Songs that mention other songs
I was talking to my sister the other day, and she mentioned that she had an idea for a blog post: "What about songs that sing about other songs. Like in Regina Spektor's 'On the Radio.', she sings about listening to 'November Rain.' It always seems a little jarring to hear her talk about another song."
I agreed and brought up Pavement. In "Range Life," they name check Stone Temple Pilots and the Smashing Pumpkins — which lyric, if you'll recall, allegedly upset Billy Corgan so much that he refused to take the stage at Lollapalooza if Pavement was allowed to perform.
What we're talking about, by the way, is not songs which quote or refer obliquely to music which has come before — that's how art is made. This is a straight up reference to the act of listening to another band. Maybe a subtle distinction, but a distinction nonetheless.
Why Regina talking about GNR is weird, we theorized together, is because a pop song is like it's own little world; the experience of listening to music is very in-the-moment, and to break that little bubble and refer to other moments in pop culture is unexpected. Or, like — and this may be more for storytelling reasons than anything else — people on TV don't often watch TV (or talk about other shows, unless its some kind of winking cross promotion), and people in books don't often read books (or watch TV ... although they do listen to music, especially if the book you're reading is by Nick Hornby). Each cultural construction is self-contained.
So, for the blog entry, my sister suggested a list of songs that name check other songs/bands. Turns out, sorry L, that this is not an original idea. Though the criteria is a little different for each list, it's the same basic idea.
But if you can think of any others, give a shout in the comments.
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