4 Rock Songs Based on Poems: Edgar Allan Poe, John Milton, and More

Whether it’s a specific line from a poem, or an entire piece set to a melody, poetry has long been an inspiration for musical artists. The rock genre in particular seems to stray towards poetry on occasion, so here are four rock songs that were inspired by, based on, or put music to poems.

Starting out strong with some 19th-century poetry, Stevie Nicks took inspiration from an Edgar Allan Poe piece that was published two days after his death. “Annabel Lee” depicts a passionate young love cut tragically short, which in turn was inspired by the death of Poe’s wife (and cousin)Virginia Eliza Clemm. She died of tuberculosis at age 24.

Nicks once recalled being a teenager, “writing that song and being so overwhelmed with the romanticism of it.” The poem romanticizes death and young love, as does Nicks’ song “Annabel Lee.” She followed Poe’s words fairly loyally, only altering images that need to be clarified from Poe’s 19th-century language. Nicks wrote the song when she was 17, recorded it in 2001, but it wasn’t released until her 2011 album In Your Dreams. “We found the demo and I’m not sure why I didn’t put it in ‘Trouble in Shangri-La’ (2001), but I guess things got misplaced,” she’s said of the song.

From Stevie Nicks to The Libertines, Rock and Rollers Love Poetry

Nick Cave also took inspiration from a poem for his widely regarded 1994 track “Red Right Hand.” Allegedly, Cave took the title and theme from John Milton’s biblical epic Paradise Lost. The phrase appears in Book II, lines 170 to 174—What if the breath that kindled those grim fires, / Awaked, should blow them into sevenfold rage, / And plunge us in the flames; or from above / Should intermitted vengeance arm again / His red right hand to plague us?

Later, in 1996, Cave uses the phrase again in the track “Song of Joy” from Murder Ballads. He writes, Quotes John Milton on the walls in the victim’s blood / The police are investigating at tremendous cost / In my house he wrote, “red right hand” / That, I’m told is from Paradise Lost.

The Libertines have also tried their hand at pulling inspiration from poetry. On their 2015 album Anthems for Doomed Youth, the song “Gunga Din” is based off of the Rudyard Kipling poem of the same name. The similarities come most obviously from the final line of the poem, which reads, “You’re a better man than I am, Gunga Din!” The Libertines included this in the chorus, I woke up again / Dreamt of Gunga Din / Oh, the road is long / If you stay strong / You’re a better man than I / You’ve been beaten and flayed / Probably betrayed / You’re a better man than I.

Arctic Monkeys Put Almost an Entire Poem to Music on AM

In 2013, Arctic Monkeys released their critically acclaimed album AM, widely regarded as a “perfect album.” The final track on AM is “I Wanna Be Yours,” which was taken almost word for word from a John Cooper Clark poem. An earlier recitation of the poem was included on Clark’s 1982 album Zip Style Method. Alex Turner polished the poem in order to put it to a cohesive melody, and added his own verses as well, but the main themes of the poem remain the same—comparing love and devotion to loyal household objects.

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