Self referential songs

[David W]

I have been mulling this over a while - is there any other band as self referential as Fairport, from Come All Ye on Liege and Lief, Angel Delight, Hungarian Rhapsody through to Our Bus Rolls On, Festival Bell, Summer by the Cherwell.

What are folks thoughts on this?

DW

[Dan O.]

Bo Diddley ?   :

Bo Diddley
Go Bo Diddley
Bo Diddley in the Spotlight
Bo Diddley Is a Gunslinger
Bo Diddley Is a Lover
Bo Diddley's a Twister
Bo Diddley & Company
Surfin' with Bo Diddley

and many more...

[Sue & Chris]

I have been mulling this over a while - is there any other band as self referential as Fairport, from Come All Ye on Liege and Lief, Angel Delight, Hungarian Rhapsody through to Our Bus Rolls On, Festival Bell, Summer by the Cherwell.

What are folks thoughts on this?

DW

Zappa?

Road Ladies, Punky's Whips, Stevie's Spanking, etc.

[John From Austin]

The Who - Pete Townshend writes very personal lyrics and references his and the band's history:

You Better You Bet: "I got your body right now on my mind/But I drunk myself blind/To the sound of old T-Rex/To the sound of old T-Rex/Oh, and Who's Next?"
The Punk and the Godfather: "I'm the new president/And I grew and I bent/Don't you know, don't it show?/I'm the punk with the stutter/My, my, my, my, my g-g-generation"
How Many Friends: "When I first signed a contract/It was more than a handshake then/I know it still is/But there's a plain fact/We talk so much s**t behind each other's backs/I get the willies"
New Song: "My fingers kill me as I play my guitar/'Cause I've been chewing down at my nails/My hairline ain't exactly superstar/But there's one thing that never fails/This never fails/I write the same old song with a few new lines/And everybody wants to cheer it/I write the same old song you heard a good few times/Admit you really want to hear it"
Who Are You: "I woke up in a Soho doorway/A policeman knew my name/He said "You can go sleep at home tonight/If you can get up and walk away"/I staggered back to the underground/And the breeze blew back my hair/I remember throwing punches around/And preaching from my chair"
Long Live Rock: "People walk in sideways pretending that they're leaving/We put on our makeup and work out all the lead-ins/Jackie's (Curblshley) in the alley selling tickets made in Hong Kong/Promoter's in the pay box wondering where the band's gone/Back in the pub the governor stops the clock/Rock is dead they say/Long live rock"

[Peter H-K]

The Who - Pete Townshend writes very personal lyrics and references his and the band's history:

You Better You Bet: "I got your body right now on my mind/But I drunk myself blind/To the sound of old T-Rex/To the sound of old T-Rex/Oh, and Who's Next?"
The Punk and the Godfather: "I'm the new president/And I grew and I bent/Don't you know, don't it show?/I'm the punk with the stutter/My, my, my, my, my g-g-generation"
How Many Friends: "When I first signed a contract/It was more than a handshake then/I know it still is/But there's a plain fact/We talk so much s**t behind each other's backs/I get the willies"
New Song: "My fingers kill me as I play my guitar/'Cause I've been chewing down at my nails/My hairline ain't exactly superstar/But there's one thing that never fails/This never fails/I write the same old song with a few new lines/And everybody wants to cheer it/I write the same old song you heard a good few times/Admit you really want to hear it"
Who Are You: "I woke up in a Soho doorway/A policeman knew my name/He said "You can go sleep at home tonight/If you can get up and walk away"/I staggered back to the underground/And the breeze blew back my hair/I remember throwing punches around/And preaching from my chair"
Long Live Rock: "People walk in sideways pretending that they're leaving/We put on our makeup and work out all the lead-ins/Jackie's (Curblshley) in the alley selling tickets made in Hong Kong/Promoter's in the pay box wondering where the band's gone/Back in the pub the governor stops the clock/Rock is dead they say/Long live rock"

True, except it's "Jack is in the alley" (just double-checked the lyric sheet on my 1974 copy of Odds and Sods to make extra sure!). Not clear why the tour manager's wife would sell fake tickets .... (Curbishley first managed tours in 1971, but wasn't the band's manager until 1976).

I guess a case could be made for certain lyrics on Endless Wire being somewhat self-referential ("people died where I performed"), even though that's part of a story about a fictitious band. And there's similarly self-referential stuff on Who (the whole of 'All This Music Must Fade' and 'I Don't Want to Get Wise').

By the way, I saw Roger Daltrey live on his recent solo tour. Man, he and his band would be great for Cropredy!

[davidmjs]

By the way, I saw Roger Daltrey live on his recent solo tour. Man, he and his band would be great for Cropredy!

Who was in the band...did it include Simon T?

[Peter H-K]

By the way, I saw Roger Daltrey live on his recent solo tour. Man, he and his band would be great for Cropredy!

Who was in the band...did it include Simon T?

It did, along with Katie Jacoby, Ben Townshend (Simon's son), Jody Linscott, Billy Nicholls, and a wealth of other people I can't recall the names of I'm afraid! I was at the Liverpool gig: it's worth looking at the version of Young Man Blues on YouTube from that gig to see how stunning it was. His voice is unbelievable for a 78-year-old!

[Andy]

Off the top of my head, self referential songs:

Fire and Rain - James Taylor
At Seventeen - Janis Ian
A New England - Billy Bragg*
Oh Carole - Neil Sedaka
Oh Neil - Carole King
Alice's Restaurant - Arlo Guthrie
Our House - Graham Nash*
River - Joni Mitchell*
Hurt - Trent Reznor
Golden Brown - Stranglers

*All these writers have written numerous songs about themselves, their lovers, their lives.

[Jules Gray]

Off the top of my head:

Fire and Rain - James Taylor
At Seventeen - Janis Ian
A New England - Billy Bragg
Oh Carole - Neil Sedaka
Oh Neil - Carole King
Alice's Restaurant - Arlo Guthrie
Our House - Graham Nash
River - Joni Mitchell
Hurt - Trent Reznor

Those are autobiographical songs. The list of those would be endless. I thought what David was looking for were songs by bands about bands.

Mott the Hoople did Ballad of Mott and Saturday Gigs, for example.

Jules

[Andy]

Those are autobiographical songs. The list of those would be endless. I thought what David was looking for were songs by bands about bands.

Mott the Hoople did Ballad of Mott and Saturday Gigs, for example.

Jules

Ah, ok. It's late.

Hmmm. Didn't the Clash do a song about being the Clash?

Also, what about Rumours by Fleetwood Mac? The whole album is about... Fleetwood Mac.

[Jules Gray]

Hmmm. Didn't the Clash do a song about being the Clash?

They did at least two: Clash City Rockers, and the woeful We Are The Clash (which Sparks covered, hilariously... they vastly improved it too).

Jules

[Peter H-K]

Hey, Hey We’re the Monkees ….

[davidmjs]

Those are autobiographical songs. The list of those would be endless. I thought what David was looking for were songs by bands about bands.

Mott the Hoople did Ballad of Mott and Saturday Gigs, for example.

Jules

Ah, ok. It's late.

Hmmm. Didn't the Clash do a song about being the Clash?

Also, what about Rumours by Fleetwood Mac? The whole album is about... Fleetwood Mac.

Cocaine can do that...  

[David W]

What do we think about the FC songs about themselves / Cropredy - does The Crowd stand alongside Angel Delight or Summer by the Cherwell alongside Hungarian Rhapsody?

[mickf]

I don't think Summer By the Cherwell should stand anywhere....just let it rest (in peace!)

[Lubiloo (Lorna)]

Jason Derulo!!  

[Shankly (Peter)]

In the heavy metal arena, there's Manowar, who sing many songs about themselves.

[Jules Gray]

In the heavy metal arena, there's Manowar, who sing many songs about themselves.

Well, nobody else was going to.

Jules

[ColinB]

Looking up self-referential on yourdictionary.com is says -

"The definition of self-referential is to say or write something about yourself."

In that case Ian McNabb should get a mention. Dan O might be better qualified to list the songs Ian has written about himself or the Icicle Works but "I Never Saw My Hometown Till I Went Around the World" comes to mind along with "Fire Inside My Soul".

[davidmjs]

In the heavy metal arena, there's Manowar, who sing many songs about themselves.

Well, nobody else was going to.

Jules