• Get involved.
    We want your input!
    Apply for Membership and join the conversations about everything related to broadcasting.

    After we receive your registration, a moderator will review it. After your registration is approved, you will be permitted to post.
    If you use a disposable or false email address, your registration will be rejected.

    After your membership is approved, please take a minute to tell us a little bit about yourself.
    https://www.radiodiscussions.com/forums/introduce-yourself.1088/

    Thanks in advance and have fun!
    RadioDiscussions Administrators

Song titles people get wrong

R

rnigma1

There are certain songs whose titles some people get wrong, because the title phrase is mentioned once or not at all, or another phrase is repeated often and is mistaken for the title, or for some entirely different reason. During my time as a DJ I would get requests and be given such erroneous titles, sometimes making it hard for me to find the song.

"God Bless the USA" (Lee Greenwood): "Proud to Be an American"
"Both Sides Now" (Judy Collins): "Clouds"
"Baba O'Reilly" (The Who): "Teenage Wasteland"
"Rainy Day Women #12 & 35" (Bob Dylan): "Everybody Must Get Stoned"
"Have a Cigar" (Pink Floyd): "Riding the Gravy Train"
"Brain Damage" (Pink Floyd): "Dark Side of the Moon"
"Big Yellow Taxi" (Joni Mitchell): "Paved Paradise & Put Up a Parking Lot"
 
I'm thinking the title was later changed but believe that when "Along Comes Mary" first came out, it was actually called "Sweet As the Punch". I just thought of another one for your list: "The 59th Street Bridge Song(Feelin' Groovy)" There must be tons of these songs!
 
"Oh, Pretty Woman", is commonly, mistakenly just referred to "Pretty Woman", leaving the "Oh" out.
 
A fellow DJ used to get requests for "Oh, It's My Dick" - Pilot's "It's Magic"
The Pina Colada Song - Rupert Holmes' "Escape"
 
oldies76 said:
"Oh, Pretty Woman", is commonly, mistakenly just referred to "Pretty Woman", leaving the "Oh" out.
Click to expand...

True, for the Roy Orbison original, though the Van Halen cover was just titled "Pretty Woman." Similarly, the original Simon & Garfunkel "59th St. Bridge Song" was covered by Harper's Bizarre and I believe their version was titled "Feelin' Groovy."
David Geddes' "The Last Game of the Season" was covered by Kenny Starr and his version was titled "Blind Man in the Bleachers."
 
CTListener said:
"The Sounds of Silence" for Simon & Garfunkel's "The Sound of Silence." Even DJs slip up on this one.
Click to expand...
Actually, you have it backward. A Jeopardy contestant was once penalized for saying "what is 'The Sound of Silence'?" That Alex Trebek could be a tough one. He said "what we were looking for was 'The Sounds of Silence'." And he didn't give the contestant credit for that. :eek:
 
firepoint525 said:
CTListener said:
"The Sounds of Silence" for Simon & Garfunkel's "The Sound of Silence." Even DJs slip up on this one.
Click to expand...
Actually, you have it backward. A Jeopardy contestant was once penalized for saying "what is 'The Sound of Silence'?" That Alex Trebek could be a tough one. He said "what we were looking for was 'The Sounds of Silence'." And he didn't give the contestant credit for that. :eek:
Click to expand...

I have it right, I guess I just phrased it differently than the other posters. "Sounds" is the mistake, "Sound" is correct.

What always puzzled me was the Grass Roots' song "Midnight Confessions." The line in the song, though, is "In my midnight confession." At least everyone gets the title right.
 
I've got 2 good ones for you.


Twilight Zone by Golden Earring Folks call it "When the Bullet Hits the Bone"

MacArthur Park Richard Harris Even Harris called it MacArthur's Park three times when he recorded it. Jimmy Webb kept calling him and telling him the correct name but Richard Harris couldn't get it right so Webb gave up.
 
FRR said:
I've got 2 good ones for you.


Twilight Zone by Golden Earring Folks call it "When the Bullet Hits the Bone"

MacArthur Park Richard Harris Even Harris called it MacArthur's Park three times when he recorded it. Jimmy Webb kept calling him and telling him the correct name but Richard Harris couldn't get it right so Webb gave up.
Click to expand...

MacArthur Park by "Donna Summer" Folks call it "I'll never have that recipe again" or "It took so long to make it"
 
firepoint525 said:
CTListener said:
"The Sounds of Silence" for Simon & Garfunkel's "The Sound of Silence." Even DJs slip up on this one.
Click to expand...
Actually, you have it backward. A Jeopardy contestant was once penalized for saying "what is 'The Sound of Silence'?" That Alex Trebek could be a tough one. He said "what we were looking for was 'The Sounds of Silence'." And he didn't give the contestant credit for that. :eek:
Click to expand...

"Jeopardy!" **can** be very specific, especially in the case of proper names or titles. (Never mind that only last names are needed for responses often, when the correct response is a proper name.)

Once there was a Final Jeopardy where the proper response was "What is Buenos Aires?"....the contestant wrote "What is Buenos Aire" and was ruled incorrect. I seem to think that this was a case of time running out, and the electronic pen shut off.

As to the thread....wow, I should know a few song titles I could contribute, but cannot think of any right now.

cd
 
FRR said:
MacArthur Park Richard Harris Even Harris called it MacArthur's Park three times when he recorded it. Jimmy Webb kept calling him and telling him the correct name but Richard Harris couldn't get it right so Webb gave up.
Click to expand...
Kinda makes me wonder if Donna Summer got it right when she recorded it a decade or so later. Webb should have known better. He should have known that artists often take "creative license" when recording a song. He should also have been thankful that someone recorded that song. It was bizarre, even by 1968 standards! :eek:
 
CTListener said:
"For What It's Worth." I've heard it referred to as "What's That Sound?"
Click to expand...
Isn't that the subtitle, or at least part of the subtitle? I think it's "Stop, Hey, What's that Sound?" Kinda makes me wonder if sometimes these "mistaken" titles become subtitles when a record becomes known on the street by what later becomes a subtitle anyway.
 
On the subject of even the artists themselves not getting the title exactly right, there is this example from Fleetwood Mac: "Say You Love Me." I don't think that that exact title ever gets heard anywhere in the song. Christine McVie always sang "say that you love me." Maybe she just needed an extra syllable there.

The Brothers Johnson had "Strawberry Letter 23" but in the song only mentioned "strawberry letter 22."

Leo Sayer's "Long Tall Glasses" was better known by its subtitle, "I Can Dance."
 
firepoint525 said:
On the subject of even the artists themselves not getting the title exactly right, there is this example from Fleetwood Mac: "Say You Love Me." I don't think that that exact title ever gets heard anywhere in the song. Christine McVie always sang "say that you love me." Maybe she just needed an extra syllable there.

The Brothers Johnson had "Strawberry Letter 23" but in the song only mentioned "strawberry letter 22."

Leo Sayer's "Long Tall Glasses" was better known by its subtitle, "I Can Dance."
Click to expand...

Ah, Leo Sayer, that's a good one. The Canadian band Shooter released a version for Canadian markets, called "I Can Dance."

cd
 
Status
This thread has been closed due to inactivity. You can create a new thread to discuss this topic.


Back
Top Bottom