WALT WHITMAN SET TO MUSIC

We know Walt Whitman as a character of fiction (consider Michael Cunningham's just released Specimen Days, or Chris Adrian's Gob's Grief), but it's interesting to use itunes to scoop up Whitman as a subject of popular music.

Whitman Synthesized. "Walt Whitman" by My Robot Friend. Man oh man, if you have itunes, sample this baby please! I can't do it justice here. And here's an article about it.

Woody's Whitman."Walt Whitman's Niece" (by Woody Guthrie, recorded by Billy Bragg and Wilco on "Mermaid Avenue")

Whitman All Smooth and Jazzy."Walt Whitman Where Are You?" (from Gino Vanelli's Yonder Tree)

Country Whitman. "Whitman in 1863" by Brady Earnhart (scroll down Earnhart's page to find the lyrics to this countryish, guitar ballad).

New Age Whitman. "Leaves of Grass" by Saxxon Woods, in Here and Now. It's muy folky.

Fun stuff that someone should write about at length, if it hasn't been done already. And some of this stuff would be a hoot to use in class. Wouldn't it be cool to have a Whitman index of some sort that charted pop culture references to Whitman as they appear on the scene?