Since screen media was invented, music has had a symbiotic relationship with both movies and television, from musical scores that enhance their films, memorable pop songs making up some awesome movie soundtracks, and, of course, classic TV theme songs that could have been radio hits. There are also many famous songs written by artists who are clearly pop culture fans, based on the obvious or cryptic references to cinematic or small screen favorites in the lyrics. These are some of the most iconic and even most surprising examples of songs that took inspiration from a movie or TV show.
“Walk This Way” Aerosmith (Young Frankenstein)
Mel Brooks‘ Young Frankenstein is the source of many iconic spoof movie moments, including when Igor (Marty Feldman) tells Dr. Frederick Frankenstein (Gene Wilder) to “walk this way,” referring not to their direction but to his odd limp. Aerosmith guitarist Joe Perry told The Wall Street Journal in 2014 that the band saw the 1974 horror-comedy movie classic while on break from recording Toys in the Attic and were especially amused by the “walk this way” bit, which gave producer Jack Douglas a great title for a song.
“Married With Children” – Oasis (Married… With Children)
In addition to plenty of controversy during its 10-year run, Married… with Children also inspired none other than Noel Gallagher of Oasis to write a song of the same name (sans the ellipsis) that appeared on 1994’s Definitely Maybe. Gallagher told Melody Maker (via Brit Pop Reunion) that he saw a lot of himself and his then-girlfriend, Louise Jones, in the classic TV sitcom‘s dysfunctional central couple, Al (Ed O’Neill) and Peg Bundy (Katey Segal), and channeled that into the song.
“Total of the Eclipse of the Heart” – Bonnie Tyler (Nosferatu)
The video for Bonnie Tyler’s heart-aching ballad, “Total Eclipse of the Heart” – the lead single from her 1983 album, Faster Than the Speed of Night – boasts a gothic vibe that calls to mind a great horror movie like Nosferatu, which is actually no coincidence. The Welsch singer told The Guardian that writer Jim Steinman first started writing the song when he was working on an unfinished musical adaptation of the original silent-era vampire movie from 1922.
“Laura Palmer” – Bastille (Twin Peaks)
Bastille frontman Dan Smith is a huge fan of David Lynch’s movies (which he discussed in an interview with Audacy), as well as the late filmmaker’s most successful small-screen venture, Twin Peaks. As he revealed to 3voor12, he named the eerie fifth single from the band’s 2011 debut album, Bad Blood, after Sheryl Lee’s character, Laura Palmer, whose murder sets the plot of the subversive crime thriller in motion.
Neil Diamond was faced with a lawsuit for lyrics to “Heartlight” that MCA felt was too close to the narrative of the beloved sci-fi movie that inspired it, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. The clues to the 1982 ballad’s influences are not very subtle, with references to a young boy who makes a friend with a glowing chest, taking a “ride across the moon” with him, and becoming sad when that friend is forced to go away.
“Floyd The Barber” – Nirvana (The Andy Griffith Show)
A show as lighthearted and funny as The Andy Griffith Show seems like an unlikely choice as the inspiration for a Nirvana song. However, it makes a little more sense when you pay close attention to the lyrics of “Floyd the Barber,” from 1989’s Bleach, and realize Kurt Cobain has reimagined Howard McNear’s eponymous role and other central characters from the 1960s sitcom as sadistic murderers.
“Me And Bobby McGee” – Janis Joplin (La Strada)
The most famous rendition of “Me and Bobby McGee” comes from Janis Joplin’s posthumously released 1971 album, Pearl, but the song was originally written by Kris Kristofferson. His inspiration, as he told Wide Open Country in 2022, came from Federico Fellini’s Oscar-winning 1954 drama, La Strada – particularly a moment when Zampanò (Anthony Quinn) rides around on his motorcycle while Gelsomina (Giulietta Masina) plays the trombone.
“Any Friend Of Diane’s” – Weezer (Cheers)
“Any Friend of Diane’s” is the name of an episode from the first season of the long-running NBC sitcom, Cheers, named after Shelley Long’s character. According to an interview with The Independent, Weezer frontman Rivers Cuomo took the episode’s title and based a song that pays tribute to the many women who have supported the band over the years around it.
“Space Oddity” – David Bowie (2001: A Space Odyssey)
The similarity between the title of the opening track from David Bowie’s self-titled second album and 1968’s 2001: A Space Odyssey is certainly no coincidence as Stanley Kubrick’s iconic space movie was the inspiration, which he revealed to Performing Songwriter. Fun fact: the release of the song, which is the tragic tale of an astronautical mission gone wrong, was actually rushed out to coincide with the Apollo 11 landing in 1969, which is a very questionable publicity method, if you ask us.
“Dragula” – Rob Zombie (The Munsters)
An essential track for every Halloween playlist is Rob Zombie’s 1998 single, “Dragula,” which any fan of The Munsters knows is named after a car belonging to Al Lewis’ Grandpa, who is really Count Dracula. The rock star-turned-filmmaker is a lifelong fan of the early 1960s sitcom about a creepy, creature-some family and even wrote and directed a feature adaptation of the series that was released in 2022.
“Yoda” – “Weird Al” Yankovic (The Empire Strikes Back)
“Weird Al” Yankovic has released many songs that are directly inspired by pop culture, including more than one based on the Star Wars movies. For instance, “Yoda,” which appears on 1985’s Dare to be Stupid, is a retelling of the events of 1980’s The Empire Strikes Back – particularly Luke Skywalker’s (Mark Hamill) training under the eponymous, green “little runt” (played by Frank Oz) – set to the melody of The Kinks’ “Lola.”
“The Actor” – Jason Kimmel (How I Met Your Mother)
“The Actor” is the first single by musician Jason Kimmel and tells the story of a young man who goes to a bar and meets a woman named Sara, who admits the narrator reminds her of Ted Mosby from How I Met Your Mother, but not in a good way. Still, he is flattered by the comparison as he is a fan of “the actor,” How I Met Your Mother cast member Josh Radnor, whom Sara does not know by name, although she is a fan of Barney actor Neil Patrick Harris.
“Bad Moon Rising” – Creedence Clearwater Revival (The Devil And Daniel Webster)
Just like many other songs with “moon” in the title, Creedence Clearwater Revival’s “Bad Moon Rising” contributed to a memorable musical moment in the horror movie An American Werewolf in London but was actually inspired by the 1941 adaptation of another dark fantasy story, The Devil and Daniel Webster. John Fogerty explained to Rolling Stone in 1993 how the film’s depictions of “nasty weather” as a result of a deal with Satan gave him the idea for the lead single from 1969’s Green River.
“Bloom” – Radiohead (The Blue Planet)
Thom Yorke was watching BBC’s 2001 nature docuseries, The Blue Planet, narrated by David Attenborough, when he got the idea for “Bloom,” which is the opening track from Radiohead’s 2011 album, The King of Limbs. The English rock band would later collaborate with Hans Zimmer to record an orchestral version of the song for the docuseries’ follow-up, Blue Planet II, bringing this story full circle.
“Wind It Up” – Gwen Stefani (The Sound Of Music)
As she revealed to MTV in 2006, “Wind it Up” fulfilled Gwen Stefani‘s dream to incorporate her favorite movie, The Sound of Music, into a song. While the lead single from the No Doubt frontwoman’s second solo album, The Sweet Escape, does not have much to do with the story of the 1965 music movie classic, it does sample “The Lonely Goatherd” to impressive effect and pays tribute to it in the video.
“Mach 5” – The Presidents Of The United States of America (Speed Racer)
There may not be a pop culture car more deserving of a musical tribute than the Mach 5 from the classic animated TV show, Speed Racer, yet it would not become a reality until 1996 when The Presidents of the United States of America put it on their second album, II. However, while the song’s title may reference Speed’s prized vehicle, frontman Chris Ballew revealed to Songfacts that the lyrics reflect the maniacal ways he would destroy his toy cars as a child.
“Night Moves” – Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band (American Graffiti)
In 1973, Bob Seger saw a film now considered one of the best movies of the 1970s called American Graffiti – writer and director George Lucas‘ coming-of-age dramedy following a group of teens cruising the streets of L.A. after hours in the early 1960s. The Silver Bullet Band leader told Mix that the film inspired him to tell stories from his own youth, which led to the creation of the title track from his ninth studio album, 1976’s Night Moves.
“Fingers Crossed” – Billie Eilish (The Walking Dead)
In 2017, when she was still an up-and-comer, Billie Eilish told Junkee that the first song she ever recorded was called “Fingers Crossed,” which was the product of a songwriting class assignment that required her to watch a movie or TV show and write lyrics related to it. The then-12-year-old chose The Walking Dead and came up with a song that, as she describes, “sounds more like a longing heartbreak song” but is really about the zombie apocalypse.
“Godzilla” – Blue Öyster Cult (Godzilla)
While Blue Öyster Cult was best known for earnest rock ‘n roll hits about love and death like “Don’t Fear the Reaper,” they proved they had a sense of humor with their tribute to the King of the Monsters. The opening track from their 1977 album, Spectres, alludes to the plot of the original Japanese horror movie classic, Godzilla, quite accurately but also with a few tongue-in-cheek references to the eponymous creature’s destructive tendencies at Tokyo’s expense.
“Bedrock Anthem” – “Weird Al” Yankovic (The Flintstones)
Only a comedic musical genius like “Weird Al” Yankovic could make a medley of Red Hot Chili Peppers song parodies with lyrics based on Hanna-Barbera’s prehistoric animated classic, The Flintstones, work so seamlessly.
“Chain Saw” – Ramones (The Texas Chain Saw Massacre)
In 1989, the Ramones released a song called “Pet Sematary,” which was written specifically for Mary Lambert’s adaptation of the Stephen King novel. Years earlier, another classic horror movie, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, inspired the punk giants’ 1976 song, “Chain Saw,” which calls out Tobe Hooper’s nightmarish 1974 hit by name.
“The Twilight Zone” – Rush (The Twilight Zone)
Legendary drummer Neil Peart was a huge fan of Rod Serling’s seminal horror anthology TV show, The Twilight Zone, and actually wrote several Rush tracks inspired by various episodes. One song named directly after the show, which appears on Side B of 1976’s 2112, references two classic episodes, “Will the Real Martian Please Stand Up?” and “Stopover In a Quiet Town.”
“The Union Forever” – The White Stripes (Citizen Kane)
Jack White was trying to learn a song that appears in 1941’s Citizen Kane called “It Can’t Be Love.” Instead, he wound up writing an entirely original song for him and Meg White of The White Stripes about co-writer and director Orson Welles’ masterful debut feature called “The Union Forever.” Included in the lyrics are references to the movie,
“Continental Farewell” – Hal Ketchum (Saturday Night Live)
Christopher Walken is one of those stars who has hosted SNL so many times that he has his own recurring characters, most notably “The Continental.” The bumbling bachelor was popular enough to inspire a song by Hal Ketchum called “Continental Farewell,” as the late singer-songwriter revealed to Songfacts.
“The Prisoner” – Iron Maiden (The Prisoner)
Much of Iron Maiden’s music is known for its compelling narratives, such as in “The Prisoner.” The third track off the metal band’s hit 1982 album, The Number of the Beast, was inspired by an influential 1960s British sci-fi miniseries of the same name and even opens with audio clips from it.
“Motorpsycho Nitemare” – Bob Dylan (Psycho)
While largely better known for ballads sung in protest of sociopolitical oppression, it turns out Bob Dylan is a cinephile, too. His song “Motorpsycho Nitemare” from 1964’s Another Side of Bob Dylan was inspired by the terrifying 1960 Alfred Hitchcock movie, Psycho, as evidenced by lyrics like, “She said, ‘Would you like to take a shower? / I’ll show you up to the door’ / I said, ‘Oh, no! no! / I’ve been through this before.’”
“House Of Glass” – Cage the Elephant (I Am A Killer)
The fifth studio album by Cage the Elephant, 2019’s Social Cues, features an ominously titled track called “House of Glass,” which is sung from the point of view of a soft-spoken murderer. According to Consequence of Sound, the song was envisioned while guitarist Brad Shultz and his brother, Matt, were watching the Netflix true crime docuseries, I Am a Killer, which interviews people on death row for homicide.
“Eyes Without A Face” – Billy Idol (Eyes Without A Face)
The 1983 Billy Idol song, “Eyes Without a Face” was inspired by the 1960 horror film of the same name about a surgeon obsessively trying to give his daughter a new face after she suffers a terrible accident. He even namedrops the original French title, Les yeux sans visage, in the lyrics
“Missing You” – Ingrid Michaelson (Stranger Things)
In 2019, Ingrid Michaelson released her eighth studio album, Stranger Songs, which consists entirely of tracks inspired by the hit Netflix original sci-fi TV show, Stranger Things. The lead single, “Missing You,” specifically references the love triangle between Nancy Wheeler (Natalia Dyer), Jonathan Byers (Charlie Heaton), and Steve Harrington (Joe Keery).
“Why Didn’t Rosemary?” – Deep Purple (Rosemary’s Baby)
According to Derek Lawrence, who produced Deep Purple’s self-titled third album from 1969, the band went to see Rosemary’s Baby and, soon after, wrote a song about it. “Why Didn’t Rosemary?” asks questions about the Oscar-winning 1968 horror classic about a woman unwittingly carrying the spawn of Satan, such as, “Why didn’t Rosemary ever take the pill?”
“Man on the Edge” – Iron Maiden (Falling Down)
In an interview with Songfacts, Iron Maiden singer Blaze Bayley revealed that “Man on the Edge” from the band’s 1995 album, The X Factor, is largely influenced by director Joel Schumacher’s 1993 thriller, Falling Down, starring Michael Douglas as… well, a man on the edge.
“Gumby” – Aimee Mann (Hoarders)
“Gumby,” from Aimee Mann’s 2012 album, Charmer, actually has nothing to do with the eponymous claymation character. According to Joco Cruise, the singer-songwriter just thought it sounded like a great name for someone who would be profiled on the reality show Hoarders, which was the true inspiration for the song about a person refusing help that they clearly need.