Self-Descriptive Song Titles
I totally enjoyed the recent essay by Chris Molanphy (a friend of Rule Forty-Two) about Taylor Swift’s “Blank Spaces,” part of his excellent ongoing series for Slate on the songs that top the pop charts. This sentence jumped out at me:
It’s rare that a chart-topping hit’s title actually alludes to what the song itself sounds like—imagine if “When Doves Cry” were titled “Bass-less Confessional” or “Faith” called “Stuttering Rockabilly.”
This is more fun than imagining a world with no possessions! Restricting myself to #1 singles from the ’80s, I suggest Peter Gabriel’s “Recycled Otis Redding Riff” (originally “Sledgehammer”), Terence Trent D’Arby’s “Bloopy Synthesizer” (formerly “Wishing Well”) and UB40’s “Leaden Reggae” (né “Red Red Wine”). (In a perfect world, I would be a Photoshop wizard who could remake the single sleeves with their new titles. But I am not.)
So how would you rename other singles?
posted 4 December 2014 in Links and tagged #1 singles, Chris Molanphy. 3 comments
December 4th, 2014 at 11:31 am
Well we should probably start with Kurt Cobain’s own description of “Smells Like Teen Spirit” as “That Pixies Song.”
December 4th, 2014 at 11:40 am
Sticking to No. 1 hits of the ’80s…I covered two of the 10 Billboard Hot 100 songs of the year (“Doves” is tops for ’84, “Faith” for ’88); so here are suggestions for the others:
“Call Me” (1980): “Coke-Fueled Electro”
“Bette Davis Eyes” (1981): “Shimmering Sultriness”
“Physical” (1982): “Perky Workout”
“Every Breath You Take” (1983): “Moody Surveillance”
“Careless Whisper” (1985): “Saxy Regretfulness”
“That’s What Friends Are For” (1986): “Supportiveness Lite”
“Walk Like an Egyptian” (1987): “Quirky Strut”
“Look Away” (1989): “Faceless Midtemo Ballad”
December 4th, 2014 at 5:44 pm
Love these! For some reason, I find it easier to come up with names that reflect their role in society: e.g., the Stones’ “Gimme Shelter” should be renamed “Future Scorsese Staple.”