There are 100s of songs that have people’s names in the title which puts them in the lyrics as well. I’ll list as many as I can:
Amanda – Boston / Amie – Pur Prarie League / Angie – Rolling Stones / Baby Jane – Maggie May / Rod Stewart / Bab Bad Leroy Brown – Jim Croce / Barbara Ann, Help Me Rhonda, Sloop John B Beach Boys / Be Good Johnny – Men At Work / Bennie & The Jets – Levon – Elton John / Beth – Kiss / Betty Lou’s Getting Out Tonghit – Bob Seger / Blue Jean – David Bowie / Bruce – Jessie’s Girl / Rick Springfield / Carrie – Europe / Cecelia, Mrs. Robinson – Simon & Garfunkel / Come On Eileen – Dexy’s Midnight Runners / Daisy Jane – America / Eleanor Rigby, Hey Jude, Julia, Lady Madonna, Lovely Rita, Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds, Maxwell’s Silver Hammer, Michelle, Rocky Raccoon, Sexy Sadie – The Beatles /Gloria – Laura Branigan / Helen Wheels , Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey, Junior’s Farm – Paul McCartney / Hey Joe, Wind Cries Mary – Jimmy Hendrix / Hit the Road Jack – Ray Charles / Jackie Blue – Ozark Mountain Daredevils / Jack & Diane – John Mellencamp / Jacob’s Ladder – Huey Lewis / James Dean – The Eagles / Jamie’s Crying, Top Jimmy – Van Halen / Jane – Jefferson Starship / Janie’s Got a Gun – Aerosmith / Jeremy – Pearl Jam / Johnny B. Goode – Chuck Berry / Johnny Can’t Read – Don Henley / Josie, Peg, Rikki Don’t Lose That Number – Steely Dan / Lay Down Sally, Layla – Eric Clapton / Lorelei Styx / Lola – The Kinks / Lucille, Wake Up Little Susie – Everly Brothers / Major Tom – Peter Schilling / Mary’s Jane’s Last Dance – Tom Petty / Mickey – Toni Basil / Modern Day Delilah – Van Stephenson / Mustang Sally – Wilson Pickett / My Maria – B.W Stephenson / My Sharona – The Knack / Nicole – Point Blank / Oh Sherrie – Steve Perry / Proud Mary – Ike & Tina Turner & Creedence Clearwater Revival / Rhiannon – Fleetwood Mac / Rosanna, Pamela – Toto / Rio – Duran Duran / Roxanne – The Police / Runaround Sue – Dion / Sherry, Dawn – The 4 Seasons / Susie Q – Creedence Clearwater Revival / Suzanne – Journey / Sweet Mary – Wadsworth Mansion / Tom Sawyer – Rush / Valerie – Steve Winwood / You Can Call Me Al – Paul Simon. And a couple songs that most people didn’t know were actually names… Jet by Paul McCartney & Sussudio by Phil Collins.
Then there are songs that say a word in a song that could be a person’s name even though it’s not used in the song as a name. Songs like:
PENNY Lane – Beatles / RUBY Tuesday, Jumping JACK Flash – Stones / Eye of the TIGER – Survivor / Yankee ROSE – David Lee Roth
Then there are songs that don’t have a name in the title but say a names/names in the song. Songs like:
Footloose – Kenny Loggins (Jack, Milo, Louise, Marie) / Sexy & 17 – Stray Cats (Johnny, Eddie, Jimmy, Jack, Marie) , 867–5309 – Tommy Tutone (Jenny) / Heart of Rock & Roll – Huey Lewis (Johnny) / Get A Haircut & Get a Real Job – George Thourouhgood ( big brother BOB) /American Pie – Don McLean (James Dean, Jack) / I Am The Walrus – Beatles (Edgar Allen Poe) / Sympathy For The Devil – Stones (Jesus, Lucifer) / We didn’t Start The Fire – Billy Joel (too many to list lol) Piano Man – Billy Joel (John, Bill, Paul, Davy) / Movin’ Out – Billy Joel (Anthony, Mama Leone, Sonny)
, studied Painting and Paintings at Memphis College of Art (1984)
I decided to list songs that mention real people.
1. It’s the End of the World As We Know It (and I Feel Fine), by REM mentions Lenny Bruce, Leonid Brezhnev, Leonard Bernstein.
2. Sugar Daddy, written by John Cameron Mitchell for his musical Hedwig and the Angry Inch, mentions Helmut Kohl, Erich Honecker, and Lillian Vernon.
3. ExWives, written by Toby Marlowe and Lucy Moss for their musical Six, has Catherine of Aragon, “that Boleyn girl” Anne Boleyn, Jane Seymour, Anna of Cleves, “K” Katherine Howard, and Katherine Parr all in the song, as it’s about the six wives of Henry VIII. Also in the song All You Wanna Do from Six, Henry VIII is mentioned, along with Henry Mannox, Francis Dereham, and Thomas Culpepper, although he’s only mentioned by his first name. There is also a song from the musical, Hans Holbein, about the famous court painter of the 1500s.
4.Hamilton. Lin-Manuel Miranda’s musical about the Founding Father and first Secretary of the Treasury of the USA is full of songs about people in Hamilton’s life, including Alexander Hamilton, The Schluyer Sisters, Aaron Burr, Sir, and too many more to mention.
5.Jackie Wilson Said by Van Morrison.
6. Geno by Dexys Midnight Runners, about Geno Washington, a famous Northern Soul singer.
7. Burn It Down by Dexys Midnight Runners mentions Oscar Wilde, Brendan Behan, Sean O’Casey, George Bernard Shaw, Samuel Beckett, Eugene O’Neill, Edna O’Brien, Lawrence Stern, Sean Kavenaugh, Sean McCann, Benedict Keilly, Jimmy Hiney, Frank O’Connor, and Catherine Rhine, all famous Irish writers, in the chorus of the song.
8. Nina Cried Power by Andrew Hozier-Byrne featuring Mavis Staples and Booker T Jones mentions numerous influential artists, including Nina Simone, Patti Smith, Mavis Staples, Billie Holiday, Curtis Mayfield, James Brown, John Lennon, Pete Seeger, BB King, Joni Mitchell, Bob Dylan,and Woody Guthrie.
9. Walk on the Wild Side by Lou Reed is about people that Reed knew, including Holly Woodlawn, Candy Darling, Joe Dallesandro, and Jackie Curtis, all people who were part of Andy Warhol’s Factory.
10. People Who Died by Jim Carroll is about various friends and family in his life who passed away young, usually from overdose, suicide, or murder. I’m not going to mention all the names as there’s quite a lot. Look up the song on YouTube for a listen.
