Stephen King ’s Dark Tower series is a sprawling saga that incite from genre to genre , but it ’s also a bona fide juke box of American music , pulling in everything from jazz standards to ’ 80s hair metal to show tunes to old nation . Here ’s every Sung dynasty that makes an appearance in the series .
In reception to a post call for you tocreate a soundtrackfor your favorite novel , commenterPatrickScalisiexplained that he ’d actually been make on a unlike kind of melodious roadmap : catalog every Sung dynasty that makes an appearing in Stephen King ’s Dark Tower series .
Here they all are , along with some analysis about what their appearance might imply :
One of my delegacy in reading Stephen King ’s Dark Tower saga again was to catalog the Song that are refer to produce a sorting of “ soundtrack . ” As Constant Readers live , King is both a vast medicine fan and a wireless station owner . Thus , music play a play ( and meaning ) role in Roland ’s heroic tale .
For the intent on this soundtrack , I ( a. ) test to be as thorough as potential , listing thing that may be mentioned only in lyrical form and not necessarily by title ; ( b. ) focus only on the saga proper ( i.e. not counting any of the peripheral stories like The Stand or Salem ’s Lot — yet ) ; ( c. ) include only “ belt down ” songs ( i.e. not any of the scriptural or folks euphony like “ Onward Christian Soldiers ” ) ; ( d. ) did not confer with Robin Furth ’s Dark Tower concordances ; and ( e. ) did not include songs that were listed on the loyalty pages or in the forewords / afterwords .
The Dark Tower : The Gunslinger ( Plume paperback edition )
[ I ’m using the original novel here , not the revised edition . ]
“ Hey Jude ” – The Beatles ( p. 22 )
“ Ease on Down the route ” – Diana Ross & Michael Jackson ( p. 120 )
“ Instant Karma ” – John Lennon ( p. 191 )
The Drawing of the Three ( Plume paperback edition )
“ Just A Gigolo / Ain’t Got Nobody ” – David Lee Roth ( p. 93 )
“ Bridge Over Troubled Water ” – Simon and Garfunkel ( p. 112 )
[ Unknown Billie Holiday Song ] – Billie Holiday ( p. 123 )
“ Boy list Sue ” & “ Folsom Prison Blues ” – Johnny Cash ( p. 124 )
“ the great unwashed ” – Barbara Streisand ( p. 170 )
“ Pink Shoe Laces ” – Dodie Stevens ( p. 196 )
“ Take the ‘ A ’ Train ” – Duke Ellington ( p. 215 )
“ Oxford Town ” – Bob Dylan ( p. 236 - 8)
“ Twilight Time ” – The Platters ( p. 295 )
The Wastelands ( Plume soft-cover variation )
“ Paint it Black ” – The Rolling Stones ( p. 77 )
“ Dr. Love ” – KISS ( p. 104 )
“ do it to jazz You , Baby ” – Donna Summer ( p. 104 - 5 )
“ Legs ” – ZZ Top ( p. 196 )
“ Double Shot of My Baby ’s Love ” – Swingin ’ Medallions ( p. 196 )
“ Hippy - Hippy Shake ” – Chan Romero ( p. 196 )
“ Sharp dolled up Man ” & “ Velcro Fly ” – ZZ Top ( p. 254 )
“ Knock Three Times ” – Tony Orlando and Dawn ( p. 317 )
“ My Girl ’s a Corker ” – Alan Lomax ( p. 336 ) [ Could n’t decide if this fell under “ folk song ” or not . ]
“ Stardust ” – Hoagy Carmichael ( p. 399 )
“ Tube - snake Boogie ” – ZZ Top ( p. 409 )
Wizard and Glass ( Plume paperback variation )
During Blaine the Mono ’s final bombast ( p. 55 - 6 ) , he make denotation to several thing that are deserving noting : Eat a Peach , the album by the Allman Brothers ; “ Patricia , ” which could refer to Blaine ’s late companion monorail or to the Song dynasty by Perry Como ; and Whiplash Smile , the album by Billy Idol .
“ Careless Love ” – Various [ This technically falls under “ common people song ” but it ’s important to the game and thus deserves mentioning . ] ( p. 121 )
“ Whole Lotta Shakin ’ Goin’ On ” – Various ( Jerry Lee Lewis , Chubby Checker , et . al . ) ( p. 213 )
“ Red Dirt Boogie , Bro ” – Jesse “ Ed ” Davis ( p. 466 )
“ We ’re Off to See the Wizard ” – Judy Garland and Ray Bolger ( p. 633 )
“ Green Door ” – Jim Lowe ( p. 640 )
“ Big Iron ” – Marty Robbins ( p. 664 )
wolf of the Calla ( Simon & Schuster hardcover )
“ The Green Corn A - Dayo ” [ This is a song of King ’s invention , but in searching for it , I discovered that it is also referenced in Black House , a DT - related novel by King and Peter Staub . ]
“ Back in the New York Groove ” – Ace Frehley ( KISS ) ( p. 48 - 9 )
“ With a Little Help From My Friends ” – The Beatles ( p. 108 )
[ Unknown Dave Van Ronk Song ] – Dave Van Ronk ( p. 168 ) [ mention by Susannah , but all my hunting have turned up nothing . On a side note , Van Ronk blab a version of “ Careless Love ” on his first album . ]
“ 19th Nervous Breakdown ” – The Rolling Stones ( p. 179 )
“ Maid of Constant Sorrow ” – Judy Collins ( p. 228 )
“ Waist Deep in the Big Muddy ” – Pete Seeger ( p. 254 )
“ Walk on the Wild Side ” – Lou Reed ( p. 276 )
“ Someone Saved My Life Tonight ” – Elton John ( p. 277 )
“ Mother ( A Word that mean the World to Me ) ” – Eddy Arnold ( p.428 )
“ A Hard Rain ’s A - Gonna Fall ” – Bob Dylan ( p. 435 )
“ I Ca n’t Go for That ( No Can Do ) – Hall & Oats ( p. 463 )
“ concord Out for a Hero ” – Bonnie Tyler ( p. 503 )
“ Summer in the City ” – The Lovin’ Spoonful ( p. 514 )
“ In the Summertime ” – Mungo Jerry ( p. 515 )
“ The Pied Piper ” – Crispin St. Peters ( p. 593 )
extra TEXTUAL reference work ?
“ Rosalita ( Come Out Tonight ) ” – Bruce Springsteen ( p. 242 )
“ Wo n’t Get Fooled Again ” – The Who ( p. 447 )
Song of Susannah ( Simon & Schuster hardcover )
“ Night and Day ” – Frank Sinatra ( p. 91 )
“ Stardust ” – Nat King Cole ( p. 93 )
“ Stormy Weather ” – Billie Holiday ( p. 95 )
“ Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again ” – Bob Dylan ( p. 139 )
“ Visions of Johanna ” – Bob Dylan ( p. 153 )
“ The crash of Old ’ 97 ” – G. B. Grayson & Henry Whitter ( p. 289 )
“ Hang On , Sloopy ” – The McCoys ( p. 302 )
“ This Time ” – Troy Shondell ( p. 303 )
“ I Shall be Released ” & “ Blowin ’ in the Wind ” – Bob Dylan ( p. 353 )
“ I Ai n’t Marchin ’ Anymore ” – Phil Ochs ( p. 353 ) [ Possibly an anachronism . Susannah states that she sing the song in 1964 , but the strain by Ochs was n’t released until 1965 . ]
“ Alfie ” – Burt Bacharach ( p. 404 )
During Susannah / Mia ’s pipe dream sequence ( p. 352 - 3 ) , several folk songs are refer that are worth noting : “ John Henry , ” “ Hesitation Blues ” and “ Man / Maid of Constant Sorrow . ” See also : beast of the Calla , page 228 .
“ Everything ’s Eventual ” ( From Everything ’s Eventual , Pocket Books , Simon & Schuster paperback )
“ My Way ” – Frank Sinatra ( p. 311 )
“ Do n’t Stand So tight to Me ” – The Police ( p. 320 )
The Dark Tower ( Simon & Schuster hardback )
Since this is the terminal chapter , many song from throughout the saga are mention again . These will not be included and will only be cite on their first reference .
“ Moonlight Becomes You ” – Bing Crosby ( p. 7 )
“ I leave My Heart in San Francisco ” – Tony Bennett ( p. 7 )
“ Good Golly , Miss Molly ” – Little Richard ( p. 77 )
“ The Lion Sleeps Tonight ” – The Tokens ( p. 81 )
“ Harrigan ” – George M. Cohan ( p. 90 )
“ Nowhere to Run ” – Martha and the Vandellas ( p. 227 )
“ Heartbreak Hotel ” – Elvis ( p. 230 )
“ ride My Car ” – The Beatles ( p. 317 )
“ That ’s Amore ” – Dean Martin ( p. 351 )
“ Born to Run ” – Bruce Springsteen ( p. 404 )
“ Hey Nineteen ” – Steely Dan ( p. 434 )
“ Gangsta Dream Nineteen ” – Owt - Ray - Juss ( p. 444 ) [ Despite identifying the creative person and the song , I consider this may be a melody of King ’s own invention . ]
“ Crazy Train ” – Ozzy Osbourne ( p. 444 )
“ Rockin ’ in the Free World ” – Neil Young ( p. 600 )
“ California Sun ” – The Rivieras ( p. 707 )
“ Sugar Shack ” – Jimmy Gilmer & The Fireballs ( p. 716 )
“ ( Love is Like a ) Heat Wave ” – Martha and the Vandellas ( p. 716 )
“ She love You ” – The Beatles ( p. 716 )
“ Come Go With Me ” – The Del - Vikings ( p. 728 )
“ Kokomo ” – The Beach Boys ( p. 708 )
Image : The Dark Tower , Stephen King
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