# Songs About Single Works of Art **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 26, 2015, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-single-works-of-art/735822 "2015-10-26T21:56:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Mr.Greenjeans](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.greenjeans/32/551_2.png) [@Mr.Greenjeans](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Greenjeans)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2015, 11:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-single-works-of-art/735822/21 "2015-10-27T11:22:29Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#): > > Mussorsky’s _Pictures at an Exhibition_? > > In the rock-pop world, I seem to remember a deep cut by some early 70s prog rock band about a painting – Yes? King Crimson? Moody Blues? It’ll come to me. That would be Emerson, Lake, and Palmer. ---
**Author:** ![Moris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moris/32/2846_2.png) [@Moris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moris)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2015, 11:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-single-works-of-art/735822/22 "2015-10-27T11:38:40Z")
“[The Fairy Feller’s Masterstroke](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=15A0F5aOoPM)” by **Queen** is about a painting by Richard Dadd. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2015, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-single-works-of-art/735822/23 "2015-10-27T12:46:16Z")
**Shocking Blue** - _Venus_ **Nat King Cole** - _Mona Lisa_ ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2015, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-single-works-of-art/735822/24 "2015-10-27T13:19:53Z")
If you’re going to include the Shocking Blue song “Venus,” you’d also have to include the Frankie Avalon song “Venus,” although I’m not sure if either of them is inspired by a particular artwork about Venus. ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2015, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-single-works-of-art/735822/25 "2015-10-27T14:52:59Z")
Wow - I didn’t know about most of these. Lots of listening to do. _Mona Lisa_ - can’t believe I didn’t think of that one. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2015, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-single-works-of-art/735822/26 "2015-10-27T15:25:24Z")
“Vincent” is about van Gogh’s whole oeuvre, not just Starry Night. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2015, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-single-works-of-art/735822/27 "2015-10-27T16:24:10Z")
John Greaves/Peter Blegvad/Lisa Herman: [“Seven Scenes from the Painting ‘Exhuming the First American Mastodon’ by C.W. Peale”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6JQ08PYJTrA) ---
**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 27, 2015, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-single-works-of-art/735822/28 "2015-10-27T16:25:04Z")
Jefferson Airplane’s [White Rabbit](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Rabbit_(Jefferson_Airplane_song)) comes to mind. And the entire score of CATS (based on T.S. Eliot’s book _Old Possum’s Book of Practical CATS_) ---
**Author:** ![GargoyleWB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gargoylewb/32/199_2.png) [@GargoyleWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GargoyleWB)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2015, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-single-works-of-art/735822/29 "2015-10-27T16:40:09Z")
David Bowie **1984** , and Roy Harper **1948ish** about the Orwell novel. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2015, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-single-works-of-art/735822/30 "2015-10-27T16:46:32Z")
> [@Moris](#): > > “[The Fairy Feller’s Masterstroke](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=15A0F5aOoPM)” by **Queen** is about a painting by Richard Dadd. Good one! ---
**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:** [October 27, 2015, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-single-works-of-art/735822/31 "2015-10-27T17:43:11Z")
The Cramps _[Naked Girl Falling Down The Stairs](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0HexsHxWOXo)_ An absolutely entertaining analysis of [Nude Descending a Staricase](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcel_Duchamp#Nude_Descending_a_Staircase_No.2) ---
**Author:** ![Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maggie_the_Ocelot)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2015, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-single-works-of-art/735822/32 "2015-10-27T17:54:28Z")
> [@GargoyleWB](#): > > David Bowie **1984** , and Roy Harper **1948ish** about the Orwell novel. A good chunk of the second half of the _Diamond Dogs_ album is 1984-inspired - Bowie had wanted to do a musical version of 1984 but couldn’t get the rights. Aside from 1984, there’s We Are The Dead and Big Brother. Definite theming. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2015, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-single-works-of-art/735822/33 "2015-10-27T18:19:16Z")
Hank Williams “Kaw-Liga” > **[Kaw-Liga](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaw-Liga)** > > "Kaw-Liga" (/kɔːˈlaɪdʒə/ kaw-LY-jə) is a country music song written by Hank Williams and Fred Rose. > Hank Williams was from Alabama, and would vacation on Lake Martin. The Lake Martin-area was once the home of Kowaliga, a former unincorporated town and a historically African-American community that was active from roughly 1890 until the mid-1920s. When the song was written it was originally Kowaliga, but Fred Rose changed the spelling to "Kaw Liga" in order to focus on the storyline. In 1953, "... (You never said it had to be about a good work of art!) ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2015, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-single-works-of-art/735822/34 "2015-10-27T18:41:47Z")
Elvis Costello “Mystery Dance” and _Letters to Juliet_, both about Romeo and Juliet. Junior Brown, “Still Life with Rose.” He’s staring at a painting and ruminating about a relationship. Loudon Wainwright III “Jesse Don’t Like It” was about Jesse Helms’ attempt to defund the NEA over a Robert Mapplethorpe exhibit. It name checks several other artists, but it’s about Mapplethorpe. Austin Lounge Lizards, “Paint Me On Velvet,” about crappy paintings of Elvis and of dogs playing poker. Worth mentioning: _Songs for Drella_, a concept album by Lou Reed and John Cale about Andy Warhol, though not specifically about his paintings. ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2015, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-single-works-of-art/735822/35 "2015-10-27T19:24:13Z")
> [@Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](#): > > A good chunk of the second half of the _Diamond Dogs_ album is 1984-inspired - Bowie had wanted to do a musical version of 1984 but couldn’t get the rights. > > Aside from 1984, there’s We Are The Dead and Big Brother. Definite theming. Orwell’s Animal Farm also inspired a number of musical works, most notably The Beatles’ “Piggies” and Pink Floyd’s _Animals_ album. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2015, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-single-works-of-art/735822/36 "2015-10-27T20:33:23Z")
Xanadu, by Rush. Relates the problems of being the guy who finds Xanadu. It doesn’t end well for him. ---
**Author:** ![TV\_time](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f17d59/32.png) [@TV\_time](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TV_time)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2015, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-single-works-of-art/735822/37 "2015-10-27T21:48:19Z")
Another classic in literature is made even more famous by Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs…Yes, “Hey there Little Red Riding Hood, you sure are lookin’ good to a Big Bad Wolf like me;” Ah ooooooooooo." ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2015, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-single-works-of-art/735822/38 "2015-10-27T22:02:46Z")
> [@Jonathan\_Chance](#): > > Xanadu, by Rush. > > Relates the problems of being the guy who finds Xanadu. It doesn’t end well for him. Aww, rats. Got almost to the end to post this one, and you beat me to it. The funny part is it that I am literally just now listening to this song (it came up in random rotation on my iPod). So I’m sitting here thinking, “Okay, what can I add to this thread,” and Geddy’s yelling in the background about “Xanadu…” 😃 For that matter, the entire A side of “2112” was inspired by Ayn Rand’s _Anthem_. ---
**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:** [October 27, 2015, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-single-works-of-art/735822/39 "2015-10-27T22:11:53Z")
_You Belong To Me_, by The Duprees (assuming the pyramids are works of art) > [@](#): > > See the pyramids along the Nile > Watch the sun rise on a tropic isle > Just remember, darling, all the while > You belong to me. _Michaelangelo_, by Emmy Lou Harris ---
**Author:** ![Penfeather](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penfeather/32/384_2.png) [@Penfeather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Penfeather)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2015, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-single-works-of-art/735822/40 "2015-10-27T22:44:48Z")
Jacob Epstein’s sculpture [Rock Drill](https://criticalissuesintheculturalindustries.files.wordpress.com/2009/12/jane-exhibition1.jpg) [the second image is Torso in Metal from Rock Drlll, which I trust that thieving bastard George Lucas knows well} was the subject of the Chemical Brothers’ [The Rock Drill](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NpkigxQWCHU): it was actually composed for an exhibition at the Tate Gallery. Mind you, The Sensational Alex Harvey Band [got there first…](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=trG6kvMhabQ) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-single-works-of-art/735822.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-single-works-of-art/735822.md?page=3)