From Brontë to Ballard: The Best Songs Inspired by Literature, Ranked
As Kate Bush's iconic track Wuthering Heights enjoys renewed popularity thanks to a recent film adaptation, we delve into the surprising, seditious, and sensual ways in which literature has profoundly influenced pop music. This ranking celebrates the creative fusion of prose and melody, showcasing how authors from Emily Brontë to J.G. Ballard have inspired some of the most memorable songs in music history.
20. Katy Perry – Firework (2010)
Katy Perry's Firework draws inspiration from an unexpected source: Jack Kerouac's novel On the Road. The song's central metaphor of burning "like fabulous yellow roman candles" is directly lifted from Kerouac's prose, adding a layer of literary depth to Perry's anthemic pop hit.
19. Japanese Breakfast – Magic Mountain (2025)
Michelle Zauner, under her musical alias Japanese Breakfast, references Thomas Mann's monumental novel The Magic Mountain in her acoustic closing track. The song reflects Zauner's personal engagement with the book, using its imagery to explore themes of fame and creativity in a sweet yet melancholic manner.
18. Bomb the Bass – Bug Powder Dust (1994)
Inspired by William Burroughs' Naked Lunch, Bug Powder Dust stands out as one of the funkiest literary-inspired tracks. Justin Warfield's rap, set against a writhing bass line and breakbeat, captures the surreal and subversive spirit of Burroughs' work.
17. Taylor Swift – The Bolter (2024)
Taylor Swift, often dubbed "your favourite English teacher," continues her literary explorations with The Bolter, based on a character from Nancy Mitford's novels. Swift identifies with this recurring villain, adding a layer of autobiographical reflection to her expanded album The Tortured Poets Department.
16. Killer Mike – Willie Burke Sherwood (2012)
Killer Mike's collaboration with El-P, Willie Burke Sherwood, skillfully weaves references to William Golding's Lord of the Flies into an autobiographical narrative of growing up "addicted to literature" in a challenging urban environment.
15. The Cure – Charlotte Sometimes (1981)
Moving beyond the more obvious Camus-inspired Killing an Arab, The Cure's Charlotte Sometimes draws from Penelope Farmer's eerie 1969 children's novel. This goth-pop classic has clearly left a lasting impression on Robert Smith, influencing other tracks like The Empty World.
14. Black Star – Thieves in the Night (1998)
Talib Kweli's discovery of Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye directly inspired the chorus of Thieves in the Night. This musically mellow yet lyrically sharp track explores racial identity and stereotypes, with lyrics that echo passages from Morrison's powerful novel.
13. Nirvana – Scentless Apprentice (1993)
Kurt Cobain's identification with the anti-hero of Patrick Süskind's Perfume is palpable in Scentless Apprentice. The song's raw energy and Cobain's desperate delivery of "go away" reflect the themes of alienation and being consumed by one's own fame.
12. Radiohead – Street Spirit (Fade Out) (1995)
Inspired by Ben Okri's Booker-winning novel The Famished Road, Street Spirit (Fade Out) features a drift of disturbing, dream-like imagery. This track marked an artistic breakthrough for Radiohead, pointing toward their future work on OK Computer while ending on a rare optimistic note.
11. Rosalía – Pienso en Tu Mirá (2018)
Rosalía's debut album of original material is entirely based on the 13th-century Occitan romance Flamenca. Pienso en Tu Mirá, corresponding to chapter three, blends flamenco rhythms, dancefloor bass, and spectral pop, showcasing her unique artistic vision.
10. David Bowie – We Are the Dead (1974)
David Bowie's ambition to adapt George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four into a musical was thwarted, but fragments like We Are the Dead survived on Diamond Dogs. This track stands out as one of the most thrillingly decadent and diseased moments of the glam era.
9. The Normal – Warm Leatherette (1978)
Inspired by J.G. Ballard's dystopian novel Crash, Daniel Miller's Warm Leatherette is a groundbreaking single that captures the novel's cold treatment of violence and sexual arousal. Its unsettling yet danceable sound has influenced post-punk and electronic music.
8. Kendrick Lamar – King Kunta (2015)
King Kunta serves as a condensed lesson in African American literature, with references to Alex Haley's Roots, Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man, and Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart. Set to a funky backing, Kendrick Lamar's firecracker rapping highlights the depth of literary influence in hip-hop.
7. Magazine – A Song From Under the Floorboards (1980)
Magazine's masterpiece of post-punk existential dread is clearly inspired by Fyodor Dostoevsky's Notes From Underground. The song's tense, brooding atmosphere and opening lines mirror the novella's themes, making it a standout example of literary adaptation in music.
6. Kate Bush – The Sensual World (1989)
While Wuthering Heights is more famous, The Sensual World equally showcases Kate Bush's brilliance in translating literature into song. Inspired by James Joyce's Ulysses, Bush transformed Molly Bloom's reverie into a beautiful, drowsy, and amatory track, even without using Joyce's actual text.
5. Joni Mitchell – Both Sides Now (1969)
Joni Mitchell's classic Both Sides Now was sparked by reading Saul Bellow's Henderson the Rain King on a plane. The opening verses about clouds were directly inspired by a passage in the novel, and Mitchell's emotional delivery has only deepened with age, as heard in her live performances.
4. Jefferson Airplane – White Rabbit (1967)
Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland is transformed into the psychedelic anthem White Rabbit. With its foreboding tone and jumbled imagery, the song evokes a brain-scrambling departure from normality, challenging listeners in the spirit of the Merry Pranksters' acid tests.
3. Joy Division – Dead Souls (1980)
Ian Curtis's literary interests, from Kafka to Ballard, permeate Joy Division's music. Dead Souls draws from Nikolai Gogol's satirical novel, with Curtis pleading as the deceased crowd into his head, creating a desperate and chilling effect that defines the track.
2. The Velvet Underground – Venus in Furs (1967)
Lou Reed's aim to infuse rock'n'roll with literary quality is perfectly realized in Venus in Furs, inspired by Leopold Von Sacher-Masoch's infamous novel. The song's detuned guitar and droning viola create a menacing yet hypnotically alluring sound that embodies its subject matter.
1. The Rolling Stones – Sympathy for the Devil (1968)
Inspired by Mikhail Bulgakov's The Master and Margarita, Sympathy for the Devil is a masterpiece that captures the curdling optimism of the 1960s. Mick Jagger's malevolent lyrics, set to a samba-derived rhythm, reflect a world growing darker, with timely references to political assassinations. Fifty-eight years on, it remains an incredible and influential track.
This ranking highlights the enduring and dynamic relationship between literature and music, demonstrating how prose continues to inspire and shape pop culture in profound ways.
