Buzz
1. "Romeo and Juliet" – Dire Straits
Numerous musicians, including Dolly Parton, Steve Forbert, Elvis Costello, and Michael Penn, have incorporated the name Romeo into their lyrics. Yet, Mark Knopfler's masterpiece distinguishes itself with its gritty yet poetic take on the classic love story. A memorable line from the song: "Juliet the dice were loaded from the start / And I bet, and you exploded in my heart."
2. "You've Got Everything Now" – The Smiths
Morrissey has often drawn from Shakespeare's works, particularly in tracks like "Cemet'ry Gates" and this song, which begins with a subtle nod to Much Ado About Nothing: "As merry as the days were long."
3. "I Am the Walrus" – The Beatles
Given their immense cultural influence, one might expect The Beatles to have included more Shakespearean nods in their music. However, this track stands alone, and its reference was entirely serendipitous. During the creation of the song's outro, the band tuned into a radio broadcast of King Lear in the studio. A line from Oswald's death scene, "Oh untimely death...," can be faintly heard in the mix.
4. "The Milkman of Human Kindness" – Billy Bragg
Lady Macbeth once remarked, "Yet do I fear thy nature, it is too full o' th' milk of human kindness to catch the nearest way." Taking inspiration from this, Billy Bragg cleverly reimagines the phrase in his lyrics: "I am the milkman of human kindness, I will leave an extra pint."
5. "Get Over It" – The Eagles
Lawyer humor has roots that stretch far beyond modern times. In this track exploring confession culture and victimhood, Don Henley cleverly references Shakespeare with a nickname and quotes Dick The Butcher from Henry VI: "Old Billy was right / Let's kill all the lawyers tonight."
6. "Sister Moon" – Sting
In this soulful ballad, Sting borrows a line from Shakespeare's sonnet #130: "My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun." The phrase resonated so deeply with him that it became the title of his 1987 solo album, Nothing Like The Sun.
7. "Limelight" – Rush
Rush transformed one of Shakespeare's most famous lines from As You Like It into the heart of this 1981 song, which delves into the struggle of balancing personal and public identities: "All the world's indeed a stage, and we are merely players..." Notably, the band had previously used the phrase All The World's A Stage as the title for a live album in 1976.
8. "Bye and Bye" – Bob Dylan
Dylan subtly references Shakespeare across multiple tracks, from "Highway 61 Revisited" (with a nod to Twelfth Night) to "Desolation Row" (mentioning Romeo and Ophelia) and "You're Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go" (borrowing the vivid imagery of "dragon clouds" from Antony and Cleopatra). In "Bye and Bye," the line "I'm not even acquainted with my own desires" is directly inspired by As You Like It.
9. "Ariel" – October Project
This song is sung from the viewpoint of Ariel, the spirit from The Tempest, as he bids farewell to his master Prospero: "And I want to be free / It is your sorrow / That has made a slave of me."
10. "Sigh No More" – Mumford & Sons
The title is drawn from Much Ado About Nothing, and numerous lyrics in this haunting folk track echo the exchanges between Benedict and Beatrice in the play.
11. "Hey There Ophelia" – MC Lars
Even hip-hop artists draw from Shakespeare's works. This energetic reinterpretation of Hamlet mentions the Prince, Claudius, Rosencrantz, and Guildenstern, but focuses on the play's ill-fated heroine. A standout lyric: "This girl's got more issues than Amy Winehouse."
