Songs about rock 'n' roll

The Velvet Underground also had a song “Rock and Roll” that’s different from the two other different songs by Led Zeppelin and Gary Glitter with the same title.

ABBA–Rock & Roll Band

Yep, that’s up there for the least rocking song about rock alongside Billy Joel’s It’s Still Rock and Roll to Me.

Don’t get me wrong; I love ABBA for their pop - but hearing them sing about rock is kinda funny.

In the spirit of the OP - these songs don’t have the words “rock and roll” in the title but they are most definitely about it:

Billy Joel - The Entertainer
Rush - Spirit of Radio
Bad Company - Shooting Star
Foreigner - Juke Box Hero

I’m kind of embarassed that I knew that ABBA song off the top of my head.

Hey, you can’t worry about that - Seasons in the Sun and Billy, Don’t be a Hero and The Night Chicago Died pop into my head way too often…:wink:

Well, if we want songs ABOUT different aspects of being a rock musician or band…

Bad Company: “Moving On”

Bon Jovi: “Wanted Dead or Alive”

Jackson Browne: practically everything on the ***Running on Empty ***album

Creedence Clearwater Revival: “Travellin’ Band”

Heart: “Bebe La Strange”

Journey: “Faithfully”

Kansas: “Play the Game Tonight”

Kiss: “Great Expectations” and even “Beth” (which is not really a love song but a lament about the strains being in a rock band puts on relationships)

Ted Nugent: “Just What the Doctor Ordered”

Bob Seger: “Turn the Page”

Paul Simon: “Late in the Evening”

Simon & Garfunkel: “Homeward Bound”

AC/DC: Let There Be Rock
Rush: Limelight (more about the pressure of being a rock star)

Teegarden & Van Winkle: “God, Love and Rock & Roll”
Ramones: “Rock and Roll Radio”
Muddy Waters: “The Blues Had A Baby (and They Named It Rock and Roll)”

A lot of rockabilly songs are about rock & roll but they don’t always call it by that name. Examples: Carl Perkins’ “Boppin’ the Blues” and Johnny Burnette’s “Rock Billy Boogie”. (They also did a song called “Rock Therapy”.)

Point well taken. And yes, I’m primarily interested in examples of your 2nd definition. And I also didn’t mean the songs had to literally have “Rock and Roll” in the title.

Long Live Rock And Roll
Cities On Flame With Rock And Roll

I think many songs by KISS (as mentioned before) are about rock’n’roll. If you ever actively listen to their lyrics, you will find out that rock’n’roll is rock’n’roll because rock’n’roll is rock’n’roll and he wants to rock’n’roll. Rock’n’roll. The other songs are about women, likely rock’n’roll women. :slight_smile:

One Rock and Roll Too Many from Starlight Express

Fastest bass evah.

Nick Lowe - I Knew the Bride When She Used to Rock and Roll
Ramones - Rock and Roll High School

Neither of those songs are about rock ‘n’ roll; they’re just songs with “rock and roll” in the title.

Because someone has to mention it eventually: “We Built This City”

Neil Young - Hey Hey, My My (out of the Blue)

Does Life Is A Rock, But The Radio Rolled Me, by Reunion, count?

“The Called It Rock” if you own Pure Pop For Now People, “Shake and Pop” if you own Jesus of Cool.