# Songs about/to celebrities **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 6, 2006, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-to-celebrities/343254 "2006-02-06T17:05:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![some\_white\_dude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b487fb/32.png) [@some\_white\_dude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/some_white_dude)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2006, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-to-celebrities/343254/61 "2006-02-07T04:20:53Z")
“Take, Take Take” by the White Stripes is about Rita Hayworth. They also wrote a song called “The Union Forever” about Charles Foster (Citizen) Kane. Not a real celebrity, but pretty close. ---
**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:** [February 7, 2006, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-to-celebrities/343254/62 "2006-02-07T05:58:04Z")
> [@](#): > > Which reminds me of Margaret on the Guillotine by Morrissey, and Tramp the Dirt Down by Elvis Costello (about dancing on the grave of the Iron Lady). Pink Floyd’s “The Post War Dream” was also about Thatcher. And she was mentioned again later in the same album in “The Fletcher Memorial Home”. ---
**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:** [February 7, 2006, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-to-celebrities/343254/63 "2006-02-07T05:59:41Z")
George Harrison’s “All Those Years Ago” was another John Lennon tribute. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2006, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-to-celebrities/343254/64 "2006-02-07T06:06:09Z")
> [@saoirse](#): > > I would have credited those to Woody Guthrie. He’s the one who put the celebrities in them, after all. You’re right, of course. I listed the artist who performed them. You could also include “Joe DiMaggio’s Done It Again,” by the same set of writer and artists. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2006, 7:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-to-celebrities/343254/65 "2006-02-07T07:48:32Z")
I can’t believe I have so many that aren’t posted. The Circle Game, by Joni Mitchell, is about Neil Young, and the club he sings about in Sugar Mountain. On the Bootleg album Dylan has Catfish, about Catfish Hunter, and on Desire, Joey, about Joey Gallo. More interesting, Queen Jane Approximately is about Joan Baez. Tom Lehrer also has Alma, about Alma Mahler Gropius Werfel. Julia is about John Lennon’s mother. Martha My Dear is about Paul’s dog. (Does that count?) Dear Prudence is about Mia Farrow’s sister, and Sexy Sadie is about the Marahishi. I don’t think the Fool on the Hill is LBJ, but brother Bill in Tombstone Blues is William McNamara. (Or so my interpretation of that song as the ultimate anti-Vietnam War song goes.) And on Amarok, Mike Oldfield has a nice little code homage to Richard Branson. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2006, 7:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-to-celebrities/343254/66 "2006-02-07T07:56:04Z")
> [@Little Nemo](#): > > Pink Floyd’s “The Post War Dream” was also about Thatcher. And she was mentioned again later in the same album in “The Fletcher Memorial Home”. Pink Floyd also included a song called “Vera” on _The Wall_. It’s a refernce to Vera Lynn, most famous for the song “We’ll Meet Again.” ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2006, 8:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-to-celebrities/343254/67 "2006-02-07T08:40:57Z")
“Song to Woody” by Bob Dylan. (From Dylan’s very first album) _Hey hey Woody Guthrie, I wrote you a song ‘Bout a funny old world that’s a-comin’ along Seems sick an’ it’s hungry, it’s tired an’ it’s torn, It looks like it’s a-dyin’ an’ it’s hardly been born._ “Bob Dylan” by David Bowie. > [@Airman Doors](#): > > _David Bowie_ by Phish Good call on “Diamonds and Rust,” **Annie-Xmas!** ---
**Author:** ![threeorange](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@threeorange](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/threeorange)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2006, 11:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-to-celebrities/343254/68 "2006-02-07T11:29:16Z")
_Poor de Chirico_ by **10,000 Maniacs** is about surrealist painter **Giorgio de Chirico** (and is one of the most thesaurus-intensive songs ever written). _Alex Chilton_ by **The Replacements** is about the former leader of the bands **Box Tops** and **Big Star** whose name escapes me at the moment. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2006, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-to-celebrities/343254/69 "2006-02-07T12:58:02Z")
We’ve missed some of the bigger hits about celebrities. The Commodores “Nightshift” is about Marvin Gaye, Jackie Wilson, and Sam Cooke. ABC’s “When Smokey Sings” is about Smokey Robinson. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2006, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-to-celebrities/343254/70 "2006-02-07T13:47:47Z")
Also: “James Dean” by the Eagles. “King of New Orleans” (Better Than Ezra) is about former New Orleans mayor Marc Morial. Not a national celebrity, of course. ---
**Author:** ![koeeoaddi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/koeeoaddi/32/408_2.png) [@koeeoaddi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koeeoaddi)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2006, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-to-celebrities/343254/71 "2006-02-07T14:05:37Z")
Moody Blues _Legend of a Mind_ mentions Timothy Leary then there’s _I feel for You, Chaka khan_, by Rufus Melissa Manchester’s _Funny That Way_ mentions Laura Niro & Joni Mitchell \*All My Lovin’ \* was for Cynthia Lennon and I almost forgot, Neil Young’s _Cowgirl in the Sands_ was also for guess who? Wonder if Joni racked up the most songs written to one woman in the 70s. ---
**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:** [February 7, 2006, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-to-celebrities/343254/72 "2006-02-07T14:15:23Z")
Jan & Dean’s “Linda” was about little Linda Eastman (later to become Linda McCartney). “I’m Looking Through You” was about McCartney’s ex, Jane Asher. “You’re in My Heat, You’re in my Soul” was about Rod’s ex, Britt Eckland. “Suite: Judy Blue Eyes” is about Stephen Still’s ex, Judy Collins. Loudon Wainwright’s “Saw Your Name in the Paper” and Leonard Cohan’s “I Remember You Well” are both about Janis Joplin. And Wainwright’s “Be Careful, There’s a Baby in the House” is about his newborn son Rufus. ---
**Author:** ![Dangerous\_Nan\_McGrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecd19e/32.png) [@Dangerous\_Nan\_McGrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerous_Nan_McGrew)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2006, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-to-celebrities/343254/73 "2006-02-07T20:05:33Z")
> [@Sternvogel](#): > > In 1941, the Les Brown Orchestra (featuring vocalist Betty Bonney) recorded [_Joltin’ Joe DiMaggio_](http://www.baseball-almanac.com/poetry/joltinjoedimaggio.shtml) as the “Yankee Clipper” compiled his record 56-game hitting streak. Eventually, the last verse was added after the Cleveland Indians stopped the streak. Oh! You reminded me… [Charles Lindbergh](http://www.charleslindbergh.com/music/index.asp) has had hundreds of songs written about him, among them most notably “Lucky Lindy”, “Plucky Lindy’s Lucky Day”, “The Eagle of the USA”, and “When Lindy Comes Home”. Take _that_ Joni Mitchell! ---
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2006, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-to-celebrities/343254/74 "2006-02-07T20:13:15Z")
_Middle of the road, man it stank! Let’s run Lionel Richie over with a tank!_ – **Deathtöngue** ---
**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:** [February 7, 2006, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-to-celebrities/343254/75 "2006-02-07T20:24:42Z")
“Oh! Carol” was written by Neil Sedanka about his high school girlfriend Carole Klein. She went on to become Carole King and write “Oh! Neil.” ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2006, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-to-celebrities/343254/76 "2006-02-07T20:26:35Z")
> [@cactus waltz](#): > > **Bob Dylan** ’s “Sara” was dedicated, as I understand it, to **Sara Lownds.** Not only dedicated to, but when he recorded it she was in the studio. This was after they had separated, and they got back together briefly. Blue, the title track of the Joni Mitchell album, was about David Blue. ---
**Author:** ![Ol\_Gaffer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Ol\_Gaffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ol_Gaffer)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2006, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-to-celebrities/343254/77 "2006-02-07T20:31:00Z")
> [@Hal Briston](#): > > _Middle of the road, man it stank! > Let’s run Lionel Richie over with a tank!_ > – **Deathtöngue** Tongue solo! (I think I still have that floppy 45 around somewhere…not that I have a record player to play it on) ---
**Author:** ![Sean\_Factotum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/50afbb/32.png) [@Sean\_Factotum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sean_Factotum)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2006, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-to-celebrities/343254/78 "2006-02-07T20:41:22Z")
> [@Superdude](#): > > “Avery M. Powers Memorial Beltway” By Ben Folds Five Actually, that’s by [Fear Of Pop](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00000FC65/sr=1-1/qid=1139344811/ref=pd_bbs_1/104-9746723-5040725?%5Fencoding=UTF8#moreAboutThisProduct), a one-off project by FOlds and John Mark Painter. But it’s not a BFF release. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2006, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-to-celebrities/343254/79 "2006-02-08T01:49:28Z")
> [@Sean Factotum](#): > > Actually, that’s by [Fear Of Pop](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00000FC65/sr=1-1/qid=1139344811/ref=pd_bbs_1/104-9746723-5040725?%5Fencoding=UTF8#moreAboutThisProduct), a one-off project by FOlds and John Mark Painter. But it’s not a BFF release. True. And I should have stated as such. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2006, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-to-celebrities/343254/80 "2006-02-08T02:51:17Z")
Has anybody here heard “Abraham, Martin, and John” by Dion? “Pure Smokey” by George Harrison is a tribute to Smokey Robinson. Paul McCartney made a ditty about Pablo Picasso’s last night on earth. “John Sinclair” by John Lennon was a protest song to support the White Panthers radical activist who was jailed on a marijuana bust. “John Sinclair, in the stir for breating air.” “George Jackson” by Bob Dylan was another topical protest song from that era. It was believed that Jackson was murdered during a prison riot for his political views. The Clash sang about actor Montgomery Clift. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-to-celebrities/343254.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-to-celebrities/343254.md?page=5)