You think your English teacher didn’t rock? Think again. For decades, artists across genres have cracked open books, dog-eared some pages, and turned literature into lyric sheets. From Shakespeare to Sylvia Plath, these 20 songs prove the pen and the guitar are mightier than the sword.
1. Kate Bush – “Wuthering Heights”
Yes, that voice. Kate Bush’s debut single was straight-up Brontëcore, telling the story of Cathy and Heathcliff with gothic drama only she could deliver. A ghostly howl of romance inspired by Emily Brontë’s novel? Iconic.
2. Nas – “N.Y. State of Mind”
Nas channels the raw intensity of Native Son and the realism of James Baldwin throughout Illmatic. With its vivid imagery and existential weight, it’s street poetry that reads like a modern classic.
3. The Beatles – “I Am the Walrus”
Inspired in part by Lewis Carroll’s The Walrus and the Carpenter, John Lennon wrote this song to be delightfully confusing, like a trippy poem you’d study in English Lit. Plus, he threw in a live radio reading of King Lear. No big deal.
4. Hozier – “Take Me to Church”
While not quoting a specific book, Hozier’s fire-and-brimstone lyrics read like a queer reinterpretation of biblical texts and Oscar Wilde’s philosophy. Gothic literature meets Irish soul, and the result is pure poetry.
5. David Bowie – “1984”
Big Brother’s watching. Inspired by Orwell’s 1984, this track off Diamond Dogs brought dystopia to the dance floor. Bowie was obsessed with the novel and even planned a musical based on it. Imagine Ziggy Stardust: The Surveillance Years.
6. Tracy Chapman – “Behind the Wall”
Chapman’s stark, spoken-word song feels like it could’ve lived in a Toni Morrison novel. Without music, just voice, she tells the story of domestic violence and systemic failure with chilling, literary economy.
7. Panic! At The Disco – “Time to Dance”
This hyper-theatrical track is inspired by Chuck Palahniuk’s Invisible Monsters. With lyrics lifted straight from the novel, it’s high-drama glam rock for the postmodern reader. Who says you can’t mosh with a library card?
8. Kendrick Lamar – “Mortal Man”
Referencing The Autobiography of Malcolm X and echoing themes from James Baldwin, Lamar questions leadership, loyalty, and legacy. Literature isn’t just on his bookshelf—it’s in his DNA.
9. Metallica – “For Whom the Bell Tolls”
Metal and Hemingway? Yes, please. This blistering anthem takes its name and anti-war themes from the classic novel. A reminder that literary despair can shred just as hard as any riff.
10. Lana Del Rey – “Off to the Races”
Lana taps into Vladimir Nabokov’s Lolita with her signature mix of danger and glamour. It’s problematic, provocative, and pure pop noir—like if you turned a dusty paperback into a perfume ad.
11. The Smiths – “Cemetry Gates”
Morrissey reads Wilde and Yeats so you don’t have to—but you’ll want to. A song about plagiarism, death, and poetry? Sounds morbidly joyful, which is peak Smiths energy.
12. Janelle Monáe – “Many Moons”
Drawing from Octavia Butler and Afrofuturism, Monáe’s music (and whole Metropolis concept) is basically a syllabus in motion. Science fiction, social justice, and androids in love? Class dismissed.
13. Stevie Wonder – “Pastime Paradise”
This isn’t directly about a novel, but the spiritual themes echo The Souls of Black Folk and The Bible. Stevie blends gospel, social critique, and poetry into a piece that lives on far beyond the page.
14. Taylor Swift – “Love Story”
It’s Shakespeare-lite but catchy as hell. Swift modernizes Romeo and Juliet with a happier ending—and introduced a generation to the Bard through glittery pop-country. English teachers everywhere nodded in approval.
15. Frank Ocean – “Novacane”
Ocean sings about detachment and numbness with echoes of Brave New World. There’s no love story here—just a slow fade into synthetic pleasure and isolation. Literature as lifestyle.
16. Rush – “Tom Sawyer”
Loosely inspired by the character from Mark Twain’s novel, this song turns Tom into a modern rebel. “What you say about his company / Is what you say about society”—now that’s thesis statement energy.
17. Solange – “Weary”
While not quoting a book, the tone and themes feel lifted from Audre Lorde and bell hooks. Emotional labor, self-preservation, and Black womanhood are all rendered with quiet, literary power.
18. The Velvet Underground – “Venus in Furs”
Inspired by Leopold von Sacher-Masoch’s novella of the same name, this track dives into themes of dominance, submission, and surreal eroticism. Lou Reed turned taboo literature into rock legend.
19. Bad Bunny – “Si Veo a Tu Mamá”
Opening with a nod to The Little Prince in the form of a melody sample, the song deals with longing and emotional immaturity, echoing the book’s themes of nostalgia and loneliness—with a reggaetón twist.
20. Leonard Cohen – “Suzanne”
Cohen was a published poet before he was a songwriter, and Suzanne is pure literature set to music. Every line feels pulled from a novel you meant to read but now feel like you’ve lived.
Whether they’re drawing from dystopias, feminist theory, romantic tragedy or gothic horror, these artists remind us that books are the stuff of choruses, riffs, and revolutions, and the classroom. And if music is the soundtrack to your life, these songs prove that literature is the script.
