“As you stood there, counting crows…”
A Murder of One by Counting Crows.
Yeah, except the name of the band “Counting Crows” comes from an old saying about literally standing around, counting crows.
Sort of a chicken-egg thing.
Not quite on par with The The using the word the in a song, but a bit different than the words Loudon Wainwright showing up in a song.
Maybe it’s my midwest, cornfed upbringin’, but I hadn’t heard the expression when I first heard the song. So, in my mind, it’s always been self-referential.
‘The day the fingerpickers took over the world’ by Chet Atkins & Tommy Emmanuel references Chet and Tommy (well, they reference each other) - kind of a joke song though.
Same goes for ‘There’ll be some changes made’ by Chet Atkins & Mark Knopfler.
“I Got Him Back In My Arms Again” - the Supremes: “How can Mary tell me what to do, when she lost her guy so true? / And Flo, she don’t know, 'cause the boy she loves is a romeo…”
the Supremes line-up that recorded that song was Diana Ross, Mary Wilson and Florence “Flo” Ballard.
“Lift” - Radiohead
“You’ve been stuck, in a lift, we’ve been tryin’ to reach you, Thom”
I wasn’t aware of it as an expression, but rather as a reference to the nurery rhyme “Seven Blackbirds in a Tree”:
Seven blackbirds in a tree
Count them and see what they be:
One for sorrow, two for joy
Three for girls and four for boys
Five for silver, six for gold
Seven for secrets never told.
That’s an interesting case, as it’s a cover of a Wire song. The original line is “Joey’s nervous and the lights are bright.” No one in Wire’s named Joey.
My telephone rang and it wouldn’t stop,
It was President Kennedy callin’ me up,
He said, “My friend Bob, what do we need to make this country grow?”
I said, “My friend John, Brigitte Bardot,
Anita Eckburg,
Sophia Loren,
Country’ll grow.”
– Bob Dylan, “I Shall Be Free”
Madness by Madness
Bad Company, by Bad Company.
Good thread.
Then in my dressing room I’d see
An elephant as pink as me
Drinking and singing gloomily
About the time they called me, yeah the time they called me
About the time they called me Nicky
–“Nicky,” Momus (real name Nick Currie)
This, of course, is a cover/parody of La Chanson de Jacky by Belgian songwriter Jacques Brel, which does the same thing.
So I sidled up beside her
Settled down and shouted, Hi there
My name’s Stuart Ransom Miller
I’m a serial lady killer
She said “I’m already dead”
That’s exactly what she said
–“Barrier Reef,” Old 97s (whose lead singer is Stuart Ransom “Rhett” Miller, Jr.)
He said, “Mary is the rarest gem
And she’s the wildest flower.
I’ll make my Mary merrier
With every passing hour.”
So I made a certain sacrifice
As soon as we were through
I said, “Your Mary loves ya, lad.”
And he said, “Mary who?”
–“The World is Full of Bastards,” Mary Prankster
Sometimes it’s hard to be a Gimme
Giving all your love to just one band
But if you love them
Please don’t make fun of them
'Cause after all, we’re just a band
–“Stand By Your Man,” Me First and the Gimme Gimmes
Hee hee!
NO MORE BANDS!
IT’S MY GAME…
‘Are you ready Steve?’ Ballroom Blitz by The Sweet
‘But this is Phil talking, I wanna tell you what I found to be true’ Love Action by The Human League
MiM
- Bad Is Bad by Huey Lewis & the News
“I love you, Huey,” was the note I read, but there’s a strange pair of shoes underneath the bed.
- Taxi by Harry Chapin
"Then she handed me twenty dollars for a two-fifty fare and said, “Harry, keep the change.”
- You Gotta Serve Somebody by Bob Dylan
“You can call me Bobby or you can call me Zimmy”
Hank Williams Jr.'s done this a few times:
Family Tradition
So don’t ask me, Hank why do you drink? Hank, why do you roll smoke?
Why must you live out the songs that you wrote?
All My Rowdy Friends (Are Coming Over Tonight)
Do you want a drink. Hey do you want to party.
Hey honey this is ole Hank. Ready to get the thing started.
My Name Is Bocephus
I just came in here to have some whiskey and beer and to say howdy to you all.
Now you all know me, this is Hank Williams, Jr. you see. Hat and shade beard and all.
And if nicknames count:
Born To Boogie
Well my name is Bocephus I drink whiskey by the gallon
and I never back down and I love a good challenge
Soul Brother Number One must do it more than once, but in “There Was a Time” he exhorts us thusly:
Uhh, lookie here, feeling good
There was a time
Sometime I danced
Lookie here
Sometimes I danced
Sometimes I clown
But you can bet you
Havent seen nothing yet Until youve seen me do
The James Brown, ow
Warren Zevon doesn’t mention himself, but does refer to members of his band in Things to Do in Denver When You’re Dead
I called my buddy Leroy on the phone,
I said “buddy, I’m afraid to be alone”…
… I was workin’ on a steak the other day,
when I saw Waddy in the Rattlesnake Cafe
Glass Onion, The Beatles
Here’s another clue for you all,
The walrus was Paul
Love Machine, Morning Musume
(to quote from lyrics007.com)
MO-NINGU musume mo (wow x 4)
Anta mo atashi mo (yeah x 4)
I have the Dave Edmunds version on which H Lewis plays the harmonica - Edmunds sings ‘I love you baby’ - should have said Davey!
MiM
Simon & Garfunke’s A Simple Desultory Philippic (Or How I Was Robert McNamara’d into Submission) :
I’ve been mothered, fathered, ant and uncled,
Been Roy Haleed and Art Garfunkeled.
The classic is Bill Bojangle Robinson’s “Mr. Bojangles.” Also one of the best.
Big Country by Big Country
Also, if mentioning the band counts, Belinda Carlisle introduces the band (actually IIRC just the rhythm section) in the Go-go’s cover of Cool Jerk .
In The South’s Gonna Do It Again, Charlie Daniels names several performers/groups, including “the C.D.B.” (Charlie Daniels Band). Technically just his initials, but a self-reference nonetheless.
In Hey Paula, by Paul & Paula, the singers refer to each other by name, albeit stage name (they were actually Ray Hildebrand and Jill Jackson).
Michelle Shocked refers to herself as “Chel” in Anchorage.