A short triptych of films had been commissioned by the Off The Shelf literary festival to celebrate the Brontes' 200th celebrations. They were shown against the front of the Upper Chapel in Sheffield city centre last Friday once the sun had gone down. 3 short imaginings were set to songs specially written & performed for the event by local goddess Natalie Johnson. It was cold but the rain stopped away. Even though we were freezing our nuts off, it was a glorious and emotional evening. Nat has written her songs in the context of giving each sister an elemental background; ‘Anne The Gardener’ (earth), ‘Emily The Diver’ (water) and Charlotte The Levitator (air). Anyone with more than a passing interest in rarities - of which there are...oooo....dozens on this forum - I must point out that she's brought out limited edition cds with 3 different covers, one per sister. I went for Anne, simply because my wife & I have recently visited Anne's grave in Scarborough. I got number 2 out of a 100! (I guess most people would probably gone for Charlotte.) The cd package is great. There's a tiny lyrics booklet that goes with it AND a little plastic magnifying glass. Clever marketing. 300 in total, guys. Get 'em while they're 'ot. Which leads me to thinking…………… Songs about genuine historical figures. A few ground rules. While no great historian, I suppose I side with many that King Arthur was a mythical figure rather than an historical one, so sorry Rick Wakeman, your ‘Myths And Legends Of King Arthur’ album is a no-no. Nil points. Kate, sit down. Your song was about characters, not real people. Got to be real people. However, just so we have a level playing field and upset no one, can we agree to accept songs with religious connotations, like, say ‘The Man Who Called Himself Jesus’ (The Strawbs) ? Off you go………..
The Bee Gees: Edison Queen: Jesus They Might Be Giants: James K. Polk They Might Be Giants: Meet James Ensor
Fool's Overture - Supertramp (I'm unable to view the OP's examples, so apologies if this is one) - references to Churchill
Al Stewart has written quite a few songs about historical figures , "Warren Harding" (the U.S. president) comes to mind
It might be. I'm just thinking of the playing of Churchill's "We shall never surrender" speech, and the lyric "the island's sinking, let's take to the sky..."
Boney M - Rasputin Billy Joel -Ballad of Billy the Kid Ballad of John & Yoko, Hey Jude, Dear Prudence, Julia
Chicago - Harry Truman Madness - Michael Caine Paul McCartney - Uncle Albert/ Admiral Halsey (ok, this one may be a stretch)
One of my favorites of this genre, "White House Blues," about the assassination of President William McKinley, by Charlie Poole and the North Carolina Ramblers: