Along with moons and Junes and achy-breaky hearts, money has been one of the more common leitmotifs in music, both lyrically and in terms of titles. But today's rappers -- yes, as opposed to those who flourished in Shakespearean times -- have not only come up with all sorts of clever coinages for cold cash in their music, they've also invented some really rich ways to reference themselves. To wit: the hip-hop duo that calls itself EPMD, which stands for:

Easy Pay My Dudes.

Extra Pesos Mucho Dinero.

Erick and Parrish Making Dollars.

OK, let's do just one more rapper with a really cool, clever and inventive cash-worthy name. Here's a hint: He recently left the scene, though for reasons we'll explain in the answer. His name actually incorporates a dollar sign in lieu of a letter. Now that's inventive. Name that once-rich rapper:

Ca$h Down.

Ca$h Out.

Ma$e.

Let's go back a little further, to the very roots of rock 'n' roll, and one of the true masters of the genre, Chuck Berry. No Money Down was Berry's 1956 ode to a:

Cadillac.

Um, you know, ''working girl.''

Little pink house.

Next stop: next decade. The year was 1963 and the fine folkies in the Kingston Trio made the Billboard charts with a hit song telling us how they didn’t give a damn about:

One red cent.

A greenback dollar.

Silver threads and golden needles.

Back into the time tunnel with ya. The year’s 1954. Tell us how many coins were in that famed fountain –- the Oscar-winning song about it bears the same name as the movie that showcased it.

Three.

Thirty-three.

One hundred – one for each broken heart.

''Old man Depression, you are through, you done us wrong!'' Our time capsule has taken us to the year 1933, and this song –- the above's a sample lyric -– from the musical Gold Diggers, heralds the good news in its very title -– and throughout the upbeat ditty -– that:

My Man’s Rich –- and Has one Foot in the Grave!

We Hit the Mother Lode.

We’re in the Money.

Whoosh! We’ve time-traveled up to the '70s. Listen, and you can hear: ''Money, it's a gas/Grab that cash with both hands and make a stash.'' Who are these wealth-worshippers (or poseurs as such)?

Pink Floyd.

Strawberry Alarm Clock.

Simply Red.

Step up a decade now, to 1985. That was the year we learned that if ''you play the guitar on the MTV,'' you can get:

''Money in a lump sum and checks for free.''

''Money for nothin’ and chicks for free.''

He liked Chantilly lace and a pretty face and a pony tail a hangin’ down. But, alas, as he wailed over the phone line to the object of his affections, ''I ain’t got noooo money, honey.'' Who was this broke would-be lothario?

The Big Bopper.

Elvis.

Ritchie Valens.

The Beatles musically declared that they didn’t care too much for money, because it – as per the title of their 1964 song – Can’t Buy Me Love. To prove how unwedded they were to their wealth, they offered, in that song, to buy us the following, ''if it makes you feel alright.''

A coat made of virgin mink.

A diamond ring.

Four-and-twenty blackbirds baked in a pie.