# 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:** 4
**Author:** ![Mark\_Ryle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8dc957/32.png) [@Mark\_Ryle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mark_Ryle)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2013, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-mention-a-famous-person-but-are-not-about-that-person/648386/61 "2013-01-27T00:42:55Z")
Mr. Jones (and me) by Counting Crows mentions Bob Dylan > [@](#): > > Mr. Jones and me stumbling through the barrio > Yeah we stare at the beautiful women > “She’s perfect for you, Man, there’s got to be somebody for me.” > I want to be Bob Dylan > Mr. Jones wishes he was someone just a little more funky > When everybody loves you, son, that’s just about as funky as you can be ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2013, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-mention-a-famous-person-but-are-not-about-that-person/648386/62 "2013-01-27T00:52:42Z")
> [@Infovore](#): > > How about Simon and Garfunkel’s “A Simple Desultory Philippic (or How I was Robert McNamara’d Into Submission)”? And “Mrs. Robinson” asks where Joe DiMaggio has gone. ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2013, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-mention-a-famous-person-but-are-not-about-that-person/648386/63 "2013-01-27T00:53:15Z")
Bruce Springsteen mentions Roy Orbison in Thunder Road. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2013, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-mention-a-famous-person-but-are-not-about-that-person/648386/64 "2013-01-27T01:10:58Z")
> [@Lute Skywatcher](#): > > And “Mrs. Robinson” asks where Joe DiMaggio has gone. Did you read the OP? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2013, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-mention-a-famous-person-but-are-not-about-that-person/648386/65 "2013-01-27T01:25:46Z")
> [@Zakalwe](#): > > Yeah, but Sweet Home was written as a direct response to _Southern Man_ and _Alabama_ both by Young, so I would argue that, in a way, it _is_ about him. I disagree. The song is a direct response to Young, but it is about the state. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2013, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-mention-a-famous-person-but-are-not-about-that-person/648386/66 "2013-01-27T01:26:15Z")
Neil Diamond. _Done Too Soon_ Jesus Christ Fanny Brice Wolfie Mozart Humphrey Bogart Genghis Kahn H.G. Wells Ho Chi Minh Gunga Din Henry Luce John Wilkes Booth Alexander the Great Alexander Graham Bell Rama Krishna Anna Whistler Patrice Lumumba Russ Columbo Karl Marx Chico Marx Albert Camus Edgar Allen Poe Henri Rousseau Sholom Aleichen Caryl Chessman Allan Freed Buster Keaton Not really _about_ any of them. ---
**Author:** ![actualliberalnotoneofthose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e79b87/32.png) [@actualliberalnotoneofthose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/actualliberalnotoneofthose)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2013, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-mention-a-famous-person-but-are-not-about-that-person/648386/67 "2013-01-27T02:06:29Z")
A couple songs with famous names as the titles come to mind: “Clint Eastwood”- Gorillaz, which references a line from his movie but isn’t about him “Forest Whitaker” - Bad Books. I guess the baby is named Forest Whitaker and is a subject of the song, but its not about the famous guy otherwise. ---
**Author:** ![Accidental\_Martyr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ce7236/32.png) [@Accidental\_Martyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Accidental_Martyr)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2013, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-mention-a-famous-person-but-are-not-about-that-person/648386/68 "2013-01-27T02:41:50Z")
Warren Zevon - “Roland The Headless Thompson Gunner” Patty Hearst heard the burst of Roland’s Thompson gun and bought it. ---
**Author:** ![x-ray\_vision](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/x-ray_vision/32/351_2.png) [@x-ray\_vision](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/x-ray_vision)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2013, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-mention-a-famous-person-but-are-not-about-that-person/648386/69 "2013-01-27T02:51:23Z")
The Pretenders _Message Of Love_ - Brigitte Bardot Bob Dylan _I Shall Be Free_ - President Kennedy, Brigitte Bardot, Anita Ekberg, Sophia Loren, Willy Mays, Martin Luther King, Olatunji, Mr. Clean, Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton Bob Dylan _I Shall Be Free No. 10_ - Cassius Clay, Barry Goldwater ---
**Author:** ![Accidental\_Martyr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ce7236/32.png) [@Accidental\_Martyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Accidental_Martyr)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2013, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-mention-a-famous-person-but-are-not-about-that-person/648386/70 "2013-01-27T03:01:33Z")
> [@Oakminster](#): > > And Lynyrd Skynyrd’s _Sweet Home Alabama_ mentions Neil Young…who should remember that I still don’t need him around anyhow. Neil Young and Lynyrd Skynyrd. > **[Lynyrd Skynyrd and Neil Young](https://thrasherswheat.org/jammin/lynyrd.htm)** > > Lynyrd Skynyrd and Neil Young collaborations ---
**Author:** ![x-ray\_vision](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/x-ray_vision/32/351_2.png) [@x-ray\_vision](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/x-ray_vision)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2013, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-mention-a-famous-person-but-are-not-about-that-person/648386/71 "2013-01-27T03:29:53Z")
_Dead Kennedys_ songs: Kill The Poor - Jane Fonda Holiday In Cambodia - Pol Pot We’ve Got A Bigger Problem Now - Ronald Reagan, Alexander Haig Buzzbomb - Pat Nixon Terminal Preppie - John Belushi, Springsteen Winnebago Warrior - John Wayne A Growing Boy Needs His Lunch - Elvis Presley Triumph Of The Swill - Leni Riefenstahl, Bing Crosby, Khomeini, The Doors, John Lennon Chickenshit Conformist - Sid Vicious A Commercial - Sammy Hagar, Sylvester Stallone, Clint Eastwood, Lynyrd Skynyrd Kinky Sex Makes The World Go 'Round - Colonel Khadafy Pull My Strings - Bob Hope Night Of The Living Rednecks - Dinah Shore ---
**Author:** ![Accidental\_Martyr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ce7236/32.png) [@Accidental\_Martyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Accidental_Martyr)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2013, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-mention-a-famous-person-but-are-not-about-that-person/648386/72 "2013-01-27T05:38:51Z")
> [@Wolf333](#): > > REM’s “End of the World As We Know It” mentions Lenny Bruce > [@woodstockbirdybird](#): > > Also Leonid Brezhnev and Lester Bangs. Their song “Electrolite” also mentions James Dean. “Electrolite” also names Martin Sheen and Steve McQueen. “Steve McQueen” by Drive-By Truckers is about Steve McQueen but also mentions Paul Newman, Alec Baldwin, Faye Dunaway and Ali MacGraw. ---
**Author:** ![Accidental\_Martyr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ce7236/32.png) [@Accidental\_Martyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Accidental_Martyr)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2013, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-mention-a-famous-person-but-are-not-about-that-person/648386/73 "2013-01-27T06:35:58Z")
Some more from Drive-By Truckers: “Demonic Possession” names Led Zeppelin and Jerry Lee Lewis. “Carl Perkins’ Cadillac” also mentions Elvis (Presley), Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee (Lewis) and Mr. (Sam) Phillips. ---
**Author:** ![Oly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/oly/32/8255_2.png) [@Oly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oly)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2013, 7:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-mention-a-famous-person-but-are-not-about-that-person/648386/74 "2013-01-27T07:02:33Z")
Little River Band “Reminiscing” - “That’s the way it began we were hand in hand and Miller’s band was better than before.” The Clash “If Music Could Talk” - mentions Errol Flynn The Clash “Car Jammin’” - mentions Lauren Bacall Pink Floyd “Fletcher Memorial Home” - “ladies and gentelmen, please welcome reagan and haig mr. begin and friends mrs. thatcher and paisley mr. brezhnev and party the gost of mccarthy the memories of nixon and now adding colour a group of anonymous latin- american meat packing glitterati” ---
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2013, 7:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-mention-a-famous-person-but-are-not-about-that-person/648386/75 "2013-01-27T07:02:40Z")
> [@Accidental\_Martyr](#): > > “Electrolite” also names Martin Sheen and Steve McQueen. And _E-Bow the Letter_, from the same album, mentions Maria Callas (whoever she is). ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2013, 7:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-mention-a-famous-person-but-are-not-about-that-person/648386/76 "2013-01-27T07:41:04Z")
> [@Accidental\_Martyr](#): > > Neil Young and Lynyrd Skynyrd. > [Lynyrd Skynyrd and Neil Young](http://thrasherswheat.org/jammin/lynyrd.htm) So what? I don’t like Neil Young, or anyone else that insults the entire South the way he did. ---
**Author:** ![Lola\_Crazy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Lola\_Crazy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lola_Crazy)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2013, 8:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-mention-a-famous-person-but-are-not-about-that-person/648386/77 "2013-01-27T08:28:15Z")
Well, the Deep Purple song “Smoke On The Water” mentions Frank Zappa and the Mothers. This song isn’t exactly about them but this song is about a show that Deep Purple played with them so I guess in some way this song doesn’t count. The Surgarloaf song “Don’t Call Us, We’ll Call You” mentions John, Paul and George. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2013, 10:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-mention-a-famous-person-but-are-not-about-that-person/648386/78 "2013-01-27T10:21:32Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > Yeah, but it’s ABOUT Ms. Dee’s nominal “good-girl” reputation, as applied mockingly to Sandy (whose name in the stage musical was Dumbrowsky, so being an actual “Sandra D.”). Sandy (whether Dumbrowsky or Olson) wasn’t really going to be telling Elvis and Sal Mineo and Rock Hudson and all of those Hollywood heartthrobs to keep their hands to themselves (not that Mineo or Hudson would have had a problem with that…). Yeah, but if that doesn’t count, then neither do all the others that use a single famous person as a comparison. ---
**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:** [January 27, 2013, 10:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-mention-a-famous-person-but-are-not-about-that-person/648386/79 "2013-01-27T10:45:27Z")
“Bobby Brown Goes Down” by Frank Zappa (This was a few years before Boys2Men’s Bobby Brown became famous) “My Music” by Loggins and Messina (Name checks “Little Timmy” Schmidt, but probably not the guy from the Eagles) “Down on the Corner” by CCR (‘Willy and the Poor Boys’ later became the name of a one-off band by one of the Rolling Stones, possibly Bill Wyman) “Fire, Water, Burn” by the Bloodhound Gang (Frank Black, Barry White, J.F.K., Marvin Gaye, Martha Raye, Lawrence Welk, Kurt Cobain, Kojak, Mark Twain Jimi Hendrix, Emmanuel Lewis) “Dig It” by the Beatles (BB King and Doris Day among others) ---
**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 27, 2013, 11:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-mention-a-famous-person-but-are-not-about-that-person/648386/80 "2013-01-27T11:46:15Z")
> [@Oakminster](#): > > So what? I don’t like Neil Young, or anyone else that insults the entire South the way he did. Well, I’m from the southern hemisphere, so I’m a _lot_ more southern than you are, and I love Neil Young enough to make up for two or three haters. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-mention-a-famous-person-but-are-not-about-that-person/648386.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-mention-a-famous-person-but-are-not-about-that-person/648386.md?page=5)