5 Times Stanley Kubrick Inspired Famous Musicians

The master director behind The Shining, A Clockwork Orange, 2001: A Space Odyssey, and many more classically strange and artistic films has inspired countless filmmakers in recent years. However, Stanley Kubrick also inspired a few notable musicians and bands as well. Let’s look at a few examples of famous musicians who were directly or indirectly inspired by Stanley Kubrick!

1. Pink Floyd

In a way, Stanley Kubrick and Pink Floyd seem to both be the same flavor of… something. Quite a few fans through the years believe that the Pink Floyd song “Echoes” pairs quite perfectly with Kubrick’s iconic science fiction film 2001: A Space Odyssey. Pink Floyd’s members have denied this, but when placed on top of each other, one can’t deny that there seems to be some sort of cosmic connection happening that Pink Floyd wasn’t aware of.

2. Kate Bush

Stanley Kubrick inspired a few musicians through the years, but Kate Bush is one particularly interesting addition to the list. The Dreaming is one of Kate Bush’s most underrated albums, and there are some notable influences throughout the album that are very Kubrick-esque. 

“Get Out Of My House”, in particular, could be seen as a narrative from the same universe as the Overlook Hotel from the Kubrick horror classic The Shining. The song takes place in an asylum and has an overall claustrophobic and anxious feeling. Bush never directly said that she was inspired by Kubrick, but the vibes are there.

3. Kanye West

Kubrick produced Eyes Wide Shut before he passed away, and Kanye West used that film as the theme for an entire album. Though, specifically, the references are pretty strong on the song “Runaway”. He uses the piano motif from Eyes Wide Shut’s famous musical score as the foundation of the song.

4. Led Zeppelin

Led Zeppelin’s John Bonham never wrote any music about Kubrick or his works (that we know of), but he was quite smitten with Kubrick’s aesthetics. Specifically, he was a big fan of the fashion featured in A Clockwork Orange. After the film was initially released, Bonham enjoy dressing up like a “droog”, complete with a bowler hat and a white boiler suit. Robert Plant even called him “Mr. Ultraviolence” for a while. A fan’s gonna do what a fan wants to do!

Photo by Koh Hasebe/Shinko Music/Getty Images

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