Musicians find inspiration from many different sources — interpersonal relationships, politics, and of course other musicians. Literature has also exerted a great influence on the form. In this episode of McG’s Backroom, Bensel runs you through some of the most interesting musical adaptations of literary works.

Tracklisting:

Cream – Tales of Brave Ulysses 1:12 (Homer, The Odyssey)
Pixies – Dead 5:01 (The Bible)
Lungfish – Jonah 9:00 (The Bible)
Nirvana – Scentless Apprentice 13:54 (Patrick Süskind, Perfume)
Joy Division – Colony 18:16 (Franz Kafka, In the Penal Colony)
Black Sabbath – Behind the Wall of Sleep 23:14 (H.P. Lovecraft, Beyond The Wall Of Sleep)
Sonic Youth – Pattern Recognition 28:52 (William Gibson, Pattern Recognition)
Hawkwind – Lord of Light 36:29 (Roger Zelazny, Lord of Light)
Tubeway Army – Are ‘Friends’ Electric? 44:56 (Philip K, Dick, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?)
PJ Harvey – The River 53:08 (Flannery O’Connor, The River)