Songs by Celebrities about Celebrities

As if they don’t already have their own publicists and media machines, celebrities are often featured in popular song lyrics. While many songs today have a name-drop or two, it’s still rare to find a song inspired by or written outright about a real person.  I’ve decided to share a few of these gems via the magic of YouTube! Here are a dozen songs from mostly famous people written about famous people so you can soak up the delicious pop culture nepotism.

Weird Al – Jerry Springer

Al is known for his spoof songs but this is less of a spoof of Bare Naked Ladies’ song ”Stunt” and more of a hilarious tribute to scripted trash talk shows and Jerry Springer’s pioneering of the genre. This version is complete with Jerry Springer footage and clips from Weird Al’s movie UHF.

Gaelic Storm – The Night I Punched Russell Crowe

I found this one while researching the other entries here. It fits the category too perfectly to be passed by! A true tale of the days when the Gaelic Storm singer, Patrick Murphy, was a bartender in California and had an actual bar fight with Russell Crowe. Watch the video – it’s stop motion LEGOs. We all need to see a LEGO bar fight featuring an actor!

Falco – Rock Me Amadeus

Popular in the 80s when the movie Amadeus was released. No figure is safe, not even composers who have been dead for centuries.  Who cares that some of the lyrics aren’t in English? It’s catchy! This video is clips from the movie.

Sonic Youth – Sugar Kane (Marilyn Monroe)

In live shows Sonic Youth often called this one “Marilyn Monroe” and have said it is about her. The words are fairly accurate to her life. Yes, I could have listed Elton John’s “Candle in the Wind” and taken the easy way out, but I like obscure artsy things and Sonic Youth fits the bill. The video here is black and white clips of Marilyn.

Gorillaz – Clint Eastwood

(You’ll have to go to YouTube and watch this one directly. Can’t embed it.)

I included this one mostly for the name but it does make some Clint Eastwood references in the song. “Gunsmokin’ righteous,” “So you can survive when law is lawless,” and some references to movies pair with the name to at least evoke a spirit like Clint Eastwood even if it’s not a direct history. Plus, it’s funky badass. This is the official animated HD Gorillaz video that has absolutely nothing do with Clint.

Cake – Frank Sinatra

(Another one you can only watch on YouTube.)

The scene Cake creates in the lyrics conjures bygone radio signals and antiques that an old man clings to.  The chorus is “While Frank Sinatra sings Stormy Weather” even if it doesn’t talk much about him but more about an aged past era that he embodied. Plus ití’s Cake, who doesn’t love cake?

Bree Sharp – David Duchovny

This one made the rounds through my female Facebook friends about a year ago.  Women of our age have always had a thing for smart geeky slightly awkward actor David Duchovny. One of my best friends even made me a life-sized articulated cardboard David doll as my date for my bachelorette party. Bree just voiced the fact that we all want the perfect mix of man and Mulder. Not the official video, but this one had better sound.

R.E.M. – Man on the Moon

This is the R.E.M. song that pre-dates the Andy Kaufman biopic of the same title. I tend to think of R.E.M. as masters of the pop culture reference a la “It’s the End of the World As We Know It” and “What’s the Frequency Kenneth?”  This one is a gentle poetic biography in song form. This is the official video which is mostly cowboy Michael Stipe with some Andy Kaufman video interspersed.

Barenaked Ladies – Brian Wilson

Here singer Stephen Page expresses his unbelievably similar experience to Brian Wilson’s famous stint in bed. It’s like immortalizing the aforementioned Russell Crowe bar fight or John Lennon’s lost weekend. This song is a small window into a random odd moment in Brian Wilson’s history.  The video is a live performance.¹

Weezer – Buddy Holly

The Happy Days video here really sums up the sentiment. Although Rivers Cuomo may in fact resemble Buddy Holly, the song is really about Buddy Holly and Mary Tyler Moore as symbols of another bygone era where poodle skirts and clinging to the one you loved solved all your problems in 30 – 60 minutes.

Note worthy: American Pie by Don McLean is also about Buddy Holly – but focuses on his famous plane crash death with fellow musicians the Big Bopper and Ritchie Valens.

Veruca Salt – David Bowie

Another girl crush in song form. This time we have the ever-mesmerizing David Bowie as our singer/ protagonist’s fantasy man. Not just for the relationship though, this girl has her sights on singing and playing in band with Ziggy Stardust himself. It’s a combination lust for both the man and his music. No real video here but the audio is as good as the CD.

The Androids – Do It With Madonna

A little dated, from 2003, but worthy of the top honors here. It contains multiple mentions of female celebrity singers, catchy music, and cross dressers! While the vocalist is debating his sexual fantasy choices he is quite clear, he prefers the older, more experienced, and trashier Madonna. Did I mention drag queens?

1. By the way, BNL is fabulous live. Probably slightly different now that Page has left the band, but I digress. [↩]