Wasn't there some songs written about poe's poems? And i'm talking like modern day songs. I think rock n roll. just curious.

-- Anonymous, February 04, 2004

Answers

Definitely.

A year ago, Lou "Take A Walk on the Wild Side" Reed put together an album, "The Raven." Collaborating on the album were David Bowie, Laurie Anderson, Steve Buscemi and Willem DaFoe. It's a mix of straight readings, and of Lou Reed's, uh, updating of Poe's poetry. Reed's love of Poe sounds sincere in interviews. But his "improvements" on Poe have not been well received. Review at http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/record-reviews/r/reed_lou/raven.shtml

Also, from: http://www.poedecoder.com/Qrisse/poeref.html:

Joan Baez - On her first album she sang "Annabel Lee" and credited Edgar Allan Poe for the lyrics.

The Beatles - Edgar Allan Poe appears on the Sgt Pepper album cover.

The Beatles - "I am the Walrus" (Lennon/McCartney 1967) from album "Magical Mystery Tour" includes the line "kicking Edgar Allan Poe"

Iron Maiden, "Murders in the Rue Morgue" - The british metal band Iron Maiden wrote a song on Edgar Allan Poe's "Murders in the Rue Morgue".

The Blues Travellers - The Blues Travellers did a song called "Run Around" which begins with "Once upon a midnight dreary"

Public Enemy - Rapper Chuck D, in "Welcome to the Terrordome" includes the lines "welcome to the terrordome / caught in the race against time / the pit and the pendulum." (From Public Enemy's Fear of a Black Planet album (Columbia CD CK 45413)

The Alan Parsons Project - "Tales of mystery and imagination Edgar Allan Poe," Polygram records is dedicated to Edgar Allan Poe. Donovan - On his 1996 CD "Sutras," Donovan (yes, the Mellow Yellow man) put Poe's poem "El Dorado" to music. Rickie Lee Jones's album "Pirates" has a track called "Traces of the Western Slopes", which contains the line "E. A. Poe and Johnny Johnson" and also ends with the strange, repeated question "Can you follow my voice?" - very appropriate!

In addition to the above, "The Simpsons" have referred to Poe several times. Details on Qrisse's Poe Pages.

-- Anonymous, February 05, 2004