Music lovers, get ready for a musical journey through songs that never mention their own titles! We're diving into iconic tracks from Queen, Nirvana, The Beatles, and more, exploring the fascinating stories behind these unique song titles that never make it into their own lyrics.
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00:00I said hip-hop, a hippie to the hippie to the hip-hip-hop.
00:03You don't stop the rock to the bang-bang-booty,
00:05stay up from the booty to the rhythm of the boogie the beat.
00:08Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks
00:11for those songs whose titles never get sung,
00:13because the name of the song isn't part of the lyrics.
00:16I come from the land of the ice and snow,
00:19where the midnight sun, where the hot springs and glow.
00:24Number 15, I write sins, not tragedies.
00:27Panic at the Disco.
00:28It's much better to face these kinds of things
00:31with a sense of voice and rationality.
00:33Panic at the Disco's second single off their debut album
00:36tells the story of an unfaithful bride on her wedding day,
00:39where everyone at the ceremony knows the truth about her.
00:42Well, in fact, we'll all look at it this way.
00:45I mean, technically, our marriage is saved.
00:48And while the band never utters the title in the song,
00:50the song story does fit with the origin of said title,
00:53which comes from the main character
00:55in Douglas Copeland's novel Shampoo Planet,
00:57who says,
00:58I am thinking of the people in my universe
01:00and distilling for each one flaw in their character
01:03that will be their downfall.
01:04What I write are not sins, I write tragedies.
01:16Number 14, What's Up, for non-blondes.
01:19Into a crisis, times when I'm lying in bed
01:23Just to get it all out, what's in my head
01:26Linda Perry, the main non-blonde,
01:29never says what's up at any point throughout her hit track.
01:32But the sentiment is definitely there
01:34the multiple times she sings,
01:35I said, hey, what's going on?
01:37What's going on?
01:40And I say, hey, hey, hey
01:45What's going on and what's up are asking the same question,
01:47but Perry needed four syllables to make the line work
01:50and what's up fell too short.
01:51So why then didn't she title the track What's Going On?
01:55We don't know.
01:55Maybe she didn't want to step on Marvin Gaye's musical toes.
01:58If we ever meet her,
01:59we might just ask her what's up with the title.
02:02Pun totally intended, of course.
02:04What I said, hey, hey, hey
02:09Hey, yeah
02:11Number 13, Unchained Melody, The Righteous Brothers.
02:15I've hungered for your touch
02:22Although made famous by the Righteous Brothers in the 60s
02:25and later by its inclusion in the movie Ghost in 1990,
02:28the original version of Unchained Melody
02:30actually came out in 1955.
02:32In none of the versions are the words Unchained Melody
02:35part of the lyrics,
02:36but the title makes sense
02:37when looking at that original version sung by Todd Duncan.
02:40You see, the song was originally written as a theme song
02:43for the 1955 prison drama Unchained,
02:45thus Unchained Melody.
02:47To the open arms of the sea
02:54For the generation who came of age in the 80s and 90s though,
02:58it would almost make more sense to call it Ghost Melody,
03:01but we digress.
03:02Your love to me
03:10Number 12, Viva La Vida, Coldplay.
03:13I used to rule the world
03:17Seas would rise when I gave the word
03:19The song's title is taken from a painting
03:21by famed Mexican artist Frida Kahlo.
03:24The rough translation from Spanish is long live life.
03:27To quote Chris Martin,
03:28quote, she went through a lot
03:30and then she started a big painting in her house
03:32that said Viva La Vida.
03:34I just loved the boldness of it.
03:36Feel the fear in my enemy's eyes
03:39Listen as the crowd would sing
03:43And although Martin does sing Long Live the King at one point,
03:46he never sings the full translation of the title.
03:49And the title's Spanish words are never spoken
03:51at any point throughout this hit song.
04:00Number 11, Blue Monday, New Order.
04:04By all I dread your words
04:07Tell me how do I feel
04:11Given that the track is the best-selling 12-inch single
04:14of all time, we're pretty sure New Order
04:16had nothing to feel blue about with this one.
04:18And unlike Garfield,
04:20they've probably loved Mondays ever since.
04:22The synth-pop dance track takes over two minutes
04:24before any lyrics are sung at all,
04:26but once they are, neither Blue nor Monday are among them.
04:30But if it wasn't for your misfortune
04:33I'd be a heavenly person today
04:37They didn't even write the title Blue Monday
04:39anywhere on the sleeve artwork for the single.
04:41Instead, it was written in a code
04:43that you needed the album cover to help decipher.
04:45Tell me how does it feel
04:49When your heart grows cold
04:52Number 10, Enter Sandman, Metallica.
05:04Unlike some other titles on this list,
05:06Enter Sandman makes total sense given the song's lyrics.
05:09Metallica is singing about going to sleep
05:11and waiting for the Sandman to arrive.
05:12And said Sandman is mentioned by name in the opening verse
05:15when James Hetfield sings, quote,
05:17till the Sandman he comes.
05:19Till the Sandman he comes
05:23However, as directly as the lyrics
05:25do reference the song's title and the coming of the Sandman,
05:28never once does Hetfield say the words
05:31Enter Sandman in succession.
05:32Enter Night is one of the song's lyrics,
05:35but no Enter Sandman.
05:36Day after day
05:40Once a day could never end
05:44Number 9, Iris, Goo Goo Dolls.
05:46Give up forever to touch you
05:50Cause I know that you feel me somehow
05:54Goo Goo Dolls' lead singer Johnny Resnick
05:56wrote this song after being invited to a viewing
05:58of the film City of Angels
06:00when the producers were looking for artists
06:02to create music for the film.
06:03Resnick was so inspired by Nicolas Cage's character,
06:06quote, willing to give up his own immortality for love,
06:09that he wrote the song Iris.
06:11I don't want the world to see me
06:15Cause I don't think that they'd understand
06:19But while the song's lyrics speak to the film,
06:21the title doesn't at all.
06:23There is no mention of the name Iris in the lyrics
06:26and there is no Iris character in the movie.
06:28The truth is that the song is named
06:30after country folk singer-songwriter Iris DeMent.
06:32Resnick happened to see her name
06:34in the LA Weekly concert listings.
06:36When everything's made to be broken
06:40I just want you to know who I am
06:44Number 8, Rapper's Delight, The Sugarhill Gang.
06:47The hippie, the hippie, the hippie, the hippie
06:49You don't stop, you rock it out
06:51Baby, welcome to the boogie-dee-bang-bang
06:53The boogie to the boogie-dee-bee
06:54There's no denying that this song
06:56is a delight for rappers and everyone else.
06:59There are also upwards of 10 verses
07:01in the 14-minute version of the song.
07:03And yet among all those verses and all those words,
07:06not once does any member of the Sugarhill Gang
07:09say Rapper's Delight.
07:10Bang, bang, a boogie to the boogie
07:11Say, jump the boogie to the bang-bang boogie
07:14Let's rock, you don't stop
07:16Rock the rhythm that'll make your body rock
07:18At one point near the end of the song,
07:20a member of the gang raps,
07:21I am the definite freak's delight,
07:23but that's as close as they get to rapping the title.
07:25Although that fact doesn't make the song
07:27any less delightful, does it?
07:28With a hip-hop, the hippie to the hippity-hip-hip
07:31A hopper, you don't stop
07:32The rocker to the bang-bang boogie
07:33Say, up-jump the boogie
07:34To the rhythm of the boogie-dee-beed
07:36Number 7. Sympathy for the Devil, The Rolling Stones
07:39Please allow me to introduce myself
07:43I'm Maywell the Chase
07:47The song had two working titles
07:49prior to Sympathy for the Devil,
07:51Fallen Angels and The Devil Is My Name.
07:53And you'll notice that none of those other titles
07:56are part of the lyrics either.
07:57Although, with Jagger singing from the POV of the Devil
08:00and repeatedly asking the listeners to guess his name,
08:02The Devil Is My Name might be the most on-the-nose title,
08:05so to speak.
08:07Pleased to meet you
08:09Hope you guessed my name
08:11My name
08:13And he does finally introduce himself as Lucifer
08:16in the final verse,
08:17in case we hadn't put two and two together by then.
08:20Step, step, step
08:21Call me Lucifer
08:24I'm in need
08:25So strange
08:27Number 6. Immigrant Song, Led Zeppelin
08:38As Robert Plant explained,
08:39quote,
08:40we were guests of the Icelandic government on a cultural mission.
08:43Thus, the band truly had just come from the lands of the ice and snow
08:46when they wrote this song about Vikings and their immigration to Britain
08:49many thousands of years ago.
08:51Born in the lands of the ice and snow
08:53In the midnight temp of a hot slipper
08:56Hammer of the corn
08:58Plant could just as easily have called it Viking Song.
09:01Although, that too would have been a title not found in the song's lyrics.
09:05Which, as fans of the band know,
09:06is something Zeppelin like to do rather frequently.
09:09Misty mountain-hop ring a bell?
09:10Three, two, baby
09:13Lucifer
09:15Ooh, you better open your eyes
09:18Number 5. Space Oddity, David Bowie
09:21Ground control to Major Tom
09:28Admit it, you thought this song was called Ground Control to Major Tom.
09:31That's okay, we're pretty sure you aren't alone there.
09:34That opening line is one of the most iconic rock lyrics of all time.
09:37And reciting it instantly brings up this track in our heads.
09:40I'm floating in a most peculiar way
09:47Whereas, say Space Oddity to someone these days
09:50and it sounds like a 2001 A Space Odyssey parody movie.
09:53And to be honest, they wouldn't be as far off as you may think.
09:56Bowie wrote the song shortly after having watched the Stanley Kubrick film.
09:59And both the title and subject of the song were inspired by the movie.
10:03Major Tom was even based, at least partially,
10:06on astronaut Dr. Dave Bowman from that film.
10:08Planet Earth is blue
10:11And there's nothing left to do
10:16Number 4. Smells Like Teen Spirit, Nirvana
10:19Put up our guns
10:21Bring your friends
10:23It's fun to lose
10:25And to pretend
10:27The title of the song comes from something singer Kathleen Hanna wrote on Kurt Cobain's wall.
10:31Kurt smells like teen spirit.
10:33Kurt took it to be a revolutionary statement about anarchy and punk rock.
10:37Hanna, however, meant it much more literally.
10:39Indicating that her friend smelled like teen spirit deodorant.
10:42Forget just why I taste
10:45Oh yeah, it makes me smile
10:50Revolution or roll on, it doesn't really matter now.
10:52What matters is that those words inspired one of the greatest songs ever written.
10:57A song that never utters the word smells, teen or spirit in the lyrics.
11:02Or even like for that matter.
11:03Lie down, it's a dangerous
11:07Here we are now, entertain us
11:11Number 3. Baba O'Reilly, The Who
11:14I'll be in the fields
11:18I'll farm for my meals
11:21Not only do many people refer to the song as teenage wasteland.
11:25There are reports that was actually the working title before Pete Townshend chose to name it after Indian guru Meher Baba and composer Terry Riley.
11:33Out here in the fields
11:35Yeah, that was me. I was one who grew up in a sink.
11:37I farm for my meals
11:40Initially Townshend wrote the song for Lighthouse, which was to be the rock opera follow-up to Tommy.
11:44However, that project ended up falling apart and the song instead became the first track on their 1971 album Who's Next.
11:51Fun fact, Teenage Wasteland was also a working title for that 70s show in direct reference to the lyrics in the song.
11:58Oh, I just want to hear the guitar solo one more time.
12:01Not again, use the headphones.
12:06Number 2. A Day in the Life, The Beatles
12:09I read the news today, oh boy
12:15Did you hear the news? A Day in the Life by The Beatles doesn't have the title in the lyrics.
12:19The song story tells of the day in the life of one or more people.
12:23But to say the title explicitly in the song would, we think, be a little weird.
12:28And even though A Day in the Life wasn't the original title of the song,
12:32the working title, In the Life of, also isn't part of the lyrics.
12:35Woke up, fell out of bed, tried to comb across my head
12:43Neither John nor Paul ever even says the word life throughout the track's five and a half minute run time.
12:49You have to count the minutes, you have to count the hours
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13:09Number 1. Bohemian Rhapsody, Queen
13:12Is this a dream?
13:15Is this a dream?
13:17Is this a dream?
13:19Is this a dream?
13:21Bohemian Rhapsody, Queen
13:23Is this the real life?
13:25Is this the real life?
13:27Is this just fantasy?
13:29There are a lot of words sung throughout this almost six minute long track.
13:33Many, like Scaramouche, Fandango, and Bismilla don't even make a lot of sense,
13:37without the literal references to place them.
13:40But from Mama to Beelzebub, Freddie Mercury never sings either Bohemian or Rhapsody.
13:45I see a little silhouette of a man
13:49Scaramouche, Scaramouche, when you do the Fandango
13:52He never sings Mongolian either,
13:54which we mention because in 2023 an early draft of the song was discovered,
13:59revealing that Mercury had originally titled it Mongolian Rhapsody,
14:02only to later cross out Mongolian and replace it with Bohemian.
14:06Either way, this song will always be magnifico.
14:10Nothing really matters,
14:13anyone can see.
14:17What's your favorite song that doesn't sing the title?
14:19Let us know in the comments.
14:21Woohoo!
14:24Woohoo!
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