With the coming of fall break and the first round of midterms and papers, I’ve felt the weight of exceedingly large page counts on my soul. Just last week, I was assigned 180 pages of reading for a single class — what blasphemy! For some of you readers out there, I understand those may be rookie numbers. If so, hats off to you. But if you’re like me, you may find it easy to get bogged down by the constant accumulation of such lengthy reading assignments, so much so that the pursuit of knowledge can begin to blur together and feel somewhat uninspiring. So, I’ve curated a playlist of songs directly inspired by literature (books, poems and short stories) to remind us that there’s always something interesting to be found in what we read.
1. “Norwegian Wood (The Bird Has Flown)” — The Beatles (1965)
This folk-rock classic, in the unmistakable Merseybeat style of the Beatles, recounts John Lennon’s attempted affair, and, fittingly, lends its name to Haruki Murakami’s most popular novel, “Norwegian Wood.” Murakami’s story begins with the protagonist, Toru, listening to this very song, which triggers a flashback to his youth.
2. “Romeo and Juliet” — Dire Straits (1980)
This catchy and mellow rock song is a modern retelling of the most timeless tale of star-crossed lovers in existence: Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet.” Perhaps adapted to the flirtatious lingo of the 1980s, Romeo, rather than profess his love to Juliet with “My lips, two blushing pilgrims, ready to stand / To smooth that rough touch with a tender kiss,” instead says, “You and me, babe, how about it?”
3. “Never Know” — Jack Johnson (2005)
While many often associate Jack Johnson’s music with slow Sunday mornings and making banana pancakes, do not be fooled — the seeming warmth of his mellow surf rock melodies is but a clever mask for some deeply existential musings. Fans theorize that “Never Know” is inspired by French philosopher Albert Camus’ “The Stranger.” After all, Johnson sings, “We’re just human / Amusing and confusing / We’re tryin’, but where is this all leading? / We’ll never know.” An existential thought, indeed.
4. “Blue Left Hand” — Oracle Sisters (2025)
An amalgamation of various indie subgenres (indie folk, indie rock and indie pop), “Blue Left Hand” is so mellow and groovy that it’s easy to miss the social messages embedded within. The lyrics are directly inspired by Silvia Federici’s book “Caliban and the Witch: Women, the Body and Primitive Accumulation,” which offers a critical perspective on Marxist theory.
5. “Battle Lines” — Kero Kero Bonito (2021)
Kero Kero Bonito is a hyperpop/citypop trio known for layering videogame sound effects to create “sugary” tracks that are catchy and fun. “Battle Lines,” a more lyrically outspoken and historically-informed song in their discography, reimagines ideas from Sun Tzu’s “The Art of War” in a 21st-century context.
6. “Feather (feat. Cise Star & Akin from CYNE)” — Nujabes, Cise Star & Akin from CYNE (2005)
This jazzy hip-hop track by Nujabes is laden with literary references. Cise Star’s flowy chorus, in particular, nods to John Steinbeck’s “Of Mice and Men,” Colette’s “The Vagabond,” Daniel Keyes’ “Flowers for Algernon” and Chinua Achebe’s “Arrow of God,” all in just a handful of lines.
7. “Gretel” — Alex G (2019)
Alex G, who studied English literature as an undergraduate, is quite open with fans about the literary influences in his songwriting. “Gretel,” from the album “House of Sugar,” reimagines the Brothers Grimm fairytale, “Hansel and Gretel,” with a somewhat demented twist in which Hansel is eaten by the witch, while Gretel, unbothered, escapes and fantasizes about returning to the House of Sugar to eat more candy.
8. “Empty and Silent (feat. King Krule)” — Mount Kimbie, King Krule (2024)
“Empty and Silent” is a smooth, indie-electronica track grounded by King Krule’s deep voice. Much of this album, “The Sunset Violent,” is supposedly inspired by Roald Dahl and his macabre storytelling methods. Some lyrics in this song are admittedly a bit random but still have a strangely nice ring to them: “Empty stomach, Snickers bar.”
9. “Baby Blue Movie” — Cigarettes After Sex (2024)
This song is incredibly sleep-inducing — a quality shared by every single Cigarettes After Sex song without fail. Greg Gonzalez, the band’s frontman, revealed in an interview that this track was inspired by his favorite poet as a child, E.E. Cummings, whose work has surreal and cryptic elements that he finds particularly compelling.
10. “Pink Matter” — Frank Ocean (2012)
One of my favorites off “channel ORANGE,” the literary reference in “Pink Matter” comes not from Frank Ocean’s voice, but from André 3000’s silky verse: “I’m building y’all a clock, stop, what am I, Hemingway?” — a nod to Ernest Hemingway’s short story, “The Killers,” in which a clock runs fast in a killing scheme.
11. “7969 Santa” — Drake (2023)
This melodic rap track is off Drake’s album “For All The Dogs,” which was released alongside his poetry book “Titles Ruin Everything: A Stream of Consciousness.” When the book was announced, Drake posted to his fans: “I made an album to go with the book. They say they miss the old Drake girl don’t tempt me.” Poetic indeed.
12. “Oliver Twist” — ArrDee (2021)
Just months after his viral feature on the legendary “Body (Remix),” ArrDee released this single with something to prove. He repeatedly references the eponymous protagonist of Charles Dickens’ “Oliver Twist” with the incredibly catchy refrain, “I just wanted some more, Oliver Twist,” to make a statement about where he’s been and where he’s going. As intended, the track cemented ArrDee in the UK rap scene not as a one-feature wonder, but as a Brighton boy with bars.
13. “Also sprach Zarathustra, Op. 30: I. Prelude: Sonnenaufgang” — Richard Strauss, Berliner Philharmoniker, Herbert von Karajan (1995)
To conclude this playlist in a dramatic fashion, I give you one of the most iconic pieces of classical music of all time. Not because it’s particularly pleasant to listen to (it isn’t), but because of its pervasive influence in modern pop culture and media. We all know this prelude for some reason, and as the name suggests, it is inspired by Nietzsche’s “Thus Spoke Zarathustra.”
