# Album titles with double meanings **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 9, 2019, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/album-titles-with-double-meanings/843207 "2019-11-09T16:54:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2019, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/album-titles-with-double-meanings/843207/1 "2019-11-09T16:54:01Z")
I’m speaking of album titles which look like one thing in print, but sound like something else when spoken aloud. For example, _Aladdin Sane_ by David Bowie, which also sounds like “A lad insane,” or _Sheik Yerboutie_ by Frank Zappa, which also sounds like “Shake your booty.” What other examples can Dopers come up with? ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2019, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/album-titles-with-double-meanings/843207/2 "2019-11-09T16:56:34Z")
ELO - Discovery = Disco? Very! ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2019, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/album-titles-with-double-meanings/843207/3 "2019-11-09T17:05:56Z")
Beatles - Rubber Soul ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2019, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/album-titles-with-double-meanings/843207/4 "2019-11-09T17:10:20Z")
Another Zappa: _Zoot Allures_, which sounds like the French _Zut alors!_ (loosely, “Damn!”) ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2019, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/album-titles-with-double-meanings/843207/5 "2019-11-09T17:31:40Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > …For example, _Aladdin Sane_ by David Bowie, which also sounds like “A lad insane,”… - and that’s actually a twofer, of sorts, as for a while the working title was [Love Aladdin Vein](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aladdin_Sane#%22Ziggy_goes_to_America%22). j ---
**Author:** ![2Bits](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/2/e95f7d/32.png) [@2Bits](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/2Bits)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2019, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/album-titles-with-double-meanings/843207/6 "2019-11-09T21:08:13Z")
“Who’s Next.” Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2019, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/album-titles-with-double-meanings/843207/7 "2019-11-09T21:28:36Z")
Metallica Load [https://images.app.goo.gl/5BXurix1kbBgXq7U8](https://images.app.goo.gl/5BXurix1kbBgXq7U8) ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2019, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/album-titles-with-double-meanings/843207/8 "2019-11-09T21:35:51Z")
Elvis Costello’s _All This Useless Beauty_. First the name of a song, second alluding to the fact that the songs on the album had been written for other people, and third meaning what Costello thought about the prospects for the success of the album. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Colossus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.colossus/32/9423_2.png) [@Dr.Colossus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Colossus)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2019, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/album-titles-with-double-meanings/843207/9 "2019-11-09T21:38:55Z")
My all-time favorite band is a space-rock outfit from the 90s called HUM. Before they hit their stride and honed in on what would be their sound, they had a rougher first album. They called it [Fillet Show](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fillet_Show). (get it?) ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2019, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/album-titles-with-double-meanings/843207/10 "2019-11-09T21:48:49Z")
David Bowie’s Low was a visual pun, with the “Low” on a photograph of Bowie in profile. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2019, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/album-titles-with-double-meanings/843207/11 "2019-11-09T21:53:59Z")
> [@Dr.Colossus](#): > > My all-time favorite band is a space-rock outfit from the 90s called HUM. Before they hit their stride and honed in on what would be their sound, they had a rougher first album. > > They called it [Fillet Show](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fillet_Show). (get it?) Actually, no. Spell it out for me, please. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2019, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/album-titles-with-double-meanings/843207/12 "2019-11-09T21:56:04Z")
The working title for the 1974 Grateful Dead studio album **From the Mars Hotel** was **Ugly Roomers.** The pun “Ugly Rumors” was spelled out in the cover art in stylized Aztecan text, as rotated mirror writing. This is the album that gave us the iconic “U.S. Blues” and “Scarlet Begonias,” in addition to the lesser concert favorites “Ship of Fools” and “China Doll.” ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2019, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/album-titles-with-double-meanings/843207/13 "2019-11-09T22:35:06Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > Beatles - Rubber Soul Don’t get it. > [@2Bits](#): > > “Who’s Next.” Don’t get it. > [@madsircool](#): > > Metallica Load > > [https://images.app.goo.gl/5BXurix1kbBgXq7U8](https://images.app.goo.gl/5BXurix1kbBgXq7U8) Don’t get it. > [@Dr.Colossus](#): > > My all-time favorite band is a space-rock outfit from the 90s called HUM. Before they hit their stride and honed in on what would be their sound, they had a rougher first album. > > They called it [Fillet Show](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fillet_Show). (get it?) Don’t get it. Van Halen - OU812 ---
**Author:** ![campp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@campp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/campp)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2019, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/album-titles-with-double-meanings/843207/14 "2019-11-09T22:57:24Z")
Beatles - Rub Her Soul? Is that it? HUM - Fill A Show. I think. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2019, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/album-titles-with-double-meanings/843207/15 "2019-11-09T23:28:38Z")
> [@2Bits](#): > > “Who’s Next.” > [@Leaffan](#): > > Don’t get it. Who’s next? You’ve never stood on queue before? Also referring to _Who’s Next_ being their next album, following _Tommy_. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2019, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/album-titles-with-double-meanings/843207/16 "2019-11-09T23:30:22Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > Who’s next? You’ve never stood on queue before? Also referring to _Who’s Next_ being their next album, following _Tommy_. OK. That’s a pretty tenuous double meaning. ETA: 'Round these parts people would say “next please” or just “next” or just look up and raise eyebrows. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2019, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/album-titles-with-double-meanings/843207/17 "2019-11-09T23:33:10Z")
> [@2Bits](#): > > “Who’s Next.” > [@Leaffan](#): > > Don’t get it. “Who” is used to mean both the name of the group, and the question “Who?” It’s The Who’s next album, while the [cover photo](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/81CXOAXD1DL._SL1400_.jpg) shows the group having just urinated against a concrete pillar, implying the question, “Who’s next to take a piss?” ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2019, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/album-titles-with-double-meanings/843207/18 "2019-11-09T23:33:57Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > OK. That’s a pretty tenuous double meaning. It’s clearer in the context of the cover art. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2019, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/album-titles-with-double-meanings/843207/19 "2019-11-09T23:37:18Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > It’s clearer in the context of the cover art. Nope. Doesn’t work for me at all. And WHO isn’t familiar with the album cover? ETA: Its their next album. I can’t believe they intended any other meaning. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2019, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/album-titles-with-double-meanings/843207/20 "2019-11-09T23:52:11Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > Beatles - Rubber Soul Revolver is better. (For those who don’t get it, the record revolves on a turntable ) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/album-titles-with-double-meanings/843207.md?page=2)