Choosing song titles by Amanda Lewin on The Pipeline at IndieMusicPeople

Choosing song titles
I guess after choosing a band name, which can be torturous, choosing a song title can be the next dilema. Do you pick a lyric from the song, maybe the chorus i.e. "Dancing Queen" do you give something of the style/history of the song i.e. Bohemian Rhapsody or do you go for something to just grab attention. Three of the latter appear in the current list of new songs here at IAC they are :

"Your girl ain't shit"
"His belly burst"
"I don't give a f***"

I would love to know the story behind some of your 'shocking' or unusual song titles. Maybe the writers of the above would like to comment too.

Am&a

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Hop On Pop

8/20/2008 11:42:30 AM

My old punk band - ChewToy - had a song that we called:
"Diaper"

No, the word wasn't anywhere in the lyric.
The thing is that the rhythm part was this, insistent, throbbing part that hit 2 beats on the "1".
We sang it to each other thusly:
"doo-doo; doo-doo-doo; doo-doo-doo..."

So you see, as a song that had a lot of "doo-doo", the name was appropriate.

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Magnetfisch

8/20/2008 3:11:45 PM

hello Amanda,
well I was walkin through Zurich main station as I read "Brain departure" instead of train departure. I immediately wrote an SMS to our singer and lyricist. She liked the idea, and this new song wears this title since (will be on our forthcoming album "body on the left, soul on the right"). With the sickness & death of a beloved one some years later, this title obtained a very strong significance - and now truely, strongly matches the lyrics "I'd like you to stay- it's not our time"...

best wishes
Magnetfisch

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Eye Of Storm

8/21/2008 5:50:57 PM

I think, for me, the title evolves out of the dominating emotion of the song. Eye

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Maria Daines

8/21/2008 6:14:07 PM ---- Updated 8/21/2008 6:24:12 PM

Great subject Amanda, choosing a title usually comes first for us & occasionally last. 'Is it bad enough for you' popped into my head like a rage when we were sent the details of a particularly sad animal cruelty case, the answering line 'to do some good' was there the minute I saw the photograph of the poor dog Triton, then we had a solid idea to work with. I mostly get the title immediately or have to mull it over when the song is finished & sometimes Paul points out a title half way through, I guess whatever works is the right name if it sums up the initial inspiration.

Thanks for posting this, it's always interesting to find out how other musicians work with words and ideas.

All the best
Maria

p.s. Just tried out the edit option & very cool! Which made me think, have you ever finished a song and then wished you'd used another word or perhaps arrangement, but it's too late by then? I've done this once or twice and it's so damned annoying!

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8/21/2008 6:39:18 PM

I agree maria, this is an excellent post by amanda.
I think "Titles" are vital but i probably don't pay as much attention as i should to them. In most cases with me the title simply appears out of the lyrics but in my last song "One World" the title did come first as it did on "Save The World" and "Make Love Not War" and on I met God On A Saturday Afternoon".
I think it is good in some cases to use the structure of
1 Finding a title
2 Writing a lyric
3 Finding a back beat
4 writing a melody

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TNT

8/22/2008 1:29:40 AM

I sometimes find that things work the other way around, and that a song title comes to me, and I write the song from there.
Our song "I'll be the rain" is one that came about like that.
I firmly believe that the title should have a connection with the song, even if the title doesn't appear in the lyrics, it should have a connection in some way.
I personaly don't like song titles which are obviously given just to draw the ttention, but then have nothing to do with the song in question, but thats just my view.

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