Songs about reading

21 Songs Every Bookworm Will Love

Admit it: books and music go hand in hand. Both art forms are great at reaching into your most special places, and with both, you're often rushing to share your new discoveries. I, like many others, listen to music constantly, but especially when I'm reading or writing.

Some of these songs make references to specific books, from Sherlock Holmes to 1984. It's easy to see that so many famous musicians have been inspired by the books they've read. Not to mention, the authors that have been inspired by music.

Other songs on this playlist are about the reading life. That feeling of wanting to climb up into a book and read instead of dealing with your problems, the rush of sharing a book you've fallen in love with, or even fangirling over your new favorite author.

Plus, so many of these songs use books as a metaphor for love, or talk about relationships that are centered around books. I'm pretty sure every single book nerd is dying for an SO who's as obsessed with books as they are, so get ready to swoon!

Whatever your taste, perk up your ears to these fantastic literary tunes, sure to get your feet tapping and the pages turning.

1. "Wrapped Up In Books" by Belle and Sebastian

If there's a phrase that describes me, it's "wrapped up in books."

2. "I'm Writing a Novel" by Father John Misty

While this one is pretty snarky, you can't help but tap your feet along to it.

3. "Do-Wah-Doo" by Kate Nash

"I'll just read a book instead," says Kate Nash. I think we can all empathize with that feeling.

4. "Flow Like Poe" by MC Lars

Really, the entirity of The Edgar Allen Poe EP is worth listening to, as MC Lars does a brilliant job of combining rap with literary lessons. In this track, he packs an entire poetry lesson into the catchiest song. If this stuff interests you, you'll love MC Lars's TED Talk.

5. "Young Adult Friction" by The Pains of Being Pure at Heart

From the title to the repeated line "Don't check me out," the word play game is strong with this one.

6. "Book Club" by Arkells

"You're my library, always open for business" goes this chorus. I love me a song about sharing books.

7. "Sylvia Plath" by Ryan Adams

This ode to the iconic poet/author is simply beautiful.

8. "Every Day I Write the Book" by Elvis Costello

An extended book metaphor, this is a must-have for any book-loving playlist.

9. "Typewriter" by Alicia Keys

With the typewriter rhythm that backs this track, it will be impossible not to write as you listen to this great song.

10. "The Book of You" by Belle and Sebastian

Another one by Belle and Sebastian, but I couldn't resist! This lovely song uses books as a metaphor for falling for someone in the sweetest way.

11. "Wuthering Heights" by Kate Bush

Ah, beautiful and strange, Kate Bush captures the spirit of Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights in this cool song.

12. "1984" by David Bowie

Inspired by George Orwell's 1984, this song will certainly have you on the lookout for Big Brother.

13. "I Could Write the Book" performed by Harry Connick, Jr.

This classic jazz tune originally from the 1940 musical Pat Joey will have every reader swooning.

14. "Paperback Writer" by The Beatles

One of the most well-known book songs, no playlist would be complete with this hit from The Beatles.

15. "A Bad Feeling About Anna Karenina" by Phoebe Kreutz

Anyone who has cracked open Tolstoy's Anna Karrenina will empathize with Kreutz's need to tell Anna things are going to go bad.

16. "Reluctant Readers Make Reluctant Lovers" by Library Voices

Not only is their band name delightfully bookish, but Library Voices makes a pretty good point with this one.

17. "Sherlock Holmes" by Sparks

"Just pretend I'm Sherlock Holmes." I'm not sure Holmes actually has the greatest handle on love, but Sparks will certainly make you believe so.

18. "Sonnet 43" by Rufus Wainwright

Darling Rufus Wainwright recorded haunting musical interpretations of Shakespeare's Sonnet 43, Sonnet 20, and Sonnet 20. Like everything Wainwright does, they're graceful and strange in a wonderful way.

19. "We Are All Accelerated Readers" by Los Campesinos!

A great song about talking about books, though in this case it poisons a relationship. Love it!

20. "The Book I Read" by Talking Heads

"I'm embarrassed to to admit it/there's a soft spot in my heart/when I found out you wrote the book I read." Me too, Talking Heads. Me too.

21.

One of the most famous adaptations of Shakespeare into song, this monologue from Hamlet gets new life when it's integrated in Hair.

Images: Foundry/Pixabay

19 Best Songs about Books for All You Bookworms

Songwriters are influenced and inspired by literary works just as much as musical works. Bands such as The Beatles and Led Zeppelin, and artists like David Bowie penned many hit songs dedicated to some of their favorite books. In this list, you’ll find references to literary classics like Wuthering Heights and 1984, and tributes to poets such as Edgar Allen Poe. If you’re a fellow bookworm, you’ll love this playlist featuring songs about books.

Table of Contents

• Wuthering Heights – Kate Bush
• 1984 – David Bowie
• Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds – The Beatles
• Ramble On – Led Zeppelin
• Who Wrote Holden Caulfield? – Green Day
• Scentless Apprentice – Nirvana
• Don’t Stand So Close To Me – The Police
• China in Your Hand – T’Pau
• Wrapped Up in Books – Belle and Sebastian
• Paperback Writer – The Beatles
• Book Club – Arkells
• Flow Like Poe – MC Lars
• The Book I Read – Talking Heads
• Venus in Furs – The Velvet Underground
• Rocket Man – Elton John
• Pet Sematary – Ramones
• Yertle the Turtle – Red Hot Chili Peppers
• The Book Of Love – Peter Gabriel
• Black Blade – Blue Öyster Cult

Wuthering Heights – Kate Bush

Before Taylor Swift released her musical retelling of Shakespeare’s classic Romeo and Juliet via her hit song ‘Love Story,’ songwriter Kate Bush released ‘Wuthering Heights’ on her album The Kick Inside in 1978. Bush uses the song to reimagine the emotional romance of main characters Heathcliff and Catherine in the classic novel Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte.

Related: see our Taylor Swift songs list to hear ‘Love Story. ’

1984 – David Bowie

In the 70s, a musical adaptation of George Orwell’s futuristic-dystopian classic novel 1984 was in the works. Songwriter David Bowie was busy developing his “plastic soul” sound and jumped at the opportunity to write the music for the play. Though the play would never come to fruition, Bowie included the title track for the play on his album, Diamond Dogs.

Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds – The Beatles

John Lennon’s son Julian brought home a picture from class that he drew which inspired the title of this Beatle’s hit. ‘Lucy in The Sky with Diamonds’ was the title Julian gave to his drawing, a sketch of one of his classmates. Lennon ran with the title and used imagery from Alice In Wonderland sequel Through The Looking-Glass to serve as inspiration for the verses of the song.

Related: See more songs with girls names.

Ramble On – Led Zeppelin

Band member and songwriter Robert Plant’s admiration for Lord of the Rings writer J.R.R. Tolkien is well-known. ‘Ramble On’ contains quite a few references to Tolkien’s book series. He would later admit he was embarassed about it because the song’s references aren’t in keeping with Tolkien’s story. Though this was a popular song, Led Zeppelin never played the song from beginning to end live as a band.

Who Wrote Holden Caulfield? – Green Day

Holden Caufield is the main character in J.D. Salinger’s book, The Catcher In The Rye. It’s overarching theme deals with disaffected youth. Surprisingly, when tasked with reading it in high school, Green Day frontman Billi Joe Armstrong hated reading it. Later on however, he revisited it due to its “punk rock” themes and developed a new appreciation for the American classic.

Scentless Apprentice – Nirvana

This Nirvana collaboration was inspired by the dark novel, Perfume, written by Patrick Suskind in which an apprentice at a perfume shop begins taking women’s lives for their scents (the apprentice has a keen sense of smell, but no smell of his own). All three members of Nirvana are credited with writing this track. A nine minute version is included on one of their compilation CDs.

Don’t Stand So Close To Me – The Police

The Police frontman Sting wrote this secret love song about one of the most controversial novels of all time, Lolita by Russian author Vladimir Nabokov. The story revolves around an older man’s infatuation with a young girl. Before joining The Police, Sting was a teacher. When the song came out there was speculation it was autobiographical until he set the record straight. In the UK, this was the best-selling song of 1980.

China in Your Hand – T’Pau

Lead singer Carole Decker watched a documentary on Frankenstein author Mary Shelley and other poopular writers during Shelley’s time. Though Shelley was younger, she outsold many of her writer friends after the release of her gothic novel. This created a lot of resentment in both her marriage to fellow writer Percy Bysshe Shelley and other professionals. The song echos Shelley’s story and a line from the book, “Don’t push too hard, your dreams are china in your hand.”

Wrapped Up in Books – Belle and Sebastian

Detailing two lovers’ intimate thoughts about each other and where they are headed, Belle and Sebastian draw on literary metaphors to tell this demure, romantic story. Nods to poet Robert Frost’s The Road Not Taken are tucked away in the lyrical story. Literary genres like fantasy are also referenced to represent the wishful thinking of the characters in the song.

Paperback Writer – The Beatles

Paul McCartney wrote this tune with the writing industry as a whole in mind. He had just finished helping set up the Indica bookstore, and bandmate John Lennon had two published books under his belt. The idea behind the song is a writer pitching a publisher a story idea. Paperback books were once considered of lower quality than hard copies because they were written for mass consumption. Thus, in the song about a profession, it is insinuated the author isn’t all that great.

Book Club – Arkells

A metaphorical story of friendship, Arkells’ tune ‘Book Club’ reveals how “women and music” can help two people bond. Lyrics from the song talk about two friends trading so many books they felt like a library, driving around listening to music, and growing up with all of these artistic influences greatly affecting their life into adulthood.

Flow Like Poe – MC Lars

MC Lars tackles the complicated world of poetic meter with this rap, referencing writers like Poe and Shakespeare who had a particularly melodic feel to their writing. The rapper goes over definitions for phrases and words like iambic pentameter and tetrameter, and relates them to how he flows when he’s on the mic. The song is a great lesson, and represents the poetic nature of spoen word and rap that often gets overlooked.

The Book I Read – Talking Heads

This quirky tune takes on a double-meaning when you listen to the lyrics. Told from the perspective of a man who’s fallen in love, the listener is left to wonder as he analyzes the lines if it’s a person he’s fallen in love, a book, or both. Take a listen to Talking Head’s ‘The Book I Read’ and see what you think it’s about.

Venus in Furs – The Velvet Underground

Rock band The Velvet Underground often loved recording music that would shock listeners, and ‘Venus in Furs’ did just that. Written in honor of an illicit novel popular with the counter-culture at the time, it brings together taboo subject matter meant to stir up buttoned-up audiences at the time of its release in the late 60s.

Rocket Man – Elton John

Space exploration was huge during the release of Elton John’s ‘Rocket Man.’ Naturally, due to its title and space-themed lyrics, many assumed songwriter Bernie Taupin was inspired by the timely Apollo missions. However, Taupin wrote the lyrics for ‘Rocket Man’ after reading sci-fi writer Ray Bradbury’s short story. The Rocket Man. The short story tells the tale of the emotional departure of a father who is an astronaut being sent on a mission into space.

Pet Sematary – Ramones

Two Ramones songs appeared in the 1989 movie Pet Cemetary, a film adaptation of Stephen King’s popular, eerie novel by the same name. Aside from the Ramone’s ‘Pet Cemetary,’ their tune ‘Sheena is a Punk Rocker’ also made it into the soundtrack for the film. Though they didn’t get much airplay at first on MTV, their creepy music videos caught the channel’s attention and they began featuring the band more.

Related: This features on our list of Halloween songs.

Yertle the Turtle – Red Hot Chili Peppers

Anthony Kiedis’ lyrics for their song dedicated to the Dr. Suess book came directly from the book itself. Drawing on lines from the story, the moral is that all creatures should be free. Dr. Suess wrote the book in a post-WWII era still reeling from the fallout of several despotic rulers. Dr, Seuss stories didn’t just rhyme, they had a specific poetic style to them known as “meter.” In his case, he wrote in anapestic tetrameter.

The Book Of Love – Peter Gabriel

Often used as a wedding song over the years, ‘The Book of Love’ is different from much of what Gabriel has previously recorded. It’s a deeply romantic tune that creates a bridge between the long journey of love between two people and the metaphorical book they write over the years while together.

Related: This brilliant piece appears on our playlist of romantic songs.

Black Blade – Blue Öyster Cult

Blue Oyster Cult band member Eric Bloom developed a close relationship with science fiction writer Michael Moorcock which had a large impact on Bloom’s songwriting. ‘Black Blade’ is inspired by one of Moorcock’s fictional characters who carried around a large sword that got stronger as it took lives. Bloom and Moorcock became so close, the sci-fi writer helped Bloom write lyrics by snail mail correspondence in the 70s and 80s.

A song about reading - LES

But how sizzling these words burn
Next to the smoldering of the raw word.
These words set in motion
Thousands of years millions of hearts

(c) Vladimir Mayakovsky

I have always been of the opinion that our character is not something that we should protect as some kind of value, it is something that we are called to transform. Throughout our lives, we are looking for ways to gain knowledge for the transformation of character, to obtain those small heterogeneous bricks from which we assemble our worldview - the basis of our personality. Maybe the statement “The book is a source of knowledge” has become a banality, a tattered cliché, but it would be better if it turned into the statement “The book is a source of information”. nine0006

This leads to the theme that knowledge is not equal to information. Dry information that is thrown into our heads by facts (in particular, into the heads of schoolchildren and students) from the textbooks around us, lecture courses and other chewed sources invented by teachers, more often contributes to the degradation of knowledge than helps to learn to read.

Textbooks are essentially pop music. They are written for those who cannot read or do not set themselves such a task. People who cannot read are often quite suggestible and greedy for other people's opinions: it is difficult to resist false authorities when you do not have your own inner “core”. Such people have a lot of prejudices in their heads, which they operate with as facts, but nothing more. Such people are able to perceive any spit in the news for an event of historical importance, fleeting trends of life for development / progress, and all the facts that they throw in your face are built on stereotypes (although these shots themselves, for credibility, unanimously yell: “Scientists have proven !. ."). How, one wonders, to communicate with a person whose head is full of empty information? ..

Textbooks can never develop your taste. Perhaps I am speaking now from the point of view of an aesthete, but does not the choice that we constantly and everywhere make primarily depend on aesthetic experience? And the firmer your taste, the more resolute your choice, the freer you are from lies, the ring of which you become able to break through. Whether you will be happier after a truly meaningful reading or not, it already depends on you. But there is no doubt that the aesthetic pleasure of reading correctly opens one's eyes to many new things! nine0006

But how do you learn to read correctly?

Zhuangzi (Chinese ex. 庄子 )

I want to give an extremely ideal example on which work with a text should be based (I mean not only an artistic text, but also a scientific text that can be useful when writing individual graduation work, for example). The ancient Chinese Taoist sage Chuang Tzu tells of a master cabinetmaker Qin. Once he carved a frame for bells out of wood. When the frame was finished, everyone was amazed: the frame was so beautiful, as if the gods themselves had worked it. The ruler of Lu saw the frame and asked: “What is the secret of your art?” “What secret can your servant, a craftsman, have? replied the cabinet maker Qing. “Well, there are still some. When your servant thinks about starting work, he does not dare to waste his spiritual strength and gradually gets rid of thoughts of honors and awards, ranks and salaries over the course of several days; about praise and blasphemy, skill and inability. And then I achieve such concentration of the spirit that I forget about myself. Then the royal court ceases to exist for me. My art captures me completely, and everything that distracts me ceases to exist for me. And if the work doesn't work out, I put it off. When I work, the heavenly unites with the heavenly - is not that why my work seems as if divine? Skeptics would call my example a utopian ideal, but I will venture to say that such an example is worth learning from. After all, the skill of reading can be developed to such a level of skill that in the process you will forget about everything that does not concern the book. nine0006

A good reader is able to discern the emotional underpinnings of any literature. And it, in turn, is divided into scientific (the direct task of which is to report something) and artistic (the direct task of which is to create something). My idea is that any knowledge in writing cannot be conveyed without any emotion behind the text, whether it be a scientific or artistic text. The difference lies in one thing: authors of fiction and authors of scientific works have different goals. The author-artist seeks to put as many hidden meanings and weighty meanings into his lines as possible in order to show the reader all the richness of the power and images of the language. And the author-scientist appreciates its semantics in the word. nine0006

In your opinion, what literature, fiction or science, do you think most people have the ability to read? If you think that everything is obvious here and that it will not be difficult, of course, to be able to read fiction, then I congratulate you: you are mistaken. This is the most common misconception.

Fiction books rich in images undoubtedly bring more pleasure from reading than dry scientific ones. But is it just pleasure? "No!" - you will say, remembering the example of an ancient Chinese master. nine0003

Imagine a book in your head as an endless landscape. In the case of a fiction book, you would imagine water... a lot of water... no! a whole ocean, the depths of which are unexplored and hidden from the eyes of space with its own unique world of feelings and emotions. In such an ocean, you can not only plunge headlong - you can drown in such an ocean.

Under these conditions, a scientific treatise appears, perhaps, more like a wide, but meager plain, lying in front of you, as if in the palm of your hand, but, alas, devoid of that artistic depth. nine0006

Of course, it is easier to enjoy reading than to learn from scientific papers, but at the same time it is much more difficult to understand exactly what part of the ocean caused this aesthetic pleasure .

Thus it can be said that beauty is a more elusive concept than truth .

So, if scientific literature conveys to us some concrete knowledge about the surrounding world, the processes taking place in it, etc., then what do we gain from fiction? nine0006

Here it is important to understand the relationship between the author and the reader, or rather in their conversation, which is more like a game. The task of the author in this "game" is to make his thoughts and feelings amenable to comprehension, some kind of transformation in the reader's head. Moreover, it is absolutely not important whether the reader's conclusions coincide with the original author's thoughts and feelings! The task of the reader is to be able to grab from the book all the meanings that he is able to understand and transform them into life experience. Therefore, fiction can really perform a teaching function, and not just an aesthetic one, because it seeks to express a specific human experience .

Of course, the experiences of each person are individual and belong only to him. It is impossible to make others feel exactly what you feel yourself. Knowledge is made to be shared (scientific literature or fiction does a good job with this, if we are talking about experience). But experience cannot be shared in the truest sense of the word. An experience can be created in another person's heart. And only a truly good author is able to create a vivid experience, to make the reader's soul tremble with excitement. A brilliant writer or poet, like an artist who creates blindly, masterfully moves his brush over our imagination, using those words (colors) that can evoke a holistic and multifaceted emote similar to his own. A work of fiction, through fiction, leads us by the hand to a real (and completely personal!) experience - this is another function of fiction. Here is the same connection, that facet , which is the same for literature and reality ! And this very line is seen by a person who can (according to my essay) read.

In addition to my words, I will quote a poem by a Russian poetess of the 20th century, Veronika Tushnova:

I open a lonely volume -
A volume in shedding binding.
A man wrote these lines.
I don't know for whom he wrote.
Let him think and love differently,
And we haven't met in centuries...
If I cry from these lines,
So they were intended for me.

The better you understand the reasons for your own delight in reading fiction, the closer you come to understanding the value of this work.

A person does not know that life can throw him up from time to time. Every day we play endless chess with her, not knowing at the same time what kind of piece we are holding in our hands and putting at risk - a king or a pawn. Everything that we put on the line, in fact, can fall apart in one second.

This is not a lie.

This is what literature teaches us.

She is the shadow side of life, speaking to us in the same language as life itself . And this sincere language saves us at certain moments from despair, from stepping into the abyss.

Listen to Shazams, read lyrics, and watch video clips

In addition to lightning-fast song recognition, Shazam lets you listen to songs, read lyrics in sync with your performance, and watch short versions of Apple Music videos and YouTube video clips.

Listening to full songs in Shazam and watching music videos from Apple Music is available to Apple Music subscribers. See the Apple Support article Sign up for Apple Music. nine0006

Listen to recognized songs

1. In Shazam, do one of the following:

2. Do any of the following.

   • Play recent songs. Tap on a song in the Recent Shazams section (or tap on the album art or song title, then tap on the song screen).

   • Plays recognized songs. Tap Shazams, then tap Play or tap next to a song. nine0006

     Tap to hide the Now Playing screen, or tap to return to the Now Playing screen.

   • Play recognized artist songs. Tap Artists, then tap next to an artist.

     The artist's playlist of songs will appear below the playback controls. Touch any song in the list to play it.

     On an iPhone or iPad, tap or to show or hide upcoming songs. nine0006

   When Shazam is connected to Spotify, you can only listen to snippets of songs. If the app is disconnected from Spotify but the songs on your iPhone or iPad still don't play fully, go to Settings > Privacy & Security > Media & Apple Music, then turn on Shazam.

View recognized songs

1. In Shazam, do one of the following: nine0006

2. Tap Shazams, then scroll through the song list.

   If you have many songs, drag the slider that appears on the right side of the screen to move quickly through the list. As you scroll, the songs will be displayed sorted by date.

Search for recognized songs on iPhone and iPad

1. In Shazam, tap My Music at the bottom of the screen.

2. Swipe down below the Play button to display the search box, then enter a song title or artist name in the box. nine0006

View Lyrics of a Recognized Song

You can read the lyrics of a song in sync with the performance if the song has just been recognized or some time ago.

Lyrics are not available for all songs.

In the Shazam app on iPhone, iPad, or Android, do one of the following:

• View the lyrics of the newly recognized song, synchronized with the performance. nine0121 Touch immediately after recognizing the song.

  Tap to hide text.

  Lyrics synchronized with the performance are available only when the current song is playing.

• View the lyrics of a previously recognized song. Tap any song, then tap .