[Katie Wilson]

Having written poems for years - i always title it whatever the first line is - but now I'm writing songs , I'm not doing that so much I just wondered what other guys did

[adamfarr]

Normally the song itself will suggest something! Probably the most repeated line, and probably from the chorus. But not always of course. Titles are really important especially these days to get people's interest so something intriguing is always good - but then if it's so intriguing it will probably be a key part of the song anyway...

[cowparsleyman]

Katie, this is a real bugbear for me, the more songs one writes, the more difficult this is, and actually I really like song titles that make you think rather than has anything to do with the lyrics.

For example I have a song called ' is for Zebra', it's nothing to do with Zebras, it's actually about seeing a guy that looked like Jesus riding a bike, so maybe you listen to it and wonder, "Why did he call it that?", If I'd called it 'Jesus on a bike', as I first thought then of course you'd be mentally prepared for what's coming, and waiting for it, and everything is so normal and conventional. Another is called '56 56 [96' , the [96 was a typo (should have been 56) , and the 56 was the pickups I just bought for my Strat, which I subsequently sold and went for Fender Fat 50's, which I still have now.

I suppose much of this came from Jazz, I used to play a lot of jazz years ago, I kind of got used to weird song titles for instrumentals, 'Hip Pockets','Mole Organ Surgery Using Fairly Elementary Tools' was one of my favourites...People used to remember the title as it was so strange, and I used to laugh to myself when they would tell me 'Oh I love that song about Moles' etc.

So what's in a title? To me it's another tool to make the song unique, a chance to make it memorable for not so obvious reasons, and very personal.


cpm

[Katie Wilson]

Katie, this is a real bugbear for me, the more songs one writes, the more difficult this is, and actually I really like song titles that make you think rather than has anything to do with the lyrics.

For example I have a song called ' is for Zebra', it's nothing to do with Zebras, it's actually about seeing a guy that looked like Jesus riding a bike, so maybe you listen to it and wonder, "Why did he call it that?", If I'd called it 'Jesus on a bike', as I first thought then of course you'd be mentally prepared for what's coming, and waiting for it, and everything is so normal and conventional. Another is called '56 56 [96' , the [96 was a typo (should have been 56) , and the 56 was the pickups I just bought for my Strat, which I subsequently sold and went for Fender Fat 50's, which I still have now.

I suppose much of this came from Jazz, I used to play a lot of jazz years ago, I kind of got used to weird song titles for instrumentals, 'Hip Pockets','Mole Organ Surgery Using Fairly Elementary Tools' was one of my favourites...People used to remember the title as it was so strange, and I used to laugh to myself when they would tell me 'Oh I love that song about Moles' etc.

So what's in a title? To me it's another tool to make the song unique, a chance to make it memorable for not so obvious reasons, and very personal.


cpm
["Cowparsleyman thats a great answer  xxx" ]

[dasntn]

Interesting question. I'm not a poet, but I guess the first line of a poem is key to capturing the listener, but often in a song, there is an expectation that the chorus is the main catch.

I take a simple approach.  I know it's a long shot, but when I name a song, I try and think what part of the lyric people will hear and latch onto, and so remember.
So that when they go on iTunes/Spotify (or whatever) they will be able to find the song.  More often than not, it's the start or end of the chorus.

That's wishful thinking!!

But to be honest, that helps me too, when I'm playing original songs live - remembering which is which! My memory is not what it was 

cheers
Dave

[Katie Wilson]

 Thanks Dave I now wait until,I've finished the lyrics and look for the stand out our catchiest words

[Mike67]

Dave hit on a really important point too; the opening line of a song's really important too. A name on a wall painted in blue 🤓 Hello darkness, my old friend. And so on.

Mike