# Songs where the band name is self-referenced **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 10, 2003, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-where-the-band-name-is-self-referenced/187411 "2003-07-10T05:58:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Semp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/fbc32d/32.png) [@Semp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Semp)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2003, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-where-the-band-name-is-self-referenced/187411/61 "2003-07-11T00:37:24Z")
I don’t think it’s meant to be self-referential, but the song _Pornography_ off the album of the same name by **The Cure** ends with “I must fight this sickness, find a cure.” Then there’s the song _Renegade Soundwave_ by the band with the same name. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2003, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-where-the-band-name-is-self-referenced/187411/62 "2003-07-11T00:46:31Z")
Lyle Lovett in “Give Back My Heart”: _She was standing there in a pretty white dress She said “Hi there. Bull riders do it best” I said “Oh my God What’s your name? My name’s Lyle!”_ I’d heard that Bach did a piece with rapid successions of B, A, C and H chords. I’m not a musician, but I’m pretty sure there’s no such thing as an H chord… The Rolling Stones finally covered Dylan’s “Like a Rolling Stone.” ---
**Author:** ![Quack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e99b99/32.png) [@Quack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quack)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2003, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-where-the-band-name-is-self-referenced/187411/63 "2003-07-11T01:00:25Z")
From the first page: Green Day did have a song called “Green Day” on their first record. However, the band is named after the song, not vice versa. ---
**Author:** ![Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troy_mcclure_sf/32/4150_2.png) [@Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troy_McClure_SF)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2003, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-where-the-band-name-is-self-referenced/187411/64 "2003-07-11T01:04:42Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by BurnMeUp \* > **Total Hate '95 - No Doubt (although the band mention was done by Bradley of Sublime… has the line Bradley’s rocking No Doubt Styley)** Missed that one, however, in http://www.lyricsdepot.com/no-doubt/move-on.html]Move On from their self-titled album, they mention themselves in the chorus: > [@](#): > > You have to understand that when it comes to making music > We meshed the styles of five alive and intertwined and fused it > Life comes from life and through our strife we strove to make the sound true > Compelled to spell it out, No Doubt, in search of what we must do ---
**Author:** ![moejuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/57b2e6/32.png) [@moejuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moejuck)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2003, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-where-the-band-name-is-self-referenced/187411/65 "2003-07-11T01:12:20Z")
Infectious Grooves by the Infectious Grooves on the Plague that makes your Booty Move. ---
**Author:** ![the\_terminator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/848f3c/32.png) [@the\_terminator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_terminator)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2003, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-where-the-band-name-is-self-referenced/187411/66 "2003-07-11T02:32:49Z")
Slayer- Metalstorm/Face the Slayer Exodus- The Toxic Waltz “…with us, Exodus!” ---
**Author:** ![Fred](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/db5fbb/32.png) [@Fred](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fred)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2003, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-where-the-band-name-is-self-referenced/187411/67 "2003-07-11T02:53:09Z")
The Dismemberment Plan - The Dismemberment Plan Get Rich Mission of Burma - The Ballad of Johnny Burma Counting Crows - Murder of One (“She stood there/Counting Crows” This may not technically count. :)) ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2003, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-where-the-band-name-is-self-referenced/187411/68 "2003-07-11T03:23:15Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Krokodil \* > \*\*I’d heard that Bach did a piece with rapid successions of B, A, C and H chords. I’m not a musician, but I’m pretty sure there’s no such thing as an H chord… \*\* There is in German. Their H is our B, and their B is our B-flat. So the “BACH” motif in _The Art of Fugue_ is Bb-A-C-B (in single notes, not chords). ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2003, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-where-the-band-name-is-self-referenced/187411/69 "2003-07-11T04:15:02Z")
The Who in You’d Better, You Bet": "_to the sound of old T-Rex, and Who’s Next"_ ---
**Author:** ![todd33rpm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a5b964/32.png) [@todd33rpm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/todd33rpm)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2003, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-where-the-band-name-is-self-referenced/187411/70 "2003-07-11T12:07:56Z")
NRBQ’s “Here Comes Terry” - but it’s more of an “introduce-the-individual-members-of-the-band” song. Otis Redding’s “The Happy Song” - “she tells me, ‘Big O, everything’s alright’…” Wham’s “Everything She Wants” - if you listen to the background vocals towards the end, you can hear that they’re shouting “Wham!” over the handclaps. The Beatles’ “Glass Onion” - “The Walrus was Paul.” ---
**Author:** ![Dead\_Pirate\_LeChuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/da6949/32.png) [@Dead\_Pirate\_LeChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dead_Pirate_LeChuck)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2003, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-where-the-band-name-is-self-referenced/187411/71 "2003-07-11T13:14:30Z")
“Well, I dreamed I saw you walking Up a hillside in the snow. Casting shadows on the winter sky, As you stood there, counting crows.” _The Rain King_– Counting Crows ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2003, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-where-the-band-name-is-self-referenced/187411/72 "2003-07-11T13:42:21Z")
There is “The Fun Lovin’ Criminal” by the Fun Lovin’ Criminals. Also, Fat Boy Slim does it on the album “You’ve Come a Long Way Baby”, but I am drawing a blank on the song name - you hear “Fat Boy Slim is f@\*king heaven” repeated ad naseum. ---
**Author:** ![Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troy_mcclure_sf/32/4150_2.png) [@Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troy_McClure_SF)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2003, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-where-the-band-name-is-self-referenced/187411/73 "2003-07-12T04:04:29Z")
Also, in No Doubt’s “In My Head” (Rock Steady), Gwen Stefani references herself (in character). > [@](#): > > Long distance > Don’t talk about ex-girlfriends > Don’t talk about you with out me > Don’t talk about your past > > Let’s talk about the future > Let’s talk about the wedding > Let’s talk about Gwen Stefani > Let’'s talk about how much you like me > And all that ---
**Author:** ![Shemem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de053/32.png) [@Shemem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shemem)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2003, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-where-the-band-name-is-self-referenced/187411/74 "2003-07-12T04:23:40Z")
Setting myself up for much mockery here: _All you party people who are in a state of shock We’re the New Kids on the Block!_ From one of their first couple albums, which I have mercifully almost forgotten. ---
**Author:** ![fizgig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f04885/32.png) [@fizgig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fizgig)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2003, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-where-the-band-name-is-self-referenced/187411/75 "2003-07-12T04:49:32Z")
There, there, **Shemem** , I don’t think anyone’s mentioned, **Ice, Ice, Baby** by Vanilla Ice, or **Can’t Touch This** By MC Hammer yet, either. Lessee… **Family Tradition** by Hank Williams Jr. (Tell me Hank why do you drink?) **Bang Your Head** (Metal Head will drive you mad). **Pink Elephant** by Cherry Poppin’ Daddies (to see the Cherry Poppin Daddies play the _mumbles rest of lyrics_\*) ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2003, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-where-the-band-name-is-self-referenced/187411/76 "2003-07-12T04:57:54Z")
Yet another by **They Might Be Giants** : “They Got Lost,” a cute little song, apparently based on a number of real-life experiences, about the two Johns getting hopelessly lost on the way to an interview at a radio station. There’s **Shonen Knife’s** “Shonen Knife” (_“Ooh-ooh-ultra ec-cen-tric su-per-cult punk-pop-band… SHO-NEN KNIIIIFE!”_) Back in their cabaret-parody days, **Oingo Boingo** used a song called “Acapella Ditty” to introduce themselves to the audience: > [@](#): > > _Wylee weelie wylee wadey > We are called the Oingo Boingo > Not Gazingo or Gazongo or by any other name > And we’ll punch you in the gizzard if you dare to call us Bingo > Cause we’re called the Oingo Boingo > And it’s simply not the same, > No it’s simply not the same!_ ---
**Author:** ![Sternvogel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Sternvogel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sternvogel)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2003, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-where-the-band-name-is-self-referenced/187411/77 "2003-07-12T06:04:05Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Marley23 \* > \*\*Billy Joel’s song _The Ballad of Billy the Kid_ doesn’t mention the singer’s own name, but it’s self-referential. The first few verses are about the gunslinger (it starts “From a town known as Wheeling, West Virginia/Rode a boy with a six gun in his hand/And his daring life of crime/Made him a lengend in his time/East and west of the Rio Grande”). The last verse is the same as the first, with the change “From a town known as Oyster Bay, Long Island/Rode a boy with a six pack in his hand.” Obviously both characters share the name Billy, so he’s making the connection. I wonder what Joel thinks about that line these days, given his repeated battles with alcoholism. \*\* And continuing the “Billy Sings About Intoxicants” theme, the song [_Piano Man_](http://www.ugcs.caltech.edu/~harel/cgi/page/htmlit?Billy_Piano_Man.html) features “John at the bar” saying “Bill, I believe this is killing me.” Similarly, Sue asks “How are you, Harry?” in Harry Chapin’s [_Taxi_](http://www.littlejason.com/chapin/songs/taxi.html). [_Hollywood Swinging_](http://www.webfitz.com/lyrics/Lyrics/1974/591974.html) contains the self-referential “I went to a theatre/ And I saw the Kool and The Gang show”. ---
**Author:** ![Harvey\_The\_Heavy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Harvey\_The\_Heavy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harvey_The_Heavy)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2003, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-where-the-band-name-is-self-referenced/187411/78 "2003-07-12T12:19:20Z")
_Jane Says_ By Jane’s Addiction. _We Are Motorhead_ and _I’m Your Man_ by Motorhead. _Mean Machine_ by Sugar Ray. Too many by Rob/White Zombie to name. I suppose _High Voltage_ by AC/DC would count. Then there’s _March of the S.O.D._ and _Sgt. D & the S.O.D._ by S.O.D. Hey it’s my 420th post! Who’s got a light? \ ---
**Author:** ![Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troy_mcclure_sf/32/4150_2.png) [@Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troy_McClure_SF)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2003, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-where-the-band-name-is-self-referenced/187411/79 "2003-07-12T16:25:49Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Sternvogel \* > **Similarly, Sue asks “How are you, Harry?” in Harry Chapin’s [_Taxi_](http://www.littlejason.com/chapin/songs/taxi.html).** And that reminds me of Aerosmith’s “Love in an Elevator” (Technically, it’s “Going Down”, the intro to LiaE), in which, at the beginning of the track a young female elevator operator says, > [@](#): > > Second floor, hardware, children’s wear, ladies’ lingerie… Oh, good morning, Mr. Tyler. Going… down? ---
**Author:** ![Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troy_mcclure_sf/32/4150_2.png) [@Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troy_McClure_SF)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2003, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-where-the-band-name-is-self-referenced/187411/80 "2003-07-12T16:29:43Z")
And in Aerosmith’s F.I.N.E., Tyler mentions his Toxic Twin/lead guitarist: > [@](#): > > But I’m > Alright > Your daddy says I’m > Alright > And Tipper thinks I’m > Alright > And _Joe Perry_ says I’m > Alright [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-where-the-band-name-is-self-referenced/187411.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-where-the-band-name-is-self-referenced/187411.md?page=5)