# Song lyrics that mention famous people in passing **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** music\ **Created:** [August 2, 2019, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-that-mention-famous-people-in-passing/838065 "2019-08-02T15:40:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2019, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-that-mention-famous-people-in-passing/838065/81 "2019-08-06T13:29:05Z")
Counting Crows’ “Mr. Jones” mentions Picasso and Bob Dylan: _If I knew Picasso I would buy myself a gray guitar and play_ _I wanna be Bob Dylan Mr Jones wishes he was someone just a little more funky_ ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2019, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-that-mention-famous-people-in-passing/838065/82 "2019-08-06T14:07:16Z")
_Pablo Picasso was never called an asshole Not in New York_ - Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2019, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-that-mention-famous-people-in-passing/838065/83 "2019-08-06T14:22:32Z")
Leonard Cohen, Tower of Song: ‘I asked Hank Williams “how lonely does it get?” Hank Williams hasn’t answered, yet.’ And speaking of Leonard Cohen… Skyhooks, Ego is Not a Dirty Word: ‘Some people keep their egos in a bottom drawer A fridge full of Leonard Cohen’ (They also mention Jesus and Nixon in an earlier verse.) ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2019, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-that-mention-famous-people-in-passing/838065/84 "2019-08-06T16:57:55Z")
> [@Kamino\_Neko](#): > > Leonard Cohen, Tower of Song: > > ‘I asked Hank Williams “how lonely does it get?” > Hank Williams hasn’t answered, yet.’ > > And speaking of Leonard Cohen… > > Skyhooks, Ego is Not a Dirty Word: > > ‘Some people keep their egos in a bottom drawer > A fridge full of Leonard Cohen’ > > (They also mention Jesus and Nixon in an earlier verse.) Also Nirvana, [Pennyroyal Tea](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9g9yPkBIyno): \*Give me a Leonard Cohen afterworld So I can sigh eternally - ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2019, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-that-mention-famous-people-in-passing/838065/85 "2019-08-06T17:02:27Z")
Elvis is mentioned in Man on the Moon (R.E.M.) _Now, Andy did you hear about this one? Tell me, are you locked in the punch? Andy are you goofing on Elvis? Hey, baby? Hey, baby, are we losing touch?_ ---
**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:** [August 6, 2019, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-that-mention-famous-people-in-passing/838065/86 "2019-08-06T17:05:36Z")
Tom Paxton’s Phil talks about the newspaper reporters who called him after Phil Och’s committed suicide “They asked about Dylan, about McDougall Sreet and Third.” ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2019, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-that-mention-famous-people-in-passing/838065/87 "2019-08-06T19:09:58Z")
> [@Guest-starring\_Id](#): > > _Pablo Picasso was never called an asshole > Not in New York_ > > - Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers If THAT counts as “in passing” then we can talk about The Damned having a go at Television’s Richard Lloyd, Fred Smith, and Billy Ficca in _Idiot Box_. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![CelticKnot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/celticknot/32/3392_2.png) [@CelticKnot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CelticKnot)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2019, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-that-mention-famous-people-in-passing/838065/88 "2019-08-06T21:41:42Z")
Marc Cohn “Perfect Love” Well, they worked one summer together at the '64 World’s Fair. They met Robert Kennedy there. Collin Raye “My Kind of Girl” I said how 'bout some music, you said, you got any Merle? [Haggard] You quoted William Faulkner and Martin Luther King You said your favorite movie star would always be James Dean ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2019, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-that-mention-famous-people-in-passing/838065/89 "2019-08-06T21:55:21Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > Elvis is mentioned in Man on the Moon (R.E.M.) > > _Now, Andy did you hear about this one? > Tell me, are you locked in the punch? > Andy are you goofing on Elvis? Hey, baby? > Hey, baby, are we losing touch?_ Andy Kaufman is also mentioned. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2019, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-that-mention-famous-people-in-passing/838065/90 "2019-08-06T22:14:04Z")
> [@Johanna](#): > > More Bob Dylan > “Desolation Row”: > > Einstein disguised as Robin Hood… > Ezra Pound and T.S. Eliot fighting in the captain’s tower… > > “Only a Pawn in Their Game”: > A bullet from the back of a bush took Medgar Evers’ blood > > “Billy” > They say Pat Garret’s got your number > > “Jokerman” > Michelangelo himself could’ve carved out your features > > “High Water (for Charley Patton)”: > Big Joe Turner lookin’ east and west… > Well, George Lewis\* told the Englishman, the Italian, and the Jew… > They got Charles Darwin trapped out there on Highway 5… > > \*There’re lots of [George Lewises](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Lewis); which one is this? I’m guessing the New Orleans clarinetist. Or maybe the actor who played Don Alejandro de la Vega on _Zorro_. We could go on and on with this: [Tombstone Blues](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ag-Esuy44ks) \*The sweet pretty things are in bed now, of course The city fathers, they’re trying to endorse The reincarnation of Paul Revere’s horse But the town has no need to be nervous The ghost of Belle Starr, she hands down her wits To Jezebel the nun, she violently knits A bald wig for Jack the Ripper, who sits At the head of the Chamber of Commerce \* […] _Well, John the Baptist, after torturing a thief Looks up at his hero, the Commander-in-Chief Saying, “Tell me, great hero, but please make it brief Is there a hole for me to get sick in?”_ […] _The geometry of innocence, flesh on the bone Causes Galileo’s math book to get thrown_ […] _Then send out for some pillars and Cecil B. DeMille_ […] _Where Ma Rainey and Beethoven once unwrapped their bedroll Tuba players now rehearse around the flagpole_ ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2019, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-that-mention-famous-people-in-passing/838065/91 "2019-08-06T22:27:21Z")
Bonzo Dog Band, “11 Mustachioed Daughters” (Spoken) “I don’t remember so good, but I think John Wayne was in it.” Statler Brothers, “Counting Flowers on the Wall” “Smoking cigarettes and watching Captain Kangaroo.” ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2019, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-that-mention-famous-people-in-passing/838065/92 "2019-08-06T23:51:48Z")
**Wrapped Around Your Finger** , The Police > [@](#): > > Mephistopheles is not your name > I know what you’re up to just the same ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2019, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-that-mention-famous-people-in-passing/838065/93 "2019-08-06T23:56:21Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > **Wrapped Around Your Finger** , The Police Is Mephistopheles a real person? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![diggerwam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/919ad9/32.png) [@diggerwam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/diggerwam)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2019, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-that-mention-famous-people-in-passing/838065/94 "2019-08-07T01:05:15Z")
Many many examples from The Hold Steady. Here are a few from 1st 3 albums Swish - “There was this chick she looked like Patty Smyth. She seemed seemed shaky but nice.” “She said my name is Steve Perry but people call me Circuit City. I’m so well connected. my UPC is dialed into the system. She said my name’s Neal Schon but some people call me Nina Simone. Some people call me Andre Cymone.” Most people are DJs - “With some guy who looks like Rocco Siffredi. And I’ve heard he’s been dead once already.” Knuckles - “I’ve been trying to get people to call me Freddy Knuckles. People keep calling me Right Said Fred.” “I’ve been trying to get people to call me Freddie Mercury. People keep calling me drop dead Fred.” “I’ve been trying to get people to call me Johnny Rotten People keep calling me Freddy Fresh.” Stevie Nix - “She said you remind me of Rod Stewart when he was young You’ve got passion and you think that you’re sexy And all the punks think that you’re dumb” Stuck between stations - “The Devil and John Berryman, they took a walk together And they ended up on Washington talking to the river” Chill out tent - “He quoted her some poetry, he’s Tennyson in denim and sheepskin. He looked a lot like Izzy Stradlin.” ---
**Author:** ![chancetx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cdc98d/32.png) [@chancetx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chancetx)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2019, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-that-mention-famous-people-in-passing/838065/95 "2019-08-07T06:15:21Z")
**"The Day Before You Came" - ABBA** _I must have read awhile, the latest one by Marilyn French or something in that style_ Synthpop band Blancmange covered the track two years after ABBA and changed Marilyn French to Barbara Cartland ---
**Author:** ![Author\_Balk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Author\_Balk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Author_Balk)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2019, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-that-mention-famous-people-in-passing/838065/96 "2019-08-07T12:42:01Z")
Alexa was playing 80s music last night and since I am now listening for famous people in songs… There is a song I don’t think I have heard before called The Message by Grandmaster Flash that mentions Sugar Ray (the boxer) and Pretty Boy Floyd. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_stainless_steel_rat/32/5727_2.png) [@The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Stainless_Steel_Rat)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2019, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-that-mention-famous-people-in-passing/838065/97 "2019-08-07T13:24:09Z")
> [@Personal](#): > > “Let 'Em In” - Wings > > Sister Suzy (Linda McCartney) > Martin Luther (John Lennon) > Phil and Don (Everly) > Uncle Ernie (Either Keith Moon or Ringo - I’ve heard it both ways) And of course, the Martin Luther (16th century religious figure and founder of Lutherism) reference stands on it’s own. Another McCartney even puts a character in the title: _Uncle Albert / Admiral Halsey_ > [@](#): > > Admiral Halsey notified me > He had to have a berth or he couldn’t get to sea Another song with the person in the title: _James Dean_ by the Eagles: > [@](#): > > James Dean, James Dean > I know just what you mean > James Dean, you said it all so clean > And I know my life would look allright > If I could see it on the silver screen ---
**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:** [August 7, 2019, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-that-mention-famous-people-in-passing/838065/98 "2019-08-07T13:58:37Z")
Ohio (Come Back to Texas) by Bowling for Soup mentions Drew Carey, Troy Atkinson, Willie Nelson and the Bush twins. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2019, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-that-mention-famous-people-in-passing/838065/99 "2019-08-07T14:19:08Z")
Stephen Bishop’s [On and On](https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwjsz-u3-fDjAhVEnFkKHaaaCZcQwqsBMAB6BAgJEAQ&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DLiAtgVi4c_0&usg=AOvVaw1cwnSQIP5wEAuNR-dC8nfi): _Put on Sinatra and start to cry_ ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2019, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-that-mention-famous-people-in-passing/838065/100 "2019-08-08T02:03:55Z")
> [@The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](#): > > …Another McCartney even puts a character in the title: _Uncle Albert / Admiral Halsey_ > > Another song with the person in the title: _James Dean_ by the Eagles: The OP specifically asks for mentions of famous people _in passing_. In both of these examples the famous person is in the gol-danged title. mmm [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-that-mention-famous-people-in-passing/838065.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-that-mention-famous-people-in-passing/838065.md?page=6)