History Main / ProfoundByPopSong

* ''Film/SchoolOfRock'': Dewey, a book-dumb music lover in disguise as a substitute teacher, explains to the school faculty that he doesn't believe in testing by quoting some lyrics from Whitney Houston's "Greatest Love of All." One of the teachers gets suspicious that he's just waxing lyrical, but Dewey shuts down the thought immediately.

* In ''Radio/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy'', Ford Prefect suggested that the mice consider a lucrative career of making up plausible-sounding Questions and debating them in exchange for vast sums of cash in their Home Dimension. He suggests the following as a possibility:

* In ''ComicBook/VForVendetta'', V occasionally quotes song lyrics, knowing that Evey will find them profound because she's too young to remember most of the classic rock songs. Towards the end, she's infuriated when one of his cryptic messages is that he's "[[Music/VelvetUnderground waiting for the man]]" - by that point, she's spent enough time listening to his old records that she recognizes the reference.

-->'''Elliot''': Okay, what I'm trying to say is... Why do these birds and ducks suddenly appear... ...every time you're near? Unless, like me... ...they long to be close to you.\\
'''Giselle''': Oh, Elliot, that's the most romantic thing...

--> '''Doctor:''' Look at these people, these human beings. Consider their potential. "From the day they arrive on the planet and, blinking, step into the sun. There is more to see than can ever be seen, more to do than can ever be" - no, hang on. Sorry, that's ''The Lion King''. But the point still stands: Leave them alone!

-->'''Sophia''': Pussycat, you're out of your league. There are some people you just can't help. It's like the Good Lord said - "You gotta know when to hold 'em. Know when to fold 'em. Know when to walk away."\\
'''Dorothy''': Ma, that's not the Good Lord, that's Kenny Rogers.\\
'''Sophia''': God, Kenny Rogers. Tomato, tomah-to.

-->'''Roger:''' You may have thought this class was about literature. You were wrong. This class is about life! Electric word, "life." It means forever, and that's a mighty long time. But I'm here to tell you, there's something else-- my office hours. They're Tuesday from 1:00 to 3:00.

SubTrope of FeigningIntelligence, ShoutOut and WaxingLyrical. Not to be confused with SuspiciouslyAproposMusic, where a song appropriate to the mood just happens to be playing at the moment. See also AllHailTheGreatGodMickey, where song lyrics from the present are mistaken for scripture in the future, and GratuitousLatin, where people use Latin words for similar reasons.

-->'''Yvonne:''' This is a test of strength and your will to survive. And if you give up now, they?re gonna eat you alive.\\

** In ''Film/BillAndTedsBogusJourney'', Bill, Ted and Death try and get into {{Heaven}} and are asked to answer what the meaning of life is for entry. They answer by quoting "Every Rose Has Its Thorn" by Music/{{Poison}} ''and it works!''

'''Eli:''' No, it's uh, Music/JohnnyCash. ''Live at Folsom Prison.''

* ''Literature/{{Dinotopia}}'': In the 2002 miniseries, Karl answers the graduation question "How are we to live?" by quoting the first 6 lines of "Music/BohemianRhapsody".[[note]]Is this the real life or is it fantasy? Caught in a landslide, no escape from reality. Open your eyes, look up to the skies and see.[[/note]] The Dinotopians find this inspiring and the best answer they've ever had to that question. Karl's brother is incensed and regards it as cheating.

* ''Series/TheLibrarians2014'': Jenkins compares the feud between Eastern and Western dragons as being not unlike the East/West coast hip hop rivalry of the 1990s. Ezekiel is amazed that Jenkins is familiar with hip-hop at all.

* In the ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'' episode "[[Recap/SupernaturalS06E11AppointmentInSamarra Appointment In Samarra]]", [[TheGrimReaper Death]] appoints Dean Winchester as "[[GodJob Death for a Day]]" in order to teach him the importance of his work and to stop bugging him over it. One person he reaps, a man who dies of a heart-attack, asks him the meaning of life. Not knowing the answer, Dean quotes "Dust in the Wind" by Music/{{Kansas}}.

* The Messiah is a recurring character on various Stoned Gremlins Productions, being a Jesus-esque prophet whose wisdoms are ripped straight from 60s and 70's song lyrics. He's a deliberate ShoutOut to The Messiah from ''The Tormentors'', a religious figure to a roaming band of hippies that Neo-Nazis intend to kidnap and brainwash. The Messiah first appeared in ''WebVideo/TheCinemaSnob'' review of ''The Tormentors'', later appears in ''WebVideo/TheReviewers'' as a top-tier internet celebrity that Andy and Jeff aspire to be like.

* ''Series/{{Haven}}'': Vince berates Nathan for not following ThePlan to get "Lexie" [[ItMakesSenseInContext to fall in love with him to end the Troubles.]]
-->'''Vince:''' You're supposed to make her fall in love with you!
-->'''Nathan:''' Well, it's like the Music/PhilCollins song says, you can't hurry love.
-->'''Vince:''' [[InsistentTerminology It's]] Music/TheSupremes.

--> '''Blossom:''' Well, it's like the song says; The love you take is equal to... equal to... pff. Oh, who cares? [[Recap/ThePowerpuffGirlsS3E12MoralDecayMeetTheBeatAlls It was by some dumb old band, anyway!]]

-->'''Vince:''' [[InsistentTerminology It's Music/TheSupremes.]]

** Inverted in a later episode, when Duke remarks that the prophecy about the Child Of Ruin sounds like a creepy Music/LedZepplin lyric.

->'''The Messiah:''' Oh! Reach out in the darkness my brother and you may find a friend.
->'''Nick:''' That your schtick? "Hippie Jesus spouting song-lyrics"?
->'''The Messiah:''' If you wanna be happy for the rest of your life, never make a pretty woman your wife.
->'''Nick:''' How does that one make any goddamn sense in context to what we were talking about?

-->'''Yvonne:''' This is a test of strength and your will to survive. And if you give up now, they?re gonna eat you alive.
-->'''Yusho:''' Then how do we stop them?
-->'''Yvonne:''' ''[pulling out knife]'' I suggest that with a loaded gun and a steady hand, we just might live through this.
-->[...]
-->'''Yusho:''' Any other advice?
-->'''Yvonne:''' ''[taps side of head twice]'' Aim for the head.

-->'''Elliot''': Okay, what I'm trying to say is... Why do these birds and ducks suddenly appear... ...every time you're near? Unless, like me... ...they long to be close to you.
-->'''Giselle''': Oh, Elliot, that's the most romantic thing...

---> '''Ted:''' "All we are is dust in the wind", Dude.
---> '''Socrates:''' ''(Blank stare)''
---> '''Bill:''' ''(dips his hand in the sand Socrates was using)'' Dust. ''(let's sand fall from his hands and blows them clear)'' Wind.
---> '''Ted:''' ''(points at Socrates)'' Dude.
---> '''Socrates:''' ''(Amazed, speaking Greek)'' Yes! Yes! Like the sands through the hourglass, so are the days of our lives!

-->'''Eli:''' It doesn't have to make sense. It's faith. It's faith. It's the...flower of light in the field of darkness that's giving me the strength to carry on. You understand?
-->'''Solara:''' Is that from [[Literature/TheBible your book]]?
-->'''Eli:''' No, it's uh, Music/JohnnyCash. ''Live at Folsom Prison.''

--> '''Julius Levinson:''' There's still love there, I think.
--> '''Constance Spano:''' Love was never our problem.
--> '''Julius:''' All you need is love. John Lennon. Smart man. Shot in the back, very sad.

--> '''[=McKracken=]''': [[Music/TheBeatles Life is very short, and there's no time for fussing and fighting my friend.]]
--> '''General Mortars''': ''(Looks at Mr. Jigsaw, consulting Bartlett's Book Of Quotes, who shakes his head)'' Sorry Mike, no good.

-->'''Trudy Neilson:''' But wild horses couldn't drag me back to that place.
-->'''Mrs. Marlowe:''' That's the attitude. And to paraphrase a favorite verse of mine, "Walking side by side with temptation, the Devil mocks their every step."
-->'''Trudy Neilson:''' Is that the Old Testament?
-->'''Mrs. Marlowe:''' No. Music/LedZeppelin. True poets of the golden age of hard rock.

-->'''Sophia''': Pussycat, you're out of your league. There are some people you just can't help. It's like the Good Lord said - "You gotta know when to hold 'em. Know when to fold 'em. Know when to walk away."
-->'''Dorothy''': Ma, that's not the Good Lord, that's Kenny Rogers.
-->'''Sophia''': God, Kenny Rogers. Tomato, tomah-to.

-->'''Mork:''' You can't hurry love. You just have to wait. It don't come easy, it's a game of give and take.
-->'''Woman:''' That's beautiful, Father. [[Literature/BookOfPsalms Psalms]]?
-->'''Mork:''' [[Music/TheSupremes Supremes.]]

--> '''Bortus:''' "Between soul and sacrifice, it's the heart of civilization."
--> '''Kelly:''' Who's that from?
--> '''Bortus:''' It is from a novel by Gandis Eldin, a Moclan writer of great esteem. It is customary to respond with a fitting passage from the literature of one's own planet.
--> ''[beat]''
--> '''Kelly:''' "I'm a survivor. I'm not gonna give up. I'm not gonna stop. I'm gonna work harder."
--> '''Bortus:''' Those are words of great power. Who wrote them?
--> '''Ed:''' I think it was actually about fifteen different people.
--> '''Bortus:''' They must be very wise, these fifteen people.

-->'''Shawn:''' Now I know you all are wondering... Was it dangerous out there? [...] And to quote an unlikely source, Mr. William Ocean: "When the going gets tough, the tough get going."
-->'''Henry:''' Are we finished?

--> '''JD:''' Tell her about it. Tell her everything you feel.
--> '''Cox:''' ''(unimpressed)'' Oh? Should I give her every reason to accept that I'm for real?

-->'''Dead Man:''' That's it? A ''Kansas'' song?!
-->'''Tessa:''' Sorry. He's new.

--->'''Sister Camila''': "God is in everything I do, and all my work glorifies Him."
--->'''Mother Superion''': Ecclesiastes?
--->'''Camila''': Music/DollyParton.

--->'''Mother Superion''': ''(in French)'' "Fulfilling my hope, headlong, I go towards glory."
--->'''Sister Beatrice''': Ecclesiastes?
--->'''Mother Superion''': Music/TalkingHeads.