# 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:** 6
**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 8, 2019, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-that-mention-famous-people-in-passing/838065/101 "2019-08-08T02:28:08Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > **Wrapped Around Your Finger** , The Police It’s not a lie if you believe it. How about _Putting On The Ritz_: _Dressed up like a million dollar trouper Trying hard to be like Gary Cooper Super-Duper._ ---
**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, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-that-mention-famous-people-in-passing/838065/102 "2019-08-08T17:04:16Z")
**Elvis Costello - God’s Comic** : So there he was on a water-bed Drinking a cola of a mystery brand Reading an airport novelette, listening to Andrew Lloyd-Webber’s “Requiem” ---
**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 9, 2019, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-that-mention-famous-people-in-passing/838065/103 "2019-08-09T18:12:39Z")
Heard Uptown Funk by Bruno Mars. This hit, that ice cold Michelle Pfeiffer, that white gold This one for them hood girls Them good girls straight masterpieces Stylin’, wilin’, livin’ it up in the city Got Chucks on with Saint Laurent Michelle Pfeiffer, Chuck Taylor (kind of) and Saint Laurent ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2019, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-that-mention-famous-people-in-passing/838065/104 "2019-08-09T18:36:06Z")
> [@KneadToKnow](#): > > Coincidentally, I’m listening to Pink Floyd today. > > _Does anybody here remember Vera Lynn?_ 🙂 I do! She’s on one of my DeathPool lists, although she’s too old, at 102, for me to get points for her(just a unique pick) ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2019, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-that-mention-famous-people-in-passing/838065/105 "2019-08-09T19:07:22Z")
Paul Simon’s The Late Great Johnny Ace > [@](#): > > I was reading a magazine > And thinking of a rock and roll song > The year was 1954 > And I hadn’t been playing that long > When a man came on the radio > And this is what he said > He said I hate to break it > To his fans > But Johnny Ace is dead Written in 1983. And while there was a singer named Johnny Ace, this one’s probably actually about John Lennon, who died in 1980. and from _Don’t Dream It, Be It_ from Rocky Horror Picture Show “God bless Lili St. Cyr”. (who was a stripper who began a line of erotic lingerie after she retired.) ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Q](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/898d66/32.png) [@Johnny\_Q](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Q)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2019, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-that-mention-famous-people-in-passing/838065/106 "2019-08-09T23:41:28Z")
Not sure if these count as "in passing but… [Rock n’ Roll Murder](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DgkW0Y0TKLE)–Leaving Trains [I Do the Rock](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E1gzt4yU0T4)– Tim Curry ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tooth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c67d28/32.png) [@The\_Tooth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tooth)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2019, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-that-mention-famous-people-in-passing/838065/107 "2019-08-10T00:19:59Z")
“Fixed on the front of her Fassbinder face was the kind of a smile that only a rather dull child would have drawn while attempting a graveyard in the moonlight.” - Roger Waters, “4:33 AM (Running Shoes)” ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2019, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-that-mention-famous-people-in-passing/838065/108 "2019-08-10T01:54:05Z")
She was born in November 1963 The day Aldous Huxley died “Run Baby Run” - Sheryl Crow ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2019, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-that-mention-famous-people-in-passing/838065/109 "2019-08-12T12:01:14Z")
Elvis Costello’s “Complicated Shadows”: _You can say just what you like in a voice like a John Ford film Take the law into your hands You will soon get tired of killing In those complicated shadows_ ---
**Author:** ![Banksiaman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banksiaman/32/3334_2.png) [@Banksiaman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banksiaman)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2019, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-that-mention-famous-people-in-passing/838065/110 "2019-08-12T12:28:23Z")
The Go-Betweens - Lee Remick [not her since she’s the title character in the song] _I love Lee Remick, she’s a darling She was in The Omen with Gregory Peck She got killed, what the heck Her eyes are like gems She’s an actress for Screen Gems_ Jello Biafra + Mojo Nixon - Buy my snakeoil _C’mon and buy my snake oil Til my well runs stinking dry I’ll be your Rondo Hatton I’ll be your Dwight Frye Get mighty jealous watchin’ My old roomates gettin’ signed The world owes me a living I want my taste of the pie_ and further down the song … _Punk without rebellion We’ll call it Grunge ® for you I’ll dress just like Don Henley And sing just like him too_ ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2019, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-that-mention-famous-people-in-passing/838065/111 "2019-08-12T12:37:08Z")
Done Too Soon by Neil Diamond starts out with a list of the famous: > [@](#): > > Jesus Christ, Fanny Brice, > Wolfie Mozart and Humphrey Bogart and > Genghis Khan and > On to H. G. Wells. > Ho Chi Minh, Gunga Din > Henry Luce and John Wilkes Booth > And Alexander’s > King and Graham Bell. > Ramar Krishna, Mama Whistler, > Patrice Lumumba and Russ Colombo, > Karl and Chico Marx, > Albert Camus. > E. A. Poe, Henri Rousseau, > Sholom Aleichem and Caryl Chessman, > Alan Freed and > Buster Keaton too He might hold the record. ---
**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 16, 2019, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-that-mention-famous-people-in-passing/838065/112 "2019-08-16T13:09:06Z")
Listening to Moments of Pleasure by Kate Bush… He meets us at the lift Like Douglas Fairbanks Waving his walking stick ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2019, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-that-mention-famous-people-in-passing/838065/113 "2019-08-16T14:05:41Z")
“Buy Me A Condo” by Weird Al Yankovic Gonna sell me Bob Marley records, Gonna get me some Jackson Browne ---
**Author:** ![Saintly\_Loser](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saintly_loser/32/4045_2.png) [@Saintly\_Loser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saintly_Loser)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2019, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-that-mention-famous-people-in-passing/838065/114 "2019-08-16T15:16:53Z")
> [@blondebear](#): > > Several from The Kinks’ “Mr. Churchill Says” > > \*Well Mr. Montgomery says > And Mr. Mountbatten says > We gotta fight the bloody battle to the very end > As Vera Lynn would say > We’ll meet again someday > But all the sacrifices we must make before the end \* Not to mention _Celluloid Heroes_: > [@](#): > > Don’t step on Greta Garbo as you walk down the Boulevard > She looks so weak and fragile that’s why she tried to be so hard > … > Rudolph Valentino looks very much alive > And he looks up ladies dresses as they sadly pass him by > Avoid stepping on Bela Lugosi > 'Cause he’s liable to turn and bite > But stand close by Bette Davis > Because hers was such a lonely life > If you covered him with garbage > George Sanders would still have style > And if you stamped on Mickey Rooney > He would still turn round and smile > But please don’t tread on dearest Marilyn > Cause she’s not very tough > She should have been made of iron or steel > But she was only made of flesh and blood Although, since celebrity is the actual subject matter of the song, I’m not sure this qualifies as “in passing.” ---
**Author:** ![whitetho](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whitetho/32/1059_2.png) [@whitetho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whitetho)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2019, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-that-mention-famous-people-in-passing/838065/115 "2019-08-16T19:03:37Z")
The Tractors had a #11 U.S. country hit in 1994, _Baby Likes To Rock It_, which includes the line “Got brother Jimmy on the T.V.–killer on the stereo”, a reference to TV evangelist Jimmy Swaggart and his cousin, singer Jerry Lee Lewis. ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2019, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-that-mention-famous-people-in-passing/838065/116 "2019-08-16T19:34:23Z")
“Manic Monday” by The Bangles Six o’clock already I was just in the middle of a dream I was kissing Valentino By a crystal blue Italian stream ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2019, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-that-mention-famous-people-in-passing/838065/117 "2019-08-16T19:41:07Z")
Eddie Money - “Take Me Home Tonight” \* Just like Ronnie sang…\* What is cool is that it’s a duet with Ronnie Spector. ---
**Author:** ![Enginerd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/bcef8e/32.png) [@Enginerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enginerd)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2019, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-that-mention-famous-people-in-passing/838065/118 "2019-08-16T21:08:15Z")
> [@Banksiaman](#): > > Jello Biafra + Mojo Nixon - Buy my snakeoil > > _C’mon and buy my snake oil > Til my well runs stinking dry > I’ll be your Rondo Hatton > I’ll be your Dwight Frye > Get mighty jealous watchin’ > My old roomates gettin’ signed > The world owes me a living > I want my taste of the pie_ > > and further down the song … > > _Punk without rebellion > We’ll call it Grunge (R) for you > I’ll dress just like Don Henley > And sing just like him too_ We can circle back here with the Dead Milkmen’s [Punk Rock Girl](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZyaK3jo4Sl4): _Security guards trailed us to a record shop We asked for Mojo Nixon They said, “he don’t work here” We said, “if you don’t know Mojo Nixon then your store could use some fixin’!”_ (I don’t have one for Jello Biafra, but I’m sure they’re out there) Bob Dylan kept it up his whole career. From Thunder on the Mountain (2010): _I was thinkin’ 'bout Alicia Keys, couldn’t keep from crying When she was born in Hell’s Kitchen, I was living down the line I’m wondering where in the world Alicia Keys could be I been looking for her even clear through Tennessee_ ---
**Author:** ![Indyellen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/indyellen/32/4176_2.png) [@Indyellen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indyellen)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2019, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-that-mention-famous-people-in-passing/838065/119 "2019-08-16T21:52:52Z")
There’s always Outkast’s [Hey Ya](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PWgvGjAhvIw): _Now all the **Beyonce’s** , and **Lucy Lu’s** , and baby dolls_ ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2019, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-that-mention-famous-people-in-passing/838065/120 "2019-08-16T22:13:24Z")
Reminiscing by The Little River Band Well that’s the way it began, we were hand-in-hand **Glen Miller’s** band was better than before We yelled and screamed for more And those **Porter’s** tunes made us dance across the room – _that’s what the lyrics site had, I thought it was “Cole Porter’s tunes”_ It ended all too soon On the way back home I promised you’d never be alone [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-that-mention-famous-people-in-passing/838065.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-that-mention-famous-people-in-passing/838065.md?page=7)