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Name Dropping Songs

 

Mainly Rockers are noted in this list of songs/lyrics, but also noted are some political and sport figures, along with other non-rock stars. Also, there is no real order to these lists (for the most part).

 

This list of songs only contain the lyrics from where the name dropping is located, with the person/band's name highlighted in bold - in cases where the famous person's name isn't fully in the ltrics, that person's full name will appear in parentheses and italics next to the lyric.

 

I Dig Rock n Roll Music by Peter, Paul & Mary
(written by Dave Dixon, James Mason & Noel Paul Stookey)

I dig the Mamas and the Papas at the Trip, Sunset Strip in LA.
And they got a good thing goin’ when the words don’t get in the way.
And when they’re really wailing, Michelle (Phillips) and Cass (Elliot) are sailin’.
Hey! they really nail me to the wall.

I dig Donovan in a dream-like, tripped out way, his crystal images tell you ’bout a brighter day
And when the Beatles tell you, they’ve got a word love to sell you, they mean exactly what they say


Creeque Alley by The Mamas And The Papas
(written by John Phillips and Michelle Phillips)

John (Phillips) and Mitchy (Michelle Phillips) were gettin' kind of itchy, just to leave the folk music behind. Zal (Yanovsky) and Denny (Doherty) workin' for a penny, tryin' to get a fish on the line.
In a coffee house Sebastian (John Sebastian) sat, and after every number they'd pass the hat.
McGuinn (Jim/Rodger McGuinn) and McGuire (Barry McGuire) just a-gettin' higher in L.A.,
you know where that's at. And no one's gettin' fat except Mama Cass (Elliot).

Zally (Zal Yanovsky) said, "Denny, you know there aren't many who can sing a song the way that you do; let's go south." Denny said, "Zally, golly, don't you think that I wish I could play guitar like you."
Zal, Denny, and Sebastian sat (at the Night Owl) and after every number they'd pass the hat.
McGuinn and McGuire still a-gettin higher in L.A., you know where that's at.
And no one's gettin' fat except Mama Cass.

When Cass was a sophomore, planned to go to Swathmore, but she changed her mind one day.
Standin' on the turnpike, thumb out to hitchhike, "Take me to New York right away." When Denny met Cass he gave her love bumps; called John and Zal and that was the Mugwumps.

Sebastian and Zal formed the Loving Spoonful, Michelle, John, and Denny gettin' very tuneful.
McGuinn and McGuire just a-catchin' fire in L.A., you know where that's at.
And everybody's gettin' fat except Mama Cass.

Broke, busted, disgusted, agents can't be trusted, and Mitchy wants to go to the sea.
Cass can't make it; she says we'll have to fake it--- We knew she'd come eventually.


Monterey
by
Eric Burton and the Animals
(written by Eric Burdon, John Weider, Vic Briggs, Danny McCulloch, and Barry Jenkins)

The Byrds and The Airplane (Jefferson Airplane) did fly, Oh, Ravi Shankar's music made me cry
The Who exploded into fire and light, Hugh Masakela's music was black as night
The Grateful Dead blew everybodies mind, Jimi Hendrix baby,believe me, set the world on fire, yeah
His Majesty, Prince Jones (Brian Jones), smiled as he moved among the crowd, ten thousand electric guitars were grooving real loud, yeah


Sweet Soul Music by Arthur Conley
(written by Arthur Conley and Otis Redding)

Spotlight on Lou Rawls y'all ah don't he look tall y'all

Spotlight on Sam and Dave now ah don't they look boss y'all

Spotlight on Wilson Pickett. That wicked picket Pickett singin Mustang Sally

Spotlight on Otis Redding now singing fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa

 

Spotlight on James Brown now he's the king of them all, yeah



I Do The Rock by Tim Curry

(written by Tim Curry and Michael Kamen)

Edith Sitwell giving readings 14 Moscow Road. Osbert's (Lancaster) giving champagne parties
Me, I do the only thing that still makes sense to me, I do the Rock

John and Yoko (Lennon & Ono) farming beef, raising protein quota. Sometimes they make love and art inside the Dakota. Rodney's (Rod Stewart) feeling sexy, Mick (Jagger) is really frightfully bold. Me, I do the only thing that stops me growing old, I do the Rock

Solzhenitsyn (Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn) feels exposed, build a barbed-wired prison
Nietzsche's (Friedrich Nietzsche) six feet under, but his babies still got rhythm
Einstein's (Albert Einstein) celebrating ten decades, but I'm afraid philosophy is just too much responsibility for me, I do the Rock

Baby Ruth (Babe Ruth) and Dizzy Dean, Best and Colin Cowdrey
Little Mo (Maureen Connolly), Virginia Wade, Pistol Pete (Maravich) and O.J. (Simpson)
I've always like DiMaggio (Joe DiMaggio), and Rockne's pretty Knute (Knute Rockne) you know
I could never whack a ball with such velocity, I do the Rock

Liz and Dick (Burton & Taylor) and Britt (Ekland) and Liza (Minnelli)
Jaclyn, Kate and Farah (Kate Jackson, Farrah Fawcett, and Jaclyn Smith)
Meg (Foster) and Roddy (Piper), John Travolta
Governor Brown (Jerry Brown) and Linda (Ronstadt)
Miss Rona (Barrett)and the Queen (of England), it must be really frightful to attract publicity, I do the Rock

Carter (Jimmy Carter), Begin (Menachem Begin) and Sadat (Anwar al-Sadat)
Brezhnev (Leonid Brezhnev), Teng (Teng Xiu ?) and Castro (Fidel Castro)
Everyday negotiate us closer to disastro. Idi Amin and the Shah (of Iran) and Al Fatah is quite bizarre
I could never get the hang of ideology, I do the Rock


Smoke On The Water by 
Deep Purple
(written by Ritchie Blackmore, Ian Gillan, Roger Glover, Jon Lord and Ian Paice)

Frank Zappa and the Mothers were at the best place around

It died with an awful sound and Funky Claude (Nobs) was running in and out, pulling kids out the ground

We ended up at the Grand Hotel, it was empty cold and bare. But with the Rolling truck Stones thing (Rolling Stones' mobile studio) just outside, making our music there.


American Pie by Don Mclean
(written by Don Mclean)
(Note: Most of the famous people are noted indirectly, so technically not name dropping)

And maybe they'd be happy for a while, but February made me shiver with every paper I'd deliver,
bad news on the doorstep (The 'bad news' was the death of Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and The Big Bopper, killed on February 3, 1959).


I can't remember if I cried when I read about his (Buddy Holly) widowed bride

When the Jester (Bob Dylan) sang for the king and queen in a coat he borrowed from James Dean.
Oh and while the King (Elvis Presley) was looking down the Jester stole his thorny crown

And while Lennon (John Lennon) read a book on Marx (Karl Marx/Groucho Marx),The quartet practiced in the park (The Beatles playing at Shea Stadium)

The birds (The Byrds) flew off with a fallout shelter Eight Miles High and falling fast

While Sergeants (The Beatles) played a marching tune (The Beatles' playing on Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band)

With the Jester on the sidelines in a cast (after Bob Dylan's near fatal motorcycle accident in 1966)

We all got up to dance, oh, but we never got the chance, cause the players (the Yippies at the Chicago 1968 Democratic National Convention) tried to take the field the marching band (Chicago Police Department) refused to yield

Jack Flash (Mick Jagger) sat on a candlestick 'cause fire is the devil's only friend, and as I watched him on the stage (Jagger singing "Sympathy For The Devil," at Altamont Speedway concert in 1969), my hands were clenched in fists of rage, no angel born in hell (Hell's Angels) could break that Satan's spell, and as the flames climbed high into the night (again, about the Rolling Stones' Altamont Speedway concert where a fan was stabbed to death by Hell's Angels).

I met a girl (Janis Joplin) who sang the blues and I asked her for some happy news, but she just smiled and turned away

And the three men I admire most The Father, Son, and Holy Ghost  (Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and The Big Bopper)


Keep It Warm by Flo & Eddie (now days just credited to The Turtles)
(written by Mark Volman and Howard Kaylan)

Roll another joint for the Gipper (Ron Reagan), Get the Gipper high, he gets hipper, stick it in his mouth and keep him warm

 

Elect another jerk (Richard Nixon) to the White House, Gracie (Grace) Slick is losing her door mouse

 

Tell the Mahareesh (Maharishi Mahesh Yogi) to keep it warm

 

George (Harrison) is suing Paul (McCartney), suing Ringo (Starr) and immigration wants John and Yoko (Lennon & Ono), all they need is love, to keep them warm



Sexy Sadie by the Beatles
(written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney)

Sexy Sadie (Maharishi Mahesh Yogi) you broke the rules...


Give Peace A Chance by John Lennon
(written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney)

Ev'rybody's talking about John and Yoko, Timmy Leary, Rosemary, Tommy Smothers, Bobby Dylan, Tommy Cooper, Derek Tayor, Norman Mailer, Allen Ginsberg, Hare Krishna


God by John Lennon
(written by John Lennon)

I don't believe in Hitler
I don't believe in Jesus
I don't believe in Kennedy (the family)
I don't believe in Buddha

I don't believe in Elvis (Presley)
I don't believe in Zimmerman (Bob Dylan)
I don't believe in Beatles
I just believe in me, Yoko (Ono) and me, and that's reality


Yer Blues by The Beatles
(written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney)

The eagle picks my eye, the worm he licks my bones, I feel so suicidal, just like Dylan's Mr. Jones (Bob Dylan, plus some claim Dylan's song, "Ballad of a Thin Man", about a "Mr Jones", was about Brian Jones)


I'm So Tired by The Beatles
(written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney)

And curse Sir Walter Raleigh, he was such a stupid get.


Sympathy For The Devil by The Rolling Stones
(written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards)

And I was 'round when Jesus Christ had his moment of doubt and pain. Made damn sure that Pilate (Pontius Pilate) washed his hands and sealed his fate.

Killed the Czar (Nicholas II, of Russia) and his ministers,  Anastasia (Nikolaevna; Czar Nicholas' daughter) screamed in vain

I shouted out, "Who killed the Kennedys?" (Joe Jr, John, and Robert Kennedy)


Lady Jane by The Rolling Stones
(written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards)

My sweet Lady Jane (Queen Jane Seymour), when I see you again, your servant am I

My dear Lady Anne (Queen Anne Boleyn), I've done what I can, I must take my leave

Oh my sweet Marie (Queen Marie Antoinette), I wait at your ease


Rip This Joint by The Rolling Stones
(written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards)

Dick and Pat in ole D.C. (Richard and Pat Nixon)

Down to New Orleans with the Dixie Dean, 'Cross to Dallas, Texas with the Butter Queen (Barbra the Butter Queen, who was a well known 1960s groupie)



All the Young Dudes by
Mott the Hopple
(written by David Bowie)

Television man is crazy, saying we're juvenile delinquent wrecks, oh man, I need TV when I got T-Rex

And my Brother's back at home with his Beatles and his Stones (records)


You Better You Bet
by The Who
(written by Pete Townshend)

And I drunk myself blind to the sound of old T Rex, to the sound of old T. Rex


The Seeker byThe Who
(written by Pete Townshend)

I asked Bobby Dylan, I asked The Beatles, I asked Timothy Leary, but he couldn't help me either



Midnight Creeper by Elton John
(written by Elton John and Bernie Taupin)

Walk a mile in my tennis shoes, Tina Turner gave me the highway blues


I Think I'm Gonna Kill Myself
by Elton John
(written by Elton John and Bernie Taupin)

If you want to save my life, Brigitte Bardot gotta come and see me every night


Teacher I Need You
by Elton John
(written by Elton John and Bernie Taupin)

I've got John Wayne stances, I've got Erroll Flynn advances, and it doesn't mean a doggone thing


Garden Party
by Rick Nelson
(written by Rick Nelson)


Yoko (Ono) brought
her walrus (John Lennon), there was magic in the air, 'n' over in the corner, much to my surprise, Mr. Hughes (Howard Hughes) hid in Dylan's (Bob Dylan) shoes wearing his disguise.

Someone opened up a closet door and out stepped Johnny B. Goode (Chuck Berry)


Runnin' Down A Dream by Tom Petty

(written by Tom Petty and Mike Campbell)

I had the radio on, I was drivin', trees flew by, me and Del (Shannon) were singin' Little Runaway, I was flyin'



When You Got Good Friends
by Lynyrd Skynyrd
(written by Allen Collins and Ronnie VanZant)

You got to love ol' Charlie Daniels; You got to cut the rug with Wet Willie too;

And you got to be a fan of the Marshall Tucker Band, before I'll sit down and have a drink with you

Yes, Bakersfield has got ol' Merle Haggard

 

Never pick on good ol' Waylon Jennings or Willie Nelson, Bob Wills or me

 

 


Sweet Home Alabama
by Lynyrd Skynyrd
(written by Ed King, Gary Rossington, Ronnie Van Zant)

Well I heard mister Young (Neil Young) sing about her. Well, I heard ole Neil (Young) put her down
Well, I hope Neil Young will remember, a Southern man don't need him around anyhow

In Birmingham they love the governor (boo, boo, boo) (Van Zant noted this lryic was a put-down of Govornor George Wallace)

Now Muscle Shoals has got the Swampers (aka The Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section) and they've been known to pick a song or two. Lord they get me off so much, they pick me up when I'm feelin' blue ...



Behind the Wall of Sleep
by The Smithereens
(written by The Smithereens)

She had hair like Jeannie Shipton back in 1965

Well she held a bass guitar and she was playing in a band, and she stood just like Bill Wyman


Surrender
by Cheap Trick
(written by Rick Nielsen)

When I woke up, Mom and Dad are rolling on the couch. Rolling numbers, rock and rolling, got my KISS records out


The South's Gonna Do It Again
by The Charlie Daniels Band
(written by Charlie Daniels)

People down in Florida can't be still when ol' Lynyrd Skynrd's pickin' down in Jacksonville
People down in Georgia come from near and far to hear Richard Betts pickin' on that red guitar

Elvin Bishop
sittin' on a bale of hay, he ain't good lookin', but he sure can play
And there's ZZ Top and you can't forget that old brother Willie's (Nelson) gettin' soakin' wet (Wet Willie).  And all the good people down in Tennessee are diggin' Barefoot Jerry and C.D.B (Charlie Daniels Band)


Rock & Roll Never Forgets 
by Bob Seger
(written by Bob Segar)

Well all of Chuck's (Berry) children are out there playing his licks



Kids of the Baby Boom
by The Bellamy Brothers
(written by David Bellamy)

And we watched John Kennedy die one afternoon, kids of the baby boom

We had sympathy for the devil and the Rolling Stones, then we got a little older, we found Haggard (Merle Haggard) and Jones (George Jones)

We all have Calvin Klein written on our underpants


R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A.
by  John Mellencamp
(written by John Cougar Mellencamp)

There was Frankie Lyman-Bobby Fuller-Mitch Ryder, Jackie Wilson-Shangra-las-Young Rascals
Spotlight on Martha Reeves, let's don't forget James Brown, Rockin' in the U.S.A.


Rock And Roll Heaven
by The Righteous Brothers
(written by Alan O'Day & John Stevenson)

Jimmy (Hendrix)
gave us rainbows, and Janis (Joplin) took a piece of our hearts
And Otis (Reddng) brought us all to the dock of a bay. Sing a song to light my fire,
remember Jim (Morrison) that way, they've all found another place.

Remember bad bad Leroy Brown, Hey Jimmy (Jim Croce) touched us with that song
Time won't change a friend we came to know, and Bobby (Darin) gave us Mack the Knife


Rock Show
by Paul McCartney & Wings
(written by Paul McCartney and Denny Laine)

What's that man movin' cross the stage? It looks a lot like the one used by Jimmy Page, it's like a relic from a different age. Could be ....... Oo - ee!


We're An American Band
by Grand Funk Railroad
(written by Don Brewer and Mark Farner)

Up all night with Freddy King, I got to tell you poker's his thing


What Kind of a Girl Do You Think We Are
by Frank Zappa
(written by Frank Zappa)

While somebody's screamin': CORKS 'N' SAFETIES, PIGS 'N' DONKEYS, ALICE COOPER'S GONNA ... AAAAAAH! ALICE COOPER, ALICE COOPER! YAAAAH!


Take Me Home Tonight
by Eddie Money
(written by Michael Leeson, Peter Vale, Ellie Greenwich, Jeff Barry, Phil Spector)

Just like Ronnie (Spector) sang,  I say, just like Ronnie sang: Be my little baby


Hey Hey, My My (Into the Black)
by Neil Young
(written by Neil Young)

The King (Elvis Presley)
is gone but he's not forgotten, is this the story of Johnny Rotten? It's better to burn out  'cause rust never sleeps. The King is gone but he's not forgotten.


Downtown
by Neil Young
(written by Neil Young)

Jimi's (Hendrix)
playin' in the back room, Led Zeppelin on stage, there's a mirror ball twirlin', and a note from Page (Jimmy Page)


Ballrooms Of Mars
by T-Rex
(written by Marc Bolan)

When the monsters call out the names of men, Bob Dylan knows and I bet Alan Freed did

You're a gutter-gaunt gangster, John Lennon knows your name


Silver Heels
by Fleetwood Mac
(written by Bob Welch)

If I could sing like Paul McCartney, or get funky like Etta James
I
'd never change, I'd never change, I'd never change silver heeled ways


Be My Lover
by The Alice Cooper Group
(written by Michael Bruce)

Told her that I came from Detroit city and I played guitar in a long haired rock and roll band. She asked me why the singer's name was Alice (Cooper), I said listen baby you really wouldn't understand.


Message Of Love
by The Pretenders
(written by Chrissie Hynde)

Oh it's good, good, good, like Brigitte Bardot


Hotel California
by The Eagles
(written by Don Felder, Don Henley, Glenn Frey)

They stab it with thier Steely (Dan) knives, but they just can't kill the beast


Boys of Summer
by Don Henley
(written by Don Henley and Mike Campbell)

Out on the road today I saw a Deadhead (fans of the Grateful Dead) sticker on a Cadillac


Hey Nineteen
by Steely Dan
(written by Walter Becker and Donald Fagen)

Hey Nineteen, that's 'Retha Franklin, she don't remember The Queen of Soul (Aretha Franklin)


F.M.
by Steely Dan
(written by Walter Becker and Donald Fagen)

Nothin’ but blues and Elvis (Presley) and somebody else’s favorite song


Ball Of Confusion
by The Temptations
(written by Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong)

Unemployment rising fast, The Beatles' new record's a gas


Radar Love
by Golden Earring
(written by George Kooymans and Barry Hay)

The radio’s playing some forgotten song, Brenda Lee’s “Coming on Strong”


Shooting Star
by Bad Company
(written by Paul Rodgers)

Johnny was an school boy when he heard his first Beatles song, "Love Me Do" I think it was


Suite: Judy Blue Eyes
by Crosby, Stills and Nash
(written by Stephen Stills)

No lyrics in this song name drops, but the title does, as "Judy Blue Eyes" is Judy Collins


Woodstock by Crosby, Stills,  Nash and Young / Joni Mitchell
(written by Joni Mitchell)

I'm going on down to Yasgur's (Max Yasgur) Farm


Up On Cripple Creek
by The Band
(written by Robbie Robertson)

Now me and my mate were back at the shack, we had Spike Jones on the box


1977
by The Clash
(written by Joe Strummer and Mick Jones)

No Elvis (Presley), Beatles or the Rolling Stones


Thunder Road
by Bruce Springsteen
(written by Bruce Springsteen)

Like a vision she dances across the porch as the radio plays Roy Orbison singing for the lonely


Cadillac Ranch by Bruce Springsteen
(written by Bruce Springsteen)
 
James Dean in that Mercury '49, Junior Johnson runnin' thru the woods of Caroline 
Even Burt Reynolds in that black Trans-Am, all gonna meet down at the Cadillac Ranch 



Lookin' Out My Back Door
by Creedence Clearwater Revival
(written by John Fogerty)

A dinosaur Victrola listening to Buck Owens


Song for Bob Dylan
by David Bowie
(written by David Bowie)

Oh, hear this Robert Zimmerman (Bob Dylan), I wrote a song for you, about a strange young man called Dylan


Andy Warhol
by David Bowie
(written by David Bowie)

Spoken: (Tech:This is Andy Warhole and it's take one, take one)
Bowie, to tech: It's, it's Warhol actually (Tech: What did I say?)
Bowie: "Whole", it's "whol" as in "wholes"(Tech: Andy Warhol)
Bowie: Wah, Andy War --hol, Andy War-hol

Andy Warhol
looks a scream, hang him on my wall, Andy Warhol, Silver Screen

Andy
walking, Andy tired Andy take a little snooze, tie him up when he's fast asleep


Ballad of a Thin Man by Bob Dylan
(written by Bob Dylan)

But you don't know what it is, do you, Mister Jones (Brian Jones?)

You've been through all of F. Scott Fitzgerald's books


Billy 1 & Billy 4
by Bob Dylan
(both songs written by Bob Dylan)

Bounty hunters, too, they'd like to get ya, Billy (the Kid), they don't like you to be so free.

Up to Boot Hill they'd like to send ya, Billy, don't you turn your back on me

They say that Pat Garrett's got your number

Billy, you're so far away from home


Song To Woody by Bob Dylan
(written by Bob Dylan)

Hey hey Woody Guthrie I wrote you a song

Here's to Cisco (Houston) and Sonny (Terry) and Leadbelly (Huddie William Ledbetter) too


Tombstone Blues by Bob Dylan
(written by Bob Dylan)

The reincarnation of Paul Revere's horse

The ghost of Belle Star she hands down her wits

A bald wig for Jack the Ripper who sits at the head of the chamber of commerce

Well, John the Baptist after torturing a thief

Causes Galileo's (Galilei) math book to get thrown

Then send out for some pillars and Cecil B. DeMille

Where Ma Raney and Beethoven (Ludwig van Beethoven) once unwrapped their bed roll


Mrs Robinson by Simon & Garfunkel
(written by Paul Simon)

And here's to you, Mrs. Robinson, Jesus loves you more than you will know

Where have you gone, Joe DiMaggio, our nation turns it's lonely eyes to you.
What's that you say, Mrs. Robinson. Jolting Joe (DiMaggio) has left and gone away


Walk On The Wild Side
(written by Lou Reed)

Holly (Woodlawn, aka Haroldo Santiago Franceschi Rodriguez Danhakl) came from Miami FLA, hitch-hiked her way across the U.S.A.....

Candy (Darling, aka James Lawrence Slattery) came from out on the Island, in the back room she was everybody's darling....

Little Joe (Dallesandero) never once gave it away, everybody had to pay and pay....

Sugar Plum Fairy (Joe Campbell) came and hit the streets, looking for soul food and a place to eat.....

Jackie (Curtis, aka John Curtis Holder, Jr) is just speeding away, thought she was James Dean for a day......

 

Top Ten Name Dropping Songs
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