Trophy Moose wrote:Great thread. Off my head the Fall have written about one of Bishop Muzorewi’s kids, Cary Grant, Pope Jean Paul the first, Damo Suzuki, Martin Borman, Doctor Faustus, Terry Waite, William of Orange. Oprah gets a mention, Joe Strummer, Shaun Ryder … you probably get a mention.

DNA Concept wrote:It's about George Foreman's dog. Questionable as it's not a famous person per se.

Guy wrote:That phrase, "Foreman's Dog," was inspired by the Muhammad Ali documentary "When We Were Kings." You know that scene where George Foreman comes off the plane and he's got his dog there? He was just bringing his German shepherds over because they were his dogs and it was a little bit of machismo. But to the people in Zaire, when he showed up with these dogs, they were a symbol of the Belgian colonialists who had been there earlier, they were a symbol of imperial power. So George Foreman's public-relations move was a complete bust because he showed up without having any concept of what he was doing. It was really inadvertent, but it was read by the people that way.

In 1844, the Democrats were split
The three nominees for the presidential candidate
Were Martin Van Buren, a former president and an abolitionist
James Buchanan, a moderate
Louis Cass, a general and expansionist
From Nashville came a dark horse riding up
He was James K. Polk, Napoleon of the Stump

Austere, severe, he held few people dear
His oratory filled his foes with fear
The factions soon agreed
He's just the man we need
To bring about victory
Fulfill our manifest destiny
And annex the land the Mexicans command
And when the votes were cast the winner was
Mister James K. Polk, Napoleon of the Stump

In four short years he met his every goal
He seized the whole southwest from Mexico
Made sure the tarriffs fell
And made the English sell the Oregon territory
He built an independent treasury
Having done all this he sought no second term
But precious few have mourned the passing of
Mister James K. Polk, our eleventh president
Young Hickory, Napoleon of the Stump

tommydski wrote:

DNA Concept wrote:It's about George Foreman's dog. Questionable as it's not a famous person per se.

Guy wrote:That phrase, "Foreman's Dog," was inspired by the Muhammad Ali documentary "When We Were Kings." You know that scene where George Foreman comes off the plane and he's got his dog there? He was just bringing his German shepherds over because they were his dogs and it was a little bit of machismo. But to the people in Zaire, when he showed up with these dogs, they were a symbol of the Belgian colonialists who had been there earlier, they were a symbol of imperial power. So George Foreman's public-relations move was a complete bust because he showed up without having any concept of what he was doing. It was really inadvertent, but it was read by the people that way.

I did not know this. I knew what the song was about in general but not the story about George Foreman.

Thanks for directing me to that. The full interview is here if anyone cares.

Colonel Panic wrote:Songs about infamous murderers

Seems like there are a few bands out there who have made careers out of singing about only murderers...