# Lyrics that you mistook for song titles **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 16, 2017, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrics-that-you-mistook-for-song-titles/784586 "2017-04-16T22:10:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Nars\_Glinley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nars_glinley/32/8177_2.png) [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2017, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrics-that-you-mistook-for-song-titles/784586/41 "2017-04-25T13:56:59Z")
It’s somewhat interesting (to me anyway) that everyone knows that “Bohemian Rhapsody” is “Bohemian Rhapsody” despite neither term appearing in the lyrics. Why doesn’t it fit the profile? ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2017, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrics-that-you-mistook-for-song-titles/784586/42 "2017-04-25T15:04:09Z")
Probably because, lacking a traditional chorus and/or repetition, it doesn’t have an extremely obvious alternate title that people would just assume it was called. Maybe the closest I can think of is “nothing really matters”. ---
**Author:** ![BubbaDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bubbadog/32/333_2.png) [@BubbaDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BubbaDog)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2017, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrics-that-you-mistook-for-song-titles/784586/43 "2017-04-25T15:45:00Z")
**You Don’t Have to Call Me Darlin, Darlin**. - David Allen Coe Years ago searched for this for a few days after it was requested by the above name for a wedding reception. Finally found **You Never Even Called me By My Name** ---
**Author:** ![sciurophobic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cab0a1/32.png) [@sciurophobic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sciurophobic)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2017, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrics-that-you-mistook-for-song-titles/784586/44 "2017-04-25T15:56:50Z")
The title of the Stevie Nicks song is **Edge of Seventeen** not **Just Like The White Winged Dove** ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2017, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrics-that-you-mistook-for-song-titles/784586/45 "2017-04-25T20:31:44Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > One comes across songs now and then with titles that seem to have utterly no connection to the lyrics (at least not obviously) – You would never guess the title from the lyrics, and never guess anything about the song from the title. > > Two that come to mind are: > > After The Gold Rush (Neil Young; although the best-known and best, IMO, rendition is the a-capella version by Prelude). Nothing at all there about any gold rush that I can tell. > > Creeque Alley (Mamas & Papas) – The title does apparently have some connection to the back-story of the song, but you’d never know that just by listening to the words. > > Any others? It seemed like every other song in the early 90s alternative scene followed this formula. ---
**Author:** ![Nars\_Glinley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nars_glinley/32/8177_2.png) [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2017, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrics-that-you-mistook-for-song-titles/784586/46 "2017-04-25T22:11:22Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > Probably because, lacking a traditional chorus and/or repetition, it doesn’t have an extremely obvious alternate title that people would just assume it was called. Maybe the closest I can think of is “nothing really matters”. No no no no no no no! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2017, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrics-that-you-mistook-for-song-titles/784586/47 "2017-04-26T16:07:14Z")
For a long time I thought the Golden Earring song was called “When The Bullet Hits The Bone” (instead of “Twilight Zone”). ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2017, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrics-that-you-mistook-for-song-titles/784586/48 "2017-04-26T22:44:51Z")
I assumed that “Flagpole Sitta” was called something like “I’m Not Sick”. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2017, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrics-that-you-mistook-for-song-titles/784586/49 "2017-04-27T02:45:14Z")
> [@Kimble](#): > > I heard on an interview with some music business person that execs are trying to keep artists from doing that so people can find the songs more easily on YouTube/Spotify/etc. Hymnaries in my youth always came with and ‘Index of Titles’ /and/ an ‘Index of First Lines’ for exactly that reason. ---
**Author:** ![JpnDude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/838e76/32.png) [@JpnDude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JpnDude)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2017, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrics-that-you-mistook-for-song-titles/784586/50 "2017-04-27T05:04:55Z")
For a while when I started listening to Duran Duran in the early 80s, I thought [The Chauffeur](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YlGyynTzT7I) was named **Sing Blue Silver**. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2017, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrics-that-you-mistook-for-song-titles/784586/51 "2017-04-27T19:12:21Z")
Decades ago, it was quite common for people to refer to “You Are The One” when they meant “Night and Day” ---
**Author:** ![That\_Don\_Guy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/that_don_guy/32/538_2.png) [@That\_Don\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/That_Don_Guy)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2017, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrics-that-you-mistook-for-song-titles/784586/52 "2017-04-27T20:00:50Z")
Mine is the Jackson 5’s “I Want You Back” - for decades, I thought it was called “One More Chance.” Do parentheticals count? You would think that one of the biggest offenders of recent times is “Exhale” from the movie _Waiting to Exhale_, which everybody I know who has heard the song calls, “Shoop Shoop.” ---
**Author:** ![LLCoolL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/llcooll/32/3596_2.png) [@LLCoolL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LLCoolL)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2017, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrics-that-you-mistook-for-song-titles/784586/53 "2017-04-29T00:07:11Z")
“Jar of Hearts” by Christina Perri. I woulda guessed “Who Do You Think You Are?” Although “Jar of Hearts” is a cool title, and captures the sentiments of the lyrics quite well. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2017, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrics-that-you-mistook-for-song-titles/784586/54 "2017-04-29T06:27:29Z")
> [@JpnDude](#): > > For a while when I started listening to Duran Duran in the early 80s, I thought [The Chauffeur](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YlGyynTzT7I) was named **Sing Blue Silver**. I never mistook the title, but for awhile I did think he was singing “Sing Lucilda”. ---
**Author:** ![Not\_Carlson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/bc79bd/32.png) [@Not\_Carlson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Not_Carlson)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2017, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrics-that-you-mistook-for-song-titles/784586/55 "2017-04-29T06:40:00Z")
I used to always think RHCP’s “Sidewinder” was called “Parallel Universe” . . . Wait! It \*IS \*called “Parallel Universe”! And I always thought it was called “Sidewinder”. Damn, I can’t even remember how I misremembered it. > [@Aeschines](#): > > The lyrics “What’s going on?” for “What’s Up?” by Four Non-Blondes: > > [What's up - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/What%27s_Up%3F_(song)) > > **The title does not appear in the song’s lyrics. However, the phrase “what’s going on?” is prominently included in the chorus. The title was chosen to avoid confusion with Marvin Gaye’s 1971 song “What’s Going On.”** It’s not actually called “What’s going on”? Well I’ll be darned. But that makes sense, I guess. > [@hogarth](#): > > I assumed that “Flagpole Sitta” was called something like “I’m Not Sick”. Same here. I used to think it was called “I’m not sick, but I’m not well”. ---
**Author:** ![DummyGladHands](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/49beb7/32.png) [@DummyGladHands](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DummyGladHands)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2017, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrics-that-you-mistook-for-song-titles/784586/56 "2017-04-29T13:47:58Z")
It’s the 59th St. Bridge Song. Not “Feeling Groovy” ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2017, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrics-that-you-mistook-for-song-titles/784586/57 "2017-04-29T13:56:17Z")
I always thought the Styx song was “Carry On.” ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2017, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrics-that-you-mistook-for-song-titles/784586/58 "2017-04-29T14:03:59Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > It seemed like every other song in the early 90s alternative scene followed this formula. To give some examples (and just sticking with stuff that got radio play): “Cherub Rock” - Smashing Pumpkins (and also “Bullet with Butterfly Wings,” “33,” “Rhinoceros,” and a whole mess of others.) “Elderly Woman Behind a Counter in a Small Town” - Pearl Jam (also “Corduroy,” “Yellow Ledbetter.”) Song 2 - Blur (the “WOO HOO!” song) “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” “Lithium,” “In Bloom,” etc., by Nirvana. “Plush,” “Interstate Love Song,” “Big Empty” - Stone Temple Pilots “Basket Case” - Green Day “Iris” - Goo Goo Dolls ---
**Author:** ![buddha\_david](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2017, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrics-that-you-mistook-for-song-titles/784586/59 "2017-04-29T14:29:21Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > I always thought the Styx song was “Carry On.” Often heard in conjunction with that Kansas song, “Don’t You Cry No More”. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2017, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrics-that-you-mistook-for-song-titles/784586/60 "2017-04-29T17:23:04Z")
Just heard one on the radio: the Talking Heads’ “This Ain’t No Party,” which I believe is called … something else. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrics-that-you-mistook-for-song-titles/784586.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrics-that-you-mistook-for-song-titles/784586.md?page=4)