The songs that result when one muse begets another
Poet Allen Ginsburg jams with the Kinky Friedman Band at a 1978 rally for Abbie Hoffman. AP Images
We're huge fans of genre crossover, particularly when one artist we love pays tribute to another one we hold dear. This week, Vol. 1 Brooklyn pointed us towards a new song by Diehard called "Steinbeck," after, of course, the famous author. After listening, we were inspired to dig up a few more sonic odes to famous writers—not just songs inspired by their works, mind you, though there are many of those, but songs actually devoted to or inspired by the authors themselves, which are a little less common.
Scroll down to listen to ten songs we love about famous writers we love even more—or just stream the entire playlist here.
This post also appears on Flavorpill, an Atlantic partner site.
We want to hear what you think about this article. Submit a letter to the editor or write to letters@theatlantic.com.