# Songs Inspired by movies
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-inspired-by-movies/923487
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Tags:** movies, music
**Created:** [October 21, 2020, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-inspired-by-movies/923487 "2020-10-21T12:49:03Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)
#### Post date: [October 21, 2020, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-inspired-by-movies/923487/1 "2020-10-21T12:49:04Z")
There seems to be a class of songs inspired by, but not officially connect to, movies. When the sonfs first came out, I thought there was some sort of connection, because the movies were often still playing. But it seems to be an effort to cash in on the popularity of the film. or an expression of the song writer’s high opinion of the film.
_The Ballad of Bonnie and Clyde_ – according to Wikipedia, inspired by the movie. Released Feb. 1967, which seems inconsistent with the story of its origin, because the movie **Bonnie and Clyde** was released in August of 1967.
> **[The Ballad of Bonnie and Clyde](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ballad_of_Bonnie_and_Clyde)**
>
> "The Ballad of Bonnie and Clyde" is a song, written by Mitch Murray and Peter Callander, and recorded by the British rhythm and blues singer Georgie Fame. Released as a single, the song reached number one in the UK Singles Chart for one week from 24 January 1968. The song reached number seven in the US Billboard Chart later the same year.
> Fame recorded the song after seeing the then controversial gangster film Bonnie and Clyde, now considered a classic, starring Warren Beatty (as Clyde Barrow) a...
> **[Bonnie and Clyde (film)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bonnie_and_Clyde_(film))**
>
> Bonnie and Clyde is a 1967 American biographical neo-noir crime film directed by Arthur Penn and starring Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway as the title characters Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker. The film also features Michael J. Pollard, Gene Hackman, and Estelle Parsons. The screenplay is by David Newman and Robert Benton. Robert Towne and Beatty provided uncredited contributions to the script; Beatty produced the film. The music is by Charles Strouse.
> Bonnie and Clyde is considered one of the ...
_Heartlight_ – Neil Diamond song that is painfully obvious in the way it refers to the movie **E.T. – The Extraterrestrial**. Released in September of 1982, Diamond had to pay Universal Studios $25.000 to use the oblique references to the film.(E.T. was released in June 1982 in the US)
> **[Heartlight (song)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heartlight_(song))**
>
> "Heartlight" is a song written by Neil Diamond, Carole Bayer Sager and her then-husband, Burt Bacharach, and recorded by Diamond in 1982. It is the first track on Diamond's 1982 album, also titled Heartlight, and reached number five on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming his thirteenth (and last) top 10 hit on the chart. It also spent four weeks atop the adult contemporary chart in late 1982, and was the last of his eight #1s on that chart. Reportedly, it was inspired by the 1982 film E.T. the Cash ...
> **[E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E.T._the_Extra-Terrestrial)**
>
> E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (or simply E.T.) is a 1982 American science fiction film produced and directed by Steven Spielberg and written by Melissa Mathison. It tells the story of Elliott, a boy who befriends an extraterrestrial, dubbed E.T., who is left behind on Earth. Along with his friends and family, Elliott must find a way to help E.T. find his way home. The film stars Dee Wallace, Henry Thomas, Peter Coyote, Robert MacNaughton and Drew Barrymore.
> The film's concept was based on an ima...
Other cases I thought were related turn out not to be.
The Dope Board covered a similar topic twenty years ago, but that wasn’t songs rekleased while the movie was running
> [@Songs inspired by pop culture](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-inspired-by-pop-culture/46975/31):
>
> [http://members.aol.com/Krissy80/supersongs.html](http://members.aol.com/Krissy80/supersongs.html)
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### Author:  [@mcgato](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mcgato)
#### Post date: [October 21, 2020, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-inspired-by-movies/923487/2 "2020-10-21T13:06:30Z")
Big Audio Dynamite’s [E = mc2](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cHTDkJ-bQqM) is all about the early movies of Nicolas Roeg. It covers Walkabout, Performance, Insignificance, The Man Who Fell to Earth, and Don’t Look Now.
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### Author:  [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)
#### Post date: [October 21, 2020, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-inspired-by-movies/923487/3 "2020-10-21T14:54:02Z")
An obvious one is “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” by Deep Blue Something, about a dying relationship in which the guy, grasping at straws, points to the fact that they both “kinda liked” that film as an example of one thing they have in common.
> [@CalMeacham](#):
>
> _Heartlight_ – Neil Diamond song that is painfully obvious in the way it refers to the movie **E.T. – The Extraterrestrial**. Released in September of 1982, Diamond had to pay Universal Studios $25.000 to use the oblique references to the film.(E.T. was released in June 1982 in the US)
Huh, I always thought it was some kind of planned crossover promotion between Neil Diamond and the studio, and it was money in Neil’s pocket from the studio, not the other way around.
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### Author:  [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)
#### Post date: [October 21, 2020, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-inspired-by-movies/923487/4 "2020-10-21T15:14:57Z")
Wasn’t Prince’s “Batman” album all songs “inspired” by the movie? Even Shaun (of the Dead) didn’t like it.
Ed: ‘Purple Rain’?
Shaun: No.
Ed: ‘Sign o’ the Times’?
Shaun: Definitely not.
Ed: The ‘Batman’ soundtrack?
Shaun: Throw it.
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### Author:  [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)
#### Post date: [October 21, 2020, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-inspired-by-movies/923487/5 "2020-10-21T15:38:05Z")
The Clash’s “Red Angel Dragnet” has re-spoken dialog from Scorcese’s “Taxi Driver”:
[![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dfaDArVGV14)
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### Author:  [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)
#### Post date: [October 21, 2020, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-inspired-by-movies/923487/6 "2020-10-21T15:46:25Z")
And what about a song inspired by the making of a film? Bob Dylan’s “Romance in Durango” was inspired by the time he spent in Durango, Mexico, during the making of “Pat Garrett And Billy The Kid”.
[ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3TUqTzcf6YI)
I also have my private theory that parts of Dylan’s “Isis” were inspired by “The Treasure Of The Sierra Madre”.
[ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=INilAY6aJTc)
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### Author:  [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)
#### Post date: [October 21, 2020, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-inspired-by-movies/923487/7 "2020-10-21T15:55:25Z")
Oh, one more:
David Bowie wrote “Space Oddity” after watching Kubrick’s “2001 - A Space Odyssey” and is of course a pun on the title.
OK, I hardly think that anybody doesn’t know the song, but I post a link anyway:
[ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5PgdZDXg0z0)
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### Author:  [@xizor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xizor)
#### Post date: [October 21, 2020, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-inspired-by-movies/923487/8 "2020-10-21T16:05:04Z")
Twisted Sister had a song back in the 80s called Come Out and Play that starts out by imitating a pivotal scene in the movie Warriors (1979)
Movie:
[ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aRM2YcGpmxg)
Song:
[ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSG47_-Ne9o)
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### Author:  [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)
#### Post date: [October 21, 2020, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-inspired-by-movies/923487/9 "2020-10-21T16:15:11Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#):
>
> The Clash’s “Red Angel Dragnet” has re-spoken dialog from Scorcese’s “Taxi Driver”:
And likewise The Fun Lovin’ Criminals’ Scooby Snacks includes dialog from Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction. NSFW link: [video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gWOFtixfies)
j
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### Author:  [@Chad\_Sudan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chad_Sudan)
#### Post date: [October 21, 2020, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-inspired-by-movies/923487/10 "2020-10-21T16:38:26Z")
The Smiths song “This Night Has Opened My Eyes” is based on the plot of, and quotes from, the play/movie “A Taste of Honey,” written by Shelagh Delaney.
Morrissey said, “At least 50 per cent of my reason for writing can be blamed on Shelagh Delaney.” He even put her photo on the cover of the Smiths compilation record “Louder than Bombs” (seen here:)
[ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iWcQqWW3QCI)
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### Author:  [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)
#### Post date: [October 21, 2020, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-inspired-by-movies/923487/11 "2020-10-21T17:33:13Z")
Here’s a Blade Runner twofer:
White Zombie - _More Human Than Human_
[ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E0E0ynyIUsg)
Revolting Cocks - _Attack Ships On Fire_
[ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IFxc3r3ZpX0)
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### Author:  [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)
#### Post date: [October 21, 2020, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-inspired-by-movies/923487/12 "2020-10-21T17:41:37Z")
And, of course, Metalicca’s _One_, which is all about _Johnny Got His Gun_:
[ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WM8bTdBs-cw)
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### Author:  [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)
#### Post date: [October 21, 2020, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-inspired-by-movies/923487/13 "2020-10-21T17:48:20Z")
Morrissey _loved_ referencing 60s films - _This Charming Man_ quotes from _Sleuth_, for instance.
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### Author:  [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)
#### Post date: [October 21, 2020, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-inspired-by-movies/923487/14 "2020-10-21T18:01:19Z")
On the face of it [Cable Hogue](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=geWNgTfOtHQ) by John Cale must be related in some way to the movie “The Ballad of Cable Hogue”; but as I have never seen the movie, I’m just guessing.
I say “related in some way” because I presume Cale was just using it as a kicking-off point for the song, something he occasionally does, though the thought process that links the two can be….unobvious. Other examples include:
- Hedda Gabler (Ibsen play)
- Child’s Christmas in Wales (Dylan Thomas piece)
- Burned Out Affair (A Burned Out Case, by Graham Greene – I’m guessing; but around the same time he also wrote the song “Graham Greene”)
- Ship Of Fools (allegory)
j
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### Author:  [@Dropo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dropo)
#### Post date: [October 21, 2020, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-inspired-by-movies/923487/15 "2020-10-21T18:10:38Z")
The title and some lyrics of “Creature with the Atom Brain” were taken from the 1955 movie.
[ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qVcK2BRvCgU)
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### Author:  [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)
#### Post date: [October 21, 2020, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-inspired-by-movies/923487/16 "2020-10-21T19:32:34Z")
_Key Largo_ Actually an odd choice, given the lyrics.
[![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/Ru2tsT32pHA/hqdefault.jpg?sqp=-oaymwEmCOADEOgC8quKqQMa8AEB-AH-BIAC4AOKAgwIABABGDogZShFMA8=&rs=AOn4CLC9xyBjKkFBfdNCfz00EqOt8X-T6w "Bertie Higgins - "Key Largo" (Official Music Video)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ru2tsT32pHA)
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### Author:  [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)
#### Post date: [October 21, 2020, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-inspired-by-movies/923487/17 "2020-10-21T19:56:15Z")
_Lotion_ by Greenskeepers.
🎵 It rubs the lotion on its skin,
Or else it gets the hose again. 🎵
[ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dLdpm0Qv3Uc)
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### Author:  [@xizor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xizor)
#### Post date: [October 21, 2020, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-inspired-by-movies/923487/18 "2020-10-21T19:56:31Z")
The lyrics to _Dinner with Leatherface_ by The 3D Invisibles just retells the plot of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
[ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eoRRhEd6jfA)
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### Author:  [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)
#### Post date: [October 21, 2020, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-inspired-by-movies/923487/19 "2020-10-21T20:06:30Z")
Harvey Danger (probably best known for their 1997 hit “Flagpole Sitta”) had a song called “Carlotta Valdez” based on the plot of _Vertigo_.
[ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_vdCOqlaAA)
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### Author:  [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)
#### Post date: [October 21, 2020, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-inspired-by-movies/923487/20 "2020-10-21T20:18:57Z")
If Weird Al songs count, then just off the top of my head there’s “Jurassic Park”, “Yoda”, and “The Saga Begins”, and probably more I’m forgetting.
[![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/gh4zvQfDhi0/maxresdefault.jpg ""Weird Al" Yankovic - Jurassic Park") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gh4zvQfDhi0)
[ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zdu8I1gWqk4)
[![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/hEcjgJSqSRU/maxresdefault.jpg ""Weird Al" Yankovic - The Saga Begins (Official Video)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hEcjgJSqSRU)
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