# Songs about real people **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 17, 2006, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-real-people/376712 "2006-10-17T00:34:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![woodstockbirdybird](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/woodstockbirdybird/32/7905_2.png) [@woodstockbirdybird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/woodstockbirdybird)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2006, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-real-people/376712/61 "2006-10-17T17:37:29Z")
Oh, also: “New York Doll” by **Robyn Hitchcock** (about Arthur Kane) and “Johnny’s Gonna Die” by **The Replacements** (about Johnny Thunders). The Replacements also did “Tommy Gets His Tonsils Out”, about their bass player, Tommy Stinson, but I don’t know if that counts. ---
**Author:** ![Mrs.Cake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/2acd7d/32.png) [@Mrs.Cake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mrs.Cake)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2006, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-real-people/376712/62 "2006-10-17T17:47:04Z")
**Vincent** by Don MacClean - Vincent Van Gogh ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2006, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-real-people/376712/63 "2006-10-17T17:51:36Z")
“Biko”, by Peter Gabriel. About Stephen Biko, the South African activist who died an early death, probably due to police beatings/torture. ---
**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:** [October 17, 2006, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-real-people/376712/64 "2006-10-17T17:51:42Z")
**Killing Me Softly with His Song** –Roberta Flack about Don MacLean ---
**Author:** ![crazyjoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f14d63/32.png) [@crazyjoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crazyjoe)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2006, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-real-people/376712/65 "2006-10-17T17:55:12Z")
John Lennon Died – The Cranberries ---
**Author:** ![look\_ninjas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b2d939/32.png) [@look\_ninjas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/look_ninjas)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2006, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-real-people/376712/66 "2006-10-17T18:22:28Z")
[QUOTE=The Golden Ass] Thanks. That’s what i get for posting something I’m not 100% certain of… [/QUOTE] Not a problem. Also, a lot of people might get a bit confused from hearing Ringo sing it as part of the “Concert for George” they did a few years ago. I think more people have heard that than the original, and more people own it than own the album Ringo. I’m just a Ringo nerd. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2006, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-real-people/376712/67 "2006-10-17T18:48:12Z")
[QUOTE=The Golden Ass] Thanks. That’s what i get for posting something I’m not 100% certain of… **The Two of Us** by the Beatles is ostensibly about Linda McCartney, and Paul’s experience when they first started dating, but quite frankly, I think it’s more about him and John. **She Said, She Said** was inspired by Peter Fonda. From the **Mermaid Avenue** (lyrics by Woody Guthrie, vocals and music by Billy Bragg and Wilco) albums, we have **Eisler on the Go** – was about Hanz Eisler. **Stetson Kennedy** was about, well, Stetson Kennedy. **Ingrad Bergman** If songs about Jesus count there’s **Christ for President** and **The Ruling Class**. Jeff Tweedy wrote **Far, Far Away** and **I’m the Man Who Loves You** about his wife (and probably others, but those are the ones he’s actually talked about…) [/QUOTE] There was also a song on one of the Mermaid Avenue discs about Joe DiMaggio. And I’m pretty sure that the song “Hesitating Beauty” is about Woody Guthrie’s wife. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2006, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-real-people/376712/68 "2006-10-17T19:06:38Z")
Since two people have now mentioned Roberta Flack, and _Killing Me Softly_ being about Don McLean, I thought I’d pop in with the following fun fact: The song was written by tunesmiths Charles Fox and Norman Gimbel, also responsible for many other classic tunes, including the theme song for “Love, American Style”. And if we’re going to count Jesus songs as being about Jesus, we might as well count _Ave Maria_ (in its endless iterations) as being about his mum. Oh, and Bruce McCulloch’s song _These Are the Daves I Know_, is about all of the guys named Dave (or David) that Bruce knows in real life, including David Foley, better known as Mr. Boy in _Sky High_. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![bienville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@bienville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bienville)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2006, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-real-people/376712/69 "2006-10-17T19:20:50Z")
[QUOTE=kaylasdad99] _These Are the Daves I Know_, is about all of the guys named Dave (or David) that Bruce knows in real life [/QUOTE] Some of them are Davids, but most of them are Daves. They all have their own hands, but they come from different moms. ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2006, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-real-people/376712/70 "2006-10-17T19:30:12Z")
[QUOTE=Beadalin] **The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald** , by Gordon Lightfoot. No single person is mentioned, but it’s an homage to the deaths of the 29 men aboard. [/QUOTE] Lightfoot also wrote the meltingly beautiful “Your Love’s Return”–a tribute to Stephen Foster. “The Work Song” by fellow Canadians Kate & Ana McGarrigle honored the same songwriter. Willis Alan Ramsey’s first & only album contains “The Boy From Oklahoma”–about Woody Guthrie. (It’s really a fine album–much easier to skip over “Muskrat Candlelight” on DVD than it was on the LP.) Steve Earle also called on Woody in “Christmas in Washington.” “Fort Worth Blues”–also on _El Corazón_–honors Townes van Zandt. Townes van Zandt write “Rex’s Blues” about Wrecks Bell. You can hear it on “Townes van Zandt: Live at the Old Quarter.” There’s a New Old Quarter, in Galveston. Wrecks is the Proprieter. [www.galvestontexas.com/oldquarter/](http://www.galvestontexas.com/oldquarter/) ---
**Author:** ![SkeptiJess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea666f/32.png) [@SkeptiJess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SkeptiJess)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2006, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-real-people/376712/71 "2006-10-17T20:31:06Z")
Tommy Tutone’s first top-40 song, _Angel Say No_, was written for a high school friend of my brother. It was barely in the top-40 (like number 38 or something), but still. It came out a couple years before _867-5309/ Jenny_. ---
**Author:** ![Quercus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/7ab992/32.png) [@Quercus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quercus)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2006, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-real-people/376712/72 "2006-10-17T20:36:07Z")
[QUOTE=Wee Bairn] Is their a finite amount, or is this like asking “songs about love”? [/QUOTE] I say infinite amount, though less than songs about love (assuming unidentified objects of love don’t count as real). Unless you’re looking at punk, in which case there are more songs about real people than songs about love. ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2006, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-real-people/376712/73 "2006-10-17T20:47:10Z")
[QUOTE=Beware of Doug] Floyd Collins, Kentucky’s legendary spelunker who died in a cave-in in 1925, was memorialized in folk songs and even a [musical](http://astore.amazon.com/aboutthecom07-20/detail/B000005J4F). [/QUOTE] It’s a common mistake, but Floyd Collins wasn’t a legendary spelunker. Well, I suppose he is due to the fact that he’s famous for dying in a cave. But the fact are that he was a property owner near Mammoth Cave, and was looking for a entrance to a cave from his property, so that he could make money on charging people admission to it. Says Wiki: > [@](#): > > The Collins family owned Crystal Cave, a small tourist cave in the same general area as Mammoth Cave. Although particularly beautiful, Crystal Cave experienced a disappointingly low amount of business because of its relatively remote location. Floyd wanted to find another entrance to Mammoth or a new cave along the road leading to Mammoth in order to more easily draw off some of those tourists. He tried to crawl through an extremely narrow opening and got stuck; there was no cave-in. Rescue efforts were accompanied by a circus-like atmosphere above. He died without being rescued, and I _think_ they left his body there. Wait. I just read the [whole Wiki article](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Floyd_Collins). It’s a long weird tale, with his body being exhibted, stolen, re-interred. A good old-fashioned American tale of exploitation and deceit. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![jali](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ecae2f/32.png) [@jali](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jali)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2006, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-real-people/376712/74 "2006-10-17T20:49:48Z")
Falco - Rock Me Amadeus ---
**Author:** ![jali](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ecae2f/32.png) [@jali](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jali)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2006, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-real-people/376712/75 "2006-10-17T20:51:04Z")
Falco - Rock Me Amadeus. Stevie Wonder - Happy Birthday to Ya - Martin Luther King, Jr. ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2006, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-real-people/376712/76 "2006-10-17T20:52:46Z")
_Headline News_ by Weird Al Yankovic (about the kid who got caned in Singapore, Tonya Harding/Nancy Kerrigan, and the Bobbits) _My Baby’s In love With Eddie Vedder_ by Weird Al _Rock Me Amadeus_ by Falco _Dschinghis Khan_ by…Dschinghis Khan (about Genghis Khan) All of Adam Sandler’s Chanukah songs. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Jeff\_Lichtman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeff_lichtman/32/1531_2.png) [@Jeff\_Lichtman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeff_Lichtman)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2006, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-real-people/376712/77 "2006-10-17T21:05:00Z")
The song that is most directly about Joe DiMaggio is _Joltin’ Joe DiMaggio_, written by Alan Courtney and Ben Homer, and performed by Les Brown. Other songs about ballplayers: _Did You See Jackie Robinson Hit That Ball?_ , written by Buddy Johnson and performed by Count Basie. _Say Hey (The Willie Mays Song)_, performed by The Treniers and written by ??? _Willie, Mickey and the Duke (Talkin’ Baseball)_, written and performed by Terry Cashman. Along with the players in the title, this one also mentions Bobby Thomson, Yogi Berra, Ted Kluszewski, Roy Campanella, Stan Musial, Bob Feller, Phil Rizzuto, Sal Maglie, Don Newcombe, Casey Stengel, Hank Aaron, Ralph Kiner, Eddie Gaedel, Ted Williams, Mel Parnell, George Brett, Bobby Bonds, Pete Rose, Rusty Staub, Grover Cleveland Alexander (and Ronald Reagan by implication), Reggie Jackson, Dan Quisenberry, Rod Carew, Gaylord Perry, Tom Seaver, Steve Garvey, Mike Schmidt and Vida Blue. _Van Lingle Mungo_, written and performed by Dave Frishberg, is simply a list of the names of many ballplayers set to music. _I Love Mickey_, performed by Teresa Brewer and Mickey Mantle, and written by ??? _Slide, Kelly, Slide_, written by John W. Kelly about the 19th century baseball star Mike “King” Kelly (no relation to the songwriter). ---
**Author:** ![Sonia\_Montdore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/90ced4/32.png) [@Sonia\_Montdore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sonia_Montdore)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2006, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-real-people/376712/78 "2006-10-17T21:10:44Z")
Isn’t _Baby You’re a Rich Man_ about Brian Epstein? A lot of people swear that Lennon sings “Baby you’re a rich, fat Jew” near the end of it. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2006, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-real-people/376712/79 "2006-10-17T21:19:24Z")
[QUOTE=jali] Falco - Rock Me Amadeus [/QUOTE] Okay, how 'bout Chuck Berry - Roll Over Beethoven. ---
**Author:** ![JustAnotherGeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/58f4c7/32.png) [@JustAnotherGeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JustAnotherGeek)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2006, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-real-people/376712/80 "2006-10-17T21:33:52Z")
[QUOTE=Suburban Plankton **Legend of a Mind** by The Moody Blues, about Timothy Leary[/QUOTE] Ironically enough, that is the song I am listening to, as I first open this thread… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-real-people/376712.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-real-people/376712.md?page=5)