Name a Song about a Historical Figure

[jcrocket]

"A Song For Richard And His Friends" - Chicago

"Frank and Jessie James" - Warren Zevon

"Cortez the Killer" - Neil Young

[cosmicmechanic]

This Neil Diamond tune has corny horns :dry: but lotsa name-dropping, so fits the bill, I think :side:

[lueders]

jcrocket wrote:

"A Song For Richard And His Friends" - Chicago

"Frank and Jessie James" - Warren Zevon

"Cortez the Killer" - Neil Young

"Cortez the Killer!" Yea, good one "Pocahontas" There are so many good ones it is hard to think of 'em all...Like Haoli, said also, Leonard Cohen's Joan of Arch is a great one.

Dylan's "John Wesley Harding" & Cash's "Ira Hayes" There are just too many excellent choices!

[TGMatt]

So many..I will get to posting soon

But I guess for me the most famous was the riddle that was "your so Vain" now recently announced as a song not about Mick Jagger but in fact of the head of Geffen records...

[BigBear]

songman52 wrote:

Hmmm ... how about Andy Jackson in "The Battle of New Orleans" by Johnny Horton or Otto von Bismarck (though it was really about the ship) in "Sink the Bismarck".
When I was about three years old I constantly sang the theme to "Davy Crockett".

Jerry

Jerry- good one! Didn't we play that song together? :cheer:

[BigBear]

Here's a few more that come to mind:

Jesus is Just Alright With Me -Doobie Brothers

Tonight We Ride- Tom Russell (Poncho Villa)

Creeque Alley- Mamas and the Papas

Suite Judy Blue Eyes- C,S,N & Y (Judy Collins)

Candle in the Wind- Elton John (and Candle in the Wind 1997)

Dr. Livingstone I Presume- Moody Blues

Legend of a Mind- Moody Blues (Timothy Leary)

The Six Wives of Henry VIII (album)- Rick Wakeman

Betty Davis Eyes- Kim Carnes

Vincent- Don McLean (Vincent van Gogh)

American Pie- Don McLean (Buddy Holly)

Andy Warhol- David Bowie

Dylan Thomas- Bob Dylan

Lenny Bruce- Bob Dylan

John Wesley Hardin- Bob Dylan

Brian Wilson- Bare Naked Ladies

Ballad of John and Yoko- Beatles

Hey Jude- Beatles

Armstrong, Aldrin and Collins- The Byrds

Biko- Peter Gabriel (Steve Biko)

James Dean- Eagles

Shine On You Crazy Diamond- Pink Floyd (Sid Barrett)

She's Not There- Zombies (Twiggy, now I'm really dating myself)

Pride- U2 (Martin Luther King, Jr.)

Calypso- John Denver (Jacques Cousteau)


I could go on and on but these are just the ones I could find on my iPod!! I'm sure ther are many more!


:cheer:

[michelew]

Cute idea Suz!

Mr Bojanges -Walker

Molly Malone - tradition song

Galileo - Indigo Girls

Virginia Woolf - Indigo Girls

You and Steve Mc Queen - The Audreys

Susie Q - Creedence CWR

Jock O'Hazelden - Fairground Attraction



This reminds me of a singing game that Sue and I play. You pick a word or category, like love songs, ones about travelling, songs about towns or with a colour in them. You then take turns until someone runs out of songs. You have to sing it to prove that the song meets the criteria. I've got a bad memory for lyrics so Sue always wins (almost). I won last time we played. The category was animals - it lasted for hours (while we were both doing things around the house). Thank the Goddess for nursery rhymes (if it has a tune it counts) and kids songs.

Cute thread.

Michele

[abiliog]

Just my two cents,

Simple Minds - Mandela Day
Joni Mitchell - Amelia (Amelia Earhart)

Abílio

[jim56]

TGNeil wrote:

Ok, I' m hooked. An abridged list of folks mentioned or bio'ed by Al, in chronologic order as recorded, as best I can recall quickly.

Jesus
Warren Harding
Eisenhower
Nostradamus
Lord Grenville
Amy Johnston
Jean-Paul Marat
Thomas More
Robespierre
Napoleon
Josef Mengele
Merlin (Scottish, not related to King Arthur)
Henry Cisneros
Pandora
Clarence 'Frogman' Henry
Nikita Khrushchev
Ted Kennedy
Josephine Baker
Robert Scott
Ernest Shackleton
Helen of Troy
Paris
Cassandra
Peter the Great
Charlotte Corday
Charles Lindbergh
William Randolph Hearst
Marion Davies
Josef Stalin
Winston Churchill
Woodrow Wilson
Jean Louis Chave
Socrates
Ben Franklin
Max Immelman
Edward Lear
Lord Salisbury
Elvis Presley
William McKinley

...so much for the quick list!

Who can spot them all?

Anon

In response to Neils challenge my guesses are:
Warren Harding
Nostradamus
Lord Grenville
Thomas More
Merlin (Scottish, not related to King Arthur)
Pandora
Clarence 'Frogman' Henry
Josephine Baker
Helen of Troy
Cassandra
Charlotte Corday
Edward Lear
Lord Salisbury
Elvis Presley
William McKinley

[neverfoundthetime]

Some of Neil's:

Cassandra
Peter the Great
Charlotte Corday

all by Al Stewart

also by Al Stewart:
Flying Sorcery about Amy Johnston
Lord Grenville

Dan Fogelberg's More Than This is about Donald Trump (is he an historical figure yet?!)

Roll over Beethoven by Chuck Berry

All Those Years Ago - by George Harrison about John Lennon

... and no, ABBA's Waterloo is not eligible!