Citings & Sightings of Dante's Works in Contemporary Culture
One line of Steve Miller Band’s 1977 single “Jet Airliner” will sound familiar to any reader of Dante’s Divine Comedy:
“You know you got to go through hell before you get to heaven.” —AZ Lyrics
Listen to the full song here.
Contributed by Kelly Clark
“Plenty of music fans could have guessed that David Bowie was a fan of George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four, since Mr. Bowie once aspired to produce a musical based on the novel. Now we have 99 other book recommendations from the Thin White Duke…”
“Elsewhere, there’s Dante’s Inferno, Homer’s Iliad and The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Min‘ by Julian Jaynes. As the A.V. Club put it: ‘David Bowie has once again shown that he’s not only far richer, sexier and more fabulous than you, but probably smarter.'” –John Williams, The New York Times, October 1st, 2013
In May 2006, Indiana-based indie-rock/rockabilly group Murder By Death released In Bocca al Lupo, a concept album influenced by Dante’s Comedy. Asked about the connection to Dante’s poem, band front man Adam Turla explained, “In Bocca is a collection of short stories and each song deals with the idea of sin in a different way.” Each track narrates the story of a different character, woven through a pastiche of musical styles and exploring various aspects of sin, death, and transgression.
Read Marisa Brown’s review of the album at AllMusic.com, and Adam Turla’s full interview with Bobby Gorman of ThePunkSite.com here.
From Lyrics Time:
Lick off the shot my stories shock ya like Ellison
Main line adrenaline Gaza to Tienanmen
From the basement I’m dwellin’ in
I cock back tha sling to stone a settler
And breaks him off clean, call me the upsetter
Here comes the hands on the leashes
The cross, the capital, the pale families, the fear and the mouthpieces
The single sista lynch
The cell doors crash
And the master’s drums echo, echo, echo, echo, echo, echo
Roll right! Roll call!
But now we’re alright, we’re all calm!
Roll right! Roll call!
And now we’re alright, we’re all calm!
This hits like fists bomb with the left and don’t miss
With the sickest stilo I spark fear like pigs in the park
Head crack, I hijack the papers
The vapors caught fire up in your mind
Come back rewind one time
Here comes the hands on the leashes
The cross, the capital, the pale families, the fear and the mouthpieces
The single sista lynch
The cell doors crash
And the master’s drums echo, echo, echo, echo, echo, echo
Roll right! Roll call!
But now we’re alright, we’re all calm!
Roll right! Roll call!
We gotta take ’em to tha seventh level
We gotta take ’em to tha seventh level
For their lives and my lives were never settled
Come on, don’t freeze when zero hour comes
Come on, come on, don’t freeze when zero hour comes
Come on
Send ’em to tha seventh level!
Send ’em to tha seventh level!
Send ’em to tha seventh level!
Send ’em to tha seventh level!
For their lives and my lives were never settled
“Professor Fate is a solo project from Mick Kenney (Anaal Nathrakh/Exploder/Mistress) Professor Fate produce cinematic style music, a form of epic classical that fuses intertwined drumbeats with orchestral Rock and electronic sounds. The music screams “soundtrack” in its every audible moment, with grand, sweeping soundscapes that inspire cinematic imagery even in the dark. ‘Inferno’ presents you with a powerfully potent journey through the caverns of the underworld, inspired by Dante Alighieri’s book, ‘The Divine Comedy.'” —CD Universe
“‘Venus Doom’ is said to have multiple layers, ranging from beautiful melodies to crunchy guitars–a contrast that HIM was striving for. The idea to have nine songs was based on Dante’s Inferno, ’cause hell has nine layers, so it’s like going deeper down into hell and then coming back,’ [band’s frontman] Valo said.” —Live Daily (retrieved July 7, 2009)
“Live Music, Cabaret, Burlesque & Rock-n-Roll” —Dante’s Live
Contributed by Lisa Peterson (Bowdoin, ’07)
See Dante Joseph’s website to hear excerpts from the album.
“The Divine Comedy is Neil Hannon. Over the years, the name has encompassed other musicians, but the driving force of the band and its main (sometimes only!) member has always been Neil Hannon. He chose the name ‘The Divine Comedy’ aged 18, almost at random. He and two Enniskillen school friends needed a new name for their band and Neil spotted a copy of Dante’s epic poem on the family bookshelf. It stuck, and a year later it was the name under which the trio signed to Irish run indie Setanta Records. They left Northern Ireland, moved into a squat in London, released a mini-album, 1990’s REM/Ride influenced ‘Fanfare for the Comic Muse’ and ’91’s ‘Europop’ E.P. then split up. Neil’s bandmates went to university and Neil returned home.” —The Divine Comedy
