# Songs That Mention a Famous Person But Are Not About That Person **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 26, 2013, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-mention-a-famous-person-but-are-not-about-that-person/648386 "2013-01-26T01:09:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2013, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-mention-a-famous-person-but-are-not-about-that-person/648386/21 "2013-01-26T03:27:59Z")
[_Rock and Roll Heaven_](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_d5gzohHtYk)-The Righteous Brothers ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2013, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-mention-a-famous-person-but-are-not-about-that-person/648386/22 "2013-01-26T03:49:20Z")
Cheap Trick’s “Surrender” mentions Kiss Rick Nelson’s “Garden Party” mentions Yoko Ono and Bob Dylan, and refers to John Lennon “Looking Out My Front Door” by Creedence Clearwater Revival mentions Buck Owens. ---
**Author:** ![Sudden\_Kestrel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecd19e/32.png) [@Sudden\_Kestrel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sudden_Kestrel)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2013, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-mention-a-famous-person-but-are-not-about-that-person/648386/23 "2013-01-26T04:14:55Z")
David Essex’s _[Rock On](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aK6jgzV32bg)_: “See her shake on the movie screen, Jimmy Dean (James Dean).” I’m of an age that that song made me look up James Dean and watch his movies. ---
**Author:** ![carnut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnut/32/3531_2.png) [@carnut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnut)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2013, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-mention-a-famous-person-but-are-not-about-that-person/648386/24 "2013-01-26T04:25:12Z")
Little Willie John’s “I’m Shakin” (currently climbing the charts in a Jack White cover) mentions Bo Diddley. ---
**Author:** ![Ponch8](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponch8/32/9883_2.png) [@Ponch8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponch8)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2013, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-mention-a-famous-person-but-are-not-about-that-person/648386/25 "2013-01-26T04:44:20Z")
“TiK ToK” by Ke$ha (wake up in the morning feeling like P. Diddy…) “Over” by Drake and “Bed Rock” by Lil Wayne both mention Michael Jackson. “Over” even mentions that cool red jacket with all the zippers. “You Get What You Give” by the New Radicals mentions Beck, Hanson, Courtney Love, and Marilyn Manson. “You’re all fakes, run to your mansions/come around, we’ll kick your ass in” “Swingin’” by Tom Petty mentions several people who went down swinging: Sonny Liston, Glenn Miller, and others ---
**Author:** ![Peanuthead](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peanuthead/32/360_2.png) [@Peanuthead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peanuthead)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2013, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-mention-a-famous-person-but-are-not-about-that-person/648386/26 "2013-01-26T04:44:49Z")
Van Morrison - [Cleaning Windows](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RYyVxQgnhDo): Listened to **Jimmy Rogers** on his lunch break. Heard \*\*Leadbelly \*\*and **Blind Lemon** on the street where he was born. **Sonny Terry** , **Brownie McGee, Muddy Waters** singing “I’m a Rolling Stone” Read his **Christmas Humphreys’** book on Zen, **Kerouac’s** Dharma Bums and On the Road. ---
**Author:** ![Peanuthead](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peanuthead/32/360_2.png) [@Peanuthead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peanuthead)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2013, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-mention-a-famous-person-but-are-not-about-that-person/648386/27 "2013-01-26T04:51:47Z")
> [@carnut](#): > > Little Willie John’s “I’m Shakin” (currently climbing the charts in a Jack White cover) mentions Bo Diddley. And **Robbie Robertson** mentions **Little Willie John** in [Somewhere Down the Crazy River.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lyb5LmgnKTg) ---
**Author:** ![carnut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnut/32/3531_2.png) [@carnut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnut)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2013, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-mention-a-famous-person-but-are-not-about-that-person/648386/28 "2013-01-26T04:58:34Z")
> [@Peanuthead](#): > > And **Robbie Robertson** mentions **Little Willie John** in [Somewhere Down the Crazy River.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lyb5LmgnKTg) I love that song! ---
**Author:** ![Quercus\_alba](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quercus_alba/32/4061_2.png) [@Quercus\_alba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quercus_alba)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2013, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-mention-a-famous-person-but-are-not-about-that-person/648386/29 "2013-01-26T05:00:58Z")
**Brian Wilson** , by Barenaked Ladies, in which the famous person is a simile. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2013, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-mention-a-famous-person-but-are-not-about-that-person/648386/30 "2013-01-26T05:06:52Z")
Bloodhound Gang’s “Bad Touch” - > [@](#): > > Me and you do the kind of stuff that only Prince would sing about > So put your hands down my pants and I’ll bet you’ll feel nuts > Yes I’m Siskel, yes I’m Ebert and you’re getting two thumbs up and > [@](#): > > So show me yours I’ll show you mine “Tool Time” you’ll Lovett just like Lyle > And then we’ll do it doggy style so we can both watch “X-Files” (That’s right - I only listen to _classy_ music. 😃 ) There are a couple more Prince references out there, but I can’t think of them right now. Tom Petty’s “Running Down a Dream” - > [@](#): > > Trees flew by, me and Del were singin’ little Runaway (Assuming that is Del Shannon.) k-os - “I Wish I Knew Natalie Portman” - no mention in the song, just in the title. ---
**Author:** ![detop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bcef8e/32.png) [@detop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/detop)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2013, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-mention-a-famous-person-but-are-not-about-that-person/648386/31 "2013-01-26T05:13:49Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > Year of the Cat - Al Stewart: > > “On a morning from a Bogart movie” > > “You go strolling through the crowd like Peter Lorre” > > Double whammy! Al Stewart again : _Roads to Moscow_ “General Guderian stands at the crest of the hill” Or in his _Post World War II Blues_, he mentions : Aneurin Bevan Churchill Louis Mountbatten Eisenhower Buddy Holly Harold Macmillan Christine Keeler Allen Ginsberg Robert Kennedy Jimi Hendrix [for the full lyrics](http://www.lyricstime.com/al-stewart-post-world-war-two-blues-lyrics.html) ---
**Author:** ![Clawdio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d07c76/32.png) [@Clawdio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clawdio)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2013, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-mention-a-famous-person-but-are-not-about-that-person/648386/32 "2013-01-26T05:58:58Z")
Rage Against the Machine - Fistfull of Steel “Steppin into the jam and I’m slammin like Shaquille…” ---
**Author:** ![Wolf333](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolf333/32/3460_2.png) [@Wolf333](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wolf333)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2013, 6:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-mention-a-famous-person-but-are-not-about-that-person/648386/33 "2013-01-26T06:17:12Z")
Cowboy Junkies “Sun Comes Up, It’s Tuesday Morning” mentions John Coltrane REM’s “End of the World As We Know It” mentions Lenny Bruce Eleventh Dream Day, on their album _Beet_, does this on three tracks; Faye Dunaway, Bobby Vinton, and Ezra Pound each get a shout ---
**Author:** ![installLSC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/54ee81/32.png) [@installLSC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/installLSC)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2013, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-mention-a-famous-person-but-are-not-about-that-person/648386/34 "2013-01-26T06:18:30Z")
“You Wear It Well”, Rod Stewart–Jackie Onassis “Ballad of Danny Bailey”, Elton John–John Dillinger “Outlaw Blues”, Bob Dylan–Robert Ford and Jesse James ---
**Author:** ![woodstockbirdybird](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/woodstockbirdybird/32/7905_2.png) [@woodstockbirdybird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/woodstockbirdybird)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2013, 7:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-mention-a-famous-person-but-are-not-about-that-person/648386/35 "2013-01-26T07:23:06Z")
> [@Quercus\_alba](#): > > **Brian Wilson** , by Barenaked Ladies, in which the famous person is a simile. Similarly, Nova Mob’s “Werner von Braun” isn’t actually about him (“Her favorite color’s Werner von Braun…”). > [@Wolf333](#): > > REM’s “End of the World As We Know It” mentions Lenny Bruce Also Leonid Brezhnev and Lester Bangs. Their song “Electrolite” also mentions James Dean. The Beatles’ “Yer Blues” mentions Dylan. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2013, 8:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-mention-a-famous-person-but-are-not-about-that-person/648386/36 "2013-01-26T08:05:01Z")
James Dean seems to be coming out a clear winner in cultural iconness. Or is it iconity? ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2013, 8:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-mention-a-famous-person-but-are-not-about-that-person/648386/37 "2013-01-26T08:16:39Z")
_Sympathy for the Devil_ mentions Jesus, Pilate, Anastasia, and the Kennedys. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2013, 8:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-mention-a-famous-person-but-are-not-about-that-person/648386/38 "2013-01-26T08:49:20Z")
_The South is Gonna Do It Again_ by Charlie Daniels mentions the Marshall Tucker Band, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Dickey Betts, Elvin Bishop, and ZZ Top. _Roll Over Beethoven_ isn’t really about Beethoven or Tchaikovsky. In Dave Soldier’s _The Most Unwanted Music_, George Stephanopolis’s name is screamed out. ---
**Author:** ![Shakester](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shakester/32/437_2.png) [@Shakester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shakester)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2013, 11:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-mention-a-famous-person-but-are-not-about-that-person/648386/39 "2013-01-26T11:45:59Z")
**Warren Zevon** ’s _Werewolves of London_ mentions Lon Chaneys Sr and Jr. ---
**Author:** ![James\_Otto\_Sweet\_Heart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ac8455/32.png) [@James\_Otto\_Sweet\_Heart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/James_Otto_Sweet_Heart)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2013, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-mention-a-famous-person-but-are-not-about-that-person/648386/40 "2013-01-26T15:01:03Z")
“Feels a little better when I’m out on the edge like a **Taratino** movie running through my head.”-“Ain’t Gonna Stop” from my most favorite singer James Otto 🙂 🙂 🙂 God bless you and James always!!! 🙂 🙂 🙂 Holly [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-mention-a-famous-person-but-are-not-about-that-person/648386.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-mention-a-famous-person-but-are-not-about-that-person/648386.md?page=3)