Wrapped Up In Books: 10 Great Odes to Famous Writers

Here at Flavorpill, we’re huge fans of genre crossover, particularly when one artist we love pays tribute to another one we hold dear. This week, Vol. 1 Brooklyn pointed us towards a new song by Diehard called “Steinbeck,” after, of course, the famous author. After listening, we were inspired to dig up a few more sonic odes to famous writers — not just songs inspired by their works, mind you, though there are many of those, but songs actually devoted to or inspired by the authors themselves, which are a little less common. Click through to listen to ten songs we love about famous writers we love even more — or just stream the entire playlist here – and let us know if we’ve missed any of your favorite sonic odes to authors in the comments!

“Sylvia Plath” — Ryan Adams

“I wish I had a Sylvia Plath/ Busted tooth and a smile/ And cigarette ashes in her drink/ The kind that goes out and then sleeps for a week…”

We’re sure Sylvia is the dream girl of a lot of weepy singer/songwriters’ dream girl, so we’re not too surprised to hear Ryan Adams crooning about how he wants a lady just like her. Then again, we think he might not know just what he’s getting into.

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The Libertines: Narcissist They're just narcissist/ Well wouldn't it be nice to be Dorian Gray, just for a day?/ They're just narcissist/ Ohh, what's so great to be Dorian Gray, every day?

Panthers - "Sex Ed." Though the title itself isn't an ode, they definitely create an impressive list of authors/artists/theorists. "Marvin Gaye, Jean Genet, Jean-Paul Sartre, Bernadine Dorhn, Audre Lorde, Anais Nin, Emma Goldstein, Carol Queen, Michel Foucault. For the ones that came before... shake, shake, shake."

Don't know if this counts, but Regina Spektor has lots of great literary references and shout outs. 'Pound of Flesh'/'Ezra Pound' springs to mind- it's not strictly (only) about Ezra Pound, but he is a character in it, and it is brilliant. We even have his lines sung in a mimic of his voice in that one, which wins bonus points!

Mercy Street by Peter Gabriel was written about the poet Anne Sexton.

Not sure if this qualifies but I love Sam Beam's version of Stereolab's "Peng! 33." The lyrics are right out of Gabriel Garcia Marquez's 100 Years of Solitude.

Lou Reed wrote a bunch of songs about poet Delmore Scwartz, who'd been a teacher of his, e.g., My House.

Here's a couple more which came to mind: Peter Laughner-Sylvia Plath http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-T0sPOClzJQ&feature=related Peter Laughner- Baudelarie http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KMd4zmRLhWc