The inspirations for songs can be acquired anywhere. This is usually how art works anyway. Sometimes, songwriters come up with the inspiration from the most unlikely places?although there are times when they get inspiration from the most obvious and typical sources. One of these obvious sources is literature. Literature has inspired some of the best works of art known to man, and its inspiration in music is no exception. So because of this, there are currently a lot of songs and lyrics that were inspired by books. These books may be as classic as George Orwell's 1984 but they can also be as contemporary as Dave Pelzer's A Child Called ?It.? Here are some songs and lyrics created and penned thanks to the inspiration brought by books.



?Who Wrote Holden Caulfield,? by Green Day

In an interview, Green Day Singer Billie Joe Armstrong said he didn't like the novel The Catcher In The Rye by J.D. Salinger when he was made to read it during high school. However, the novel indeed has a universal appeal, as Armstrong was struck by the character of Holden Caulfield (the protagonist of the novel) when he read it again. This prompted him to write the music and the lyrics for ?Who Wrote Holden Caulfield.? The lyrics do not make direct references to Holden. However, the lyrics are clear enough for anyone who knows the novel to realize that they pertain to Holden?and everyone else who can relate to this iconic character. Particularly, this part of the lyrics ring true about Holden: ?There's a boy who fogs his world and now he's getting lazy / There's no motivation and frustration makes him crazy / He makes a plan to take a stand but always ends up sitting. / Someone help him up or he's gonna end up quitting?

?1984,? by David Bowie

A quick look at the title would reveal that this song by glam rock pioneer David Bowie was inspired by the novel of the same by George Orwell. In fact, David Bowie wrote two other songs inspired by 1984: ?Big Brother? and ?We Are Dead.? Before these songs were released in his album Diamond Dogs, Bowie played to create a musical based on the novel, but the estate of the author did not give him the rights. Instead, he released these songs in an album and cited the music and the lyrics of most of the songs inspired by 1984. The lyrics of the song are certainly fit to be in a musical: ?They'll split your pretty cranium, and fill it full of air / And tell that you're eighty, but brother, you wont care / You'll be shooting up on anything, tomorrows never there / Beware the savage jaw / Of 1984.?

?For Whom the Bell Tolls,? by Metallica

Another song and lyrics inspired by a classic novel, Metallica's song ?For Whom The Bell Tolls? was obviously based on the novel of the same novel by Ernest Hemingway. The lyrics of the song resonate with the themes of the novel. For instance, ?Make his fight on the hill in the early day / Constant chill deep inside / Shouting gun, on they run through the endless grey / On the fight, for they are right, yes, by who's to say??