3 Songs That You Wouldn’t Expect to Reference Shakespeare

William Shakespeare—influence of many, from fellow poets and playwrights to artists, actors, and musicians. Shakespeare’s influence on modern culture is not often obvious, but whether it’s a contemporary adaptation of Twelfth Night (the Amanda Bynes movie She’s The Man), or a hilarious modern production of Much Ado About Nothing, The Bard has worked his way into many facets of our media. Now, here are three songs that pull references from Shakespeare in ways you may not have thought about before.

“Sigh No More” — Mumford & Sons

“Sigh No More,” the title track from Mumford & Sons’ 2009 album, takes inspiration, as well as direct lines, from Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing. The song opens with Serve God, love me and mend, which is a line that Benedick tells Beatrice when she claims she’s feeling ill. However, the original line is followed by There will I leave you too, denoting a kind of end. The song continues with This is not the end, a radical difference from the play. Live unbruised, we are friends / and I’m sorry, I’m sorry, the next lines go. “Sigh No More” tells a different story than this section of Much Ado About Nothing, but the sentiment remains—”love me, and be well.”

The titular line “sigh no more” also comes from the Shakespeare play, specifically from a song that warns women against a man’s dishonesty and infidelity—Sigh no more, ladies sigh no more / Men were deceivers ever / One foot on sea, and one on shore / To one thing constant never.

“Problem Bears” — The Tragically Hip

“Problem Bears” from The Tragically Hip’s 2002 album In Violet Light takes a more literal approach to a Shakespeare reference, but it’s worth noting all the same. The Tragically Hip frontman and lyricist Gord Downie allegedly included Shakespeare references liberally in his early work. Here, he includes Voltaire’s famous opinion of Shakespeare directly in the lyrics. Shakespeare, you’re a drunken savage / Well, you’re a sober and green-eyed Voltaire / It almost sounds funny / Like two tough-talking goalies / Who are really going at it upstairs, goes “Problem Bears.”

Additionally, The Tragically Hip also have a song titled “Cordelia,” which is about the character from Macbeth. This song appears on the 1991 album Road Apples, and includes the lines Treading the boards, screaming out Macbeth / Just to see how much bad luck you really get. If you can only choose one band to go to for Shakespeare references, why not try The Tragically Hip?

“All Star” — Smash Mouth

Here’s one that might actually surprise you—Smash Mouth’s breakaway hit and Shrek anthem “All Star” includes a Shakespeare reference. The line All that glitters is gold is a slightly altered take on a quote from The Merchant of Venice, which goes, All that glitters is not gold. It’s an aphorism that cautions against holding precious things in high esteem. All that glitters on the surface, such as gold, may not be as genuine or worthwhile underneath.

Smash Mouth took this line from Shakespeare and altered it slightly, but also reinforced it through the following lines of the song. All that glitters is gold / Only shooting stars break the mold. The first part of the line is what the speaker has always been told, that he can do anything he wants. However, in the next line, there’s a bit of reality thrown in. Furthermore, the original lyrics were Wave bye bye to your soul, which reinforces the idea that to become successful, you must give up part of yourself.

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