9 Popular Songs You Didn't Know Were Based On Real News Stories

Inspiration for songs can come from anywhere. The greatest songwriters of all time could turn a trip to the supermarket into sprawling epic about disillusionment and the restraints we, as a public, have placed on our own lives. Never mind that they forgot to pick up the orange juice because they were about to write one of the greatest songs in the history of music.

That's why it's often very fruitful for a songwriter to keep a healthy stack of periodicals at the ready. Keeping up with current events is one of the simplest, most effective ways to come up with a song that listeners can relate to, particularly if the subject matter is one that frequently recurs in the papers. This idea was much more popular back when print media was more prominent, though this kind of inspiration still exists to some extent today. For instance, Will Butler, member of the little indie band that could, Arcade Fire, recently embarked on a project to write a collection of songs based entirely off headlines from The Guardian newspaper.

Aside from proving that print media still has a place in this world, Butler's undertaking is a throwback to the idea of songs being "ripped from the headlines." We all (should) know that Pearl Jam's tale of adolescent violence, "Jeremy" was culled from a real life story of a boy shooting himself in front of his classmates, and that a good chunk of Bob Dylan's discography came from him attempting to navigate the cultural gaps detailed in the news. But you may be surprised at how many other famous musicians drew inspiration from journalism.