Lamentations Allusions & Cultural References

Technically, the Bible is probably the most alluded to work, ever. Let's take a closer look.

Literary and Philosophical References

On the Babylonian Captivity of the Church by Martin Luther
In this scathing critique of the Catholic Church, Luther offers his own spin on the sacraments and accuses the Church of keeping the blood of Christ from non-clergy members (the cup is in captivity, hence the title). You probably won't be too surprised to learn that the Catholic Church was not exactly tickled about being compared to the Bible bad guys from Babylon.

Lamentation 9/11 by E.L. Doctorow and David Finn
This book features a series of photographs taken around New York City in the days following the attack on the World Trade Center on September 11th. It was a really good time for lamentation.

Pop Culture References

Babylon by David Gray
You could interpret this 1999 song as a reference to the Babylonian captivity. The singer has just gotten dumped and now he's got nowhere to go and he's in emotional exile in Baaabylon... Baaabylon!

Digital Man by RushIn this song, the man in question would "love to spend the night in Zion" because "he's been a long while in Babylon." There's no place like home.