(Artists with) Great song titles

[ZilchWoolham]

Let it be known that I have a particular penchant for great song titles. They can be inviting, evocative, and poetry in their own right. A forgotten art form, in a sense. There are a few bands/artists who strike me as being especially good at this craft. Such as:

[size=4][b]-Pavement[/b][/size]

with songs like [b][i]Mellow Jazz Docent;[/i][/b] [b][i]In the Mouth a Desert;[/i][/b] [b][i]Frontwards;[/i][/b] [i][b]So Stark (You're a Skyscraper)[/b][/i] and [b][i]Lions (Linden)[/i][/b]


[size=4][b]-They Might Be Giants[/b][/size]

with tracks like [i][b]Which Describes How You're Feeling;[/b][/i] [i][b]When It Rains It Snows[/b][b]; I Am a Human Head;[/b][/i] [b]How Can I Sing Like a Girl?[i];[/i][/b] [b][i]Dead [/i][/b]and [b][i]Don't Let's Start[/i][/b].


I also feel that one of [size=4][b]Morrissey's [/b][/size][size=5][size=4]biggest strengths as a solo artist is his knack for titles like [/size][/size][i][b]In the Future When All's Well; Yes, I Am Blind; That's How People Grow Up; We Hate It When Our Friends Become Successful [/b][/i]and the wonderfully depressing [i][b]My Life is a Succession of People Saying Goodbye[/b][/i]. He also had some great titles with [b]The Smiths[/b], like [i][b]Barbarism Begins at Home; Shakespeare's Sister [/b][/i]and [b][i]Oscillate Wildly[/i][/b].

What are some of your favourite titles, or favourite artists who consistently deliver the goods when it comes to the former?

Edited April 7, 2017 by ZilchWoolham

[dlloyd]

I was listening to a band called Man or Astroman? earlier... here's the track listing from the album:

"Pathway to the Infinite"
"Song of the Two-Mile Linear Particle Accelerator" Stanford University, Stanford California
"Preparation Clont"
"Curious Constructs of Stem-Like Devices Which Now Prepare Themselves to Be Thought of as Fingers"
"Um Espectro Sem Escala"
"Many Pieces of Large Fuzzy Mammals Gathered Together at a Rave and Schmoozing with a Brick"
"Trapezoid"
"Very Subtle Elevators"
"Within One Universe There Are Millions"
"Spectrograph Reading of the Varying Phantom Frequencies of Chronic, Incurable Tinnitus"
"A Simple Text File"
"Obligatory Part 2 Song in Which There Is No Presently Existing Part 1, Nor the Plans to Make One"
"Multi-Variational Stimuli of Sub-Turgid Foci Covering Cross Evaluative Techniques for Cognitive Analysis of Hypersignificant Graph Peaks Following Those Intersubjective Modules Having Biodegradable Seepage"

[dlloyd]

(Obvious Floyd reference in there)

[kodiakblair]

The Mr T Experience album Milk,Milk,Lemonade had the wonderful " I love you but you're standing on my foot", also did " Even Hitler had a girlfriend."
Screeching Weasel album " How to make enemies & irritate people." gave us " I hate your guts on Sunday and The Real MacKenzies had their version of "Kill" only it was called "Kilt". Loch'd and Loaded was a good title too.

Special mention to The Meteors for " Live,Leery and F***ing Loud" for apt description :-)

dlloyd

Great band Man or Astroman ?

Edited April 4, 2017 by kodiakblair

[SteveK]

Expect some chump will be along shortly to mention Budgie's classic ballads:
'Nude Disintegrating Parachutist Woman', and 'Hot as a Docker's Armpit'

[wateroftyne]

Michael Marra had some classics: 'Frida Kahlo's Visit to the Taybridge Bar', for example.

[acidbass]

Half Man Half Biscuit:

"Hair Like Brian May Blues"
"I Love You Because You Look Like Jim Reeves"
"Dickie Davies Eyes"
"All I Want For Christmas is a Dukla Prague Away Kit"
"£24.99 from Argos"
"Styx Gig (Seen by my mates coming out of a)"
"CAMRA Man"
"He Who Would Valium Take"
"We Built This Village on a Trad. Arr. Tune"
"Bad Losers on Yahoo! Chess"
"Took Problem Chimp to Ideal Home Show"

[RhysP]

There were some good song titles on the first "Hatfield & the North" album:

"The Stubbs Effect"
"Big Jobs (Poo Poo Extract)"
"Going Up To People and Tinkling"
"Son of 'There's No Place Like Homerton'"
"Fol de Rol"
"Shaving Is Boring"
"Licks for the Ladies"
"Bossa Nochance"
"Big Jobs No. 2 (By Poo and the Wee Wees)"
"Lobster in Cleavage Probe"
"Gigantic Land Crabs in Earth Takeover Bid"
"The Other Stubbs Effect"
"Let's Eat (Real Soon)"
"Fitter Stoke Has a Bath"

I wish I could say that the music was as entertaining as the titles but unfortunately it's just pretty standard early/mid 70s self satisfied hippy pish.

Edited April 4, 2017 by RhysP

[dlloyd]

[quote name='kodiakblair' timestamp='1491343455' post='3272349']
dlloyd

Great band Man or Astroman ?
[/quote]

Yeah, but the trouble with them is you're never sure whether you're being asked a question...

[the boy]

Delaney's donkey.

[grumpyguts]

Crabsody in Blue, vintage Bon Scott.

[Nicko]

Surely "Anyone can play guitar" (Radiohead) must take the prize.

[chris_b]

. . . . then there's all those Country and Western songs like Wayne Carter's My Best Friend Ran Off With My Wife (And I Sure Do Miss Him). etc etc.

[Conan]

(May your dog's colon be familiar with) the warmth of your breath - Fishbone

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hyAjY6mklkU

[Skol303]

[quote name='acidbass' timestamp='1491345802' post='3272364']Half Man Half Biscuit[/quote]

You beat me to it Pretty much everything they've ever written falls into this thread topic.

See also:

Lawnmower Deth (e.g. "Sumo Rabbit And His Inescapable Trap Of Doom")

Mercury Rev ("Continuous Trucks And Thunder Under A Mother's Smile")

Aphex Twin (...take your pick!)

[kendall]

[quote name='Skol303' timestamp='1491395514' post='3272673']
You beat me to it Pretty much everything they've ever written falls into this thread topic.

See also:

Lawnmower Deth (e.g. "Sumo Rabbit And His Inescapable Trap Of Doom")


[/quote]

Good call on Lawnmower Deth, although I vote for their Prog Epic - Egg Sandwich

[EliasMooseblaster]

A couple from Pink Floyd:
[i]Take Up Thy Stethoscope and Walk[/i]
[i]Several Species of Small Furry Animals Gathered Together in a Cave and Grooving with a Pict[/i]

Shame those two aren't particularly good songs, though [i]Careful with that Axe, Eugene[/i] is quite excellent.

[Rich]

William Ackerman's "The Moment in Which You Must Finally Let Go of the Tether Which Has Held Your Hope Airborne".

[ahpook]

[quote name='ZilchWoolham' timestamp='1491342042' post='3272338']
[size=4][b]Pavement[/b][/size]

with songs like [b][i]Mellow Jazz Docent;[/i][/b] [b][i]In the Mouth a Desert;[/i][/b] [b][i]Frontward;[/i][/b] [i][b]So Stark (You're a Skyscraper)[/b][/i] and [b][i]Lions (Linden)[/i][/b]
[/quote]

Very much agree - 'Conduit for sale' springs to mind.

[mikel]

If you want poetic, what about They Might Be Giants, with "Birdhouse in Your Soul." Even the title is poetry, the song lyrics are wonderful.

[bartelby]

Red Sparowes:
At the Soundless Dawn album tracklist:
"Alone and Unaware, the Landscape was Transformed in Front of Our Eyes"

"Buildings Began to Stretch Wide Across the Sky, And the Air Filled with a Reddish Glow"

"The Soundless Dawn Came Alive as Cities Began to Mark the Horizon"

"Mechanical Sounds Cascaded Through the City Walls and Everyone Reveled in Their Ignorance"

"A Brief Moment of Clarity Broke Through the Deafening Hum, But It Was Too Late"

"Our Happiest Days Slowly Began to Turn into Dust"

"The Sixth Extinction Crept Up Slowly, Like Sunlight Through the Shutters, as We Looked Back in Regret"

and
Every Red Heart Shines Towards the Red Sun album:


"The Great Leap Forward Poured Down Upon Us One Day Like a Mighty Storm, Suddenly and Furiously Blinding Our Senses."

"We Stood Transfixed in Blank Devotion as Our Leader Spoke to Us, Looking Down on Our Mute Faces with a Great, Raging, and Unseeing Eye."

"Like the Howling Glory of the Darkest Winds, This Voice Was Thunderous and the Words Holy,
Tangling Their Way Around Our Hearts and Clutching Our Innocent Awe."

"A Message of Avarice Rained Down and Carried Us Away into False Dreams of Endless Riches."

"'Annihilate the Sparrow, That Stealer of Seed, and Our Harvests Will Abound; We Will Watch Our Wealth Flood In.'"

"And by Our Own Hand Did Every Last Bird Lie Silent in Their Puddles, the Air Barren of Song as the Clouds Drifted Away.
For Killing Their Greatest Enemy, the Locusts Noisily Thanked Us and Turned Their Jaws Toward Our Crops, Swallowing Our Greed Whole."

"Millions Starved and We Became Skinnier and Skinnier, While Our Leaders Became Fatter and Fatter."

"Finally, as That Blazing Sun Shone Down Upon Us, Did We Know That True Enemy Was the Voice of Blind Idolatry;
and Only Then Did We Begin to Think for Ourselves."s, as We Looked Back in Regret"

[darkandrew]

The Pet Shop Boys are one of my favourite guilty pleasures and many of the titles of their songs are quite witty and obviously written with a wink. Eg. After being accused of being a bit dull and boring they go and release a single called Being Boring.

[arthurhenry]

[quote name='SteveK' timestamp='1491344845' post='3272359']
Expect some chump will be along shortly to mention Budgie's classic ballads:
'Nude Disintegrating Parachutist Woman', and 'Hot as a Docker's Armpit'
[/quote]

You could mention them, but I prefer the superior "In The Grip Of A Tyre Fitter's Hand".

There's always Fairport Convention's "[color=#000000][font=sans-serif][size=3]Sir B. McKenzie's Daughter's Lament for the 77th Mounted Lancers Retreat from the Straits of Loch Knombe, in the Year of Our Lord 1727, on the Occasion of the Announcement of Her Marriage to the Laird of Kinleakie"[/size][/font][/color]

[megallica]

I always liked NoFXs song We threw gasoline on the fire and now we have stumps for arms and no eyebrows. Punk with a sense of humour can be quite refreshing.

[ivansc]

[quote name='mikel' timestamp='1491470978' post='3273241']
If you want poetic, what about They Might Be Giants, with "Birdhouse in Your Soul." Even the title is poetry, the song lyrics are wonderful.
[/quote]

Only song of theirs I ever liked but it IS a doozie.