Some songs have titles that aren't used in the lyrics, and end up becoming better known for their lyrics than their title. Bob Dylan's "Rainy Day Women #12 & 35" is better known for the refrain "Everybody must get stoned" than it is for the title.
Band | Song | Comments & Submittor Name | ||
The B-52's | 52 Girls | The lyrics include the names of 24 girls, but not the number 52. - Steven G. | ||
The Band | The Weight | Should be called 'The Load' since that's used rather than 'The Weight'. - Paul Warren | ||
Barclay James Harvest | Poor Man's Moody Blues | This is only named by title only since BJH was always criticized as the 'Poor Man's Moody Blues'. So they made a style parody of "Nights in White Satin"! - Paul Warren | ||
Bare Naked Ladies | Conventioneers | Does this song even have anything to do with conventioneers? - Doommaster1994 | ||
Barenaked Ladies | Straw hat and old dirty hank | they dont even use the title in the song at all - Hefner | ||
Barenaked Ladies | Four seconds | They do say four but not four seconds - Hefner | ||
Barenaked Ladies | Stomach vs. Heart | They do mention stomach and heart, but not stomach vs. heart. - Paul Warren | ||
Barenaked Ladies | Little Tiny Song | Should be known as 'Hey, I'm a Cow'. - Paul Warren | ||
Barry Manilow | Weekend in New England | Although the lyrics contain the line "Time in New England", the weekend is never mentioned. "When will our eyes meet When can I touch you When will this strong yearning end And when Will I hold you again " - Bob Borst | ||
Bastille | Good Grief | Following strict song-titling logic, this song should be called "Watching Through My Fingers" or "I Miss You". However, I can see where the band is coming from; this is an upbeat song about mourning a friend's death, so "Good Grief" is a very appropriate title. - Jonathan S. | ||
Bastille | Pompeii | While Pompeii is rather obviously alluded to as "the city that we loved", the song does not explicitly mention the word "Pompeii" - Insertnamehere | ||
Beach Boys | Mama Says | "Eat a lot, sleep a lot, brush 'em like crazy. Run a lot, do a lot, never be lazy." That's all the lyrics to this a capella song. - Paul Warren | ||
The Beach Boys | TM Song | T.M. is short for "transcendental meditation", which the Beach Boys mention. Neither the acronym nor the "song" is heard anywhere. - beach | ||
Beach Boys | Busy Doin' Nothin' | You can tell this is Brian Wilson's down years when he couldn't even use the title in his lyrics. - Paul Warren | ||
The Beatles | Being For The Benefit Of Mr. Kite | The word "being" is never heard, however, all the other words in the title are said in a row two or three times. - GlamRockNinjaLord | ||
The Beatles | Bad Boy | The first song (and only cover) the greatest band on earth did without mentioning the title, the two words are in the lyrics but not together. - Alan the Ottoman | ||
The Beatles | The Inner Light | Neither "inner" nor "light" are heard at all in the song - Alan of Seville | ||
The Beatles | Revolution 9 | The words "Number nine" repeated by a sound technician throughout the song, interspersed with nonsensical one-liners and sound effects, but the word "Revolution" is not mentioned. This song was John Lennon's idea of what a revolution would sound like if it was recorded. Paul McCartney and producer George Martin tried to keep this song off the White Album, but they lost out. - Jimsdun | ||
The Beatles | Flying | It's an instrumental - jdizzy | ||
Beatles | A Day In The Life | Perhaps the name should be "The News" as in "I read the news today, oh boy..." - ModiinJerry | ||
Beatles | Yer Blues | "So Lonely, Wanna Die"!... - Paul Warren | ||
The Beatles | Ballad Of John And Yoko | Not surprisingly, neither the word "ballad" nor the phrase "ballad of" tend to be found in the lyrics of songs whose titles begin with that phrase. In this case, the opening line, "Standing on the dock at Southampton" might form a subsatitute title as much as any phrase, but I don't think I've heard it called by any phrase in the lyrics. Those familiar with this song tend, I suppose, to know the actual title, even though they couldn't deduce it from the lyrics. - Thessaly Danes | ||
The Beatles | Tomorrow Never Knows | The song is better known as the first Psychedelic song rather than 'Tomorrow Never Knows'. - Paul Warren | ||
The Beautiful South | Song For Whoever | Plenty of names but title doesn't appear eg Oh shirley, oh deborah, oh julie, oh jane I wrote so many songs about you - NI dave | ||
Bee Gees | New York Mining Disater 1941 | It should be known as 'Have you seen my wife, Mr. Jones' sice that's the line that is uttered more in this song. - Paul Warren | ||
Ben Folds Five | Heist | Heist is nowhere in the lyrics, it should be either "Where Diet Soda Flows" or "Don't Pay The Tab ('Till The Last Drop)" - Chris | ||
Ben Folds Five | Song for the Dumped | The Refrain mostly says "Give me my Money Back, you b***h". But if Ben Folds used that as the title, it would get bleeped every time. - Paul Warren | ||
Bertie Higgins | White Line Fever | The B-side of "Key Largo", it contains the line "White line gits ya, gits ya feelin' fine", but "fever" is not in the lyrics. - Opie M. | ||
Better Than Ezra | In The Blood | It's kind of unusual to find a BTE song that doesn't use its title at the end of the chorus, let alone at all. - Brian Kelly | ||
Billy Joel | Famous Last Words | These are the last words I have to say - no "famous" - Mickey D. | ||
Billy Joel | Weekend Song | Come on baby, take me away, we got some money to spend tonight. - Mickey D. | ||
Billy Joel | Scenes From An Italian Resturant | "Bottle of Red, Bottle of White".... - Paul Warren | ||
Billy Joel | Surprises | No, it shouldn't surprise you at all, you know - Mickey D. | ||
Billy Joel | Miami 2017 | Best known as "I've Seen The Lights Go Out On Broadway" the song is a future fictional account of the physical destruction of New York City, written tongue-in-cheek at a time when New York was on the verge of bankruptcy in the late 70s. The lyrics "I saw the mighty skyline fall" took on a new, more ominous meaning after 9/11. Joel performed this song at a benefit concert for the 9/11 victims at Madison Square Garden. - MasonR | ||
Billy Joel | Travelin' Prayer | Hey lord take a look out for her tonight, that's where my baby's gonna be... - Mickey D. | ||
Billy Joel | Goodnight Saigon | I know this is about Vietnam, but it never mentions Saigon anywhere in the song. - Paul Warren | ||
Black Eyed Peas | The APL Song | It's in Tagalog - most of you might not understand it, but it's well known in my country; the song's included in the Elephunk album... Lapit mga kaibigan, at makinig kayo Ako'y may dala-dalang balita galing sa bayan ko Nais kong ipamahagi Ang mga kwento, at mga nangyayari, Nagaganap, sa lupang, pinangako - LPG-Unit | ||
Black Sabbath | Cornucopia | Off the album Vol. 4 Too much in the truth they say / Keep it 'till another day / Let them have their little game / Illusion helps to keep them sane - Azrael | ||
Black Sabbath | A National Acrobat | I am the world that hides / The universal secret of all time / Destruction of the empty spaces / Is my one and only crime - Azrael | ||
Black Sabbath | Paranoid | I think most people know the first line "finished with my woman 'cos she couldn't help me with my mind" Well-known lyrics sites seem to disagree on much of the rest! - karen | ||
Black Sabbath | St. Vitus' Dance | You feel your love so shattering / You feel you want to die / Just because someone did take off / Telling you a lie - Azrael | ||
Black Sabbath | Walpurgis | The original version of the song the music of which was later set to War Pigs - Azrael | ||
Black Sabbath | After Forver | Have you ever thought about your soul - can it be saved? / Or perhaps you think that when you're dead you just stay in your grave - Azrael | ||
Black Sabbath | N. I. B. | Acronym for Nativity in Black: Follow me now and you will not regret / Leaving the life you led before we met / You are the first to have this love of mine / Forever with me till the end of time - Azrael | ||
Blink 182 | Dammit | Well, I guess this is growing up. - Jonathan S. | ||
Blink 182 | A New Hope | Princess Leia, where are you tonight? - RevengeFromMars YouTube | ||
Blink 182 | Stay Together For The Kids | I see them everyday, we get along so why can't they? If this is what he wants, and its what she wants,then whys there so much pain? - Henrik7 | ||
Blink 182 | Online Songs | And she said, Na na na na na... - RevengeFromMars YouTube | ||
Blink 182 | M+M's | 'Cause when I'm with you/There's nothing I wouldn't do/I just wanna be your only one - Hawky | ||
Blink 182 | Anthem | But good things come to those who wait, cause she laid me. - Andrea | ||
Blink 182 | Adam's Song | I never conquered, rarely came/Sixteen just held such better days/Days when I still felt alive/Couldn't wait to get outside/The world was wide/Too late to try/The tour was over/We survived/Couldn't wait till I got home/To pass the time in my room alone" - Hawky | ||
Blink 182 | Emo | She's better off sleeping on the floor - RevengeFromMars YouTube | ||
Blink 182 | Happy Holidays, You Bastard | I'll never talk to you again - RevengeFromMars YouTube | ||
Blink 182 | Waggy | It's never over 'til it's done And I don't think that you're the one - RevengeFromMars YouTube | ||
Blink 182 | Wendy Clear | I wish it didn't have to be so bad - RevengeFromMars YouTube | ||
Blink 182 | Apple Shampoo | And if you're feeling scared Remember the time we shared You know it meant everything (everything) You know that it meant everything to me - RevengeFromMars YouTube | ||
Blink 182 | Mutt | And they don't even care at all - RevengeFromMars YouTube | ||
Blink 182 | Voyeur | I wish she'd be more kind now I'm out of luck 'cause the shades are pulled down I've seen everything there is to be shown I followed her all the way home - RevengeFromMars YouTube | ||
Blink 182 | Dysentery Gary | Life just sucks, I lost the one, I'm giving up, She found someone There's plenty more, Girls are such a drag - RevengeFromMars YouTube | ||
Blink 182 | Going Away to College | I haven't been this scared in a long time And I'm so unprepared so here's your valentine Bouquet of clumsy words, a simple melody This world's an ugly place, but you're so beautiful to me - RevengeFromMars YouTube | ||
Blink 182 | Aliens Exist | Up all night long And there's something very wrong And I know it must be late Been gone since yesterday - RevengeFromMars YouTube | ||
Blink 182 | Dumpweed | I need a girl that I can train - RevengeFromMars YouTube | ||
Bloc Party | Helicopter | Are you hoping for a miracle? Are you hoping for a miracle? Are you hoping for a miracle? Are you hoping for a miracle? - UltraPrime | ||
Blood, Sweat, and Tears | The Modern Adventures of Plato, Diogenes, and Freu | Did they run out of room for these guys? - Paul Warren | ||
Bloodhound Gang | Fire Water Burn | The words are in there but are never sung together. - Opie M. | ||
Bloodhound Gang | The Bad Touch | You and me baby ain't nothing but mammals, so let's do it like they do on the Discovery Channel. - Brian Kelly | ||
Bloodrock | D.O.A. | The acronym is not in the lyrics. It is the dying words of the narrator whose plane crashed in a remote area far from any emergency hosptals or vehicles. - Rock Maninoff | ||
Blue Oyster Cult | I'm On The Lamb But I Ain't No Sheep | A song about the Canadian mounted police which doesn't mention the title but does contain the phrase "red and black, it's their colour scheme", which gave the song the title "The Red And The Black" when it was rewritten and re-recorded a year later. - neptunevsmars | ||
The Blues Brothers | B-Movie Boxcar Blues | Doin' my best to get back to you, ain't nothing I'd rather do. Look for me Sunday, gonna be there honey with somethin' special just for you - Alan of Seville | ||
Blur | Song 2 | This is more well-known as: "WOO-HOO!!" - Agrimorfee | ||
Blur | Girls & Boys | Both of the words "girls" and "boys" are used several times each in the lyrics, but the title "girls and boys" isn't. - B1982 | ||
Bob Dylan | Subterranean Homesick Blues | He should've called it "Look out kid" 'cause that part opens each refrain. - Alan of Seville | ||
Bob Dylan | Highway 61 Revisited | A lot of events in the song happen "out on Highway 61," but they aren't "revisited." - Martha Hankins | ||
Bob Dylan | From a Buick 6 | The only noticible relation between the lyrics and the title is 'I'm cracked up on the highway and on the water's edge/She comes down the thruway ready to sew me up with thread' - Feurzeug | ||
Bob Dylan | Positively 4th Street | "You've got a lot of nerve to say you are my friend." The biggest put-down song in history, and the title is not in the lyrics. - crazydon | ||
Bob Dylan | Queen Jane Approximately | The song contains the phrase "Won't you come see me, Queen Jane?" but the word "approximately" is not in the lyrics. - Martha Hankins | ||
Bob Dylan | Rainy Day Women #12 & #35 | Better known for the refrain "Everybody must get stoned" - ChuckyG | ||
Bob Dylan | Just Like Tom Thumbs Blues | One of many songs by the bard with a title not used as lyrics, was there ever such a thing as a tom thumbs blues? - Feurzeug | ||
Bob Dylan | Girl from the North Country | 'If you're traveling in the North Country' One of the first songs by the Bard where the title was not used a lyrics. Yet the melody of this song was taken from English folk song Scarborough Fair, the title of which is used as lyrics. - Feurzeug | ||
Bob Dylan | It Takes A Lot To Laugh, It Takes A Train The Cry | The only noticible relation the lyrics bear is the final line 'Don't say I didn't warn you when your train gets lost' - Feurzeug | ||
Bob Rivers | The AOL Song | Although the words 'the' and 'AOL' are in the song the word 'song' isn't used. Also a lot of people claim this song is done by Weird Al, but it isn't. - Ed | ||
Bob Rivers | Rummy Rocker Boy | Also known as "Rum pa pum pum" which is in the lyrics. - Ed | ||
Bobbie Gentry | Ode to Billie Joe | "Ode" is never mentioned in the lyrics. The line most people remember is "Billie Joe MacAllister jumped off the Tallahatchie Bridge" - Bob Borst | ||
Bobby Goldsboro | Summer [The First Time] | The season Summer is never mentioned, and, also, "I go back in my mind...to the very first time". - Rich Connelly | ||
Bonfire | Sword and Stone | I am the sword, you are the stone - Joey F. | ||
Bowling For Soup | Jimmy Neutron Theme | Who can we count on/Jimmy Neutron - JohnHowarth | ||
The Box Tops | The Letter | The lyrics refer to "a letter" but never "the letter". And the song may well be better known by its opening line, "Gimme a ticket for an aeroplane". - Donna Gelpigi | ||
Boz Scaggs | Lido Shuffle | "Lido missed the boat that day he left the shack..." No shuffling mentioned. - MOR | ||
Breaking Benjamin | Topless | Seriously, what is this song even about? The word 'topless' isn't mentioned, and to my knowledge, the song has nothing to do with people with no shirts on... "I loathe your face, just get away. I'm on my knees, f**k you, f**k me." is the chorus...so i should be called something like "Loathe You" or "Hatred" or something...but topless?!? - Weily_Coyote | ||
Breathe | Say A Prayer (Save My Soul) | The band members insert the word "little" into the title and say "Say a LITTLE prayer," plus there's no mention of the subtitle anywhere in the song. - Isac | ||
Brenton Wood | Gimme Little Sign | He sings "Gimme some kind of sign, girl" in the chorus, but he never mentions the actual title. - Todd W. Zimmerman | ||
Brian McKnight feat. Vanessa Williams | Love Is | They say "Love 'does this and that'" throughout the song, but nowhere in the song is the word "love" followed by the word "is." - The Barber of Cadillac Seville | ||
Bring Me The Horizon | Diamonds Aren't Forever | The closest the song comes to mentioning the title is in the bridge: "So throw your diamonds in the sky, we'll stay gold forever!" - Nat | ||
Bring Me The Horizon | Antivist | "Middle fingers up if you don't give a f***!" - Nat | ||
Bring Me The Horizon | Shadow Moses | The title comes from the Metal Gear Solid videogame series, the theme music of which is sampled in the song. - Nat | ||
Bring Me The Horizon | Football Season is Over | "Party till you pass out, drink till you're dead! Dance all night till you can't feel your legs!" - aka the national anthem of most college students. - Nat | ||
The Brothers Johnson | Strawberry Letter #23 | Not once is the title mentioned in the song, but "Strawberry Letter 22" is mentioned many times! - crazydon | ||
Bruce Springsteen | The Wrestler | Have you ever seen a one trick pony in the field so happy and free? If you've ever seen a one trick pony then you've seen me - Dodd Harris | ||
Bruno Mars | The Lazy Song | The song should be entitled "Today I Don't Feel Like Doing Anything" because those lyrics are prominent throughout the song, but there is no mention of the title anywhere in the song. - Isac | ||
Buffalo Springfield | For What It's Worth | It does have the parenthetical title (Stop, Hey, What's That Sound) which is the first line of the chorus. - crazydon | ||
Butthole Surfers | Pepper | "They were drinking from a fountain that was pouring like an avalanche coming down the mountain" - Joe H | ||
Byrds | Draft Morning | Morning is heard, but Draft is nowhere to be seen or heard. - Paul Warren | ||
The Byrds | My Back Pages | To my knowledge, this Dylan song (like some others) doesn't contain the title in the lyrics. It is best known for the refrain "but I was so much older then, I'm younger than that now," which I thought was the title, which totally confused me - Raphael |
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