How many songs can you think of that mention a real person, I'll start

[Bombero1956]

1. Walking Down Memphis- Elvis (The King) W. C. Handy
2. Key Largo- Lauren Bacall, Humphrey Bogart
3. Candle in the Wind- Marilyn Monroe
4. Thunder Road- Roy Orbison
5. Rock n Roll in the USA- Young Rascals, Martha Reeves, James Brown etc.

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

1. Simon and Garfunkel - Mrs. Robinson

"Where have you gone Joe Dimaggio?"

[malthaussen]

47. "Centerfield" John Fogerty

Willie Mays, Ty Cobb, Joe diMaggio, and Shoeless Joe Jackson by inference.

-- Mal

[Mister Ed]

93. "(Jackie Wilson Said) I'm in Heaven When You Smile" (Van Morrison) n/t

[MissMillie]

2. a few

You Get What You Give (New Young Radicals): Beck, Hanson, Courtney Love and Marilyn Manson

Could It Be Magic (Barry Manilow): Melissa Manchester

Legend of a Mind (Moody Blues): Timothy Leary

Tenth Avenue Freeze Out (Springsteen): Clarence Clemons

Chocolate Cake (Crowded House): Elvis

[Rowdyboy]

3. The Kinks "Celluloid Heros"

Rudolph Valentino
Bela Lugosi
Bette Davis
George Sanders
Mickey Rooney
Marilyn Monroe

Plus its a kick ass fine song.....

Also Dion "Abraham, Martin and John"
Lincoln
Martin Luther King
JFK
Bobby Kennedy

Herman's Hermits "Henry VIII"

[ailsagirl]

9. LOVE that song!!!

[Rowdyboy]

19. I love the Kinks in general but Celluloid Heros really haunts me....

Its one of my all time favorites-glad to know someone else really appreciates it!

[ailsagirl]

31. LOTS of people appreciate the Kinks

I've seen the Kinks and Ray Davies solo quite a few times. Pete Townshend worships Davies and was influenced by him (and he's usually hard-pressed to name any musicians he admires).
'Celluloid Heroes' is a beautiful and, yes, haunting song. Davies has written many hundreds of quality songs-- a truly gifted artist.

[PasadenaTrudy]

74. The Who and The Kinks

my faves!

[ailsagirl]

77. YES!!

Brilliant-- absolute genius (a much overused word but so apropos when speaking of these two groups and the driving forces behind them (i.e., Davies and Townshend)

They're trail blazers

[NewJeffCT]

4. Didn't Neil Diamond's "Sweet Caroline"

refer to Caroline Kennedy?

[pinboy3niner]

5. Creeque Alley (The Mamas & the Papas)

"Creeque Alley" is an autobiographical hit single written by John Phillips and Michelle Phillips of The Mamas & the Papas in 1967, narrating the story about how the group was formed. The title of the song is derived from the place Creque or Crequi (pronounced "creaky"[citation needed]) Alley,[1] home to a club in the Virgin Islands where the Mamas & the Papas spent time. The lyrics "Duffy's good vibrations, and our imaginations, can't go on indefinitely" refer, in part, to Hugh Duffy, the owner of the club on Creeque Alley. Duffy now owns Chez Shack in Vieques, Puerto Rico[citation needed]. The third song on the album Deliver, the song peaked at #5 on the U.S. Billboard pop singles chart the week of Memorial Day, 1967.[2] It made #9 on the UK Charts.

The lyrics of the song mention, directly or indirectly, many artists and bands who were part of the music scene at the time including the other two members of The Mamas & the Papas - Cass Elliot and Denny Doherty, earlier aka The Mugwumps; plus Zal Yanovsky and John Sebastian (of The Lovin' Spoonful), Roger McGuinn (of The Byrds), and Barry McGuire (of The New Christy Minstrels). Several locations important to The Mamas and The Papas story are also mentioned e.g. The Night Owl Cafe in Greenwich Village. The lyrics, "Greasin' on American Express cards" harks back to The Mamas and Papas time in the Virgin Islands when they were living off their American Express cards.[3] The title does not occur in the lyrics.

...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creeque_Alley

[Iwillnevergiveup]

6. Hey, Jude

By the great John Lennon

[Boomerproud]

45. By the great Beatles.

Written by Paul McCartney and inspired by Julian Lennon. John Lennon loved the song BTW.

[PassingFair]

108. Here's one ABOUT a Beatle...."Empty Garden"

"Johnny, can you come out and play?"

[raccoon]

7. "We didn't start the fire" - Billy Joel (mentioned just about everybody).

"Rock On," by David Essex. Mentions James Dean.

[MH1]

121. LOL, We Didn't Start the Fire was my first thought.

Mentions a whole bunch of real people.

[NewJeffCT]

8. Bauhaus - Bela Lugosi's Dead

one of the first Goth songs

[nolabear]

10. Here are a few

Abraham, Martin and John

Bette Davis Eyes

The World is What You Make It (Hannibal)

Samson and Delilah

Elvis Presley Blues

Moves Like Jagger

[ailsagirl]

11. Bob Dylan's "The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll"

by one William Zantzinger

To avoid a lawsuit, Dylan took out the "t" to make the killer's name William Zanzinger

"Hattie Carroll" was the unfortunate woman's actual name.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lonesome_Death_of_Hattie_Carroll

[ailsagirl]

12. "Bette Davis Eyes"

That's an obvious one

[ailsagirl]

13. "American Pie" Don McLean

Every line, practically, mentions a VIP

[Iwillnevergiveup]

14. You Haven't Done Nothin'

By Stevie Wonder about Nixon.

[Iwillnevergiveup]

15. Uptown Girl

By Billy Joel about Christy Brinkley.

[mainer]

16. "Starry Starry Night" (Vincent Van Gogh) by Don McLean

My favorite song by him.

[Bombero1956]

17. another Bob Dylan song

Hurricane Reuben

[bluesbassman]

18. Eagles-James Dean

[RebelOne]

20. Sweet Home Alabama

There is a mention of Neil Young.

[Manifestor_of_Light]

30. "In Birmingham they love the Governor" -- George Wallace

Sweet Home Alabama.

[d_r]

21. first thought w.as a lot of rem songs

like man in the moon, etc

[cyberswede]

23. Yes - like "It's the End of he World"

The other night I dreamt a nice continental drift divide
Mountains sit in a line, Leonard Bernstein
Leonid Brezhnev, Lenny Bruce, and Lester Bangs
Birthday party, cheesecake, jellybean, boom
You symbiotic, patriotic, slam but neck, right? Right

[d_r]

32. right.

[nomorenomore08]

95. Bit more of an obscure one, but "Maps and Legends" is about the artist and minister Howard Finster:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howard_Finster

[cyberswede]

22. The Ballad of Sipro Agnew by John Denver

[hibbing]

24. The Dylan list would be huge

The song titles with names would be long enough let alone the real persons mentioned in songs.
Just a few song titles off the top of my head.
Lenny Bruce
Song to Woody
Talkin' John Birch Paranoid Blues

Peace

[raccoon]

70. "The Death of Emmett Till" --add to that list. nt

[rug]

25. Only A Pawn In Their Game

&list=PLA434E16D743D8802

[RebelOne]

26. "Jesus Is Just Alright," by the Doobie Brothers

As an atheist, I am not sure Jesus was a real person, but I always loved the rhythm of this song.

[bluesbassman]

27. Ozzy Osborne: Mr.Crowley (With the late great Randy Rhoads)

[DisgustipatedinCA]

28. Sir Duke - Stevie Wonder - Basie, Miller, Satchmo (Armstrong), Sir Duke (Ellington), Ella Fitzgerald

Sweet Home Alabama - Lynrd Skynnrd - Neil Young
What Would You Do - Paris - George W Bush, John Ashcroft, Osama bin Laden.
Slow Turnin' - John Hiatt - Charlie Watts
Cow Tippin' - Little Willies (featuring Norah Jones) - Lou Reed

[Manifestor_of_Light]

29. I Do the Rock, by Tim Curry.

Mentions lots of famous people.

Edith Sitwell giving readings
14 Moscow Road
Osbert's giving champagne parties
Sachie's got a cold

Gertrude's hanging pictures
Alice making tea
Me, I do the only thing that still
Makes sense to me
I do the rock
I do the rock, rock

John and Yoko farming beef
Raising protein quota
Sometimes they make love and art
Inside their dakota

Rodney's feeling sexy
Mick is really frightfully bold
Me, I do the only thing that stops me growing old
I do the rock
I do the rock rock
I do the rock rock rock

Well, it's stimulating
Solzhenitzin' feels exposed
Build a barbed wired prison
Nietzsche's six feet under but his babies still got rhythm

Einstein's celebrating ten decades
But I'm afraid philosophy is just too much responsibility for me
I do the rock
I do the rock

Baby Ruth and Dizzy Dean
Best and Colin Cowdrey
Little Mo, Virginia Wade
Pistol Pete and O.J.

I've always like Di Maggio
And rockne's pretty knute you know
I could never wack a ball with such velocity
I do the rock
I do the rock
I do the rock
It's stimulating, I'm a keen student

Liz and Dick and Britt and Liza
Jaclyn, Kate and Farrah
Meg and Roddy, John Travolta
Governor Brown and Linda

Interview and People Magazine
Miss Rona and the Queen
It must be really frightful to attract publicity
I do the rock
Myself
I do the rock

Carter, Begin and Sadat
Breznhev, Teng and Castro
Everyday negotiate us closer to desastro
Idi Amin and the Shah
And Al Fatah is quite bizarre

I could never get the hang of ideology
I do the rock
I do the rock
I do, I do, I do, do the rock

[hack89]

33. Baby Blue by Badfinger

The Dixie in the lyrics is Dixie Armstrong

Ham wrote the song about a woman named Dixie Armstrong, whom he had dated during Badfinger's last US tour.[1]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baby_Blue_%28Badfinger_song%29

[nomorenomore08]

34. Yo La Tengo - "Tom Courtenay"

Courtenay himself is only mentioned in the title, but the lyrics also name-drop Julie Christie and Eleanor Bron.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

35. Kim Carnes, via inference in Tori Amos' "Glory of the 80s"

In the glories of the 80's
I may not have to die
I'll clone myself like that blond chick
That sings Bette Davis Eyes

[pipi_k]

36. In memory

of Elizabeth Reed

[lame54]

37. Pablo Picasso

[TheOldDancingBear]

138. oh yeah - haven't heard that one in a while - thanks!

DB

[Manifestor_of_Light]

142. I know that one from David Bowie's "Reality" CD.

"Pablo Picasso was not just an asshole."

[Art_from_Ark]

38. "We're the Boingers"

A bird on the bass
A tongue, what a face!
At best, the music could be described as lame

Sure we look disgusting
But whose charts are we busting?
In a year, maybe two, we'll seem tame

And three years down the track
We'll be a Las Vegas lounge act
We'll be back
We'll be back, 'cause we're the Boingers

Jimmy dropped his pants
And Ozzy dines on bats
And Hendrix played guitar with his teeth

The Deadheads got their Jerry
And Mom's got her Barry
And Ronnie listens to guys like Falwell and Meese

But if you don't know by now
Bill bit the head off a cow
That's no lie
That's no lie, 'cause we're the Boingers

Was Bowie ever a fairy?
Was Debbie ever Harry?
Was Elvis ever the King? let's not be reflective

Does Barbra wish she was a goy?
Is George really a Boy?
Is Filthy ever Divine? - It's all subjective

The answers to all this
Lie with their psychoanalysts
Just relax
Just relax
I can't relax!
I can't relax, 'cause I'm a boinger!

[kcr]

58. THpbbtt!

[Art_from_Ark]

66. Ack!

[Common Sense Party]

90. For those who don't know this 80's classic:

[Lydia Leftcoast]

39. You must all be youngsters:"Abraham, Martin, and John"

Get off my lawn!

[malthaussen]

42. No kidding, that was the first song I thought of.

Kids today.

-- Mal

[Lydia Leftcoast]

40. Cole Porter's "You're the Top"--It mentions everybody

Here are the lyrics, with annotations for those who might not remember the earlier pop culture figures.

You're the top!
You're the Coliseum.
You're the top!
You're the Louvre Museum.
You're a melody from a symphony by Strauss (could be composer Richard Strauss)
You're a Bendel bonnet,
A Shakespeare's sonnet,
You're Mickey Mouse.
You're the Nile,
You're the Tower of Pisa,
You're the smile on the Mona Lisa
I'm a worthless check, a total wreck, a flop,
But if, baby, I'm the bottom you're the top!

Your words poetic are not pathetic.
On the other hand, babe, you shine,
And I can feel after every line
A thrill divine
Down my spine.
Now gifted humans like Vincent Youmans (=songwriter)
Might think that your song is bad,
But I got a notion
I'll second the motion
And this is what I'm going to add;

You're the top!
You're Mahatma Gandhi.
You're the top!
You're Napoleon Brandy.
You're the purple light
Of a summer night in Spain,
You're the National Gallery
You're Garbo's salary, (=actress Greta Garbo)
You're cellophane.
You're sublime,
You're turkey dinner,
You're the time, the time of a Derby winner
I'm a toy balloon that’s fated soon to pop
But if, baby, I'm the bottom,
You're the top!

You're the top!
You're an Arrow collar
You're the top!
You're a Coolidge dollar,
You're the nimble tread
Of the feet of Fred Astaire,
You're an O'Neill drama, (=playwright Eugene O'Neill)

You're Whistler's mama!

You're camembert.

You're a rose,
You're Inferno's Dante,

You're the nose
On the great Durante. (=comedian Jimmy Durante)
I'm just in a way,
As the French would say, "de trop".
But if, baby, I'm the bottom,
You're the top!

You're the top!
You're a dance in Bali.
You're the top!
You're a hot tamale.
You're an angel, you,
Simply too, too, too diveen,
You're a Boticcelli,
You're Keats, (John Keats and Percy Bysshe Shelley were early 19th century English poets)
You're Shelley!

You're Ovaltine!
You're a boom,
You're the dam at Boulder,
You're the moon,
Over Mae West's shoulder,
I'm the nominee of the G.O.P.

Or GOP!

But if, baby, I'm the bottom,
You're the top!

You're the top!
You're a Waldorf salad.
You're the top!
You're a Berlin ballad. (=songwriter Irving Berlin)
You're the boats that glide
On the sleepy Zuider Zee,
You're an old Dutch master,

You're Lady Astor,
You're broccoli!
You're romance,
You're the steppes of Russia,
You're the pants, on a Roxy usher,
I'm a broken doll, a fol-de-rol, a blop,

But if, baby, I'm the bottom,
You're the top!

[riverwalker]

41. Starry Starry Night

by Don McLean (Vincent Van Gogh)

[Tom Ripley]

43. Velvet Underground "New Age" Robert Mitchum

[malthaussen]

44. "Life is a Rock, but the Radio Rolled Me"

Mentions quite a few people and groups.

-- Mal

[malthaussen]

46. "Let's Think About Livin'" by Bob Lumen

Pokes fun at the Death Rock fad and mentions several culprits by name:

-- Mal

[Arugula Latte]

48. This thread has a ton of them, too:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1018&pid=461553

[Sognefjord]

49. Gott Erhalte Franz den Kaiser

Unser Kaiser, Kaiser Franz! (tune Austria)

[enigmatic]

50. Sun Kil Moon- "Glenn Tipton"

[enigmatic]

51. Peter Laughner - "Sylvia Plath"

[enigmatic]

52. Phil Ochs- "Jim Dean Of Indiana"

[Teamster Jeff]

53. Tonight's The Night.......Neil Young

Bruce Berry was a roadie for C,S,N & Y who OD'd

[Tom Ripley]

82. He was also Jan Berry's brother

it's a small rock and roll world after all

[Ghost of Tom Joad]

54. Country Joe and the Fish

Superbird


Well, look up yonder in the sky what is that I pray ?
Yeah, it's a bird, it's a plane, it's a man insane,
It's my president, whew, L.B.J.
I said he's flyin' high way up in the sky just like Superman,
But I got a little piece of kryptonite,
I'm gonna, whew, bring him back to land.
I said come out Lyndon with your hands held high,
Drop your guns, baby, reach for the sky.
I got you surrounded and you ain't got a chance,
Send you back to Texas, make you work on your ranch,
Yeah, yeah.

[ailsagirl]

64. and "Janis" (for Janis Joplin)

Also Crosby, Stills, and Nash: "Suite: Judy Blue Eyes" (for Judy Collins)

[PRETZEL]

78. Also can't forget CSN's "Ohio"

Tin soldiers and Nixon's coming, we're finally on our own.......

[ailsagirl]

84. Ah, yes n/t

[SkatmanRoth]

55. Thank You Daniel Ellsberg - Bloodrock

[femmocrat]

56. "Mack the Knife"

Lotte Lenya was a real person. The others are fiction.

[CherokeeDem]

107. I never knew Lotte Lenya was a real person...

Major Bobby Darin fan and love the song but had no idea... I was very young when the song came out. I just Googled Lotte and discovered she was also Rosa Klebb in From Russia With Love....

Learn something new every day!!!! Thanks for this little tidbit!!!!

[Manifestor_of_Light]

125. Check out everything by Kurt Weill. An underappreciated genius.

He was Lotte's husband. Famous now only for Mack the Knife, but wrote so much more. Also wrote "Lost in the Stars" and "September Song".

[Codeine]

57. Morrissey - "The Last of the Famous International Playboys": Reggie and Ronnie Kray

He also did "Margaret on the Guillotine" which mentions Thatcher, and with The Smiths he did songs mentioning Prince Charles, Oscar Wilde, William Butler Yeats, John Keats, the killers and victims of the Moors Murders, and probably many more I'm forgetting.

[nomorenomore08]

96. Also "Michael's Bones" referring to Michael Ryan who perpetrated the Hungerford Massacre:

[Contrary1]

59. Garden Party - Rick Nelson

Rock and Roll Heaven - The Righteous Brothers

[Captain Stern]

60. Here's one that's got Jesus, Pilate, Anastasia, and the Kennedys

[LissaMac]

61. Jack and Diane ... James Dean

[Llewlladdwr]

62. Oliver Cromwell

by Monty Python

[GoCubsGo]

86. Along with Beethoven, Mozart...

...and a whole slew of other "Decomposing Composers". Also, Rene Descartes, the drunken fart, I drink therefore I am, and all the other philosophers mentioned in "Bruce's Philosopher's Song 16".

[progressoid]

63. Biko - Peter Gabriel

[ailsagirl]

65. I think Dylan wrote the beautiful "Sad-Eyed Lady of the Lowlands" for Joan Baez

Though I can't be 100% sure

The lyrics surely fit

[hack89]

71. Many critics think it is about his wife Sara

Many critics have noted the similarity of 'Lowlands' to 'Lownds', the name of Dylan's wife Sara, and Dylan biographer Robert Shelton wrote that "Sad Eyed Lady" was a "wedding song" for Sara Lownds, whom Dylan had married just three months earlier.[8][a 1] Her maiden name was Shirley Noznisky, and her father, Isaac Noznisky, was a scrap metal dealer in Wilmington, Delaware. Critics have noted the link between "sheet metal memories of Cannery Row" and the business of Sara's father, as well as the quote "with your sheets like metal and your belts like lace". Similarly the line "your magazine husband who one day just had to go" could be a reference to Sara's first husband, magazine photographer Hans Lownds.[9]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sad_Eyed_Lady_of_the_Lowlands

[ailsagirl]

85. Could be true

But some of the lyrics...

...

With your silhouette when the sunlight dims
Into your eyes where the moonlight swims
And your match-book songs and your gypsy hymns

...

With your childhood flames on your midnight rug
And your Spanish manners

...


And the most beautiful of lyrics at the end:

Now you stand with your thief, you're on his parole
With your holy medallion which your fingertips fold
And your saintlike face and your ghostlike soul
Who among them do you think could destroy you?



Whoever he wrote the song for, it's absolutely exquisite.

[BobUp]

67. Timothy Leary & Smokey Robinson

http://www.timothylearyarchives.org/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/When_Smokey_Sings

[SkatmanRoth]

68. Lizzie Borden - Chad Mitchel Trio

Yesterday in old Fall River
Mr. Andrew Borden died
And he got his daughter, Lizzie
On a charge of homicide

Some folks say she didn't do it
And others say of course she did
But they all agree, Miss Lizzie B
Was a problem kinda kid

'Cause you can't chop your
Papa up in Massachausetts
Not even if it's planned
As a surprise (a surprise)
No, you can't chop your
Papa up in Massachausetts
You know how neighbors love to criticize

Well, she got him on the sofa
Where he'd gone to take a snooze
And I hope he went to Heaven
'Cause he wasn't wearing shoes

Lizzie kinda rearranged him
With a hatchet so they say
Then she got her mother
In that same old fashioned way

But you can't chop your
Mama up in Massachausettes
Not even if you're tired of
Her cuisine (her cuisine)
No can't chop your mama up in Massachausetts
You know it's almost sure to cause a scene

Well, they really kept her
Hopping on that busy afternoon
With both down and upstairs chopping
While she hummed a ragtime tune

They really made her hustle
And when all was said and done
She'd removed her mother's bustle
When she wasn't wearing one

Now can't chop your
Mama up in Massachusetts
And then blame all the damage
On the mice (on the mice)
No, you can't chop your
Mama up in Massachausetts
That sort of thing just isn't very nice

Now it wasn't done for pleasure
And it wasn't done for spite
And it wasn't done because
The lady wasn't very bright

She'd always done the slightest thing
That mom and papa bid
They said, Lizzie, cut it out
So that's exactly what she did

But you can't chop your
Papa up in Massachausetts
And then get dressed
And go out for a walk
No, you can't chop your
Papa up in Massachausetts
Massachausetts is a far cry
From New York

You can't chop your
Papa up in Massachausetts
Shut the door and lock and latch it
Here comes Lizzie with a brand new hatchet

You can't chop your
Papa up in Massachausetts
Such a snob I've heard it said
She met her pa and cut him dead

You can't chop your
Papa up in Massachausetts
Jump like a fish
Jump like a porpoise
All join hands and habeas corpus

You can't chop your
Papa up in Massachausetts
Massachausetts is a far cry
From New York

[WinkyDink]

80. I ADORE CHAD MITCHELL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Met him (and Joe and Mike) a couple times in recent years.

Then there's "The John Birch Society," "Queen Elinor's Confession,' "My Name is Morgan (But It Ain't J.P.)," and "Barry's Boys"!

[Waiting For Everyman]

69. Thunder on the Mountain (Dylan) -- Alicia Keyes

[Tom Ripley]

72. Bowie has several...

Che Guevara "Panic In Detroit"
Marilyn Monroe "Jean Genie"
Billy Doll (Billy Murcia) "Time"
Sylvain Sylvain "Drive in Saturday"
Richard Nixon "Young Americans"
Winston Churchill "Quicksand"
Aleister Crowley "Quicksand"
"Andy Warhol"
"Song for Bob Dylan"

[PasadenaTrudy]

73. Bananarama "Robert De Niro's Waiting" n/t

[magical thyme]

75. Layla -- Eric Clapton, inspired in part by Patti Boyd.

and, per wiki, in part by the Persian Story of Layla and Majnun.

[Jetboy]

76. Arthur Conley 'Sweet Soul Music'

James Brown

Lou Rawls

Otis Redding

Wilson Pickett

Probably forgetting some

[Tom Ripley]

81. "Spotlight on Lou Rawls, y'all" is one of my alltime favorite recorded moments

[WinkyDink]

79. Ricky Martin: "If You Ever Saw Her"~~"Well, she's every dream girl from Monroe to Madonna."

[cyberswede]

83. Pretty Boy Floyd - Woody Guthrie

[nirvana555]

87. A country song by shania Twain "That Don't Impress me Much"

A lyric when she's asking the guy in the song something like who does he think he is, Brad Pitt? Kind of a catchy tune.

[LumosMaxima]

89. Ronnie McDowell's "The King is Gone"

About Elvis, of course.

[LumosMaxima]

91. Two about John Lennon:

Elton John's "Empty Garden" and Billy Squier's "Nobody Knows" (although the latter doesn't mention Lennon by name).

[Kaleva]

92. "Battle of New Orleans" by Johnny Horton mentions Andrew Jackson

[Mister Ed]

94. "Radar Love" by Golden Earring (mentions Brenda Lee)

The Radio's playin' some forgotten song
Brenda Lee's "Comin' on Strong"

[Glassunion]

97. 327 songs.

[kwassa]

98. "Do you like good music? That sweet soul music."

Arthur Conley, and all the song is, is about other musicians.

lyrics:
Do you like good music
That sweet soul music
Just as long as it's swingin'
Oh yeah, oh yeah

Out here on the floor now
We're going to a go go
Ah dancin to the music
Oh yeah, oh yeah

Spotlight on Lou Rawls y'all
Ah don't he look tall y'all
Singin' loves a hurtin' thing now
Oh yeah, oh yeah

Spotlight on Sam and Dave now
Ah don't they look boss y'all
Singin' hold on I'm comin'
Oh yeah, oh yeah

Spotlight on Wilson Pickett
That wicked picket Pickett
Singin Mustang Sally
Oh yeah, oh yeah

Spotlight on Otis Redding now
Singing fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa
Fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa
Oh yeah, oh yeah

Spotlight on James Brown now
He's the king of them all, yeah
He's the king of them all, yeah
Oh yeah, oh yeah

[Initech]

99. Finally I get to post this clip:

[GReedDiamond]

100. Zeke the Sheik...

The Guru of Doo Doo, The Sodfather - Tim Dundon, Altadena, CA.

To hear the song, please go to www.reverbnation.com/greensparklefrog, and click on the song "Zeke the Sheik."

The band is mine, Green Sparkle Frog.

[GReedDiamond]

101. Top Jimmy...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Top_Jimmy_%26_The_Rhythm_Pigs

I knew Top Taco Jimmy, as he was first known, when he was a "roadie" for X.

He went on Rodney Bingenheimer's radio show on KROQ, in 1980, with Exene and John Doe, and he plugged my band, Benedict Arnold & The Traitors.

Van Halen did the tune Top Jimmy on their "1984" album:

[cyberswede]

102. "Cortez the Killer" by Neil Young

[GReedDiamond]

103. I love that song...

...and I love Neil Young!

[cyberswede]

105. Then don't forget these...

"Even Richard Nixon has got soul"

"Tin soldiers and Nixon's coming..."

[GReedDiamond]

106. Hey, I don't forget nothing...

...except whatever just happened, if you know what I mean?

[lpbk2713]

104. Tom Dooley --- Kingston Trio

(Real name Dula)

[Rowdyboy]

110. Don Wiliams "Good ole boys like me" has a few. Stonewall Jackson, Hank and Tennessee Williams

John R and the Wolfman, and Thomas Wolfe

[canoeist52]

111. 'Done Too Soon" Neil Diamond, (Jesus Christ, Fanny Brice, Wolfie Mozart...)

" Jesus Christ, Fanny Brice,
Wolfie Mozart and Humphrey Bogart and
Genghis Khan and
On to H. G. Wells.

Ho Chi Minh, Gunga Din
Henry Luce and John Wilkes Booth
And Alexanders
King and Graham Bell.

Rama Krishna, Mama Whistler,
Patrice Lumumba and Russ Colombo,
Karl and Chico Marx,
Albert Camus.

E. A. Poe, Henri Rousseau,
Sholom Aleichem and Caryl Chessman,
Alan Freed and
Buster Keaton too

And each one there
Has one thing shared:
They have sweated beneath the same sun,
Looked up in wonder at the same moon,
And wept when it was all done

For bein' done too soon,
For bein' done too soon.
For bein' done."

[Xipe Totec]

112. The Ballad of Gregorio Cortez

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gregorio_Cortez

[Hong Kong Cavalier]

113. "Alex Chilton" - The Replacements

[Xipe Totec]

114. Hasta Siempre, Comandante Che Guevara

[Xipe Totec]

115. el chapo guzman

[Xipe Totec]

116. Corrido De "La Barbie"

[Xipe Totec]

117. La Pelirroja (The Readhead) WARNING, GRAPHIC!

&oref=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DCPm3hCvZa5g&has_verified=1

[Bombero1956]

118. an obscure one

The Royal Guardsmen- Snoopy vs The Red Baron

[BlancheSplanchnik]

119. the Queen of England

"God Save the Queen"--Sex Pistols



there's another song that mentions, "even the Queen of England", but I can't remember. Darn, I loved that song, too. Hilarious!!….I think it's somewhere in my collection, but it would take a zillion years to find it

[ailsagirl]

120. The Kinks "Dear Margaret"

For Margaret Thatcher

You're warming me up so you can leave me cold
Kissin' up to the rich intending to control
All the money, money, money is that all you live for
You're a model and example of a greed that will destroy...

[ScreamingMeemie]

122. Midnight in Montgomery-Hank Williams Sr... actually there are eleventy billion

tribute songs to Hank, but I love that one.

Veronica is based on Elvis Costello's grandmother, although her name wasn't Veronica.

[jmowreader]

123. NOFX - Franco Unamerican

Mentions Howard Zinn, Noam Chomsky, Ralph Nader, Michael Moore, and indirectly names Shrub Bush (directly, in some cases).

There's also a very unlistenable Ted Nugent song (it may be his worst song ever, and that takes work) about bowhunting legend Fred Bear.

[Violet_Crumble]

124. Bonzo Goes To Bitburg by The Ramones was about Reagan...

You've got to pick up the pieces
C'mon, sort your trash
You better pull yourself back together
Maybe you've got too much cash
Better call, call the law
When you gonna turn yourself in? Yeah
You're a politician
Don't become one of Hitler's children

Bonzo goes to bitburg then goes out for a cup of tea
As I watched it on TV somehow it really bothered me
Drank in all the bars in town for an extended foreign policy
Pick up the pieces

My brain is hanging upside down
I need something to slow me down

Shouldn't wish you happiness, wish her the very best
Fifty thousand dollar dress
Shaking hands with your highness
See through you like cellophane
You watch the world complain, but you do it anyway
Who am I, am I to say

Bonzo goes to bitburg then goes out for a cup of tea
As I watched it on TV somehow it really bothered me
Drank in all the bars in town for an extended foreign policy
Pick up the pieces

My brain is hanging upside down
I need something to slow me down

If there's one thing that makes me sick
It's when someone tries to hide behind politics
I wish that time could go by fast
Somehow they manage to make it last

My brain is hanging upside down
I need something to slow me down

[Lars39]

126. 'Sir Duke', by Stevie Wonder

[DFW]

127. "Lyndon Johnson Told the Nation" by Tom Paxton

I got a letter from L.B.J
It said, "This is your lucky day"
It's time to put your khaki trousers on
Though it may seem very queer
We've got no jobs to give you here
So we are sending you to Vietnam

Lyndon Johnson told the nation
Have no fear of escalation
I am trying everyone to please
Though it isn't really war
We're sending fifty thousand more
To help save Vietnam from the Vietnamese

[Manifestor_of_Light]

128. Warren Zevon -- Boom Boom Mancini and Detox Mansion

"I've been rakin' leaves with Liza; Me and Liz clean up the yard."

[DFW]

129. "Alma" by Tom Lehrer

Alma Mahler Gropius Werfel

[rppper]

130. Sympathy for the devil.....

A little name dropping here...

"I shouted out "who killed the Kennedy's" when after all, it was you and me..."

"I was around when Jesus Christ, had his moment of doubt and pain"

"I stuck around st. petersburg,
When I saw it was a time for a change.
Killed the czar and his ministers;
Anastasia screamed in vain"

"As heads is tails
Just call me lucifer..."

[DFW]

131. "Veracruz" and "Werewolves of London" by Warren Zevon

Veracruz: "I heard Woodrow Wilson's guns......" "Let Zapata have the rest...."

Werewolves of London: "I saw Lon Cheney walking with the Queen..." "I saw Lon Cheney Junior walking with the Queen..."

[DFW]

132. "Year of the Cat"-- Al Stewart

"....like Peter Lorre contemplating a crime...."

[reformist2]

133. "Timber" (by Pitbull & Ke$ha) - Miley Cyrus

[DFW]

134. "Snoopy and the Red Baron" by the Royal Guardsmen

Baron Manfred von Richthofen (the "Red Baron&quot

[DFW]

135. Three songs by the great Allan Sherman

"You Went the Wrong Way Old King Louie"--King Louis XVI, Marie Antoinette

"Won't You Come Home Disraeli"-- Queen Victoria, Benjamin Disraeli

"Good Advice"-- Alexander Graham Bell, "Mr. Otis," Christopher Columbus, Queen Isabella, Isaac Newton, Waterman, Henry Ford, The Wright Bothers, Benjamin Franklin, Sigmund Freud...........

[Mr.Bill]

136. Abraham, Martin and John

[TheOldDancingBear]

137. I Dreamed I Saw Joe Hill Last Night

Words by Alfred Hayes, music by Earl Robinson. Performed by Paul Robeson, Pete Seeger, The Dubliners, and Joan Baez (among others).

[TheOldDancingBear]

139. The Ballad of Ira Hayes

By Peter LaFarge. Also recorded by Johnny Cash, Pete Seger, and Bob Dylan (various others as well).

[countryjake]

140. Dear Abby; Jesus, the Missing Years; Sabu Visits the Twin Cities, Alone

all songs by John Prine

and this one, the sad story of James Lewis, that kid with two first names:

[LeftishBrit]

141. Brian & Michael: Matchstalk Men and Matchstalk Cats and Dogs

A tribute to the artist Lowry.


He painted Salford's smokey tops
On cardboard boxes from the shops
And parts of Ancoats where I used to play
I'm sure he once walked down our street
Cause he painted kids who had nowt on their feet
The clothes we wore had all seen better days.

Now they said his works of art were dull
No room, all round the walls are full
But Lowry didn't care much anyway
They said he just paints cats and dogs
And matchstalk men in boots and clogs
And Lowry said that's just the way they'll stay

And he painted matchstalk men and matchstalk cats and dogs
He painted kids on the corner of the street with the sparking clogs
Now he takes his brush and he waits outside them factory gates
To paint his matchstalk men and matchstalk cats and dogs

Now canvas and brushes were wearing thin
When London started calling him
To come on down and wear the old flat cap
They said tell us all about your ways
And all about them Salford days
Is it true you're just an ordinary chap

And he painted matchstalk men and matchstalk cats and dogs
He painted kids on the corner of the street with the sparking clogs
Now he takes his brush and he waits outside them factory gates
To paint his matchstalk men and matchstalk cats and dogs

Now Lowries hang upon the wall
Beside the greatest of them all
And even the Mona Lisa takes a bow
This tired old man with hair like snow
Told northern folk its time to go
The fever came and the good Lord mopped his brow

And he left us matchstalk men and matchstalk cats and dogs
He left us kids on the corner of the street with sparking clogs
Now he takes his brush and he waits outside them pearly gates
To paint his matchstalk men and matchstalk cats and dogs

And he left us matchstalk men and matchstalk cats and dogs
He left us kids on the corner of the street with sparking clogs
Now he takes his brush and he waits outside them pearly gates
To paint his matchstalk men and matchstalk cats and dogs




Several real people are named in Peter Sarstedt's 'Where Do You Go To, My Lovely?'


You talk like Marlene Dietrich
And you dance like Zizi Jeanmaire
Your clothes are all made by Balmain
And there�s diamonds and pearls in your hair, yes there are.

You live in a fancy apartment
Off the Boulevard of St. Michel
Where you keep your Rolling Stones records
And a friend of Sacha Distel, yes you do.

You go to the embassy parties
Where you talk in Russian and Greek
And the young men who move in your circles
They hang on every word you speak, yes they do.

But where do you go to my lovely
When you're alone in your bed
Tell me the thoughts that surround you
I want to look inside your head, yes i do.

I've seen all your qualifications
You got from the Sorbonne
And the painting you stole from Picasso
Your loveliness goes on and on, yes it does.

When you go on your summer vacation
You go to Juan-les-Pines
With your carefully designed topless swimsuit
You get an even suntan, on your back and on your legs.

And when the snow falls you're found in St. Moritz
With the others of the jet-set
And you sip your Napoleon Brandy
But you never get your lips wet, no you don't.

But where do you go to my lovely
When you're alone in your bed
Would you tell me the thoughts that surround you
I want to look inside your head, yes I do.

You're in between 20 and 30
A very desirable age
Your body is firm and inviting
But you live on a glittering stage, yes you do, yes you do.

Your name is heard in high places
You know the Aga Khan
He sent you a racehorse for Christmas
And you keep it just for fun, for a laugh ha-ha-ha

They say that when you get married
It'll be to a millionaire
But they don't realize where you came from
And I wonder if they really care, or give a damn

But where do you go to my lovely
When you're alone in your bed
Tell me the thoughts that surround you
I want to look inside your head, yes i do.

I remember the back streets of Naples
Two children begging in rags
Both touched with a burning ambition
To shake off their lowly-borne tags, they try

So look into my face Marie-Claire
And remember just who you are
Then go and forget me forever
But I know you still bear
the scar, deep inside, yes you do

I know where you go to my lovely
When you're alone in your bed
I know the thoughts that surround you
`Cause I can look inside your head.