Music and Literature 2- DC

Music and Literature 2: The List Continues

By Derek Campbell

The relationship between music and literature is one with extremely faded borders, constantly overlapping with each other. Here are 5 more examples of music/book cross-overs (as a continuation from the previous list)

Among the Living:

Being released by thrash metal band Anthrax in 1987, this song was reportedly based upon Stephen King's critically acclaimed novel The Stand. With the novel being published in 1978, the story describes a post apocalyptic future struggling under a new super influenza virus (also known as "Captain Trips"), and focuses on a small group of survivors in an area called the "Free Zone".  The song constantly refers to the novel and alludes to it often. Even the first line of the song is: "Disease! Disease! Spreading the disease. With some help from Captain Trips".   

Misery loves Company:

Another song by Anthrax (released in 1988), which also happens to be based on a King classic. If the title didn't give it away, this song was based upon the 1987 psychological horror story Misery. The story revolves around fictional author Paul Sheldon, who gets caught in a snow-storm and kidnapped by his supposed number 1 fan, Annie Wilkes. What proceeds is a shocking and gut-wrenching tale of a deranged psychopath and her captive writer, with copious amounts of torture filling every nook and cranny of the book (like breaking legs with a sledgehammer). Although the song does not directly refer to Paul or Annie, with lines like "I'm your number one fan, Misery loves company, Die with me", and "You know me, and I can be, A very, very vicious critic", it's obvious where the source material for the song came from.

Behind the Wall of Sleep :

A staple in metal history and classic, Behind the Wall of Sleep is an amazing Black Sabbath song released 47 years ago (relaxed in 1970). However, the inspiration for this song came 51 years before that, in the form of H.P. Lovecraft's short story Beyond the Wall of Sleep. The story describes the experiences of a mental hospital intern with criminally insane patient Joe Slater. Slater had many visions of light beings and fantastic stories, which was shown to the intern through a telepathic communicator. Slater eventually dies and becomes a "star" (you have to read it to truly comprehend it). The song constantly uses phrases such as "Visions cupped within a flower", "Feel your spirit rise with the breeze, Feel your body falling to it's knees", and "Sun shines in you have awoken", which relate to the story itself.

Lord of the Flies:

Released by Iron Maiden in 1995, it is obvious to see that this was based on William Golding. I won't go into plot, as there are already countless blogs about Lord of the Flies. The entire song itself is a basic retelling of the story, but one of the most important part of the song comes in when this line is sung: "Saints and sinners, Something within us, We are lord of the flies". Not only does the song maintain the story, but it's evident that it retains themes and messages, exploring the idea that the Lord of the Flies is not a physical being, but one that is within all of us.

Phantom of the Opera:

Another song with obvious origins, this 1980 Iron Maiden classic was based upon Gaston Leroux's 1909 classic novel and play of the same name. Again, considering the wide range Phantom of the Opera has, there is really no need to explain the story (its basically the story of desire and deformities). One important thing I would like to note is that the song is written in first person from the perspective of Christine Daaé, rather than the third person style of the novel.

And there are plenty more songs out there that directly tell the story of or relate to novels. This further solidifies the relation of books and music, and shows how humans can experience the same story in extremely different ways.

Music and Literature:

by Derek Campbell

As most of us know, singer-songwriter Bob Dylan won the 2016 Noble Prize in Literature. This was a ground-breaking event, as he was the first musician to receive the award. It just goes to how people's interpretations of literature can go many ways. However, novels and poems are more closely related to music than what meets the eye. Here is a list of some famous artists with songs that were based upon books/poems:

- IRON MAIDEN:
Iron Maiden has been known to delve into books and historic events for song inspiration. Some of these include:

- THE TROOPER:
Released in 1983, the song is describing the Crimean War (and specifically the Battle of Balaclava). The song has also been traced to Lord Alfred Tennyson's poem The Charge of the Light Brigade, to which both describe the Brave 600 English soldiers who marched into the gruesome and brutal battle who made the decision to die for their country



- BRAVE NEW WORLD:
Delving into the realm of science fiction, the main inspiration of this song was Brave New World, a 1932 classic from author Aldous Huxley. Both describe a futuristic, totalitarian pseudo-utopia/dystopia in London. Apparently, Lead singer of iron maiden Bruce Dickinson reread the book and decided to make a song about it. Fun fact, the title "Brave New World" can be traced to Shakespeare's last play ( The Tempest, 1612) "How beauteous mankind is! O brave new world, that has such people in't!"







-METALLICA:
Metallica is a heavy metal band that started in the 80's, but just because the music's loud doesn't mean there isn't meaning in the songs. Some of which include:

-ONE: 
Released on the album ...AND JUSTICE FOR ALL, this is my all-time favorite song from that album. It is a story about a soldier in war who has a mortar go off in his face. He survives, but sadly with out arms or legs and he also loses the ability to hear, see, taste, and smell. Wondering what kind of life this is, he uses morse code to spell out the words "K-I-L-L-_-M-E...". James Hetfield (guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter) based this song on Dalton Trumbo's novel Johnny Got His Gun. In fact, there is one line passage in particular that I believe represent the message of the song perfectly:



"How could a man lose as much of himself as I have and still live? When a man buys a lottery ticket you never expect him to win because it's a million to one shot. But if he does win, you'll believe it because one in a million still leaves one. If I'd read about a guy like me in the paper I wouldn't believe it, cos it's a million to one. But a million to ONE always leaves one. I'd never expect it to happen to me because the odds of it happening are a million to one. But a million to one always leaves one. One"

-THE CALL OF KTULU/THING THAT SHOULD NOT BE:
Although these are two separate songs, they both take from the same piece of literature. Metallica has made it known that popular horror author H.P. Lovecraft was a large influence to the band, and these songs are a way of honoring the author. Both of these songs are based on one of Lovecraft's most famous novels The Call of Cthulhu. The story is about a man and his uncovering of notes about a mysterious underwater deity known as Cthulhu, and then the horror that follows. The first song (which goes by a similar title) is entirely instrumental, but the title itself reveals something. The book states that mentioning the name Cthulhu will bring him closer, which is why the "Ktulu" is purposely misspelled (for fear of the beast). The second song, Thing That Should Not Be, is paying homage to the character Cthulhu (still avoiding the word itself in the song/title). This can be seen in the main chorus of the song:

Insanity
He watches
Lurking beneath the sea
Great old one
Forbidden site
He searches
Hunter of the shadows is rising
Immortal
In madness you dwell

(the shadow rising is also based on a Lovecraft story, The Shadow over Innsmouth)








-FOR WHOM THE BELL TOLLS
This Metallica classic is a song about the futility of war and directly relates to Ernest Hemingway's novel For Whom the Bell Tolls (which was based on a poem from 1623 by John Doone). The novel is about an American sent to take out a bridge under the control of a Fascist Army during the Spanish Civil War (which is evident in the song)



-RUSH:
Rush is oldest out of all the previously listed bands and said to be a major inspiration to them. Their songs are powerful, and usually contain something of a message ins them. Examples include:

- 2112:
This song is a seven part anthem that is approximately 20 mins long, and tells a story in different parts (much like chapters in a book). This song itself can be called a short story (as the printed version of the song contains unsung narration) and highly suggest listening to it and reading the story. This song was supposedly inspired by the novella Anthem by Ayn Rand (which tells the story of dystopian future and another dark age, similar to that in the song




- THE STARS LOOK DOWN:
A more depressing and unsatisfying tale, this is based on the novel The Stars Look Down by A.J. Cronin. It tells the story of a pre-WW1 miner actively seeking change in his dangerous occupation, but loses hi battle for change and parliament and his wife in the process (to which the miner continues his work as a miner, defeated). This song was written by the band's drummer Neal Peart, to which he took this personally (as he had lost his wife to cancer), issuing the statement "This seemed to express a fitting view of an uncaring universe."



-TOM SAWYER:
This is a song based on Mark Twain's novel by the same name (really doesn't need an explantation)

And there are many more songs like this out their. It just goes to show you that some songs aren't just words, and that you way need to pick up a book to fully comprehend the meaning of a song...