To clarify, I'm not wanting advice, I'm just trying to start what I think will be an interesting discussion

Firstly, how do you all come up with song names? I think it's actually an interesting point of songwriting that is rarely covered...

Secondly, are song names important? (Personally I say yes)

Thirdly, Do cliches necessarily need to be avoided?

Lastly, Is there such thing as 'bad' song names?

I thought, "Mother hold the candle whilst I shave the chickens lip." Was a great song by The Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band 

I never think about titles to be honest. I start with whatever comes out of my head, as I always write at least some of the music first.

I see if there's anything I like, that catches my attention and build the rest of the song around it. Usually the lyrics just give me the title after

that.

My song "You" has the word you in it so many times that it has to be the title haha

Other songs of mine, "Magic Carpet" is literally about being able to journey back in time using the said carpet, and what you would do

or change. People you would take revenge on or not be scared of anymore in hindsight. And of course the carpet itself is then also a metaphore

for Marajoanna. So again the title wrote itself.

"Bang Bang" It's the hook of the song. It gets repeated. Had to be the title. ( About a woman who shoots her husband after catching him

cheating on her )

"Pyjama Girl" Haven't yet put this one on here haha. Again is literally about those god awful chavs who walk into tesco's having

apparrently just got out of bed.

"This Christmas" which I just had in our Christmas comp. Again with that probably being the hook of the song, I couldn't really call it anything else.


Is that how everyone does it? I'm really intruiged to find out.

Good topic

evening all..
i think its important to name something.
if i write something and keep it i always name it, gives it life i think, becomes something
and i'll name it after its character or something that encapsulates whatever idea it sparked off that made me want to keep it...
precious bollox probably but its my way of hanging on to threads.

hard to get away from cliches,  i dont think should worry about them too much because i think its the way its delivered that counts really, the intent in the vocal can have as many inflections as the face...
I do get into trouble with mixing metaphores but you cant help it if your on a train of thought with your head down one metaphore just merges with the next and its not a bad thing its just frowned upon as a cheap trick like going up a key on a boy band ballad...but you do what you do when you do it ??
i think the thing is not to stop yourself, once the pens moving or the tapes rolling try not to analyse it...i dont mean write blindly but follow something without thinking too much about the consequences...

suppose bad song names are the ones we've forgotten

Personally I used to write to a title (that's when I wrote my worst I found) so now I think hard about the title afterwards. Because of my lateral and often metaphorical way of thinking about titles I often end up with longer and often obscure titles (I sold her the powder that night, a lullaby for the brave backed up against the wall, every teenage wish upon a vodka bottle, etc).
So I do place a lot of importance on song titles and treat them in many cases and an extra part of the song, adding another whole facet to the message, for example I recently wrote a song about the global Occupy movement and named it Occupational Hazard.

I also find myself disliking songs based on love with titles that give it all away. I often think if the title is a phrase from the song then it shouldn't be from the core idea of the song unless the song projects that idea metaphorically.

I was actually thinking about this earlier on. I often name my songs after something in the lyrics, or something that sums up the song in a few words.

My titles are always derived from the lyrics somehow, but not usually the most repeated lyric (as I don't have soo many chorus')...don't really have any method to it, but to name a couple:
 - Bluebell Woods. The title is never actually sung, but 'Bluebell Woods' is the location of where the song is taking place....
 - Sister. Simple, the song is about my sister
 - Lay it Down. I guess the 'regular' method of naming the song after the main 'hook' from the chorus....

I don't know, I dont have much method to naming them. The name is usually the last thing that comes up, or it's just been obvious what it would be all along.
I know some bands start with a name, IMO that often leads to fairly shallow lyrics...of course theres probably plenty of exceptions. I don't like cliched song titles, or song titles that are very very very often used, or very long song titles, but thats just preference.
If the song is good, I dont think it really matters what they are called. Good titles in good songs are not what makes the songs good, its more likely that the good title is an offshoot of the fact that it's a good song to begin with.

I always have a 'working title' for a song until the lyrics are complete. Usually the working title is a summary of what the song is about and more often than not survives the process: Masks, The Hedonist, Meeting Myself Coming Back being three examples. Other times the title comes out of the lyrics: Days With You, Name and Number, Shake the Box.

Are song names important? Is any kind of name of name important? If I heard of a song called 'I love my fluffy little cat' I wouldn't go near it. (Unless it was by Rammstein, in which case it would probably have a whole different meaning!) They're a signature or a shorthand message. Song titles are essential.

Cliches? Don't know what you mean by that. I don't think there's anything wrong with using a cliche as a song title. But if you mean using a phrase that you hear time and time again in lyrics (Give it to me baby etc etc) then yes, that would be creative laziness and should be avoided.

Bad song titles: 'I Just Called to Say I Love You' makes me want to puke.

Good song titles: Prole Art Threat, The Man Whose Head Expanded, Ibis Hotel Man... anything and everything by The Fall in other words.

song names have to relate to the song really, in my opinion, even the weird ones, example i have a song called diet water, diet water being something you can't get, the song is about something i can't get.
i also write all my songs around the names, well actually, I write a long list of 100 names a week and write 100 songs with those names. and more when i think of another name that's good...but...

Song names to songs are as packaging is to products. It doesn't define the thing it contains, but it sure as hell controls your perceptions about it.


With you there sellon. I'm writing a song at the minute called Espresso For One. Why? It's short, dark and bitter as hell

Peter

I wrote a song called Escape. It's about the Russian Revolution. That count as relevant?

I have some songs that are named "Song of..." "Song about...", is that a cliche? I have one called "Songs about nothing" but it's a reflection of how my songs show me what I've lived, and those songs at the moment I wrote them meant nothing (apparently).

Although, I have a song named "Lullaby for a caterpillar" jajaja

Game on. I have 'A Lullaby For The Brave Backed Up Against The Wall'

I think the 'song of' or 'song about' aren't in and of themselves cliches but if the song literally uses the line 'song about...' or 'song of...' then it's quite cliched.
Then again, that's just an opinion, one of many I'm sure.

A cautionary tale..

I don't really pay much attention to my song titles. As I record digitally they tend to be thought of very early in the process so I can use a common "FILE-NAME" for all the parts to make keeping track of them easier.
However as the song develops they can become unconnected with the song both lyrically and musically.

My tale of one of my songs.
As usually happens, as I was writing a song, very early in it's development  a lyric settled in nicely and the song was built around it. That lyric was
"You'll be gone before the snow.   Just like a Xmas Song"
So to keep all the parts together I used the working title  "XMAS SONG" I kept this title when I put it on the web.
Now for the past two Xmas this track gets a load of listens and downloads, despite being not a Xmas song. 
I've had to change the title to "Gone before the Snow" 

I listen to many bands whose song titles don't match the lyrics. It used to be a problem pre-internet days when you were trying to find a song, but I don't think that's really an issue now. 

Well it may be cliche, but in a song I actually sing "Songs about nothing that teach me so much" or "Songs about nothing but falling in love" and such, that's actually a song about my songs lol!

And I so want to hear your lullaby for the brave backed up against the wall!!

http://www.songwriterforum.co.uk/song-reviews/probably-the-most-honest-thing-i've-ever-written-1807/
The recording (vocal only) is a few posts down