Great Songs That Don't Have The Title In The Lyrics

What's That Song Called?

Not only is the name of a song usually in the lyrics—it's usually part of the song's chorus. But not always. In fact, there are probably more tunes than you realized in which the name of a song isn't anywhere to be found within it. Here are some great examples. How many more can you think of?

"Bohemian Rhapsody" (Queen)

Freddie Mercury says a whole lotta words in this song: Scaramouche, Galileo Figaro, Magnifico, Fandango, and Beelzebub to name just a few. But you know what two words he never says...Bohemian or Rhapsody.

Christopher Hopper, Wikimedia Commons

"Space Oddity" (David Bowie)

Raise your hand if you thought this song was called "Ground Control to Major Tom"? Don't be shy—you're surely not alone.

EMI America, Wikimedia Commons

"Sympathy For The Devil" (The Rolling Stones)

He introduces himself in the song and asks us to call him Lucifer. The two previous working titles for the song, "The Devil Is My Name" and "Fallen Angels", also aren't part of the lyrics.

Raph_PH, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons

"Black Dog" (Led Zeppelin)

Why did Robert Plant call a song about a failed relationship with a gold digger "Black Dog"? Because there was a black Labrador dog wandering around the studio while the band was recording. Now you know.

Atlantic Records, Wikimedia Commons

"Misty Mountain Hop" (Led Zeppelin)

When it comes to songs without the title in the lyrics, Led Zeppelin did it so often, they could have a whole list all to themselves. "Immigrant Song" and "D’yer Mak’er" jump to mind. As does "Misty Mountain Hop"—which was, interestingly enough, the B-side on the "Black Dog" single.

Plant does sing "Misty Mountains" near the end of the song—but no "Hop", so it totally counts.

Heinrich Klaffs, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons

"Baba O'Riley" (The Who)

Pete Townshend wrote the song as part of his Lifehouse project—which was set to be a follow-up to his rock opera Tommy. The Lifehouse thing never happened, but some songs from the project made it onto the next album by The Who—one of them being "Baba O'Riley". The song's title is a mashup of two names: Indian spiritual master Meher Baba and American minimalist composer Terry Riley (both inspirations to Townshend).

Beat Publications, Wikimedia Commons

Breakfast In America (Supertramp)

The song tells of a person longing to go to America—and he even asks if he could "have kippers for breakfast". But the full song title is never sung.

Rs3, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons

Blue Monday (New Order)

The title of this one feels like not only does the song not have the lyrics "blue Monday" within it—the cover of the single they put out in 1983 didn't even have the band name or the song title written on it.

RL GNZLZ, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons 

A Day In The Life (The Beatles)

John Lennon and Paul McCartney both sing about a day in the life—and the song's original working title was "In the Life of..." But "A Day in the Life" they don't ever say.

ingen uppgift, Wikimedia Commons

"Smells Like Teen Spirit" (Nirvana)

The title (which is not to be found anywhere in the lyrics) comes from something Kurt Cobain's friend, musician Kathleen Hanna, wrote on his wall. She wrote "Kurt smells like Teen Spirit"—which was a reference to the Teen Spirit deodorant. Cobain thought it was meant as some kind of political revolutionary statement.

Kathy Hutchins, Shutterstock

"Lithium" (Nirvana)

The song—about a man who finds religion in a time of desperation—takes its cue from Marx and his idea of religion as the "opiate of the masses". Ergo the title, "Lithium".

Jeff Kravitz, Getty Images

"Song 2" (Blur)

Originally just a working title representing the song's position on the tracklist, there are probably many out there who think it's called "Woo hoo!"—given the distinctive yell that opens the track. The title might be better suited than you thought, though: The song is two minutes and two seconds long, with two verses, and two choruses.

Aurelien Guichard, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons

"Subterranean Homesick Blues" (Bob Dylan)

If you've ever seen the music video for this classic Dylan track, you know the title is nowhere to be found in the lyrics—because the video is Dylan flipping through cue cards with the lyrics written on them. And there's no "Subterranean Homesick Blues" card among them.

And while we're talking Bob Dylan, how about...

Rowland Scherman, Wikimedia Commons

"Rainy Day Women Nos. 12 & 35" (Bob Dylan)

Nope, it isn't called "Everybody Must Get Stoned". It's called "Rainy Day Women Nos. 12 & 35"—and based on all the various theories and discussions (both scholarly and otherwise), no one but Dylan knows why he called it that.

Chris Hakkens, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons

"Tubthumping" (Chumbawamba)

What is tubthumping? We don't know. But we're pretty sure it involves getting knocked down and getting back up again.

Barbara Mürdter, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons

"White Rabbit" (Jefferson Airplane)

Grace Slick wrote the song referencing the imagery of Lewis Carroll's books: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass. So, the White Rabbit title makes perfect sense. But while she does sing, "if you go chasing rabbits" and "the White Knight is talking backwards"—there's no "White Rabbit" lyric in this great song.

RCA Victor, Wikimedia Commons

"Bullet With Butterfly Wings" (The Smashing Pumpkins)

The world may be "a vampire" and Billy Corgan may still be "just a rat in a cage"—but he decided to go with a different imagery for the song's title.

Sven Mandel, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons

"Adventure Of A Lifetime" (Coldplay)

With these lyrics in the chorus, "And if we've only got this life/And this adventure, oh then I/Wanna share it with you", Chris Martin gets as close to saying "adventure of a lifetime" as he can get without actually saying it.

Raph_PH, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons 

"The Weight" (The Band)

Ranked among the 50 greatest songs of all time by Rolling Stone magazine, "The Weight" is about a man who arrives in a town called Nazareth—and with each person he meets, keeps racking up favors he must do. Eventually, the weight of those favors causes him to pack up and leave. "Put the load right on me," he sings—but he never says "the weight" explicitly.

Heinrich Klaffs, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons

"Yellow Ledbetter" (Pearl Jam)

This was one of the first songs Pearl Jam wrote as a band—and ended up being an outtake from their brilliant debut album, Ten. As for the title, it most likely comes from an old friend of Eddie Vedder's—Tim Ledbetter. Vedder also once discussed the meaning of the song as based on an experience he had with a friend who received a "yellow letter" in the mail,  informing him that his brother had perished in the war. Was that friend Tim Ledbetter? We don't know.

Lugnuts, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons

"After The Gold Rush" (Neil Young)

It's the name of the great song and the title of arguably Neil Young's best album—but it ain't part of the song's lyrics.

Andy Roo, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons

"4:44" (Jay-Z)

Jay-Z's heartfelt and open apology to Beyonce for being a bad (and probably) unfaithful husband runs for exactly 4 minutes and 44 seconds.

Debby Wong, Shutterstock

"For What It’s Worth" (Buffalo Springfield)

An iconic protest song of the 1960s, "For What It’s Worth" was written by Stephen Stills and released as a single in 1966—and as the story goes, the title came after the song was written when Stills said to the record company, "I have this song here, for what it's worth, if you want it". Technically, the song officially has the subtitle "Stop, Hey What's That Sound"—but it's usually referred to by the main title only.

And speaking of songs with subtitles...

Paul Ryan, Getty Images

"Good Riddance" (Green Day)

Early versions of the song were simply titled "Good Riddance"—with the "(Time of Your Life)" added later. And yes, the track name has been inverted at times to be "Time of Your Life (Good Riddance)". However, officially, the "Good Riddance" comes first and is nowhere to be found in the lyrics.

s_bukley, Shutterstock

"Longview" (Green Day)

While the song's original title was replete with swear words, a roadie suggested the new title after the band played the song for the first time in Longview, Washington.

lev radin, Shutterstock 

"The Ballad Of John And Yoko" (The Beatles)

It's a perfect title for a song about how the press was obsessed with John and Yoko at the time. And given Lennon's comments about the Beatles being "more popular than Jesus"—they couldn't have titled the song "Christ, you know it ain't easy". In fact, when Lennon brought it to him, McCartney was a little surprised to see the "Christ" lyric in there at all given the recent controversy.

United Press International, Wikimedia Commons

"Life During Wartime" (Talking Heads)

Technically, the single's official title is "Life During Wartime (This Ain't No Party... This Ain't No Disco... This Ain't No Foolin' Around)", but to most of us it's just "Life During Wartime".

Sire Records, Wikimedia Commons

"New York Mining Disaster 1941" (Bee Gees)

The Gibb brothers wrote the song, inspired by the October 1966 Aberfan disaster in Wales, but they felt "New York" sounded more "glamorous". Also, while the title isn't in the lyrics, the original title, "Have You Seen My Wife, Mr Jones" is sung in the chorus.

Atco Records, Wikimedia Commons

"Paranoid" (Black Sabbath)

Ozzy sure sounds paranoid in the song—but he never says the word.

Vertigo Records, Wikimedia Commons

"Train In Vain" (The Clash)

Mick Jones said this when discussing the song's title: "The track was like a train rhythm, and there was, once again, that feeling of being lost". In North America, the song's title was written as "rain in Vain (Stand by Me)"—and as fans know, "stand by me" are sung throughout the chorus.

Helge Øverås, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons

"Stolen Dance" (Milky Chance)

In the first verse, the German duo sing "We need to fetch back the time/They have stolen from us"—and the chorus mentions dancing multiple times. But do they ever come out right and say "stolen dance"? Nope.

Raimond Spekking, Wikimedia Commons

"Dirty Harry" (Gorillaz)

Is it about Dirty Harry? Is it sung from the perspective of Dirty Harry? Does it have anything to do with the Clint Eastwood movies? All good questions. One thing we know for sure: they don't say "Dirty Harry" even once in the lyrics.

Raph_PH, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons