I was quite proud of myself when I finally wrote a song for which parentheses were appropriate!
(Don’t Fall in Love with) the Cute Girl on the Stage
When I write out a set list for the band, it gets cut to “Cute Girl”.
You can find it on My MySpace Page but I couldn’t fill in the whole title- it’s listed as “Cute Girl on the St . . .”
Of course… and wouldn’t you know, just the other day I posted that exact song title in another CS thread. :smack: i get a smackie to the face
No… that’s different… As a professional library cataloger, this is something I know about. Those aren’t parentheses, which my cataloging professor in library school called “curves.” Those are square brackets. They have a specific meaning in the title field of a library catalog record: they enclose data that are not found on the item being cataloged, but were supplied by the cataloger from an external source.
Punctuation in library cataloging is very exact; each punctuation mark conveys specific information. They had to develop a highly compressed symbolic system for conveying maximum information in minimum low-tech space, back in the days of 3x5 catalog cards. Nowadays, of course, library catalog records have morphed into highly formatted web pages, with links to other web pages, and the amount of information storage in a given record is theoretically unlimited.
In the example “or, De Kentucky Screamer” you gave, “or” followed by a comma is used for what catalogers call the alternative title. Those were more popular in the Victorian era. Like (making up a faux-Victorian example) Henrietta; or, Virtue Outraged.
Alternative titles are sort of analogous to the parentheseed partial titles of songs, but not exactly the same.
That’s hilarious. It would be even funnier if the parenthesization were reversed.
So where does Radiohead’s “Hail to the Thief (The Gloaming)” CD rate in this discussion. Every track (including the CD title itself) has a parenthetical title.
This thread has presented the opportunity to list one of the best titles of all time, Sly & The Family Stone’s Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)
I always figured it was because there was already a song by the same name, so the parenthetical phrase cleared that up.
By the way, is there any other Italian song about two cars other than Volare (Nel Blu Dipinto Di Blu) ? 
Not a song, but rather an album title: (What’s the Story) Morning Glory? by Oasis. The title track is just called Morning Glory, so it doesn’t fit the exact criteria of the OP.
John Lennon’s “This Bird Has Flown” eventually became “Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown).” Probably a good example of “They’re going to call it ‘Norwegian Wood’ anyway” post-hoc thinking.
It sometimes can be, though. Rupert Holmes was persuaded to rename his song “Escape” to “Escape (The Pina Colada Song)”, which, apparently, helped it sell a lot more.
You guys missed the classic B.J. Thomas song:
(Hey Won’t You Play Another) Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song.
And I just thought of another one. Sheena Easton’s 1981 hit:
Morning Train (9 to 5)
The original title was 9 to 5, but before they could release it Dolly Parton released her song 9 to 5 from the movie. So they took a line from the song and made it the title with the original title in parentheses.
How about the band with the name Was (Not Was)? (You know… “I walked the dinosaur… Boom, boom, aka-laka-laka-boom”… Those guys.)
Similarly, T. Rex’s “Get It On,” which became “Bang a Gong (Get It On)” in the US to avoid confusion with the Top 30 hit “Get It On” by the jazz-rock band Chase.
Some parentheiszed songs that pre-date “Satisfaction”:
“O-H-I-O (O-My!-O!),” Al Jolson (1921)
“Toot, Toot, Tootsie! (G’Bye),” Al Jolson (1923)
“Five Foot Two, Eyes of Blue (Has Anybody Seen My Girl)” Gene Austin (1926)
“Gimme A Little Kiss (Will Ya, Huh?),” Jack ‘The Whispering Baritone’ Smith (1926)
“Valencia (A Song of Spain),” Paul Whiteman & His Orchestra (1926)
“In a Little Spanish Town ('Twas on a Night Like This),” Paul Whiteman & His Orchestra (1927)
“At Sundown (When Love Is Calling Me Home),” Gene Olsen (1927)
“The Man from the South (With the Big Cigar in His Mouth),” Ted Weems & His Orchestra (1930)
“Stein Song (University of Maine),” Rudy Vallee (1930)
“Minnie the Moocher (The Hi-De-Ho Song),” Cab Calloway (1931)
“(There Ought To Be A) Moonlight Savings Time,” Guy Lombardo & His Royal Canadians (1931)
“I Found a Million Dollar Baby (In a Five and Ten Cent Store),” Fred Waring’s Pennsylvanians (1931)
“East of the Sun (And West of the Moon),” Tom Coakley & His Orchestra (1935)
“With Plenty of Money and You (Oh! Baby What I Couldn’t Do),” Henry Busse & His Orchestra (1937)
“(You Know It All) Smarty,” Fats Waller (1937)
“Bob White (Whatcha Gonna Swing Tonight?),” Bing Crosby & Connie Boswell (1937)
“Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen (Means That You’re Grand),” The Andrews Sisters (1938)
“I Won’t Tell A Soul (I Love You),” Andy Kirk & His Clouds of Joy (1938)
“Wishing (Will Make It So),” Glen Miller & His Orchestra (1939)
“Fools Rush In (Where Angels Fear to Tread),” Glen Miller & His Orchestra (1940)
“We Three (My Echo, My Shadow and Me),” The Ink Spots (1940)
“The One I Love (Belongs to Somebody Else),” Tommy Dorsey and His Orchestra featuring Frank Sinatra and the Pied Pipers(1940)
“Amapola (Pretty Little Poppy),” Jimmy Dorsey & His Orchestra (1941)
“Green Eyes (Aquellos Ojos Verde),” Jimmy Dorsey & His Orchestra (1941)
“The Hut-Hut Song (A Swedish Seranade),” Freddy Martin & His Orchestra/Horace Heidt and His Musical Knights/The Merry Macs (1941)
“(I’ll Be With You) In Apple Blossom Time,” The Andrews Sisters (1941)
“You Made Me Love You (I Didn’t Want to Do It),” Harry James & His Orchestra (1941)
“Perfidia (Tonight).” Benny Goodman/Gene Krupa/Jimmy Dorsey (1941)
“Until Tomorrow (Goodnight My Love),” Sammy Kaye with the Three Kadets (1941)
“(I’ve Got a Gal In) Kalamazoo,” Glen Miller & His Orchestra (1942)
“Don’t Sit Under the Apple Tree (With Anyone Else But Me),” Glen Miller (1942)
“(There’ll Be Blue Birds Over) The White Cliffs of Dover,” Glen Miller (1942)
“When the Lights Go On Again (All Over the World),” Vaughn Monroe (1942)
“Blues in the Night (My Mamma Done Tol’ Me),” Woody Herman/Jimmie Lunceford (1942)
“I Got It Bad (And That Ain’t Good),” Duke Ellington (1942)
“I Cried For You (Now It’s Your Turn to Cry For Me),” Harry James & His Orchestra with Helen Forrest (1942)
“(As Long As You’re Not in Love with Anyone Else) Why Don’t You Fall in Love with Me?” Dinah Shore (1943)
“Don’t Get Aound Much Anymore (Never No Lament),” Duke Ellington (1943)
“Besame Mucho (Kiss Me Much),” Jimmy Dorsey & His Orchestra (1944)
“(There’ll Be A) Hot Time in the Town of Berlin (When the Yanks Go Marching In),” Bing Crosby and the Andrews Sisters (1944)
“Is You Is Or Is You Ain’t (Ma Baby),” Louis Jordan and His Tympani Five (1944)
“Long Ago (And Far Away),” Helen Forrest and Dick Haymes/Bing Crosby/Perry Como (1944)
“Dance with a Dolly (With a Hole in Her Stockin’),” Russ Morgan (1944)
“Too-Ra-Loo-Ra-Loo-Ral (That’s An Irish Lullaby),” Bing Crosby (1944)
“I’ll Get By (As Long As I Have You),” The Ink Spots (1944)
“It Must Be Jelly (Cause Jam Don’t Shake Like That),” Glen Miller (1944)
“Cleanin’ My Rifle (And Dreamin’ of You),” Lawrence Welk & His Orchestra (1944)
“For the First Time (I’ve Fallen in Love),” Dick Haymes (1944)
“Saturday Night (Is the Loneliest Night of the Week),” Frank Sinatra (1945)
“Nancy (With the Laughing Face),” Frank Sinatra (1945)
“I’m Gonna Love That Gal (Like She’s Never Been Loved Before),” Perry Como (1945)
“I Dream of You (More Than You Dream I Do),” Tommy Dorsey (1945)
“Yah-Ta-Ta Yah-Ta-Ta (Talk, Talk, Talk),” Bing Crosby and Judy Garland (1945)
“(Yip Yip De Hootie) My Baby Said Yes,” Bing Crosby & Louis Jordan (1945)
“(Did You Ever Get) That Feeling in the Moonlight,” Perry Como (1945)
“I’ll Be Walking with My Honey (Soon, Soon, Soon),” Sammy Kaye (1945)
“(I Love You) For Sentimental Reasons,” The Nat King Cole Trio (1946)
“You Call It Madness (But I Call It Love),” The Nat King Cole Trio (1946)
“(Get Your Kicks On) Route 66,” The Nat King Cole Trio (1946)
“You Won’t Be Satisfied (Until You Break My Heart),” Les Brown and His Band of Renown with Doris Day (1946)
“Laughing on the Outside (Crying on the Inside),” Dinah Shore (1946)
“Dig You Later (A Hubba-Hubba-Hubba),” Perry Como (1946)
“The Coffee Song (They’ve Got an Awful Lot of Coffee in Brazil),” Frank Sinatra (1946)
“Stone Cold Dead in the Market (He Had It Coming),” Ella Fitzgerlad and Louis Jordan (1946)
“Money Is the Root of All Evil (Take It Away, Take It Away, Take It Away),” The Andrews Sisters and Guy Lombardo & His Royal Canadians (1946)
“Hawaiian War Chant (Ta-Hu-Wa-Hu-Wai),” Spike Jones & His Wacky Waikakians(1946)
“Cement Mixer (Put-Ti Put-Ti),” The Slim Gaillard Trio (1946)
“Ugly Chile (You’re Some Pretty Doll),” Johnny Mercer (1946)
“Smoke! Smoke! Smoke! (That Cigarette),” Tex Williams (1947)
“Chi-Baba Chi-Baba (My Bambino Go to Sleep),” Perry Como (1947)
“The Too Fat Polka (I Don’t Want Her) (You Can Have Her) (She’s Too Fat for Me),” Arthur Godfrey (1947)
“Civilization (Bongo, Bongo, Bongo),” Danny Kaye and the Andrews Sisters (1947)
“I Ain’t Mad at You (You Ain’t Mad at Me),” Count Basie (1947)
"Save the Bones for Henry Jones (Cause Henry Don’t Eat No Meat),"Johnny Mercer and the Nat King Cole Trio (1947)
“Manana (Is Soon Enough for Me),” Peggy Lee (1948)
“Now Is the Hour (Maori Farewell Song),” Bing Crosby (1948)
“All I Want for Christmas (Is My Two Front Teeth),” Spike Jones and His City Slickers (1948)
“Serutan Yob (A Song for Backwards Boys and Girls Under 40),” Red Ingle and the Unnatural Seven (1948)
“Just a Little Lovin’ (Will Go a Long, Long Way),” Eddy Arnold (1948)
“A Heartful of Love (For a Handful of Kisses),” Eddy Arnold (1948)
“Riders in the Sky (A Cowboy Legend),” Vaughn Monroe (1949)
“Powder Your Face with Sunshine (Smile! Smile! Smile!),” Evelyn Knight/Dean Martin (1949)
“Don’t Cry Joe (Let Her Go, Let Her Go, Let Her Go),” Gordon Jenkins & His Orchestra (1949)
“Someday (You’ll Want Me to Want You),” The Mills Brothers (1949)
“The Pussy Cat Song (Nyow! Nyot Nyow!),” Patti Andrews & Bob Crosby (1949)
“I’ve Been Waiting for Your Phone Call for Eighteen Years (Maybe You Don’t Love Me Anymore),” Beatrice Kay (1949)
“(If I Knew You Were Coming) I’d’ve Baked a Cake,” Eileen Barton (1950)
“All My Love (Bolero),” Patti Page (1950)
“Nevertheless (I’m in Love with You),” Paul Weston/The Mills Brothers (1950)
“Sam’s Song (The Happy Tune),” Gary & Bing Crosby (1950)
“Can Anyone Explain (No, No, No),” The Ames Brothers (1950)
“Enjoy Yourself (It’s Later Than You Think),” Guy Lombardo (1950)
“The Red We Want Is the Red We’ve Got (In the Old Red, White and Blue),” Ralph Flanagan (1950)
“I Said My Pajamas (And Put On My Pray’rs),” Ray Bolger and Ethel Merman (1950)
“(Why Did I Tell You I Was Going To) Shanghai,” Doris Day (1951)
“These Things I Offer You (For a Lifetime),” Sarah Vaughn (1951)
“(It’s No) Sin,” The Four Knights (1951)
“I’ll Hold You in My Heart ('Til I Can Hold You in My Arms),” Eddie Fisher (1951)
“I Can’t Help It (If I’m Still in Love with You),” Hank Williams/Guy Mitchell (1951)
“High Noon (Do Not Forsake Me),” Frankie Laine (1952)
“Jambalaya (On the Bayou),” Hank Williams (1952)
“Be Anything (But Me Mine),” Peggy Lee and Gordon Jenkins (1952)
“Vaya Con Dios (May God Be with You),” Les Paul and Mary Ford (1953)
“The Song from the Moulin Rouge (Where Is Your Heart),” Percy Faith & His Orchestra (1953)
“C’est Si Bon (It’s So Good),” Eartha Kitt (1953)
“Istanbul (Not Constantinople),” The Four Lads (1953)
“Mama (He Treats Your Daughter Mean),” Ruth Brown (1953)
“Count Your Blessings (Instead of Sheep),” Eddie Fisher (1954)
“(We’re Gonna) Rock Around The Clock,” Bill Haley and the Comets (1955)
“Dim, Dim The Lights (I Want Some Atmosphere),” Bill Haley and the Comets (1955)
“Earth Angel (Will You Be Mine),” The Penguins (1955)
“Ko Ko Mo (I Love You So),” Gene and Eunice/Perry Como (1955)
“Only You (And You Alone),” The Platters (1955)
“Hot Diggity (Dog Ziggity Boom),” Perry Como (1956)
“Whatever Will Be, Will Be (Que Sera, Sera),” Doris Day (1956)
“(How Little It Matters) How Little We Know,” Frank Sinatra (1956)
“Anyway You Want Me (That’s How I Will Be),” Elvis Presley (1956)
“(Let Me Be Your) Teddy Bear,” Elvis Presley (1957)
“A White Sport Coat (And a Pink Carnation),” Marty Robbins (1957)
“Banana Boat (Day-O),” Harry Belafonte (1957)
“Start Movin’ (In My Direction),” Sal Mineo (1957)
“Wun’erful, Wun’erful (Sides Uh-One and Uh-Two),” Stan Freberg (1957)
“Nel Blu Dipinto Di Blu (Volare),” Domenico Modungo (1958)
“He’s Got the Whole World (In His Hands),” Laurie London (1958)
“26 Miles (Santa Catalina),” The Four Preps (1958)
“Kookie, Kookie (Lend Me Your Comb),” Edd ‘Kookie’ Byrnes and Connie Stevens (1959)
“That’s Why (I Love You So),” Jackie Wilson (1959)
“Only the Lonely (Know How I Feel),” Roy Orbison (1960)
“So Sad (To Watch Good Love Go Bad),” The Everly Brothers (1960)
“A Rockin’ Good Way (To Mess Around and Fall in Love),” Brook Benton and Dinah Washington (1960)
“Money (That’s What I Want),” Barrett Strong (1960)
“(Marie’s the Name) His Latest Flame,” Elvis Presley (1961)
"Sad Movies (Make Me Cry),"Sue Thompson (1961)
“Does Your Chewing Gum Lose Its Flavor (On the Bedpost Overnight),” Lonnie Donnegan (1961)
“Who Put the Bomp (In the Bomp, Bomp, Bomp),” Barry Mann (1961)
“Those Oldies But Goodies (Reminde Me Of You),” Little Caesar and the Romans (1961)
“Gee Whiz (Look at His Eyes),” Carla Thomas (1961)
“Little Egypt (Ying Yang),” The Coasters (1961)
“Just Out Of Reach (Of My Two Empty Arms),” Solomon Burke (1961)
“(I Wanna) Love My Life Away,” Gene Pitney (1961)
"Let’s Go Again (Where We Went Last Night),"Hank Ballard & The Midnighters (1961)
“Roses Are Red (My Love),” Bobby Vinton (1962)
“I Know (You Don’t Love Me No More),” Barbara George (1962)
“(The Man Who Shot) Liberty Valance,” Gene Pitney (1962)
“Dream Baby (How Long Must I Dream),” Roy Orbison (1962)
“Shout! Shout! (Knock Yourself Out),” Ernie Maresca (1962)
“That’s Old Fashioned (That’s The Way Love Should Be),” The Everly Brothers (1962)
“Don’t Play That Song (You Lied),” Ben E King (1962)
“(Dance With The) Guitar Man,” Duane Eddy (1962)
“There’s No Other (Like My Baby),” The Crystals (1962)
“Warmed Over Kisses (Left Over Love),” Brian Hyland (1962)
“Gravy (For My Mashed Potatoes),” Dee Dee Sharp (1962)
“Lipstick Traces (On a Cigarette),” Benny Spellman (1962)
"Hello Muddah, Hello Faddah (A Letter from Camp),"Allan Sherman (1963)
“(You’re The) Devil in Disguise,” Elvis Presley (1963)
“Don’t Say Nothin’ Bad (About My Baby),” The Cookies (1963)
“I (Who Have Nothing),” Ben E King (1963)
“(Today I Met) The Boy I’m Gonna Marry,” Darlene Love (1963)
“Dawn (Go Away),” The Four Seasons (1964)
"The Little Old Lady (From Pasadena),"Jan and Dean (1964)
"Remember (Walikn’ in the Sand),“The Shangri-Las (1964)
“The Shoop Shoop Song (It’s In His Kiss),” Betty Everett (1964)
'(Just Like) Romeo and Juliet,” The Reflections (1964)
“When I Grow Up (To Be A Man),” The Beach Boys (1964)
“What Kind of Fool (Do You Think I Am),” The Tams (1964)
"I’m on the Outside (Looking In),"Little Anthony and the Imperials (1964)
“Girl (Why You Wana Make Me Blue),” The Temptations (1964)
“Goodbye Baby (Baby Goodbye),” Solomon Burke (1964)
“You’ll Never Get to Heaven (If You Break My Heart),” Dionne Warwick (1964)
“The Best Part Of (Breakin’ Up),” The Ronnettes (1964)
“Tell Me (You’re Coming Back),” The Rolling Stones (1964)
(No, I don’t have a life. Why’d you ask?)
Thanks, 42fish, that was the single most impressive display of trivia mastery I’ve seen in my 7 years here.
Obviously it wasn’t the song titles that began in 1964, it was my listening to rock-‘n’-roll music that began in that year.
And released by Power Station as “Get It On (Bang a Gong)”
I used to refer to the Whitney Houston song as “I Want to Dance with Somebody Who Loves Me In Parenthesis”
And some more:
“Neighbourhood #3 (Power Out)” - The Arcade Fire
“No Names (Black Debbie)” - Danger Doom
“Everybody Knows (Except You)” - The Divine Comedy
“Paid in Full (Seven Minutes of Madness)” - Eric B & Rakim
“Sunset (Bird of Prey)” - Fatboy Slim
“Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler)” - Grover Washington Jr
“El Pito (I’ll Never Go Back to Georgia)” - Joe Cuba Sextet
“Jacques Your Body (Make Me Sweat)” - Les Rhythmes Digitales
“Because It’s Not Love (But It’s Still A Feeling)” - The Pipettes
“Hey Ruby (Shut Your Mouth)” - Ruby & The Party Gang
“CC (You Set the Fire in Me)” - Tom Vek
“Make Me Smile (Come UP and See Me)” - The Wedding Present (yes, I know it’s a cover)
“Undone (The Sweater Song)” - Weezer
Which shows that song titles are commutative. 
A song title where the parenthetical expression being a part of the title makes the joke is from an Early Marx Brothers movie, announced before a piano bit by Chico.
My love lies sleeping (with a male chorus)
Elvis Costello liked this:
(What’s So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love and Understanding
(I Don’t Want to Go to) Chelsea
(The Angels Want to Wear My) Red Shoes
Excellent German synthpop duo Wolfsheim have another double whammy:
(The obvious fact that) scars remain (and how to cope with it)