# Songs inspired by pop culture
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-inspired-by-pop-culture/46975
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [December 23, 2000, 6:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-inspired-by-pop-culture/46975 "2000-12-23T06:25:54Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@rackensack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rackensack)
#### Post date: [December 23, 2000, 6:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-inspired-by-pop-culture/46975/1 "2000-12-23T06:25:54Z")
Driving home today, I was listening to the Rezillos’ live performance of “Thunderbirds Are Go”. This got me to thinking about other songs inspired by TV shows, movies, and other pop culture phenomena. Not TV or movie theme songs, but songs about TV shows, movies, etc. My favorites:
[ul]
[li]“Thunderbirds Are Go”, The Rezillos. _“Calling International Rescue / No one else can save us like you do . . .”_[/li][li]“I See Moe”, Guadalcanal Diary. _“Sometimes I look in the mirror, and I see Moe”._[/li][li]“Twist Barbie”, Shonen Knife[/li][li]“Man on the Moon”, R.E.M.[/li][/ul]
And yours?
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### Author:  [@Anake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anake)
#### Post date: [December 23, 2000, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-inspired-by-pop-culture/46975/2 "2000-12-23T14:56:14Z")
Twilight Zone by Golden Earring.
_Help, I’m steppin’ into the Twilight Zone
This is a madhouse
Feels like being home
My feet they can’t move
Under moon and star
Where am I to go now that I’ve gone too far
You will come to know
When the bullet hits the bone_
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### Author:  [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)
#### Post date: [December 23, 2000, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-inspired-by-pop-culture/46975/3 "2000-12-23T22:36:12Z")
The Young Fresh Fellows; “The New John Agar”
About the B-movie hero and star of _Tarantula, The Mole People,_ and \*The Brain from Planet Arous.
I’d throw away my guitar
To ne the next John Agar…
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### Author:  [@Welfy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Welfy)
#### Post date: [December 23, 2000, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-inspired-by-pop-culture/46975/4 "2000-12-23T22:39:28Z")
Barbie Girl by Aqua.
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### Author:  [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)
#### Post date: [December 24, 2000, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-inspired-by-pop-culture/46975/5 "2000-12-24T01:11:56Z")
_Andy Always Dreamed of Wrestling_ and _Golly, Ollie!_ by The Bobs
_July 13th, 1985_ and _When the Beatles Hit America_ by John Wesley Harding
_Lois Lane_, _Takin’ the Kids to Disney to Disney World_, _Olivia Newton John_ and _Isaac’s Lament_ by Uncle Bonsai
_Little Skipper_ by Mel Cooleys
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### Author:  [@DigitalMuse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalMuse)
#### Post date: [December 24, 2000, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-inspired-by-pop-culture/46975/6 "2000-12-24T02:22:47Z")
One Week by Barenaked Ladies
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### Author:  [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)
#### Post date: [December 24, 2000, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-inspired-by-pop-culture/46975/7 "2000-12-24T02:38:05Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by DigitalMuse \*
> \*\*One Week by Barenaked Ladies \*\*
From their album Gordon:
Brian Wilson
Be My Yoko Ono
New Kid (On the Block)
Grade 9, Blame it on Me and Box Set also make several pop-culture references, putting them in pretty much the same realm as One Week, IMO - referencing, but not really ABOUT those references.
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### Author:  [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)
#### Post date: [December 24, 2000, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-inspired-by-pop-culture/46975/8 "2000-12-24T03:38:20Z")
In that case, Tengu, _Be My Yoko_ by The Bobs
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### Author:  [@capacitor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/capacitor)
#### Post date: [December 24, 2000, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-inspired-by-pop-culture/46975/9 "2000-12-24T05:02:23Z")
There is that infamous song “Pop Muzik” by M.
also there are these compilation CDs that are entitled “Songs based on and insiped by…” whatever. One such CD is that of the Powerpuff Girls.
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### Author:  [@Homer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Homer)
#### Post date: [December 24, 2000, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-inspired-by-pop-culture/46975/10 "2000-12-24T06:13:21Z")
Well, Wesley Willis alone has about 150 songs about bands, TV shows, etc.
I won’t bother to list them here.
“You can really knock it out! You are a low-down dirty man.” Wesley, referring to Arnold Schwartzenegar.
–Tim
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### Author:  [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)
#### Post date: [December 24, 2000, 6:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-inspired-by-pop-culture/46975/11 "2000-12-24T06:36:09Z")
**Science Fiction Double Feature** from _The Rocky Horror Picture Show_. RiffRaff’s voice, Magenta’s lips, and a whole lot of references to b-movies from the 40s to the 60s.
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### Author:  [@Gordo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gordo)
#### Post date: [December 24, 2000, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-inspired-by-pop-culture/46975/12 "2000-12-24T13:26:40Z")
I think it was the Bloodhound Gang (who suck the big unmentionables IMO), who once said (paraphrased), “Most bands write songs about love; we write songs about pop culture.”
Then there’s Weird Al Yankovic and the rest of the Dr Demento squad, who have made a career out of taking songs ledged in the current pop culture and adding pop culture-referencing lyrics to them. I shudder to think of what they’ll do with _Who Let the Dogs Out?_.
And there’s eight million and three songs in the vein of _Man on the Moon_, which are about some famous person. Also, there’s **a lot** of progressive rock songs about The Lord of the Rings, if that counts as pop culture.
One that actually answers the OP is _Jimmy Olsen’s Blues_ by the Spin Doctors, which laments the life of Clark Kent’s unfortunate co-worker. And coincidentally, since I’m not that much of a Superman fan, the other one I know of is _Superman’s Song_ by the Crash Test Dummies (they were big in Canada!).
There seems to be a lot of it going around.
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### Author:  [@DigitalMuse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalMuse)
#### Post date: [December 24, 2000, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-inspired-by-pop-culture/46975/13 "2000-12-24T15:19:32Z")
Mope by the Bloodhound Gang
Video Killed the Radio Star by the Buggles
Any songs by 2gether
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### Author:  [@Just\_A\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_A_Girl)
#### Post date: [December 25, 2000, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-inspired-by-pop-culture/46975/14 "2000-12-25T02:40:52Z")
That god-awful pop piece of crap LFO song…“Summer Girls”
any number of Barenaked Ladies songs
can’t think…oh well…that’s all I have to say about that
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### Author:  [@toonerama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toonerama)
#### Post date: [December 25, 2000, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-inspired-by-pop-culture/46975/15 "2000-12-25T04:19:38Z")
Buggles - Video Killed The Radio Star
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### Author:  [@isopropyl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/isopropyl)
#### Post date: [December 26, 2000, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-inspired-by-pop-culture/46975/16 "2000-12-26T19:53:54Z")
How far back can we go?
All I came up with is “Bicycle Built For Two”
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### Author:  [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)
#### Post date: [December 26, 2000, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-inspired-by-pop-culture/46975/17 "2000-12-26T20:22:21Z")
There are probably lots of other references to The Wizard of Oz, but…
Oz never gave nothing to the tin man that he didn’t already have.
also War of the Worlds by the Moody Blues.
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### Author:  [@Nocturne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nocturne)
#### Post date: [December 26, 2000, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-inspired-by-pop-culture/46975/18 "2000-12-26T22:30:17Z")
“We Didn’t Start the Fire”-Billy Joel
“If I Had a Million Dollars”-Barenaked Ladies
“Buddy Holly”-Weezer
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### Author:  [@xizor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xizor)
#### Post date: [December 26, 2000, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-inspired-by-pop-culture/46975/19 "2000-12-26T22:49:07Z")
“Come Out and Play” by Twisted Sister leans heavily on the movie _Warriors_, specifically the line
“Warriors(Twisted Sister), come out and play!
Warriors(Twisted Sister), come out and play-ay!”
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### Author:  [@Stephe96](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stephe96)
#### Post date: [December 26, 2000, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-inspired-by-pop-culture/46975/20 "2000-12-26T23:16:11Z")
Let’s see…
“The Streak” Ray Stevens
“Pac-Man Fever” by who the hell knows?
“The Curly Shuffle” by who the hell knows?
“Key Largo” (something about Bogie and Bacall) by…somebody or other
“Heartlight” by Neil Diamond (Inspired by “ET”)
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