>> So, my question to this list is this- who or what are the most
>literate
>> performers you can think of, and what works do they reference?
>
Ok here I go again with my two favorites RUSH and Ayn Rand.
Actually Rush was how I got turned on to Ayn Rand. They have a song titled Anthem as does Rand have a book. Rush makes reference to Rand writings in lyrics such as "I know they always told you selfishness was wrong, yet it was for me not you I came to write this song." Which is the foundation of another thread we had on another list "Does an author/poet/musician/artist create for themselves or others?"
Rush's 2112 also closely follows Rand's Anthem with may references to Rand's "We the Living".
And Rush has a song Xanadu which extracts from a Colleridge poem by the same title.
Many of Rush's lyrics are some of the most thought provoking stuff I've encountered.
That is enough.
Michael