Top 15 Songs Whose Title is Not in the Lyrics

Panic! at the Disco

Panic! at the Disco’s second single off of their debut album tells the story of an unfaithful bride on her wedding day - where everyone at the ceremony knows the truth about her. And while the band never utters the title in the song, the song’s story does fit with the origin of said title. Which comes from the main character in Douglas Coupland[a]'s novel “Shampoo Planet,” who says “I am thinking of the people in my universe and distilling for each…one flaw in their character that will be their downfall…What I write are not sins; I write tragedies.”

4 Non Blondes

Linda Perry, the main non blonde, never says “what’s up?” at any point throughout her hit track. But the sentiment is definitely there the multiple times she sings: “I said ‘Hey, a-what's going on?’” “What’s going on?” and “what’s up?” are asking the same question - but Perry needed four syllables to make the line work and “what’s up?” fell 2 short. So, why then didn’t she title the track “What’s going on?” We don’t know. Maybe she didn’t want to step on Marvin Gaye’s musical toes. If we ever meet her we might just ask her what’s up with the title. Pun totally intended of course.

The Righteous Brothers

Although made famous by The Righteous Brothers in the 60s - and later by its inclusion in the movie “Ghost” in 1990 - the original version of “Unchained Melody” actually came out in 1955. In none of the versions are the words “unchained melody” part of the lyrics, but the title makes sense when looking at that original version sung by Todd Duncan. You see, the song was originally written as a theme song for the 1955 prison drama, “Unchained” - thus “Unchained Melody.” For the generation who came of age in the 80s and 90s though, it would almost make more sense to call it “Ghost Melody.” But we digress.

Coldplay

The song’s title is taken from a painting by famed Mexican artist Frida Kahlo. The rough translation from Spanish is “Long Live Life.” To quote Chris Martin: “She went through a lot… and then she started a big painting in her house that said ‘Viva la Vida.’ I just loved the boldness of it.” And although Martin does sing “long live the king" at one point, he never sings the full translation of the title. And the title’s Spanish words are never spoken at any point throughout this hit song.

New Order

Given that the track is the best-selling 12-inch single of all time - we’re pretty sure New Order had nothing to feel blue about with this one. And unlike Garfield - they’ve probably loved Mondays ever since. The synth-pop dance track takes over 2 minutes before any lyrics are sung at all - but once they are, neither “blue” nor “Monday” are among them. They didn’t even write the title “Blue Monday” anywhere on the sleeve artwork for the single. Instead it was written in a code that you needed the album cover to help decipher.

Metallica

Unlike some other titles on this list, “Enter Sandman” makes total sense given the song’s lyrics. Metallica is singing about going to sleep and waiting for the Sandman to arrive - and said Sandman is mentioned by name in the opening verse when James Hetfield sings, “'Til the Sandman, he comes.” However, as directly as the lyrics do reference the song’s title and the coming of the Sandman, never once does Hetfield say the words “enter sandman” in succession. “Enter night” is one of the song’s lyrics, but no “enter Sandman.”

Goo Goo Dolls


Goo Goo Dolls lead singer John Rzeznik wrote this song after being invited to a viewing of the film “City of Angels,” when the producers were looking for artists to create music for the film. Rzeznik was so inspired by Nicolas Cage’s character “willing to give up his own immortality” for love, that he wrote the song “Iris.” But while the song’s lyrics speak to the film, the title doesn’t at all. There is no mention of the name Iris in the lyrics and there is no Iris character in the movie. The truth is that the song is named after country folk singer-songwriter Iris DeMent [b](Rzeznik happened to see her name in the LA Weekly concert listings).

The Sugarhill Gang

There’s no denying that this song is a delight for rappers and everyone else. There are also upwards of 10 verses in the 14 minute version of the song. And yet, among all those verses and all those words, not once does any member of The Sugarhill Gang say “Rapper's Delight.” At one point, near the end of the song a member of the gang raps, “I am the definite freak's delight” - but that’s as close as they get to rapping the title. Although, that fact doesn’t make the song any less delightful. Does it?

The Rolling Stones

The song had two working titles prior to “Sympathy for the Devil” - "Fallen Angels" and "The Devil Is My Name." And you’ll notice that none of those other titles are part of the lyrics either. Although, with Jagger singing from the POV of the Devil and repeatedly asking the listeners to guess his name, “The Devil Is My Name” might be the most ‘on the nose’ title - so to speak. And he does finally introduce himself as “Lucifer” in the final verse (in case we hadn’t put 2 and 2 together by then).

Led Zeppelin

As Robert Plant explained, “We were guests of the Icelandic Government on a cultural mission.” Thus the band truly had just come from the lands of ice and snow when they wrote this song about Vikings and their immigration to Britain many thousands of years ago. Plant could just as easily have called it “Viking Song” - although, that too would’ve been a title not found in the song’s lyrics. Which, as fans of the band know, is something Zeppelin liked to do rather frequently. “Misty Mountain Hop” ring a bell?

David Bowie

Admit it - you thought this song was called “Ground Control To Major Tom.” That’s okay, we’re pretty sure you aren’t alone there. That opening line is one of the most iconic rock lyrics of all time, and reciting it instantly brings up this track in our heads. Whereas, say “Space Oddity” to someone these days and it sounds like a “2001: A Space Odyssey” parody movie. And to be honest, they wouldn't be as far off as you may think. Bowie wrote the song shortly after having watched the Stanley Kubrick film, and both the title and subject of the song were inspired by the movie. Major Tom was even based, at least partially, on astronaut Dr. David Bowman from that film.

Nirvana

The title of the song comes from something singer Kathleen Hanna wrote on Kurt Cobain’s wall: “Kurt smells like Teen Spirit.” Kurt took it to be a revolutionary statement about anarchy and punk rock. Hanna however, meant it much more literally - indicating that her friend smelled like Teen Spirit deodorant. Revolution or roll-on - it doesn’t really matter now. What matters is that those words inspired one of the greatest songs ever written. A song that never utters the words “smells,” “teen” or “spirit” in the lyrics. Or even “like” for that matter.

The Who

Not only do many people refer to the song as “Teenage Wasteland” - there are reports that was actually the working title before Pete Townshend chose to name it after Indian guru Meher Baba [c]and composer Terry Riley. Initially Townshend wrote the song for “Lighthouse” - which was to be the rock opera follow-up to “Tommy.” However, that project ended up falling apart and the song instead became the first track on their 1971 album, “ Who's Next.” Fun fact: "Teenage Wasteland" was also a working title for “That '70s Show” (in direct reference to the lyrics in the song).

The Beatles

Did you hear the news? “A Day in the Life” by the Beatles doesn’t have the title in the lyrics. The song’s story tells of the day in the life of one, or more, people - but to say the title explicitly in the song would, we think, be a little weird. And even though “A Day in the Life” wasn’t the original title of the song, the working title “In the Life of …” also isn't part of the lyrics. Neither John nor Paul ever even says the word “life” throughout the track’s five and a half minute runtime.

Queen

There are a lot of words sung throughout this almost-6-minute long track. Many, like “Scaramouche,” “Fandango” and “Bismillah” don’t even make a lot of sense (without the literal references to place them). But from “mama” to “Beelzebub,” Freddie Mercury never sings either “Bohemian” or “Rhapsody”. He never sings “Mongolian” either. Which we mention because in 2023 an early draft of the song was discovered - revealing that Mercury had originally titled it “Mongolian Rhapsody” only to later cross out “Mongolian” and replace it with “Bohemian”. Either way - this song will always be “magnifico.”

What’s your favorite song that doesn’t sing the title? Let us know in the comments.

[b]https://youtu.be/-O_FAM3oOCI?si=GOApy6EkXi44s3AT&t=35
[c]MAY-her BAW-buh https://youtu.be/aOs-UY_cTo4?si=GCx1wW3R8Bf8_bKB&t=18