Famous songs inspired by books -

Find out which of these famous singers and popular bands found their inspiration in books.

© Getty Images

'Firework' by Katy Perry -

Katy Perry's 2010 hit 'Firework' draws its inspiration from Jack Kerouac's 'On the Road' (1957). There are similarities between the lyrics and lines from the novel.

© Getty Images

'Firework' by Katy Perry -

The influence of the novel on Perry's song is surprising to many, but she confirmed its importance during a red carpet interview at the 2012 Grammy Nominations.

© Getty Images

'Don't Stand So Close to Me' by The Police -

This 1980 hit song by The Police tells the story of the inappropriate relationship between a schoolgirl and her teacher.

© Getty Images

'Don't Stand So Close to Me' by The Police -

The line "Just like the old man in that book by Nabokov" is an allusion to Vladimir Nabokov's controversial 1955 novel that tells a similar story.

© Getty Images

'Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds' by the Beatles -

The Lennon-McCartney song 'Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds' appears on the 1967 Beatles album 'Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.' It uses lots of psychedelic and fantastical imagery.

© Getty Images

'Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds' by the Beatles -

Prior to the album's release, there were rumors that it was a drug song. Lennon, however, attributed the song's imagery to his reading of Lewis Carroll's book 'Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.'

© Getty Images

'Clocks' by Coldplay -

Although it is perhaps an overstatement to attribute the entire Coldplay song 'Clocks' to the Friedrich von Schiller drama 'Wilhelm Tell' (1804), it certainly contains a reference.

© Getty Images

'Clocks' by Coldplay -

The lyric "Shoot an apple off my head" is a reference to the point in the play where the archer Wilhelm Tell shoots an apple off his son's head to prove how skillful he is.

© Getty Images

'Wuthering Heights' by Kate Bush -

Perhaps the most famous song to be based on a novel is Kate Bush's debut single, 'Wuthering Heights' (1978). The song is based on Emily Brontë's 1847 novel of the same name.

© Getty Images

'Wuthering Heights' by Kate Bush -

The song is told from the point of view of Catherine, who visits her lover Heathcliff and asks him to let her in through the bedroom window.

© Getty Images

'Goodbye Yellow Brick Road' by Elton John -

Elton John's ballad 'Goodbye Yellow Brick Road' is about giving up a life of luxury for one of simplicity, and has clear links to L. Frank Baum's 'The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.'

© Getty Images

'Goodbye Yellow Brick Road' by Elton John -

In the book, Dorothy and her friends follow the yellow brick road to find the magical wizard, but in the end they discover they had everything they wanted all along.

© Getty Images

'Hurricane' by Thirty Seconds to Mars -

Although it does not directly lift lines from the poem, the 2009 Thirty Seconds to Mars song 'Hurricane' is clearly influenced by the famous Edgar Allan Poe poem 'The Raven.'

© Getty Images

'Hurricane' by Thirty Seconds to Mars -

The themes of anxiety, death, and lost love are present in both, and in fact the end of the uncut version of the music video directly quotes the poem.

© Getty Images

'Bohemian Rhapsody' by Queen -

The monumental success of Queen's 1975 epic song 'Bohemian Rhapsody' has made it a favorite for critics when it comes to guessing the meaning behind the lyrics.

© Getty Images

'Bohemian Rhapsody' by Queen -

While some believe the lyrics to be random, others think they are based on the 1942 Albert Camus novel 'The Stranger,' which tells the story of a man who confesses to an impulsive murder.

© Getty Images

'Banana Co' by Radiohead -

The Radiohead song 'Banana Co' appears on the band's second EP. It took its inspiration from the 1967 Gabriel García Márquez novel 'One Hundred Years of Solitude.'

© Getty Images

'Banana Co' by Radiohead -

The song takes imagery from the novel and uses it to describe the devastation brought to Latin America by banana companies during the 20th century.

© NL Beeld

'Ramble On' by Led Zeppelin -

There are a number of Led Zeppelin songs inspired by J.R.R. Tolkien's epic series, 'The Lord of the Rings.' The 1969 song 'Ramble On' is one of them.

© Getty Images

'Ramble On' by Led Zeppelin -

The song reimagines the journey taken by characters Sam and Frodo. In the song, it is a woman rather than a ring that is the object of the narrator's affections.

© Getty Images

'Animals' by Pink Floyd -

'Animals' is actually a full album, rather than a song. When it was released by Pink Floyd in 1977, fans were shocked by just how politically charged the album's content was.

© Getty Images

'Animals' by Pink Floyd -

Loosely based on George Orwell's 1945 novella 'Animal Farm,' the album provides a social critique in which the different social classes are represented by animals.

© Getty Images

'Sympathy for the Devil' by the Rolling Stones -

Mick Jagger cites two sources of inspiration for this 1968 Rolling Stones song: French poet Charles Baudelaire and Russian author Mikhail Bulgakov.

© Getty Images

'Sympathy for the Devil' by the Rolling Stones -

In parts of 'Sympathy for the Devil,' Jagger delivers the lyrics in a voice akin to the devil-like protagonist in Bulgakov's novel 'The Master and Margarita.'

© NL Beeld

'We Are the Dead' by David Bowie -

There are a number of tracks on David Bowie's 1974 album 'Diamond Dogs' that are also influenced by George Orwell's 'Animal Farm.' 'We Are the Dead' is one of them.

© Getty Images

'We Are the Dead' by David Bowie -

The line "We are the dead" recurs throughout the story, and is thought to be a comment on both the repressed "inner and outer parties" and the imprisonment of the protagonist by the thought police.

© Getty Images

'Song for Clay' by Bloc Party -

Bloc Party's 'Song For Clay,' which appears on the band's 2007 album 'A Weekend in the City,' alludes to Bret Easton Ellis' 1985 novel 'Less Than Zero.'

© Getty Images

'Song for Clay' by Bloc Party -

Both pieces of work can be described as coming of age, and the references to social media in the song parallel the references to MTV culture in the book.

© Getty Images

'Atticus' by the Noisettes -

The song 'Atticus,' which appears on the second studio album from the Noisettes, 'Wild Young Hearts' (2009), takes its inspiration from Harper Lee's classic novel, 'To Kill a Mockingbird.'

© Getty Images

'Atticus' by the Noisettes -

One of the main characters in Harper Lee's novel, Atticus, shows remarkable courage throughout the story and the song by the Noisettes uses his character as a metaphor for that courage.

Sources: (The Guardian) (Writers Write)

See also: Timeless children’s books to read with your kids

© Getty Images