Rock songs written about another performer.

Tiny Tim

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Ronnie and Neil - Drive By Truckers - About the legendary "fued" between Neil Young and Ronnie Van Zandt.

Cheap Trick - Surrender "Got my Kiss records out!!!!":grinthumb
 

Mr. Shadow

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Remember when you were young, you shone like the sun.
Shine on you crazy diamond.
Now there's a look in your eyes, like black holes in the sky.
Shine on you crazy diamond.
You were caught on the crossfire of childhood and stardom,
blown on the steel breeze.
Come on you target for faraway laughter,
come on you stranger, you legend, you martyr, and shine!
You reached for the secret too soon, you cried for the moon.
Shine on you crazy diamond.
Threatened by shadows at night, and exposed in the light.
Shine on you crazy diamond.
Well you wore out your welcome with random precision,
rode on the steel breeze.
Come on you raver, you seer of visions,
come on you painter, you piper, you prisoner, and shine!



The song's lyrics tell of a man named Lather, who has just turned 30 years old and is coming to the realization that the world expects him to grow up. The song was written for Jefferson Airplane drummer Spencer Dryden's 30th birthday. However, the lines

"But Lather still finds it a nice thing to do,
To lie about nude in the sand,
Drawing pictures of mountains that look like bumps,
And thrashing the air with his hands."

actually refer to the occasion when bassist Jack Casady was arrested nude on a beach in Santa Cruz, California, while on drugs.

The composer, Grace Slick, was actually poking fun at Dryden, her lover at the time, because he was the first person in the band to reach the milestone age of thirty. Thirty years old was considered to be a "boring" age by contemporaries, as a person had grown up and could no longer have fun. The song is also notable for its very distinct arrangement.

The band performed the song in their 1968 appearance on The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour. It is seen as a music video for the song as it features psychedelic effects.[1]
wiki



Lather was thirty years old today,
They took away all of his toys.
His mother sent newspaper clippings to him,
About his old friends who'd stopped being boys.
There was Harwitz E. Green, just turned thirty-three,
His leather chair waits at the bank.
And Seargent Dow Jones, twenty-seven years old,
Commanding his very own tank.
But Lather still finds it a nice thing to do,
To lie about nude in the sand,
Drawing pictures of mountains that look like bumps,
And thrashing the air with his hands.

But wait, oh Lather's productive you know,
He produces the finest of sound,
Putting drumsticks on either side of his nose,
Snorting the best licks in town,
But that's all over...

Lather was thirty years old today,
And Lather came foam from his tongue.
He looked at me eyes wide and plainly said,
Is it true that I'm no longer young?
And the children call him famous,
And the old men call him insane,
And sometimes he's so nameless,
That he hardly knows which game to play...
Which words to say...
And I should have told him, "No, you're not old."
And I should have let him go on...smiling...babywide.
 

TheFeldster

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George Harrison released this song (originally written with different lyrics and intended for Ringo's album, but rejected) as a tribute to John Lennon. Featured Ringo on drums, and Paul and Linda on backing vocals

All Those Years Ago - George Harrison

Hear them shouting all about love
While they treated you like a dog
When you were the one who had made it
so clear
All those years ago.

Hear them talking all about how to give
They don't act with much honesty
But you point the way to the truth when you say
All you need is love.

Living with good and bad
I always looked up to you
Now we're left cold and sad
By someone the devil's best friend
Someone who offended all.

We're living in a bad dream
They've forgotten all about mankind
And you were the one they backed up to
the wall
All those years ago
You were the one who Imagined it all
All those years ago.

Deep in the darkest night
I send out a prayer to you
Now in the world of light
Where the spirit free of the lies
And all else that we despised.

They've forgotten all about God
He's the only reason we exist
Yet you were the one that they said was
so weird
All those years ago
You said it all though not many had ears
All those years ago
You had control of our smiles and our tears
All those years ago




After George died, he also had a Beatle write a song for him. Ringo's "Never Without You", featuring Eric Clapton on guitar

Never Without You - Ringo Starr

We were young, it was fun
And we couldn't lose
Time were right, overnight
We were headline news
Crazy days and reckless nights
Limosuines and bright spotlights
We were brothers through it all

And your song will play on without you
And this world won't forget about you
Every part of you was in your song
Now we will carry on... Never Without you
(Without you Without You) Within you without you
Here comes the sun is about you

Here today, not alone
With my memories
Life is strange how things change
It's reality
You played a beautiful melody
That keeps on haunting me
I can always feel you by my side

And your song will play on without you
And this world won't forget about you
Every part of you was in your song
Now we will carry on... Never Without you
(Never Without You) Within you without you
(Within you without you)
Here comes the sun is about you

I know all things must pass
And only love will last
I'll always love the memory of you and me
Take it away Eric

And your song will play on without you
And this world won't forget about you
Every part of you was in your song
Now we will carry on...Never Without you
(Never Without You)Within you without you
(Within you without you)
I Dig Love is about you

 

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