# What is the alphabetical "first song" on your device? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 2, 2015, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-alphabetical-first-song-on-your-device/739214 "2015-12-02T15:38:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2015, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-alphabetical-first-song-on-your-device/739214/1 "2015-12-02T15:38:36Z")
Whenever I plug my phone in to someone’s car via USB to charge it seems to always want to connect immediately to their radio and play the very first song in the alphabetical listing. I don’t know how many times I’ve been jolted to when A-Punk by Vampire Weekend starts blaring through the speakers. What’s the first song in your alphabetized catalog of songs? ---
**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:** [December 2, 2015, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-alphabetical-first-song-on-your-device/739214/2 "2015-12-02T15:45:48Z")
#9 Dream John Lennon ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2015, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-alphabetical-first-song-on-your-device/739214/3 "2015-12-02T16:13:54Z")
(Nothing But) Flowers - Talking Heads ---
**Author:** ![Indyellen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/indyellen/32/4176_2.png) [@Indyellen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indyellen)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2015, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-alphabetical-first-song-on-your-device/739214/4 "2015-12-02T16:49:36Z")
_ABC_, Jackson 5. My device moves all the songs with numbers or characters to the end of the list, instead of first. ---
**Author:** ![RobDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f07891/32.png) [@RobDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RobDog)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2015, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-alphabetical-first-song-on-your-device/739214/5 "2015-12-02T16:55:28Z")
… And The Gods Made Love, Jimi Hendrix Experience. The first song that doesn’t start with punctuation: 2:1, Elastica. The first song that doesn’t start with punctuation or a number: Abba Zaba, Captain Beefheart. ---
**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:** [December 2, 2015, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-alphabetical-first-song-on-your-device/739214/6 "2015-12-02T16:58:25Z")
First song listed alphabetically is “A.D. 2000” by Erykah Badu. However, if I accidentally press play with nothing cued up it goes alphabetical by artist, not song, and I get “I Am and So Are You” by Affinity. (On my previous iPod it was always Abbey Lincoln singing “Softly, as in a Morning Sunrise.”) ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2015, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-alphabetical-first-song-on-your-device/739214/7 "2015-12-02T17:04:25Z")
A.C.D.C by The Sweet ---
**Author:** ![dracoi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@dracoi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dracoi)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2015, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-alphabetical-first-song-on-your-device/739214/8 "2015-12-02T17:12:16Z")
Abandoned by Kamelot. There’s no jolting, thankfully - it has a slow and quiet intro and first verse. Sometimes my phone also plays by the first alphabetical artist, and that will put on “Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!” by Abba. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2015, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-alphabetical-first-song-on-your-device/739214/9 "2015-12-02T17:13:52Z")
Mine lists song titles starting with numbers first. So the first one is _1985_ by Bowling for Soup. If I scroll down to where actual alphabetical titles begin, it’s _Ace of Spades_ by Motorhead. If I go alphabetical by artist (and leave out some small sound files that aren’t actually songs), it’s _Fernando_ by Abba. ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2015, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-alphabetical-first-song-on-your-device/739214/10 "2015-12-02T17:43:51Z")
one of two, depending on the device: 1. my iPhone starts the list at “A,” so on plug in it plays “A Visitation” by **Revocation**. 2. my Pioneer head unit starts the list with special characters then numbers, so if I plug in an SD card or USB stick it plays “'Amon Belongs to ‘Them’” by **King Diamond**. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2015, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-alphabetical-first-song-on-your-device/739214/11 "2015-12-02T17:49:01Z")
“Comin’ up Close” by 'Til Tuesday ---
**Author:** ![Abner\_Ravenwood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c4cdca/32.png) [@Abner\_Ravenwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Abner_Ravenwood)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2015, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-alphabetical-first-song-on-your-device/739214/12 "2015-12-02T17:49:19Z")
A’ 200 by Deep Purple. It alway plays whenever I have to hard reset my iPod. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2015, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-alphabetical-first-song-on-your-device/739214/13 "2015-12-02T17:49:46Z")
_Abacab_, by Genesis. ---
**Author:** ![leftfield6](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leftfield6/32/18780_2.png) [@leftfield6](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leftfield6)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2015, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-alphabetical-first-song-on-your-device/739214/14 "2015-12-02T17:51:18Z")
> [@Hampshire](#): > > Whenever I plug my phone in to someone’s car via USB to charge it seems to always want to connect immediately to their radio and play the very first song in the alphabetical listing. > I don’t know how many times I’ve been jolted to when A-Punk by Vampire Weekend starts blaring through the speakers. > What’s the first song in your alphabetized catalog of songs? Same song for me. I have learned to hate that song. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2015, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-alphabetical-first-song-on-your-device/739214/15 "2015-12-02T18:05:04Z")
“Accidentally Like A Martyr” - Warren Zevon Although the actual first song(s) **listed** look like “a.Can You Understand b.The Vultures Fly High” - Renaissance - _Day of the Dreamer_. ---
**Author:** ![Labtrash](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/labtrash/32/528_2.png) [@Labtrash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labtrash)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2015, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-alphabetical-first-song-on-your-device/739214/16 "2015-12-02T18:07:38Z")
_(I Just) Died In Your Arms_, by Cutting Crew ---
**Author:** ![Labdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/439d5e/32.png) [@Labdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labdad)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2015, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-alphabetical-first-song-on-your-device/739214/17 "2015-12-02T18:16:05Z")
“Afterglow (of Your Love)” by the Small Faces ---
**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:** [December 2, 2015, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-alphabetical-first-song-on-your-device/739214/18 "2015-12-02T18:19:40Z")
“A Snow Globe Christmas” by Pink Martini ---
**Author:** ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2015, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-alphabetical-first-song-on-your-device/739214/19 "2015-12-02T18:19:57Z")
It depends on the device. If the device is my phone, it only brings up a rough mix of one of my band’s songs. There’s a few gigs of music on there, but it all ended up in lost+found when the SD card got unmounted uncleanly for a moment, and I don’t have the patience to clean it up or reorganize it. I never used the phone much as a music device, anyway. The iPodi all died untimely deaths (I’m hard on electronics). If it’s my laptop, it’s “I Hope That I Don’t Fall in Love with You”, a Tom Waits cover by 10,000 Maniacs. I usually skip that song. If the device is my album collection, which is finally alphabetized at the age of 45, it’s A Feast of Snakes - “Killing Time”. The CDs and 45s stil aren’t alphabetized. Hell, I’m not certain the CDs are all in the right cases (my wife knows who I blame!) ---
**Author:** ![GargoyleWB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gargoylewb/32/199_2.png) [@GargoyleWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GargoyleWB)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2015, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-alphabetical-first-song-on-your-device/739214/20 "2015-12-02T18:22:07Z")
_…And Justice For All_ - Metallica Ignoring the pre-A characters and symbols… _A-Hole_ - Hammerbox [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-alphabetical-first-song-on-your-device/739214.md?page=2)