wall
You were always Amy Johnson
From the time that you were small
Al Stewart, Year of the cat:
On a morning from a Bogart movie
In a country where they turn back time
You go strolling through the crowd like Peter Lorre
Contemplating a crime
Long Tall Glasses by Leo Sayer:
Before you can eat you gotta dance like Fred Astaire.
Simon and Garfunkel - Mrs. Robinson:
Where have you gone, Joe DiMaggio
Our nation turns its lonely eyes to you, uh uh uh
Are we including songs that are almost nothing but mentioning famous people in passing, like The Beatles’ “Dig It” and Billy Joel’s “We Didn’t Start The Fire”?
I was looking for mentions in passing, not lists of people.
Freeze Tag by Suzanne Vega:
You stand
With your hand
In your pocket
And lean against the wall
You will be Bogart
And I will be
Bacall
The Friends of Mr. Cairo:
She came, as in the book, Mickey Spillane
and
Media became television Give me Cagney anyday
Or Jimmy Stewart for President
Or Edward ‘G’ and all those guys
Who always shoot between the eyes
Killer Queen has three in the first verse.
She keeps her Moet et Chandon
In her pretty cabinet
“Let them eat cake”, she says
Just like Marie Antoinette
A built-in remedy
For Kruschev and Kennedy
At anytime an invitation
You can’t decline
The Grateful Dead’s “Ramble On Rose” namechecks a bunch of people, both real and fictional.
Billy Sunday, Mary Shelley, Wolfman Jack, Jack the Ripper, Frankenstein…
“Hey Nineteen, that’s Aretha Franklin…”
Argh, that’s the one I was going to mention.
Ok then, US Blues:
Shake the hand
That shook the hand
Of P.T. Barnum
And Charlie Chan.
McCartney & Wings : “Rock Show”
“Who’s that man up upon the stage?
It looks a like the one used by Jimmy Page!”
Coincidentally, I’m listening to Pink Floyd today.
Does anybody here remember Vera Lynn?
Well, if Biblical figures count, the Dead also have “Greatest Story Ever Told” which mentions Moses and “My Brother Esau” which includes Jacob.
(Robert Hunter is an incredibly literate guy, but again far too many people assume that a 1960’s band called the “Grateful Dead” can’t have insightful, brilliantly crafted lyrics. Garcia was right, the moniker Grateful Dead was a non-starter for a lot of people)
The opening line of Van Morrison’s haunting “St. Dominic’s Preview”
“Chamois cleaning all the windows, singing songs about Edith Piaf’s soul…”
From Tonight, Tonight by Hot Chelle Rae*:
I woke up with a strange tattoo
Not sure how I got it, not a dollar in my pocket
And it kinda looks just like you
Mixed with Zach Galifianakis
*Technically, I’m only familiar with the song via the Kidz Bop version
Eminem’s Lose Yourself:
“Cause man, these goddamn food stamps don’t buy diapers
And there’s no movie, there’s no Mekhi Phifer, this is my life.”
We went searching through thrift store jungles
Found Geronimo’s rifle, Marilyn’s shampoo
And Benny Goodman’s corset and pen
Well, okay, I made this up
Sheryl Crow - If it Makes You Happy
“Come on Eileen” - Dexys Midnight Runners
Poor old Johnnie Ray
Sounded sad upon the radio
But he moved a million hearts in mono
Our mothers cried, sang along, who’d blame them