Aside from Shakespeare, no writer has had more of an influence on rock and roll than George Orwell. The primary reason for this, I believe, is the matter of subject and tone. Because as rock has entered into a more technologically-driven age, the music has gradually moved from having social origins and intentions toward an emphasis on isolation, power relations and paranoia. Of course, 1984 is the work that deals with these things most apparently, and it's also the one that has inspired the most allusions in terms of lyrics, song titles, and a little trickier to prove, world-views. This all came to me the other evening, as I was listening to David Bowie's classic, Diamond Dogs (1974), which was at least partially written with the intention of creating a stage production based on the novel. And although that didn't happen (and it would have been cool), we do have the amazing three songs that take their titles directly: "We Are the Dead" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CUflIrTSwK8&feature=related), "1984" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KByxC7B9WH0&feature=related), "Big Brother" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5EOlZyD26T4&feature=related).