These are songs that were written because the writer was inspired by a work of literature. Songs that allude to works of literature are their own list, and Songs with references from the Bible are their own list.
Killing An Arab–The Cure (The Stranger, Albert Camus)
The Ground Beneath Her Feet–U2 (The Ground Beneath Her Feet, Salman Rushdie)
Personal Jesus–Depeche Mode (Elvis and Me, Priscilla Presley)
Rain King–Counting Crows (Henderson The Rain King, Saul Bellows)
The Ghost of Tom Joad–Bruce Springsteen (The Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck)
Sylvia Plath–Ryan Adams (The Unabridged Journals Of Sylvia Plath, Sylvia Plath)
Gold Rush Brides–10,000 Maniacs (Women’s Diaries Of The Westward Journey, Lillian Schlissel)
Hey Jack Kerouac–10,000 Maniacs (On The Road, Jack Kerouac)
Charlotte Sometimes–The Cure (Charlotte Sometimes, Penelope Farmer)
Romeo and Juliet–Dire Straits (Romeo and Juliet, William Shakespear)
November Rain–Guns and Roses (Without You from The Language of Fear, Del James).
The Battle of Evermore–Led Zepplin (Scotish Folklore/Lord Of The Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien)
Ghost In The Machine–The Police (The Ghost In The Machine, Arthur Koestler)
One–Metallica (Johnny Got His Gun, Dalton Trumbo)
Sympathy For The Devil–The Rolling Stones (The Master and Margarita, Mikhail Bulgakov)
I Am The Walrus–Beatles (Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland, Lewis Carroll)
All Along The Watchtower–Bob Dylan (Frankenstein, Mary Shelly)
Every Grain Of Sand–Bob Dylan (Aguries of Innocence, William Blake)
Both Sides Now–Joni Mitchell (Henderson The Rain King, Saul Bellows)
Bloodletting (Vampire Song)–Concrete Blonde (Interview With a Vampire, Anne Rice)
The Trick Is To Keep Breathing–Garbage (The Trick Is To Keep Breathing, Janice Galloway)
Delores–Freedy Johnston (Lolita, Vladimir Nabokov)
Virginia Woolfe–Indigo Girls (The Letters of Virginia Woolfe, Virginia Woolfe)
Three Hits–Indigo Girls (The Light The Dead See: Selected Poems of Frank Stanford, Frank Stanford)
Cloudbusting–Kate Bush (A Book Of Dreams, Peter Reich)
Wake Up! (Its 1984)–Oingo Boingo (1984, George Orwell)
Mercy Street–Peter Gabriel (45 Mercy Street, Anne Sexton)
How To Disappear Completely–Radiohead (How To Disappear Completely and Never Be Found, Doug Richmond)
