What Songs Or Albums Reference King Midas In Lyrics?

I’m the kind of person who spots myth drops in pop songs like finding Easter eggs, and King Midas shows up more than people realize. The two straightforward tracks I always point to are The Hollies’ 'King Midas in Reverse' — a bitter, almost tragic take on the myth — and Midnight Star’s 'Midas Touch', which is pure electro-funk praise of someone who turns vibes to gold. Beyond them, many R&B and hip-hop tracks use the phrase 'Midas touch' as shorthand for charisma or wealth, and indie bands will sometimes flip it to talk about the curse side of things.

If you want to compile a list fast, search lyric databases for 'Midas' or 'Midas touch', check Spotify for playlists with those titles, and skim the comments on Genius for shout-outs. It’s a neat little project: you end up with everything from dancefloor grooves to moody singer-songwriter laments, all orbiting the same mythic image.

Sometimes I go down rabbit holes of myth references in pop music and King Midas is one of those tropes that pops up everywhere — greedy-turned-golden metaphors, love turned to stone, that itchy 'everything I touch becomes gold' image. The clearest, classic call-out is 'King Midas in Reverse' by The Hollies (1967) — it actually uses the myth as a personal metaphor about everything going wrong for the narrator. Another super obvious one is 'Midas Touch' by Midnight Star (1986), which leans into the romantic/party angle: the Midas idea becomes a compliment about turning situations golden with someone’s charm. Those two are great starting points because one uses the myth in a melancholy, introspective way and the other plays it as a funky, celebratory motif.

Beyond those, lots of artists borrow the Midas image without naming him directly — so you’ll see songs titled 'Midas Touch' across R&B, funk, and hip-hop catalogs where the phrase stands in for success and irresistible appeal. Genres like rap and soul especially love the shorthand: dropping 'Midas' or 'golden touch' into a bar signals wealth but also the curse angle if the lyrics turn darker. I’ve pulled up lines in indie and alt-rock where the singer bitterly references a golden curse; the tone shifts a lot depending on context, so it’s fun to compare how a 60s psych-pop band and an 80s R&B crew treat the same myth.

If you want to hunt more, I usually search lyric sites (Genius, LyricFind) for the words 'Midas' or 'Midas touch', and then follow covers and samples — sometimes a song you like is sampled into a newer track that keeps the line. Spotify playlists named 'Golden Touch' or 'Midas Touch' often collect many of the titled songs, too. And for a deeper cultural play, check out how musical theatre and concept albums occasionally rework the Midas story into whole narratives — that’s where the myth gets its teeth into character study rather than just a single simile. If you want, I can dig up lyrics snippets or make a playlist of the most interesting 'Midas' usages I’ve found.