5 Bands Who Named Themselves After Books

Literary passages and figures, novels, novellas, anthologies, and books have triggered countless songs throughout history. With their 1988 And Justice For All… hit “One,” Metallica looked to American writer Dalton Trumbo’s 1939 anti-war novel Johnny Got His Gun. Kate Bush adapted Emily Bronte’s 1847 darkly romantic novel for her 1978 hit “Wuthering Heights,” and The Beatles’ 1967 Magical Mystery Tour track “I Am the Walrus” referred to Lewis Carroll’s poem “The Walrus And The Carpenter,” from his 1871 book Through The Looking Glass.

Throughout music history, books have also influenced the name of a band. Public Image Ltd (PiL) was inspired by Scottish writer Muriel Spark’s 1968 novel The Public Image, about an actress Annabel Christopher, who is obsessed with keeping up her appearance. Steely Dan was the name of a “sex toy” in Beat writer William S. Burroughs’ abject 1958 novel, Naked Lunch, while ’90s alt-rockers Veruca Salt pulled its moniker from the snotty girl of the same name in the Roald Dahl classic Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

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Belle and Sebastian named themselves after the 1966 children’s book, Belle et Sébastien, by French author Cécile Aubry, and Okkervil River pulled its label from Russian author Tatyana Tolstaya’s short story of the same name about a bureaucrat obsessed with an eccentric singer.

There are numerous links to bands and books. Here are just five bands who pulled their name from different written works throughout the decades.

1. The Doors

Formed in Los Angeles in 1965, The Doors never named themselves after the revolving, sliding, or hinged barriers at exits or entryways. With a poet like vocalist, Jim Morrison, their name went much deeper than some inanimate object. The band purloined their name from Aldous Huxley’s 1954 book, The Doors of Perception.

Morrison, along with guitarist Robby Krieger, keyboardist Ray Manzarek, and drummer John Densmore expanded their poetic tapestry through six albums and classics “Break on Through (to the Other Side),” “Riders on the Storm,” “L.A. Woman,” “Light My Fire,” and “Hello, I Love You,” and more.

2. The Velvet Underground

Also formed in 1965 with singer and guitarist Lou Reed, multi-instrumentalist John Cale, guitarist Sterling Morrison, and drummer Angus MacLise—later replaced by Moe Tucker—The Velvet Underground’s provocative name was picked from journalist Michael Leigh’s 1963 book of the same name.

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Leigh’s book was first introduced to the band by avant-garde filmmaker Tony Conrad and detailed the 1960s subculture of masochists. Perhaps hoping to incite some sexual and musical revolution, whilst capturing an air of underground cinema, the decision was unanimous to change the band name to something a bit more titillating than their previous The Warlocks and Falling Spike.

3. Steppenwolf

Before breaking through with their 1969 Easy Rider hit, “Born to Be Wild,” along with “Rock Me” and “Magic Carpet Ride,” Steppenwolf had more literary origins. Originally published in 1927, German-Swiss author Hermann Hesse’s novel Steppenwolf inspired the band that formed four decades later. The name was first suggested to the band by Gabriel Mekler, who produced their first four albums.

In the book, Hesse refers to his part-man, part-beast animalistic nature and the lonely “wolf of the steppes.” The steppes are an expanse of grassland plains that stretch throughout Hungary and several other countries in southeastern Europe.

4. Modest Mouse

In Virginia Woolf’s 1917 stream-of-consciousness short story—and her first published work—The Mark On The Wall, the narrator’s mind drifts into everything from religion to war, nature, and other self-reflections, while transfixed on a mark on the wall.

The book also includes the line “I wish I could hit upon a pleasant track of thought, a track indirectly reflecting credit upon myself, for those are the pleasantest thoughts, and very frequent even in the minds of modest, mouse-colored people, who believe genuinely that they dislike to hear their own praises.” 

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Those “modest, mouse-colored people” inspired the name of indie rockers Modest Mouse, who formed in Portland, Oregon in 1993.

Read the full story behind Modest Mouse’s band name HERE.

5. My Chemical Romance

Before joining My Chemical Romance bassist Mikey Way worked at Barnes & Noble, where he came across Irvine Welsh’s 1996 collection of novellas Ecstasy: Three Tales of Chemical Romance. Broken into three stories—Lorraine Goes to Livingston, Fortune’s Always Hiding, and The Undefeated—Welsh’s stories follow some of the vicissitudes of love.

When the band formed, shortly after 9/11, Mikey’s bandmate, and older brother, vocalist Gerard Way added on the “My” for a more personal My Chemical Romance.

Photo: Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images