Pop Sonnets: Shakespearean Spins on Your Favourite Songs

Bruce Springsteen, ‘Dancing in the Dark’

Cyndi Lauper, ‘Girls Just Want to Have Fun’

The Weather Girls, ‘It’s Raining Men’

MC Hammer, ‘U Can’t Touch This’

The Village People, ‘YMCA’

Men Without Hats, ‘The Safety Dance’

Rebecca Black, ‘Friday’

Miley Cyrus, ‘Party in the USA’

Blink-182, ‘What’s My Age Again?’

Meghan Trainor, ‘All About That Bass’

The Chainsmokers, ‘#SELFIE’

The Trammps, ‘Disco Inferno’

Vanilla Ice, ‘Ice Ice Baby’

Katy Perry, ‘I Kissed a Girl’

ABBA, ‘Dancing Queen’

V. BALLADS OF HEROES

DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince, ‘The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air’

Billy Joel, ‘Piano Man’

Johnny Cash, ‘Folsom Prison Blues’

Simon and Garfunkel, ‘Mrs. Robinson’

Elton John, ‘Rocket Man’

Kenny Rogers, ‘The Gambler’

Chuck Berry, ‘Johnny B. Goode’

Barry Manilow, ‘Copacabana’

Arlo Guthrie, ‘Alice’s Restaurant’

Roger Miller, ‘King of the Road’

The Tokens, ‘The Lion Sleeps Tonight’

The Animals, ‘House of the Rising Sun’

Black Sabbath, ‘Iron Man’

Michael Jackson, ‘Thriller’

The Eagles, ‘Hotel California’

Queen, ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’

Jay-Z, ‘99 Problems’

Frank Sinatra, ‘My Way’

Index of First Lines

Acknowledgements

About the Author

About the Publisher

INTRODUCTION (#ue1e987bb-a720-5b5e-ab33-da07e105e521)

William Shakespeare (1564–1616) has mystified scholars for centuries. With so little documentary evidence about his life and career, particularly in his own hand, he is a topic of endless academic speculation. Did he really compose the works attributed to him? For whom were the ‘Fair Youth’ and ‘Dark Lady’ sonnets written? Was Shakespeare murdered by a rival writer?

These questions, while intriguing, ignore an important aspect of Shakespeare’s work. He was not an author but a playwright; his work is intended not to be read but heard. His stunning use of rhyme and rhythm not only guided the audience to greater understanding of plot and theme but also helped the actors memorise and perform his works. Given his tremendous power on the stage, we must ask ourselves: if Shakespeare’s plays were intended for performance, why dowe believe his sonnets were intended solely for the page?

In fact, they weren’t. The 154 sonnets we know and cherish were an exception, written and published in 1608 to bolster his income while London theatres were closed due to outbreaks of plague. His complete œuvre was far larger, encompassing thousands of unpublished sonnets that were performed with musical accompaniment between acts of his plays. These sonnets survived by being passed down orally, particularly among members of Shakespeare’s troupe, the King’s Men. (Said troupe endured far longer than most people realise, scoring a number one hit in 1963 with their version of ‘Louie, Louie’.)

In 1743, Sir Kirk de Edin began transcribing these sonnets, finally providing the world with a written record of Shakespeare’s lost genius. His work went largely unnoticed, however, until Columbia record executive Robert Lorre discovered the manuscripts in 1951 and began using the sonnets as the foundation for new singles. De Edin’s manuscript quietly spread throughout the music industry, inspiring countless hit songs over the next sixty-five years.

The volume you hold is a selection of these lesser-known sonnets, along with the titles of the songs they helped spark. I earnestly hope they bring you a greater appreciation of both the Bard and the artists he inspired.

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The game of love, we intimately know –

its laws and maxims, mastered by our hearts;

thus, I propose to be thine only beau

with passion that no other could impart.

These feelings weighing heavy in my breast