Songs With Word Book In Title

Feature Photo: Prometheus72 / Shutterstock.com

Putting together a list of songs with the word book in the title is an Earnest reminder of the old days when we used to actually read physical books. Now everyone reads off an iPad, a laptop, or even worse, a tiny phone screen. I don’t know about you, but I like a nice, solid book in my hand, smelling the paper, touching the ink, carrying it around, enjoying the cover. I like the physical aspect of reading a book. Just like I still read the newspapers, just like I still play records. Yeah, I’m old school, but it’s a school I will never graduate from.

# 10 – Book Of Dreams – Suzanne Vega

We open with this wonderful song, “Book of Dreams,” by the fabulous Suzanne Vega. How could you not love Suzanne Vega? Her voice and personality make you just want to give her a big hug and say, ” Hey, it’s going to be okay.” We all first discovered her when she released “Luka,” but there’s just so much great material she’s recorded over the years, and this is one of the best

# 9 – Book Of Moses – Tom Waits

It’s always fun to add a little Tom Waits to these lists. With such an abundant catalog of songs, it’s usually easy to find a Tom Waits song that hooks up. This one defines his typical rolling down the road in a jalopy, with pans hitting the ground, a hurricane about to hit, dogs barking, eggs on the grill, and a cup of coffee spilled on the floor. You get the picture?

# 8 – You Can’t Judge a Book by the Cover -Bo Diddley

You can still hear that Bo Diddley groove in this big hit by the legendary guitarist. It’s one of his last. It’s amazing to think about just how many songs and artists have been inspired by his hambone beat. Just listen to the early Rolling Stones albums. It’s not just a Bo Diddley beat; it’s also the Willie Dixon songs, which this one stands as one of his best.

# 7 – Book Of Liars – Walter Becker

The late Walter Becker did not release many solo albums; in fact, I believe it was only two. However, this was one of the strongest tracks he ever released as a solo artist. I’m sure if he had a stronger singing voice, he might have done more, but the fact is he was an indispensable part of Steely Dan. What he and Donald Fagan did after all the years together was release some of the greatest music modern times have ever seen.

# 6 – My Little Red Book – The Standells

There were a lot of different versions of this song to choose from. Originally written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David, it’s been widely covered over the past 60 years. However, I would argue that one of the best versions ever recorded was by The Standells. I love this band. Listen to the groove they lay out. This is early punk with a ’60s attitude. They were very much ahead of their time.

# 5 – Open Book – Prince

We lost a big one when Prince passed away. Sometimes I wonder if people really understood just what a musical genius Prince was. He’s someone I always wish I could have interviewed. I know that he didn’t do many interviews and he was very closed to the media. But I think he was a very special person; you could hear it in his music, in his lyrics, and in his playing. He wanted to do good. And he did.

# 4 – Book If Your Heart – U2

One of my great joys of being a record collector is finding those b-sides that are definite gems. I always wonder what goes into the thoughts of the people putting out an album between the band members, the producer, and the record company. Has to be difficult knowing which songs to put on an album and which to leave off. This is definitely one of U2’s greatest b-sides.

# 3 – Book Of Love – The Monotones

Oh, tell me, tell me, tell me that this is not one of the most popular doo-wop songs ever written. You just can’t get it out of your head the first time you hear it. The song was originally recorded by the Monotones in 1957. Every garage band since then, or at least when there used to be garage bands, played this song. Four easy chords, the typical fifties pattern. But it wasn’t about the chord changes, or the groove, of course; all of that was important. No, this is all about those harmonies, those wonderful do wop harmonies.

# 2 – Everyday I Write The Book – Elvis Costello

I have always loved the chord changes behind this song. The melody is fabulous, and of course the lyrics are pure Elvis Costello wit. But it’s that groove in this song that most people probably don’t notice as much or don’t realize they notice as much.

# 1 – I Could Write a Book – Tony Bennett

We close our book of songs with the word book in the title with a recording by one of the greatest singers of all time. This old Rogers and Hart song was first composed in 1940 for the play Pal Joey. It would become one of the most recorded standards of all time. There are so many classic versions of this, including Sinatra’s, Harry Connick’s modern-day hit from the film When Harry Met Sally, and many others. Yet, Tony Bennett does the full version, including the introduction, which most people never bother to record when they perform it. We miss you, Tony.

For a complete look at the various types of articles we have on the site, make sure to check out our Classic Rock Bands List and Directory

Don’t miss our fun, in-depth article on the Top 500 Classic Rock Songs Of All Time

If you want to see how we rank our favorite bands, check out our Top 200 Classic Rock Bands Of All Time article

If you love interviews with legendary rock stars, we have thousands of them that you can find in our Rock Star Interviews List

ClassicRockHistory.com claims ownership of all original editorial content under global copyright laws. Re-publication without explicit permission is strictly prohibited. Images utilize official Shutterstock licensing or Creative Commons public domain attribution. Product links to album covers are connected to the Amazon Associates program, which may earn this site a small commission on purchases at no additional cost to you.