My Top Ten Stephen King Songs

My favourite writer has inspired, and been inspired by, all kinds of interesting songs... here's a few that share a title with the greatest hits of Stephen King's back catalogue.

By the way, I already did a Top 10 Misery Songs back on the old blog. Search that one out for Kathy Bates and her sledgehammer. 


10. James - The Shining

Stephen King stole the title of The Shining from Lennon's Instant Karma ("We all shine on...") James stole the title from King, as did Badly Drawn Boy. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.

9. Murder By Death - Holy Lord, Shawshank Redemption Is Such A Good Movie

No idea why they decided to call this track what they did, since its only lyrics are...

You're all the way over there but we can dance to your music from here.

...but nevertheless, points for the title.

8. The Ramones - Pet Sematary

The first King novel I read, back when I was only 14, and the one that got me hooked. This track was written for the less-than-great movie adaptation by a past-their-prime Ramones. Still. You take what you can get.

7. Bob Dylan - From A Buick 6

Despite his love of music, this is one of the few King novels to steal its title wholesale from a rock 'n' roll song. But if you're gonna steal, you might as well steal from Saint Bob. Everyone else does.

6. Cliff Richard - Carrie

The first, but I'm sorry to say, probably not the last time Sir Cliff will find his way onto this blog. I have a shameless soft spot for his mid-70s output... though I'm sure he'd be horrified at the suggestion that his song might have any connection to King's pig-blood drenched heroine.

5. Faithless - Insomnia

I can't get no sleep

Serves you right for reading SK just before bed, Maxi. 

4. House Of Love - Christine

I'm sure the Christine in question had very little in common with King's killer car... but this is a cracker nevertheless.

3. The Prodigy - Firestarter

Backstage at the V96 Festival, a mate of mine pulled Keith from The Prodigy round on a child's ride-on tractor.

Firestarter isn't one of King's best novels, but the movie adaptation was better than some. Good cast, at least, including Drew Barrymore, David Keith, Martin Sheen, George C. Scott and Heather Locklear (who was contractually obliged to appear because it was 1984).

2. Ben E. King - Stand By Me

The movie of the same name was adapted from King's novella 'The Body', so he didn't steal the title of Ben E. King's classic soul heartwrencher himself. But it was a perfect fit.

1. The Alarm - The Stand

Directly inspired by King's magnum opus.

Oh I have been out searching 
With the black book in my hand 
And I've looked between the lines that lie on the pages that I tread 
I met the walking dude, religious, in his worn down cowboy boots 
And he walked liked no man on earth 
I swear he had no name 
I swear he had no name 

Got a favourite song with the same title as a Stephen King book? Celine Dion's Tommyknockers, perhaps? Share it with the class...

My Top Ten Beach Boys Songs

50 years. Wow.

I could pick up any Beach Boys Greatest Hits album and the first ten tracks would blow most other records recorded in the last fifty years out of the water. With lots of surf spray. So, yeah, this was another damned hard chart to compile...


10. Lady Lynda

A late 70s comeback record that was a surprise hit in the UK. Mostly an Al Jardine song, it steals heavily from Johann Sebastian Bach's Jesu, Joy of Mans Desiring. One of the few classic Beach Boys records I can actually say I heard first time round... unless you count Kokomo. Which I do have great fondness for, but not enough to include it in a Top Ten... or even Twenty.

9. Long Promised Road

Everyone always says Pet Sounds is the greatest Beach Boys album, and far be it from me to argue with the experts. However, my personal favourite is Surf's Up, from their troubled early 70s phase. Here, as on the best Brian Wilson songs, the sunshine is tempered with darker shadows. Surprisingly, though, this was brother Carl's first full composition for the band. You wouldn't know it.

8. Don't Worry, Baby

One of Brian's early heartbreakers.

7. Sloop John B

Not that I'm about to ignore Pet Sounds entirely. Not an original composition, Sloop John B is actually based on an old folk song, The John B. Sails. One of the most covered songs in the Beach Boys canon, the original is also heavily referenced by other artists, most notably Okkervil River's haunting John Allyn Smith Sails.

6. California Girls

I can't help but be upset when I type 'California G...' into youtube and all I get are Katy Perry tracks. I must be getting old.

Let's face it, when the Beatles write a song that's little more than a parody record of one of your songs, you've pretty much got it made.

5. Surfin' USA

The archetypal Beach Boys song, from the early days. That opening riff never fails to make me want to hit the beach. They're often pigeonholed for writing sunshine / good times surfing songs... but not every surfin' song is automatically about sunshine...

4. Surf's Up

Some accuse Van Dyke Parks of writing pretentious, pseudo-poetic lyrics. And if you were merely to read the words to this song, you'd probably agree. Yet, when you hear them sung by Brian Wilson, accompanied by his ethereal, piano-led music... it's hard not to find them magical. A song that reminds me of the dark, spooky atmosphere Ray Bradbury created when writing Something Wicked This Way Comes. Yes, it's that good. 

3. Good Vibrations

A truly revolutionary recording. Pop music would never be the same again.

2. Heroes And Villains

The first Brian Wilson / Van Dyke Parks collaboration, a song that gets inside your head and just won't get out. I've listened to it thousands of times and I still haven't a clue what it's about. Perhaps that's why I love it.

1. God Only Knows

The greatest love song ever written? And it begins with the line "I may not always love you." That is the very definition of genius.




So, it was a damned hard list to compile. Which of your favourites did I miss out? Darlin'? Tears In The Morning? Do It Again? I Can Hear Music? Wouldn't It Be Nice? Lonely Sea? The one with Paul McCartney chewing a carrot? And which would have been your surfin' supremo? Do tell...

My Top Ten Boom Songs

It amazes me sometimes what I find to make a Top Ten out of...

There were many, many truly awful records with the word Boom in the title... but you won't find the likes of The Outhere Brothers, The Vengaboys, N-Tyce or Shaggy cluttering up this chart.

10. Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince - Boom Boom (Shake The Room)

You will, however, find Will Smith and that other bloke, if only because I'm feeling nostalgic for 1993. For a limited time only.

Don't worry, this list does get better...

9. Westworld - Sonic Boom Boy

...but perhaps not quite yet.

Those people who say the 80s have a lot to answer for... they might be right.

8. The Shangri-Las- Sophisticated Boom Boom

Now this, this is more like it.

Better yet, this is from a compilation album which describes the Shangri-Las as "The Myrmidons of Melodrama". Which would make Morrissey proud. Except for the fact that "Myrmidons", despite how fancy it sounds, were either vicious warriors, unscrupulous ruffians, loyal followers or "ant-people", depending on which Ancient Greek translation you want to follow. None of which does any kind of justice to the mighty, mighty Shangri-Las. Mermaids of Melodrama, perhaps?

7. James - Boom Boom

Tim Booth's tribute to Basil Brush. No, really, Mr. Roy.

6. Warren Zevon - Boom Boom Mancini

I was saving this for my Top Ten Boxing Songs, but who knows when I'll get round to that?

Hurry home early - hurry on home
Boom Boom Mancini's fighting Bobby Chacon

5. John Lee Hooker - Boom Boom

And now, I'm gonna shoot you right down.

4. Flight of the Conchords - Boom

Oh my God. She's so hot. She's so flippin' hot. She's like a curry.
I want to tell her how hot she is, but she'll think I'm being sexist.
She's so hot she's making me sexist.
Bitch.

3. Imelda May - Johnny's Got A Boom Boom

And Imelda's got a quiff to make Morrissey jealous.

2. The Crew Cuts - Sh-Boom (Life Could Be A Dream)

Hey nonny ding dong, alang alang alang
Boom ba-doh, ba-doo ba-doodle-ay

They don't write 'em like that anymore.

1. The Hives - Tick Tick... Boom!

The Hives were only supposed to blow the bloody doors off. But this one blows the roof off too.




Those were my boombastic belters... but which one makes your heart go boom?

My Top Ten Brooklyn Songs

Loads of ideas for Top Ten lists... not enough time to write them. Here's another entry into my musical tour of the USA, stopping off in one of the five boroughs of New York City... because if I start trying to tackle the city as a whole, I'll be here till the end of time.

10. Al Stewart - In Brooklyn

Admittedly, this 10th spot would have gone to John Peel favourites Bob with their 1989 single 'Esmerelda Brooklyn'... if only I'd been able to find it anywhere online. Al Stewart gets a pass instead, a well-deserving runner-up.

9. Fun Lovin' Criminals - Swashbucklin' In Brooklyn

Gets in on the title alone.

8. Barton Carroll - Brooklyn Girl, You're Gonna Be My Bride

Seattle's Barton Carroll has a nicely cynical Nick Lowe-ish edge to his songwriting.

I'm not a dandy or the sharpest knife in the drawer
and I've always had to work with my hands,
But I use what I was given and I work for a living
and that's more than you can say for your man.

7. Woodkid - Brooklyn

Every now and then, in the course of compiling these charts, I come across a song I've never heard before by an artist I've never heard before, that's really quite lovely. I was taken with this one, until Louise came in and asked, "What are you listening to - it sounds like Kermit." Too late, I'd already downloaded it from Amazon. On her account (accidentally) - that''ll teach her to leave it signed on!

6. Steely Dan - Brooklyn (Owes The Charmer Under Me)

As with most Steely Dan song, I've no idea what this is about. But it still sounds damned good.

5. The Black Keys - Brooklyn Bound

Could have been recorded any time in the last 50 years. I think that makes it timeless.

4. Jesse Malin - Brooklyn

Ten years ago, Jesse Malin released an album, The Fine Art of Self-Destruction, which still remains his career best. This song goes a long way towards explaining why.

3. Brooklyn Bridge - The Worst That Could Happen

Yes, I'm breaking one of my main rules here, but I couldn't resist. This one's a classic, written by the great Jimmy Webb, sung like his life depended on it by the late Johnny Maestro and his band... Brooklyn Bridge.

2. The Avett Brothers - I And Love And You

Someone on youtube describes them as "the American Mumford & Sons", which isn't a bad comparison. This is the most beautiful song they've yet recorded. Oh, and Brooklyn features heavily, even if it doesn't appear in the title.

1. The Beastie Boys - No Sleep Till Brooklyn

Inevitably. 

Were the Beastie Boys ever really this young? Were any of us...?




They were Brooklyn's best... unless you know different. As always, let me know your favourites - or any I left out...

My Top Ten Songs About Elvis

Because, as Neil Young will remind us later in this list, He Was The King.

Before I begin, can I just point out that much as I love 'The King of Rock 'n' Roll' by Prefab Sprout... it ain't about Elvis. Just in case you were wondering...


10. The Gaslight Anthem - Wherefore Art Thou, Elvis?

Then again, I'm not sure this is much about Elvis either. But it's more about Elvis than Paddy's song was. Honest.

9. Phil Lynott - King's Call

It was a rainy night the night the king went down
Everybody was crying it seemed like sadness had surrounded the town
Me, I went to the liquor store
And I bought a bottle of wine and a bottle of gin
I played his records all night
Drinking with a close, close friend

Featuring Mark Knopfler... not the last we'll hear from him on this list.

8. Generation X - King Rocker

No one owes their career (and their sneer) to Elvis more than Billy Idol.

7. Dire Straits - Calling Elvis

The video features a freakish Gerry Anderson style Knopfler puppet. It scares the hell out of me.

6. Manic Street Preachers - Elvis Impersonator: Blackpool Pier

American trilogy in Lancashire Pottery

5. Gillian Welch - Elvis Presley Blues

Just a country boy that combed his hair
And put on a shirt his mother made and went on the air
And he shook it like a chorus girl
And he shook it like a Harlem queen
He shook it like a midnight rebel, baby
Like you never seen

4. Bruce Springsteen - Goodbye, Johnny

In which Bruce tries to break into Graceland to meet Elvis... and ends up writing a song about it (with a little help from Chuck Berry).

3. Belle & Sebastian - A Century Of Elvis

In which Elvis moves in with B&S bassist Stuart David... and watches a lot of TV.

2. Neil Young - He Was The King

The last time I saw Elvis
He was shooting at a colour TV
The phones were ringing in the pink motel
And the rest is history
He was the King

See also Hey Hey, My My / My My, Hey Hey... the songs that gave Kurt Cobain his suicide note.

1. Kirsty MacColl - There's a Guy Works Down the Chip Shop Swears He's Elvis

We miss you, Kirsty.

And Elvis too.

See also Killen ner' på Konsum svär att han är Elvis: the, erm, Swedish cover version by Elisabeth Andreassen.



Thank you very much.