# When popular artforms collide: songs about movies **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 5, 2004, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-popular-artforms-collide-songs-about-movies/227701 "2004-02-05T18:53:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Interrobang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/interrobang/32/17463_2.png) [@Interrobang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Interrobang)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2004, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-popular-artforms-collide-songs-about-movies/227701/1 "2004-02-05T18:53:51Z")
I’m involved in a mix CD trading project. One of the track requirements is “a song about a specific movie,” or that at least mentions a movie by name. Off the top of my head, I can think of a few songs about movies: “Debaser,” by the Pixies, about _Un chien Andalou_ “The Union Forever,” by the White Stripes, about _Citizen Kane_ “Carlotta Valdez,” by Harvey Danger, about _Vertigo_ “The Saga Begins,” by Weird Al Yankovic, about _The Phantom Menace_ How many others are out there? Note that these must be songs **about** a movie, not written for a movie and featured in the credits or something. ---
**Author:** ![Nonsuch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nonsuch/32/2922_2.png) [@Nonsuch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nonsuch)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2004, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-popular-artforms-collide-songs-about-movies/227701/2 "2004-02-05T19:07:03Z")
You’re not going to like the first example I thought of … “Heartlight,” by Neil Diamond. Ick. Others: “White Heat,” Madonna “Key Largo,” Bertie Higgins (also references Casablanca) “Breakfast at Tiffany’s,” Deep Blue Something More as they come to me … ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2004, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-popular-artforms-collide-songs-about-movies/227701/3 "2004-02-05T19:14:06Z")
“It’s a Wonderful Life” by Fishbone is about a movie. I can’t remember which one, though. I think it was Jaws. ---
**Author:** ![Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troy_mcclure_sf/32/4150_2.png) [@Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troy_McClure_SF)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2004, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-popular-artforms-collide-songs-about-movies/227701/4 "2004-02-05T19:26:07Z")
Yoda, Weird Al Spectacular Spectacular, Moulin Rouge- it _is_ about the movie, though it’s also in it. ---
**Author:** ![gonzoron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a6a055/32.png) [@gonzoron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzoron)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2004, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-popular-artforms-collide-songs-about-movies/227701/5 "2004-02-05T19:50:18Z")
_A New Hope_ Blink 182 Weird Al’s got a ton: _Jurassic Park_,_Ode to Hero_ (Spiderman, specifically the movie), and _Gump_ in addition to the ones mentined. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Scrivener](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@The\_Scrivener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Scrivener)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2004, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-popular-artforms-collide-songs-about-movies/227701/6 "2004-02-05T19:50:50Z")
“The Wicker Man” by Iron Maiden “James Bond” by The Selecter references the character/franchise. I don’t know if “White Light/White Heat” by The Velvet Underground is supposed to be a reference to the James Cagney movie or not (it could just be a drug reference for all I know). “Waterloo Sunset” by The Kinks references a couple in love named “Julie and Terry,” which was widely understood at the time to be Julie Christie and Terrence Stamp, who had just made “Far From the Madding Crowd” together. ---
**Author:** ![gex\_gex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/94ad74/32.png) [@gex\_gex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gex_gex)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2004, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-popular-artforms-collide-songs-about-movies/227701/7 "2004-02-05T22:58:47Z")
**Belle and Sebastian - Like Dylan In The Movies** I don’t think it’s really about _Don’t Look Back_ per se, but it makes reference to it. ---
**Author:** ![TWDuke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e495f1/32.png) [@TWDuke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TWDuke)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2004, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-popular-artforms-collide-songs-about-movies/227701/8 "2004-02-05T23:41:26Z")
“Science Fiction Double Feature” from _The Rocky Horror Picture Show_ mentions several sci-fi and horror. “The Friends of Mr. Cairo” by Jon & Vangelis mentions the _The Maltese Falcon_ and _Citizen Kane_. ---
**Author:** ![Treviathan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/838e76/32.png) [@Treviathan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treviathan)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2004, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-popular-artforms-collide-songs-about-movies/227701/9 "2004-02-05T23:49:59Z")
“Valentine” by Shades Apart makes references to both _Casablanca_ and _Roman Holiday_, and it would be a good choice if you like Harvey Danger. I didn’t know “Debaser” was about _Un Chien Andalou_, but then again, I never could figure out just what Frank Black was screaming anyways. ---
**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:** [February 6, 2004, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-popular-artforms-collide-songs-about-movies/227701/10 "2004-02-06T00:00:38Z")
“Citizen Kane” by the Byrds “My Baby’s the Star of a Driver’s Ed Movie” and “Mr. Bond” by Blotto ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Q](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/898d66/32.png) [@Johnny\_Q](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Q)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2004, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-popular-artforms-collide-songs-about-movies/227701/11 "2004-02-06T00:30:54Z")
A couple from the Smithereens: In A Lonely Place (with Suzanne Vega on backing vocals) Blood and Roses (to be honest, although I’m sure there was a movie by that name, I don’t know if the song was actually about the movie) ---
**Author:** ![Already\_in\_Use](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a9adbd/32.png) [@Already\_in\_Use](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Already_in_Use)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2004, 8:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-popular-artforms-collide-songs-about-movies/227701/12 "2004-02-06T08:30:17Z")
“Cheepnis” by Frank Zappa. He mentions the movie _It Conquered the World_ at the beginning, but it’s really about his concept of “cheepnis” (known by the Church of the SubGenius as “bulldada,” and by geeks everywhere as MST3K fodder), and a hypothetical movie involving a giant monster poodle named Frunobulax. ---
**Author:** ![Kyomara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/8edcca/32.png) [@Kyomara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyomara)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2004, 11:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-popular-artforms-collide-songs-about-movies/227701/13 "2004-02-06T11:36:32Z")
_Omega Man_ by The Police was based on the Charleton Heston movie of the same title, about the last man alive on Earth after the nuclear holocaust. (“Always talking to myself…”) ---
**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:** [February 6, 2004, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-popular-artforms-collide-songs-about-movies/227701/14 "2004-02-06T12:42:31Z")
“Godzilla” by Blue Oyster Cult “Year of the Cat” by Al Stewart (which refers generically to “a Bogart movie, in a country where they’ve turned back time/ You go walking through the crowd like Peter Lorre contemplating a crime.” I think that narrows it down to _Casablanca._) “I Wanna Be a Boss” Artist forgotten; this was a one-hit from the 80s containing the lyric “or stay at home and watch ‘Ice Station Zebra’ in the nude,” a reference to Howard Hughes’ favorite hobby. “Song of the South” by Alabama is a two-fer; the eponymous Disney movie and _Gone with the Wind_ are both mentioned. ---
**Author:** ![gex\_gex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/94ad74/32.png) [@gex\_gex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gex_gex)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2004, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-popular-artforms-collide-songs-about-movies/227701/15 "2004-02-06T14:36:06Z")
How about Aimee Mann’s _Ghost World_? I mean, I think it’s actually written about a graphic novel, and then the graphic novel got turned into a movie. But that counts, right? ---
**Author:** ![paulberserker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c4cdca/32.png) [@paulberserker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/paulberserker)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2004, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-popular-artforms-collide-songs-about-movies/227701/16 "2004-02-06T14:51:23Z")
> [@Treviathan](#): > > I didn’t know “Debaser” was about _Un Chien Andalou_, but then again, I never could figure out just what Frank Black was screaming anyways. Franks shouting: “girly so groovy oh-ho-hoh-ho i want you to know, slicing up eyeballs oh-ho-ho andalucia I am un chien” etc etc, which if youve seen Un Chien Andalou, is direct reference to it and its most famous, er, interesting scene. ---
**Author:** ![Draelin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce73a5/32.png) [@Draelin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Draelin)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2004, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-popular-artforms-collide-songs-about-movies/227701/17 "2004-02-06T15:17:46Z")
Most of the one’s I’ve thought of were already taken, except one–“So Long, Astoria” by the Ataris is about _The Goonies_. But the best part is when you look at the inside of the cover to make sure you actually heard the line “This is my wish, and I’m takin’ it back…” and discover that the picture behind the lyrics is Mikey and Brand’s house. ---
**Author:** ![23skidoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/2/f04885/32.png) [@23skidoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/23skidoo)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2004, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-popular-artforms-collide-songs-about-movies/227701/18 "2004-02-08T04:02:17Z")
Does it have to be a famous song that everyone knows? Cuz I wrote a song called “Leaving Las Vegas” which is about the movie. It’s here: [http://www.15-16puzzle.com/songs/leavinglasvegas.mp3](http://www.15-16puzzle.com/songs/leavinglasvegas.mp3) Yes, I am shamelessly pimping my music. ---
**Author:** ![Purd\_Werfect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e47c2d/32.png) [@Purd\_Werfect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Purd_Werfect)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2004, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-popular-artforms-collide-songs-about-movies/227701/19 "2004-02-08T04:23:58Z")
It’s a more obscure song, but the tune ‘What Will Death Be Like?’ by Momus references a couple of different movies as well as many other things. It would also be a brilliant song to toss on a compilation. Lyrics [here](http://www.phespirit.info/momus/19900106.htm). ---
**Author:** ![Soapbox\_Monkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Soapbox\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soapbox_Monkey)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2004, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-popular-artforms-collide-songs-about-movies/227701/20 "2004-02-08T06:16:47Z")
I can’t believe that no one’s said Exit Music (for a Film) from Radiohead’s OK Computer, which was written about the modernized version of Romeo and Juliet. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-popular-artforms-collide-songs-about-movies/227701.md?page=2)