songs about chess (or with metaphors from chess)

Message Bookmarked

Bookmark Removed

i can only think of two off the top of my head -- "i've seen all good people" by yes and the chess soundtrack of course. surely, there are more!

― Eisbär (llamasfur), Saturday, 6 November 2004 17:15 (nineteen years ago) link

Wu-Tang: Chessboxin'

― Hurting (Hurting), Saturday, 6 November 2004 17:20 (nineteen years ago) link

Bob Dylan "Only a Pawn in Their Game"

― dave q, Saturday, 6 November 2004 17:22 (nineteen years ago) link

"got you all in check (woo-haw") by busta rhymes

― Eisbär (llamasfur), Saturday, 6 November 2004 17:25 (nineteen years ago) link

Queen -- Killer Queen
(what do you mean, it's not about chess?)

― MindInRewind (Barry Bruner), Saturday, 6 November 2004 17:27 (nineteen years ago) link

http://www.starsend.org/graphics/e2e4.jpg

― Spinning Down Alone You Spin Alive (ex machina), Saturday, 6 November 2004 17:28 (nineteen years ago) link

Nerdiest album cover EVER!

― Hurting (Hurting), Saturday, 6 November 2004 17:38 (nineteen years ago) link

chessy music

― peepee (peepee), Saturday, 6 November 2004 18:01 (nineteen years ago) link

Annihilator - Knight Jumps Queen

contains the hilarious lyric:
Knight jumps queen, if you know what I mean

― jel -- (jel), Saturday, 6 November 2004 18:07 (nineteen years ago) link

Steely Dan - "Dirty Work"

"Like a castle in his corner in a medieval game,
I foresee terrible trouble, and I stay here just the same"

― Cheek0 (Cheek0), Saturday, 6 November 2004 18:42 (nineteen years ago) link

Van Der Graff Generator - Pawn Hearts
Peter Hamill - Fool's Mate

(This may just be "album titles about chess" though.)

― nickn (nickn), Saturday, 6 November 2004 18:58 (nineteen years ago) link

'White Rabbit' by Jefferson Airplane, though in truth they are allusions to Carrol's chess metaphors...

― Kevin Gilchrist (Mr Fusion), Saturday, 6 November 2004 19:02 (nineteen years ago) link

Prefab Sprout - Cue Fanfare

"When Bobby Fischer's plane - plane plane - touches the ground,
he'll take those Russian boys and play them out of town,
playing for blood, like grandmasters should."

― Kramnik, Saturday, 6 November 2004 19:06 (nineteen years ago) link

Servotron - Deep Blue Congratulations

"Designed by IBM
The ultimate chess master
Solitary objective to win

Can a man out think a machine?
Inconceivable!
Is a machine superior to man?
Undeniable!

The last intellectual frontier
Humanity must defend
The oldest recorded game
Gary feels the pressure to win

Can a man...

Your move!

Mental frustration
Demanding printouts
Human limitations
Your move
The characteristics of a man
Beaten by its own creation

The results are in
The computer has won
Mr Kasparov
Let me suggest you try playing checkers"

― jel -- (jel), Saturday, 6 November 2004 19:35 (nineteen years ago) link

Right said fred: "You're my mate"

― mark grout (mark grout), Saturday, 6 November 2004 19:38 (nineteen years ago) link

The Smugglers - Buudy Holly Convention

"...are you on the way to the chess club today?"

― jel -- (jel), Saturday, 6 November 2004 19:40 (nineteen years ago) link

Black Sabbath - "War Pigs"

Treating people just like pawns in chess

― Ben Dot (1977), Saturday, 6 November 2004 20:37 (nineteen years ago) link

Jefferson Starship - "Devil's Den," from the album Dragon Fly

― Joseph McCombs (Joseph McCombs), Sunday, 7 November 2004 08:18 (nineteen years ago) link

Organized Konfusion: ‘The Extinction Agenda’

― Orange, Sunday, 7 November 2004 13:01 (nineteen years ago) link

gza liquids swords lp - some lyrical references, i'm sure, and pictures on the sleeve

― Robin Goad (rgoad), Sunday, 7 November 2004 17:12 (nineteen years ago) link

Rivers Cuomo has an old demo I've heard called "Chess"

lyrics: "Chess is such a difficult game
There's so many pieces
So many squares where you can go
So few promises

Never you mind all the others
Anticipating your next move
I know it's hard cause you've got a lot to do

Street signs and traffic lights
Ever confusing me too
Stop, left, go, right, no u-turn
Where's the goddamn exit?

Never you mind all the others
Anticipating your next move
I know it's hard cause you've got a lot to do

Sex and drugs and rock and roll
Pieces lie right before you
This puzzle cant be done wrong
Conquer 'em all while you can

Never you mind all the others
Anticipating your next move
Never you mind all the others
Never you mind what they do

Don't let them get you down
'Cause if they do
You'll be trapped forever
Under their shoe

Here is a paintbrush now go
I know its hard cause you've got a lot to do"

― Matt Boch (Matt Boch), Sunday, 7 November 2004 19:25 (nineteen years ago) link

Future Bible Heroes "Losing Your Affection"

I would rather be king when the rooks take wing
Than be losing your affection

― From a Land of Grass Without Mirrors (AaronHz), Sunday, 7 November 2004 21:57 (nineteen years ago) link

gza liquids swords lp - some lyrical references, i'm sure, and pictures on the sleeve

I was just thinking whether this would qualify; there are the sleeve pictures, obviously, but I'm not sure if the lyrics actually have any references to chess. Does anyone remember?

― Tuomas (Tuomas), Sunday, 7 November 2004 22:01 (nineteen years ago) link

Bjorn and Benny from ABBA collaborated on a musical called Chess in the mid 80s. Uh, your move.

― lovebug starski (lovebug starski), Sunday, 7 November 2004 22:07 (nineteen years ago) link

Scott Walker - The Seventh Seal

― bulbs (bulbs), Sunday, 7 November 2004 22:09 (nineteen years ago) link

scott walker - the seventh seal

― mattp, Sunday, 7 November 2004 22:12 (nineteen years ago) link

woah xpost

― mattp, Sunday, 7 November 2004 22:12 (nineteen years ago) link

ha!

― bulbs (bulbs), Sunday, 7 November 2004 22:13 (nineteen years ago) link

My Life Story - Checkmate, which features my favourite misheard lyric of all time:

"Now the porn dyke's queen."

― Atnevon (Atnevon), Monday, 8 November 2004 02:53 (nineteen years ago) link

Murray Head - "One Night in Bangkok"

― Bruce S. Urquhart (BanjoMania), Monday, 8 November 2004 02:57 (nineteen years ago) link

Uchihasi Kazuhisa & Hans Reichel "Pawn Takes Stewardess"

― m0stly clean (m0stly clean), Monday, 8 November 2004 04:01 (nineteen years ago) link

jonny cohen, 'chessmaster from hell'

― mookieproof (mookieproof), Monday, 8 November 2004 07:41 (nineteen years ago) link

MX-80 Sound, "Theme From 'Checkmate'"

― Myonga Von Bontee (Myonga Von Bontee), Monday, 8 November 2004 08:14 (nineteen years ago) link

To further that Bob Dylan reference, I think that on the back of one of his album's his psychedelic 'liner notes' or whatever you'd call them are all about chess, the 'white queen' and all this and that. So I think you could probably make some argument about the 'chess theme' in Bob Dylan's work. If you wanted to. Which I suspect that you do.

― xx, Monday, 8 November 2004 08:55 (nineteen years ago) link

Yeah, GZA references chess in ‘Gold’: ‘He got swung on, his lungs was torn / The kingpin just castled with his rook and lost a pawn’

― Orange, Monday, 8 November 2004 10:22 (nineteen years ago) link

there's a new porno's song that says something about "how well you can play when a pawn takes the queen"..

― the surface noise (slight return) (electricsound), Monday, 8 November 2004 10:34 (nineteen years ago) link

or is it "how well you can play when a porn dyke's the queen"?...

― m0stly clean (m0stly clean), Monday, 8 November 2004 14:47 (nineteen years ago) link

Yes -- I've Seen All Good People (sic)

― lovebug starski (lovebug starski), Tuesday, 9 November 2004 00:35 (nineteen years ago) link

SRC (late '60s detroit band) had one, but i forget its name

― chuck, Tuesday, 9 November 2004 00:44 (nineteen years ago) link

"Chessboards" by Killing Joke

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Tuesday, 9 November 2004 01:04 (nineteen years ago) link

Suzanne Vega's "Knight Moves"

Watch while the queen
In one false move
Turns herself into a pawn

― Forksclovetofu (Forksclovetofu), Tuesday, 9 November 2004 01:06 (nineteen years ago) link

twelve years pass...

Aerosmith's "Draw the Line" has three mentions of "checkmate" , two of which are followed by "honey"

― calstars, Monday, 16 October 2017 16:37 (six years ago) link

Uh, 'Bad Losers on Yahoo! Chess' by Half Man Half Biscuit.

― more Allegro-like (Turrican), Monday, 16 October 2017 17:10 (six years ago) link

That song is CLASSIC.

"Good game sir. Do you want another bout?"
But Dennis ain't replied 'cause he's just signed out.

― Mr. Snrub, Monday, 16 October 2017 23:04 (six years ago) link

Pink Floyd - "Country Song"

― Mr. Snrub, Monday, 16 October 2017 23:04 (six years ago) link

You must be logged in to post. Please either login here, or if you are not registered, you may register here.