Top 10: Songs about libraries

What are libraries for?  Free access to information and escapism for everyone, regardless of means or background.  But since I live in a country where that doesn't matter any more, I'm hoping that some obscure lyrical references might tip the balance back in their favour.

The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart - Young Adult Friction 
Taken from my favourite album of 2009 - an award inexplicably missing from their Wikipedia page - this song is about library sex.  Which, when you think about it, makes perfect sense.  Power is an aphrodisiac.  Knowledge is power.  Libraries house knowledge.  Students hang out in libraries.  Students sometimes have sex with each other.  I may have taken this several steps too far.  Anyway, take all that and add a gentle dusting of easy book puns and you've grabbed (and held) my attention.

Hefner - The Librarian 
A selfish and stupid daydream about seducing a librarian by borrowing impressive books somehow sounds exquisite.  Was it really the inspiration for She's All That?  I guess we'll never know for sure.

Camera Obscura - French Navy 
It's almost impossible to criticise this perfect song, but I'm going to: it doesn't belong on this list.  There, I said it.  Tracyanne Campbell is sitting around in a library waiting for inspiration, when someone great suddenly turns up and makes everything better.  What was so bad about the library, Tracyanne?  What did you need rescuing from?  And why did you throw in a defensive reference to your decision to let Tesco use one of your other songs?

The Magnetic Fields - Swinging London 
Short and sweet, like so many of the best Magnetic Fields songs.  Just like French Navy, the library is the start of something: this time, it's the high water mark, recalled with affection.  If (like me) you enjoy/can't seem to stop poring over lyrics, you could probably waste hours contemplating the possessive reference to "your library".  Bookworms don't just have local pubs.

Of Montreal - In The Army Kid 
Another song about women and libraries.  Half-hearted lyrics and very little to say.  Why did I include this?  Ah yes, because there aren't many songs about libraries.  Carry on.  Nothing to see here.  Certainly nothing to waste much of your precious time listening to.

MC Poindexter and the Study Crew - Library Rap 
"Get out of my face while I'm readin' my Keats!"  I'd forgotten all about this.  10,000 super-duper special bonus points to YouTube for the assist.

Cursor Miner - Library 
"The library, the library / It's a place where books are free! / The library, the library / Librarians are often sexy".  If anyone has cash or desire to invest in a promotional campaign, this should be its infuriatingly catchy soundtrack.  I refuse to use the "word" 'earworm' on principle.  Perhaps there's a public institution somewhere out there that could help me find a better alternative?  Not for long.

The Low Anthem - To The Ghosts Who Write History Books 
This song is a very helpful set of instructions handed out by its amanuensis protagonist to a gaggle of literary ghosts doing their research in a library.  Or is it?  You probably won't listen to it, so I can and will claim whatever I want to crowbar it into this list. 

E - Manchester Girl 
I have nothing positive to associate with Manchester except for this song, which must have been written by someone who had never been there.  Perhaps there's another Manchester in California, jam-packed with desirable bookish introverts.  I want that one.

Manic Street Preachers - A Design For Life 
"Libraries gave us power / Then work came and made us free".  Someone must have whispered this in Gideon Osborne's ear around the cabinet table at decision time.  He hasn't eaten since.

PS Only nine of these songs are available on Spotify, so I've thrown in Enjoy Your Worries, You May Never Have Them Again by The Books.  That's THE BOOKS.  Like what libraries have in them.  Enjoy!