Albums that take their title from a line in a song thereon (but not the title!)

Cafe Society
1

Hmm, is that title clear as mud or what?

Anyway, I was listening to the excellent album Final Straw by Snow Patrol, and noticed that the title of the album is from a line in the song “Chocolate” on the album.

It got me thinking that quite a few albums do this - it’s a lot less obvious than calling the album after the title of one of the songs, for instance… plus it gives you a little “ah-ha!” moment when you spot the title buried in an album track.

So as I sat on the train, I was trying to think of some more examples. I thought it would be easy - lots of bands do this, right? - but I could only think of two: Last Splash by The Breeders, a line from the song “Cannonball”, and Never Loved Elvis by The Wonder Stuff, a line from, ummm [Google break]… “Mission Drive”.

Any more?

2

I can think of two:

[ul]Shannon Curfman, Loud Guitars and Big Suspicions, a line from her cover of Sheryl Crow’s “Hard to Make a Stand.”[/ul]

[ul]Starship, Knee Deep in the Hoopla, which I think is a throwaway line from “We Built This City.”[/ul]

3

U2 “All That You Can’t Leave Behind” is taken from “Walk On.”

4

The Shins - Chutes Too Narrow. From Young Pilgrims: “…And ended up the kind of kid who goes down chutes too narrow”

5

With the exception of “Check Your Head,” The Beastie Boys have done it with every album:

“License to Ill” is spoken in the song Paul Revere

“Paul’s Boutique” is spoken in the song Ask For Janice

“Ill Communication” is spoken in the song Sure Shot

“Hello Nasty” is spoken in the song Putting Shame In Your Game

6

The Cramps-Stay Sick, from “Bikini Girls With Machine Guns”: “…got my own ideas about the righteous kick, you can keep the rewards, I’d just as soon stay sick”

7

The only one that comes to mind right away is Shawn Colvin’s A Few Small Repairs, which is part of a line from Sunny Came Home.

8

Van Halen’s Fair Warning. The title comes from a line in the song Mean Street.

9

The Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon. It was a line in that album’s song “Brain Damage.”

10

Counting Crows’ Films About Ghosts is named for a line from the song “Mrs. Potter’s Lullaby”.

11

Patty Griffin’s perfect album Living With Ghosts. It’s a line from the song “Every Little Bit.”

12

Alanis Morrisette’s “Jagged Little Pill.”
The title was taken from a line in the song “You Learn.”

13

Beck’s Seachange, from the song “Little One”

I was going to mention The Shins album but I see cheddarsnax beat me to the punch.

14

Damn! Beat me to it, while I was listening to the song!

15

Nevermind by Nirvana, which I always assumed was from the last verse of “Smells Like Teen Spirit.”

16

Elvis Costello’s My Aim is True takes its title from the song “Alison” within.

Emerson Lake and Palmers live Welcome Back My Friends to the Show that Never Ends takes its title from a line “Karn Evil 9”

17

My Aim Is True by Elvis Costello, from “Alison.”

18

Great minds, and all that…

19

There was a thread on this a few months ago, but I’m not sure what to search on to find it.

Anyway, a bunch of other U2 albums besides All That You Can’t Leave Behind also fit the criteria:

Under a Blood Red Sky comes from a line in “New Year’s Day”.
Rattle and Hum comes from a line in “Bullet the Blue Sky”
Achtung Baby is whispered in the middle of “The Fly”
And stretching things a little, the word “boy” comes up in over half the songs on the album Boy.

20

Phantom Power by The Tragically Hip.