Binding of Isaac - References in Music and Art

References in Music and Art

• The Parable of the Old Men and the Young: World War I poem by Wilfred Owen in which the sacrifice of the young men killed in the war is compared to the binding of Isaac, with the difference that in the poem, Abraham refuses to substitute the ram and proceeds to kill Isaac.
• Canticle II: Abraham and Isaac, for alto, tenor, and piano, Op. 51: 1952 song/opera by Benjamin Britten. Text adapted from the medieval Chester Mystery Plays. One voice sings the role of Abraham, the other Isaac. The two voices sing homophonically to create a third voice for God.
• Highway 61 Revisited: 1965 song by Bob Dylan from the album Highway 61 Revisited. Lyrics reference the binding of Isaac ("Oh, God said to Abraham, 'Kill me a son'/Abe said, 'Man, you must be puttin' me on..."). U.S. Highway 61 generally follows the course of the Mississippi River, and both river and highway start in Dylan's native Minnesota; Bob Dylan's father was named Abraham.
• Story of Isaac: 1969 song by Leonard Cohen from the album Songs from a Room.
• Isaac and Abraham: 1992 song by Joan Baez from the album Play Me Backwards.
• Dyin' Day (song): 2012 song by Anaïs Mitchell from the album Young Man in America.
• Abraham: 2004 song by Sufjan Stevens from the album Seven Swans. Discusses the binding of Isaac from a Christian perspective.
• Akeda for viola solo: 2006 musical composition by Gilad Hochman.
• Mr. Shiny Cadillackness: 2007 song by Clutch from the album From Beale Street to Oblivion. References the binding of Isaac with the lyrics, "Will you sacrifice your first born like Abraham would his Isaac?"
• Video game The Binding of Isaac's title and plot are references of this.
• Abraham's Daughter by Arcade Fire: From the soundtrack of the 2012 movie, The Hunger Games. It refers to the biblical incident of Abraham and Isaac and also mentions an angel who talks to an apocryphal Abraham's daughter, who raised her bow to stop the sacrifice.
• Hyperion (Simmons novel), a science-fiction novel. The character Sol Weintraub analyses the Binding often during the novel, coming to the conclusion that it is Abraham who is testing God, and God is serious about killing an innocent child for him, he would not be worthy to be followed or obeyed.