Popular Music, Art Influenced by Heaven? Hell?

Philip K. Dick wrote a book in a fit of inspiration. He later discovered the strange and inexplicable ways his story connected with real events. Where does inspiration come from?

Some artists who have formed our popular culture have claimed divine inspiration, others connect more with the demonic, and some have tales of inspiration that are simply mysterious. Philip K. Dick, for example, wrote a book in a fit of inspiration only to find he'd written about people that actually exist, and that the same story was told in the Book of Acts, which he had never read. Where does inspiration come from? Shutterstock*

Your grandparents may have told you that you listen to the devil’s music. Is it true?

Not only religious texts, but also many pieces of popular literature were penned by authors who claimed divine inspiration.

Sometimes a brilliant flash of artistic insight seems to come out of nowhere and take control of the artist—is it from the subconscious? Is it from the depths of the enigmatic human brain? Is it truly divine or demonic? 

Here’s a look at the inspiration behind some popular artists.

Philip K. Dick, ‘Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said’

A drawing of Philip K. Dick. Wikimedia Commons