Songs about specific actresses

The Go-Betweens - Lee Remick
Hefner - Lee Remick

I'm curious to know about actresses that have had more than one song written about, or for, them.

And nothing came up on search, though, knowing us, we've done this before.

Peter Hammill, "Like Veronica" (Lake)

Elton John, "Candle in the Wind"

Roseanna - Toto

(Arquette)

http://popculturehasaids.wordpress.com/2011/12/11/the-top-five-songs-about-winona-ryder/

Blue Oyster Cult - Joan Crawford

Jackie DeShannon - "Anna Karina"
Serge Gainsbourg - "Initials B.B." (Bardot)

vincent gallo - i wrote this for the girl paris hilton

The Statler Brothers - "Elizabeth" (Taylor)

How can that Winona thing not include Unrest. Weird.

Pell Mell-Anna Karina

I always thought the Velvets' New Age was about the Norma Desmond character in Sunset Boulevard.

The Rebel - Scarlett Johansen Conceiving the Design

glad the winona thing doesn't include primus

wiki says new age is about shelly winters, which makes sense, i guess. i always wondered whether it might be about marilyn monroe.

that Jens Lekman song about Kirsten Dunst

Wasn't there another one about Kirsten? I remember thinking that she, along with Lee Remick, has had two separate songs about her.

Nirvana - Frances Farmer Will Have Her Revenge On Seattle

Robbie Fulks - Jean Arthur

Peter Gabriel - Digging In The Dirt (Rosanna Arquette)

The Who - "Pictures of Lily" (Lillie Langtry)

Woody Guthrie - Ingrid Bergman

Anton Barbeau - Helen Mirren
Eels - Grace Kelly Blues
Sponge - Molly (Ringwad)
Tommy Keene - My Mother Looked Like Marilyn Monroe

Assuming Bette Davis Eyes isn't specifically about Bette Davis, and that Grace Kelly (Mika) and Barbra Streisand (Duck Sauce) aren't particularly about the named actresses either.

spearmint - julie christie

brinkman - kirsten dunst

pivot (pvt) have a dunst song too

drop nineteens - winona

Linda Blair was Born Innocent

redd kross - linda blair

ratcat - tura satana

Hairboy - Face of Blair (Lisa Whelchel)

mollycuddle - the ballad of jill hennessey

"Jodie Foster" - Subterfuge
"Who Killed Marilyn" - Misfits

Nick Lowe: Marie Provost!

I was always under the impression that "Bonita Applebum" was about Christina Applegate, but I see now that I'm merging the song itself with a later P.M. Dawn reference to the song.

spearmint - julie christie

the rumors are true

I spent so much time
Thinking baout Eleanor Bron
Saying I can say no more

That song definitely deserves honorable mention

Also, "Julie" in "Waterloo Sunset" is Julie Christie.

("Terry" in that song is Terence Stamp, aka General Zod, aka brother of Who co-manager Chris Stamp. It's all a rich tapestry)

Slug and Murs:

Felt: A Tribute to Christina Ricci
Felt 2: A Tribute to Lisa Bonet
Felt 3: A Tribute To Rosie Perez

Murs "Vikki Veil"

damn dude is into actresses huh

clara bow -- 50 ft wave

Bloodhound Gang - The Ballad of Chasey Lain

Somehwere I remember hearing that Neil Young's "A Man Needs A Maid" is about Tuesday Weld ("I fell in love with the actress/She was playing a part that I could understand")--but it's not mentioned anywhere online.

The Lucksmiths - Jennifer Jason

I had a dream about Jennifer Jason Leigh
I was running and she was chasing me

Somehwere I remember hearing that Neil Young's "A Man Needs A Maid" is about Tuesday Weld ("I fell in love with the actress/She was playing a part that I could understand")--but it's not mentioned anywhere online.

The actress stuff in "A Man Needs A Maid" were about Neil's future babymama Carrie Snodgress, and the movie in question was Diary of A Mad Housewife directed by Frank "Uncle of Katy" Perry. Several early 70s Neil songs are about Snodgress, most blatently "Motion Pictures (For Carrie)".

red hot chili peppers "gong li" bside

Half Man Half Biscuit - I Hate Nerys Hughes

PWEI - Touched By The Hand Of Cicciolina

The Czars - Catherine
...is about Catherine Deneuve

Loudon Wainwright - Liza

... is great!

Tiny Tim, "Then I'd Satisfied With Life"

"If I only owned Pennsylvania Railroad
And if Tuesday Weld would only be my wife
If I could only stay sixteen forever
Then I'd know that I'd be satisfied with life"

... voice of Tuesday Weld provided by Nico!

would-be-goods - emanuelle béart

Oh, totally forgot about this pair off the latest Mountain Goats:

The Autopsy Garland (about Judy)
Liza Forever Minnelli

which, in turn, reminds me of:

Weeping Tile - Judy G

Ezra Furman and the Harpoons - Kirsten Dunst

Ozma - Natalie Portman

"Anna Karina" by Makes Nice. (I'm not able to track down whether it's a cover of the Pell Mell and/or Jackie DeShannon "Anna Karina"s already mentioned.)

Ruby keeler, "Helena Bonham carter"

Edie Brickell & New Bohemians - Little Miss S (Edie Sedgwick)

Nico - Chelsea Girls

As I mentioned on ILE just now, re RIP Sally Kellerman:
Wiki sez she released another album in 2009---also, For a time in the mid-1970s, Kellerman was involved with Mark Farner of the rock group Grand Funk Railroad. He wrote the song "Sally", from the 1976 album Born to Die, as an ode to their relationship. Thanx to Lump for linking this thread on there and reviving it.
Another Tuesday mention:
Introduce me to that big blonde
She's got a touch of Tuesday Weld
She's wearing Ambush and a French twist
She's got us wild and she can tell
She loves to limbo, that much is clear
She's got the right dynamic for the new frontier
Although Tuesday was not a *big* blonde, unless Donald Fagen really making this kid POV, which I guess he is (supposedly said it's about kids having party in fallout shelter)

LFO: "Girl On TV" (Jennifer Love Hewitt)

The Who: "Athena" (Theresa Russell)

"Katherine Hepburn" - Sparks featuring Christi Haydon
"Ladies" - Sparks (mentions Princess Grace Kelly, but I don't think any of the other women mentioned are best known for acting)

Funny that there's no thread, "Songs About Specific Actors".

Sharon Stone:

"Sharon Stoned" by Chanel West Coast
"Under the Covers with Sharon Stone" by Dr. Left Hook, aka Bob & Tom (a parody of "On the Cover of the Rolling Stone" by Dr. Hook)

xpost, well "Robert DeNiro's Waiting" by Bananarama, maybe not so good tho; Did think "James Dean" was pretty good for the Eagles, and "Rock On," by David Essex, says, "Jimmy Dean. Jimmy Dean."* Might be talking about the country singer->sausage baron tho. Best I've heard is The Clash's "Right Profile": "It's Montgomery CLIFT, honey."
*Lloyd Cole: "Eva Marie Saint. Eva Marie Saint."

Black MIDI - Marlene Dietrich

Falco - The Kiss of Kathleen Turner

It is a little creepy yeah

William Shatner - The Wedding Present

The Adult Net - Edie

Mega City Four - Anne Bancroft
John Grant - Sigourney Weaver

“Alaska” by The Voluptuous Horror of Karen Black is not about Karen Black but does extensively quote Helena Kallianotes

Fall Out Boy - Uma Thurman

Not one about Sissy Spacek? Shelly Duvall? Garbo????????????
(Smashing Pumpkins only gave Gish an album title, not a song, and they/he prob just liked the sound of it.)

now I'm imagining 3 Women with Spacek, Duvall and... Garbo????????????

OMD - Pandora's Box (Louise Brooks)

if songs about more than one actress work:

Television Personalities - Favourite Films (Wendy Craig, Carol White, Rita Tushingham)

(Stevie Nicks has Garbo, but it really isn't about Garbo so much)

Peter Murphy - Marlene Dietrich's Favorite Poem

Taylor Swift- Better Than Revenge (Camilla Belle)

Cardiacs "Gina Lollobrigida"

Some say the J. Geils Band’s “Love Stinks” was inspired by Faye Dunaway but it’s not been proven

Boo Radleys - “Butterfly McQueen”

Holy shit, how have we forgotten Celluloid Heroes?

cinerama - lollobrigida

Matthew Sweet - Winona

Oh wait, I see that was covered in jaymc's link at the top of the thread.

http://www.garboforever.com/Garbo_related_Songs.htm

More Louise Brooks:

— The first rock music nod to Brooks may be from The Freeze, a Scottish punk band. In 1980, they released a 7″ EP featuring the song “Celebration”, which the back cover notes is “dedicated to Louise Brooks who inspired this song.” Composer Gordon Sharp reportedly sent the recording to the actress. The earliest rock music video featuring footage of Brooks may be “It Hurts” by the Lotus Eaters, from 1985.

— News for Lulu (1988) is an album of hard bop compositions performed by the avant-jazz trio of John Zorn, George Lewis and Bill Frisell. More News for Lulu (1989) is a follow-up of live recordings. Brooks adorns the cover and linear notes of each recording.

— International songs referencing Brooks include Jen Anderson’s “Lulu the song” (1993) from her Australian Pandora’s Box soundtrack; “Lulu” (1995) from the Canadian singer-songwriter Ron Hawkins; and “Interior Lulu” (1999) by the British prog-rock band Marillion. Another prog-rock band, TIMELOCK, from The Netherlands, released two songs about the actress, “Louise Brooks” from their 1994 album Louise Brooks, and “Louise Brooks Revisited” from a 2002 album. In 2014, Scottish singer songwriter Louise Rutkowski released Diary of a Lost Girl. That same year, the Tiger Lillies released Lulu – A Murder Ballad. In 2015, Wurlitza, a five piece band from the UK, released their original soundtrack to the Brooks’ film, Diary of a Lost Girl. And on a different note, there’s “Louise Brooks: Lulu’s Ragtime” (2007) by the Vienna Art Orchestra. As well, Brooks appears on the cover of Eliogabablus (1990), by the Italian-Slovenian experimental rock band Devil Doll. While a few images of Brooks appear in the video of Caro Emerald’s “Tangled Up” (2013).

— Brooks may be more popular in France than just about anywhere. Among the French acts that have recorded tributes to the actress is the musette revival band Les Primitifs Du Futur (whose line-up includes famed cartoonist Robert Crumb); in 2006, they reworked the theme song from Prix de Beauté into “Chanson pour Louise Brooks”. Among other French recordings there is “Louise Brooks” by Lady Godiva, from their 1999 release Louise Brooks Avenue, “Actress (Louise Brooks theme)” by Nouvelle Culture from 2005, and Olivia Louvel’s “Lulu a Hollywood” from her 2007 album, Lulu in Suspension.

— Soul Coughing’s 1998 song “St. Louise Is Listening” contains several references to Brooks. Composer Mike Doughty sports a Brooks’ tattoo.

— A number of indie acts have recorded tracks referencing Brooks, including Sarah Azzara’s “Like Louise Brooks” (2000), Paul Hayes’ “Louise Brooks” (2003), Gosta Berling’s “Berlin” (2008), and Ross Berkal’s ballad “MLB (for Louise Brooks)” from 2010.

— Rufus Wainwright’s 2010 recording, All Days Are Nights: Songs for Lulu, is an acknowledged tribute to Brooks. The Lou Reed / Metallica collaboration, Lulu (2011), can also be regarded as a more oblique homage to Brooks.

— Natalie Merchant’s self-titled 2014 album contains “Lulu”, a song which is a biographical sketch of Brooks.

Janelle Monae - Dorothy Dandridge Eyes

Lead Belly - Jean Harlow

Angelina, can you feel it?
Watch the angels as they're dancing up above
Oh, Angelina, what's come between us?
Could it be the magic and the mystery of love?

This ain't no chance we're taking
It's real love that we're making
The blindfold's off and now we see
Yeah, we see

--Billy Bob Thornton (2001)

neil sedaka - betty grable

Bryan Adams was inspired to write two different songs about Dorothy Stratten.

!

"Ingrid Bergman"--words by Woody Guthrie, music by Billy Bragg & Wilco

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5lrnWT2ym6A

Especially poignant referencing her and "the island of Stromboli," because of movie---not only plot:
Bergman plays Karin, a displaced Lithuanian in Italy, who secures release from an internment camp by marrying an Italian ex-POW fisherman (Mario Vitale), whom she meets in the camp. He promises her a great life in his home island of Stromboli, a volcanic island located between the mainland of Italy and Sicily. She soon discovers that Stromboli is very harsh and barren, not at all what she expected, and the people, very traditional and conservative, many fishermen, show hostility and disdain towards this foreign woman who does not follow their ways.

Karin becomes increasingly despondent and eventually decides to escape the volcano island.

But also backstory and blowback:

The film is the result of a famous letter from Ingrid Bergman to Roberto Rossellini, in which she wrote that she admired his work and wanted to make a movie with him. Rossellini and she set up a joint production company for the film, Societ per Azioni Berit (Berit Films, sometimes written as Bero Films), and she also helped Rossellini to secure a production and distribution deal with RKO and its then owner, Howard Hughes...the extramarital affair between Rossellini and Bergman (that) began during the production of the film, as well as their child born out of wedlock a few weeks before the film's American release.[7] In fact, the affair caused such a scandal in the United States that church groups, women's clubs, and legislators in more than a dozen states around the country called for the film to be banned,[8] and Bergman was denounced as "a powerful influence for evil" on the floor of the US Senate by Colorado Senator Edwin C. Johnson.[9] Furthermore, Bergman's Hollywood career was halted for a number of years, until she won an Academy Award for her performance in Anastasia.

Oops, meant to incl. link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stromboli_(film)

You'd expect from the title for Woody to sing the praises of Bergman as a fellow anti-fascist who braved moral condemnation from the prudes of the world. I like how instead, he just gets lewd and crude.

I dunno, sounds (words x new tune x Bragg vox) pretty wistful, though some stuff slipped by me, as might have also been intent.

xpost Holy shit, worse than that, even---from main article on her:
During the scandal, Bergman received letters in support from Cary Grant, Helen Hayes, Ernest Hemingway, John Steinbeck and other celebrities.[15] This public scandal is remembered as a major sex scandal of 20th century Hollywood.[146][147] It received an extraordinary amount of media attention, not only in the US, but also abroad, including in Bergman's native Sweden. Bergman was treated harshly by the conservative Swedish press, with some Swedish journalists going as far as claiming that she had destroyed the international reputation of Sweden.[148] The scandal also took ethnocentric overtones, with Rossellini being described as the immoral, highly sexed, aggressive Latin lover.[148] On the other hand, Bergman was defended by Swedish feminists, and the whole situation (especially after Bergman returned for the first time in Sweden after the scandal in 1955) caused friction in Sweden between conservative journalists and the emerging feminist movement.[148] In the US, the scandal also took xenophobic turns, Sen. Edwin C. Johnson stated that "under the law, no alien guilty of turpitude can set foot on American soil again" and that Bergman had "deliberately exiled herself from this country that was so good to her."[149] Isabella Rossellini said that "[..] she was chased out of America because they felt that foreigners and stars, we come to America, and then behave immorally and are bad examples to the younger generations."[150] Although the morals of the times played a role in the public outrage, as the affair scandal took place during the post-war era of social conservatism, the fact that Bergman had a public image of a pure, saint-like character played a major role too; later Bergman would comment on the scandal "People saw me in Joan of Arc, and declared me a saint. I'm not. I'm just a woman, another human being."[151] and "It was because so many people, who knew me only on the screen, thought I was perfect and infallible and then were angry and disappointed that I wasn't ... A nun does not fall in love with an Italian."[149]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ingrid_Bergman#Personal_life

evil madness have "isabelle adjani" although being mego adjacent techno ohne vox, it's not so much a song, i guess
it does amuse me to think that they are actually the evil barson, suggs, chas smash, lee thompson etc , though