Inspiration is a funny thing. It can be found seemingly anywhere, and has a penchant for striking at a moment’s notice.
Sometimes, two giants collide – like when a film is so good it inspires another work of art: music. Over the years, there have been many rock songs inspired by movies. Most people are unaware that some of their favorite jams got their inspiration from the silver screen.
“Bad Moon Rising” – Creedence Clearwater Revival
“Bad Moon Rising” is based on the noir film The Devil and Daniel Webster, which is about a man named Jabez Stone who finds himself in a Faustian bargain. The song references a storm in the film, and the lyrics are crystal clear about imminent doom, despite the upbeat melody.
“Space Oddity” – David Bowie
“Space Oddity” is based on Stanley Kubrick’s classic, 2001: A Space Odyssey. The film portrays two astronauts headed to an unknown object, accompanied by their homicidal artificial intelligence, HAL 9000. In the song, Major Tom does a spacewalk and then loses contact with Ground Control.
“Walk This Way” – Aerosmith
In the film Young Frankenstein, hunchback Igor (Marty Feldman) tells Dr. Frankenstein (Gene Wilder) to “Walk this way!”
“Red Angel Dragnet” – The Clash
“Red Angel Dragnet” plays on the moral dilemma posed by the classic Martin Scorsese film Taxi Driver. The antihero, Travis Bickle, becomes fed up with society and takes matters into his own hands. In the song, The Clash appears to take the side of Bickle as antihero, singing, “Listen you screw heads, here is a man who would not take it anymore/A man who stood up against the scum, the filth.”
“Where Eagles Dare” – Iron Maiden
“Where Eagles Dare” is based on the Clint Eastwood film of the same name. In the film, Eastwood leads a special operations team to try to save an American general from a Nazi fortress.
“Brownsville Girl” – Bob Dylan
“Brownsville Girl” is an epic, clocking in at 11 minutes. It narrates the plot to the 1950 film, The Gunfighter. That, or perhaps the 1946 film, Duel In the Sun.
“Breakfast at Tiffany’s” – Deep Blue Something
This classic ’90s jam was inspired by the film Roman Holiday, even though they titled the song “Breakfast at Tiffany’s.” However, both movies star Audrey Hepburn.
“Motorpsycho Nightmare” – Bob Dylan
“Motorpsycho Nightmare” is based on the Alfred Hitchcock classic, Psycho. The film begins with a woman stealing a good sum of money from her employer but then running into bad luck when she meets Norman Bates.
“Key Largo” – Bertie Higgins
“Someone’s broken heart becomes your favorite song.” And so it goes. “Key Largo” by Bertie Higgins takes its cues from the 1948 film of the same name. In Key Largo, Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall face fugitive Seminoles, the police, and other guests at the Hotel Largo, all while a hurricane bears down on the Florida Keys.
“Jurassic Park” – Weird Al Yankovic
In his iconoclastic fashion, Weird Al takes on the dinosaur film Jurassic Park. The song, complete with wind instruments, follows the plot right from the get-go; however, he writes it with a funny twist!