1. Joseph Heller, “Catch-22” -- Green Day, “Holiday”

Creative structure? Check. Eye-opening satire? Check. A drive to question society and its frustrating bureaucracy? Check. Joseph Heller’s Catch-22 hilariously encourages us to think deeply and critically of our surroundings, especially when it comes to its many hypocrisies. Green Day is the modern-day, musical Joseph Heller -- they urge you to do the same in “Holiday.”

2. Zora Neale Hurston, “Their Eyes Were Watching God” -- Solange, “Don’t Touch My Hair”

There are some classics that detail the struggles of being a woman. There are some classics that also detail the struggles of being black. But, what about the novels that detail the struggles of being a black woman? When it comes to classical literature, WOC representation has been largely unrecognized, but Zora Neale Hurston, along with authors like Toni Morrison and Maya Angelou, sought to change this dynamic. Solange does that same in her album A Seat At The Table, especially in “Don’t Touch My Hair.”

3. Sylvia Plath, “The Bell Jar” -- Sia, “Breathe Me”

Mental illness is a topic that will always remain close to my heart, which is why The Bell Jar tore my heart in pieces that first time I read it. Plath, who suffered from clinical depression, died by suicide a month after The Bell Jar was published in the UK, which adds even more dimension to an already gut-wrenching work of literature. The Bell Jar was an unanswered cry for help, a lot like Sia’s “Breathe Me.” Sia, like Plath, has also battled depression and has even contemplated suicide in the past.

4. F. Scott Fitzgerald, “The Great Gatsby” -- Lana Del Rey, “Young and Beautiful”

This one is a bit of a no-brainer, since “Young and Beautiful” was the more famous song off the soundtrack for Baz Lurhmann’s 2013 Gatsby rendition. It seems like Lana tells the story through Daisy’s perspective, a rich woman who falls for a poor boy in her maiden days. Tired of her life with Tom (“I’ve seen the world/Done it all/Had my cake, now”), Gatsby made her feel young and free again (“Hot summer nights, mid-July/When you and I were forever wild”). Gatsby is very steadfast and unrelenting when it comes to his love for her, but Daisy’s affection is merely infatuation with his new money and charm (“All that grace, all that body/All that face, makes me wanna party/He's my sun, he makes me shine like diamonds”). Above all, he was born a poor man; for Daisy, it is all just a game, which is why she stays with Tom at the end. There you go, a mini-essay analyzing a Lana Del Rey song.