Top 10 Songs Inspired by True Events

The Trooper - Iron Maiden

Inspired by the Battle of Balaclava (1854), which took place during the Crimean War.

Smoke On the Water - Deep Purple

The lyrics tell a true story. In 1971, Deep Purple was in Montreux, Switzerland, to record an album at a studio located in Montreux Casino ("the gambling house" in the song lyrics). Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention were also there for a live show.
During their concert, the place suddenly caught fire when somebody in the audience fired a flare gun toward the rattan-covered ceiling ("some stupid with a flare gun"). There were no major injuries, but the fire destroyed the entire casino complex along with all of Zappa's equipment. Deep Purple bassist Roger Glover saw the smoke from the fire spreading over Lake Geneva and came up with this song title.

Tears In Heaven - Eric Clapton

It's about the death of his four-year-old son, who fell from a window of a 53rd-floor New York apartment.

Wind of Change - Scorpions

Inspired by the fall of the Berlin Wall, which was a significant historical event.

Fade to Black - Metallica

The Ballroom Blitz - The Sweet

It was inspired by an incident in 1973 when the band was performing live, and the band members were driven offstage by a barrage of bottles.

Candle in the Wind - Elton John

Based on the life and death of Marilyn Monroe.

Fiddler on the Green - Demons & Wizards

The singer and lyricist saw two car accidents in one week and witnessed two children killed at the same intersection.

Sunday Bloody Sunday - U2

It's about the Troubles in Northern Ireland and the Bloody Sunday incident in Derry, where British troops shot and killed unarmed civil rights protesters and bystanders.

New York Mining Disaster 1941 - Bee Gees

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Disposable Teens - Marilyn Manson

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Suffer Little Children - The Smiths

Pumped Up Kicks - Foster the People

Candle in the Wind 1997 - Elton John

Based on the life and death of Princess Diana.

Out In the Fields - Gary Moore & Phil Lynott

It's about the Troubles in Northern Ireland.

Sleeping Sun - Nightwish

This song is about the solar eclipse of 1999.

Hurricane - Bob Dylan

About the false imprisonment of Rubin "Hurricane" Carter.

Jeremy - Pearl Jam

Based on the suicide of Jeremy Wade Delle, who shot himself in front of his classmates.

Mein Teil - Rammstein

Although the song is generally about cannibalism, told from the victim's perspective in a very sexualized and religious way, it was inspired by the Cannibal of Rotenburg.

The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald - Gordon Lightfoot

Watching Over Me - Iced Earth

The Empire of the Clouds - Iron Maiden

Based around the R101 airship disaster of 1930. Like many Maiden songs, Bruce Dickinson has a way of telling a tale through song.

Double Vision - Foreigner

Vocalist Lou Gramm explained: "...A lot of people think it's about being intoxicated or being high. When we were recording that song before we had the title, the New York Rangers hockey team was playing the Philadelphia Flyers and one of the big Flyers guys bumped into the Rangers' all-star goalie [John Davidson] and knocked him down and they had to take him out of the game because he was experiencing double vision."

Pompeii - Bastille

Darkness - Eminem

Based on the Las Vegas shooting.

Tag des Jüngsten Gerichts - Kay One

In this rap epic, which is more than 20 minutes long, Kay One reflects on his entire career and his feuds with other rappers. Kay One had a notorious feud with Germany's most successful rapper, Bushido, who was once his friend.
However, Kay One left the label, claiming it was due to Bushido's mafia ties and his exploitation. When this song was released, there was a huge media coverage of the feud because Kay One wanted to expose the mafia-like Abou Chaka clan and was under police protection.

Michael X - Casper

This is about a friend's suicide. Though the identity of that person is unknown, Casper confirmed it is based on a true event.