Pop History

Nonimus by etrusia uk at Flickr, click through to original.

I am looking to put together a list of music about historical events or about notable people in history and would love have any suggestions that you all have to help out. I am looking for ‘Pop’ music rather than classical or historical pieces, so Johnny Horton’s Sink the Bismark or the Waterboys Red Army Blues would make the list but Stewart Copeland’s opera Holy Blood and Crescent Moon wouldn’t really be what I am after. I am willing to stretch ‘Pop’ a bit, but I don’t want to break it completely. Ideally I would love the artist, the song title and the event or person the song is about. Here are some samples of the sort of thing I am looking for.

• Johnny Horton Sink the Bismark Sinking of the German Battleship Bismark
• Waterboys Red Army Blues Demobilization of the Russian Army Following World War Two
• David Olney Dilinger Life of John Dillinger, Gangster
• They Might Be Giants James K Polk The unlikely election and presidency of James K Polk.
• Johnny Horton The Battle of New Orleans The Battle of New Orleans in 1815.
• Rasputina 1816, The Year Without A Summer The Year Without A Summer in 1816.

I have more already, but if you know of anything that seems appropriate please list it in the comments. Any questions or general comments are also welcome.

This entry was posted on Saturday, August 30th, 2008 at 12:10 pm and is filed under History, Music. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

6 Responses to “Pop History”

1. Leta Says:
   August 30th, 2008 at 11:40 pm

   “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald”?

2. Brett Says:
   August 31st, 2008 at 8:41 am

   Yep, Gordon Lightfoot about the sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald with all hands lost in 1975. Keep them coming, fabulous prizes for the best entries.

   *Note: Fabulous Prizes may or may not exist in forms other than eternal gratitude. This contest void in Ohio and South Dakota.

3. iClaudius Says:
   September 1st, 2008 at 12:39 pm

   “Ohio” – Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young: Kent State shootings of anit-war protesters by the Ohio National Guard

   “Woodstock” – Joni Mitchell: Hippies wallowing in mud

   “Waterloo” – ABBA: Napolean’s defeat at Waterloo

   “Smoke on the Water” – Deep Purple: Fire at the Montreaux Casino during a Frank Zappa and the Mothers concert

4. iClaudius Says:
   September 1st, 2008 at 12:43 pm

   “Constantinople” – They Might be Giants: Fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Turks and subsequent renaming to “Instanbul”

5. stacey Says:
   September 2nd, 2008 at 9:13 am

   Rasputina’s song is about a fictional weather event in 1816, so I’m guessing fictional history’s okay as well?

   U2′s Bloody Sunday and Pogue’s song about the St. Stephen’s massacre are both pop and historical.

6. Brett Says:
   September 2nd, 2008 at 9:20 am

   Claudius: Thanks for those, I have added them to the list.

   Stacey: The event in Rasputina’s song wasn’t fictional. See the link posted after the song link above which sends you here, see also here for a US view on the year. Thanks for the others.

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