In January, we did a literature in music playlist in honor of National Book Month, so we’ve decided to celebrate National Library Workers’ Day today. While there aren’t many songs about library workers, there are still plenty of songs about literature that we didn’t cover in January. And besides, who doesn’t love a good sequel?
- “Never Afraid” – MC Lars feat. Watsky
- “2112” – Rush
While we did not include the famous Rush song “Tom Sawyer” in our previous list, we decided, instead, to include Rush’s other most famous song, which was based on the novella “Anthem” by Ayn Rand.
- “The Ballad of Barry Allen” – Jim’s Big Ego
While superheros are usually more associated with movies and TV shows, especially in the case of Barry Allen’s version of “The Flash,” the character did start out in comic books, and that totally counts as literature.
- “Gilgamesh” – Baba Brinkman
- “The Catcher in the Rye” – Guns N’ Roses
- “Pennywise” – Pennywise
- “The List” – Hank Green
- “Pigs (Three Different Ones)” – Pink Floyd
- “Narnia” – Steve Hackett
- “Wuthering Heights” – Kate Bush
- “The Raven” – The Alan Parsons Project
- “Call of Ktulu” – Metallica
It’s very fitting for a band like Metallica to turn an H.P. Lovecraft work into a song. While Metallica has a surprising history of literary references in their music, “Call of Ktulu,” based on “Call of Cthulhu,” was probably the most notable work to include on this list.
- “Frankenstein” – Iced Earth
- “A Good Man is Hard to Find” – Sufjan Stevens
- “The Ghost of Tom Joad” – Bruce Springsteen
