Entertainment For Lively Minds
Wet Tip Hen Ax (Good Song Titles)
Posted by sampson 4 on 6 November 2007 - 10:22pm.
Aphex Twin (A.K.A Richard D James) may stretch ambiguity pass its admissible boundary, but I still relish the titles of such incessant head-noise as ‘Wax The Nip'', ‘Acrid Avid Jam Shred'' and ‘Finerbib''. The fact that Chris Morris probably took influence from such cut and paste word arrangement to create the fictitious drug argot (‘Yellow Bentines'', ‘Clarky Cat'' and ‘Boz-Boz'') just makes the delicious word-sac even more edible.
Or something.
Anyway…good song titles? I know this is territory we have tread before, but with an influx of good song titles over the past year (have there actually been any?) thought I should revive this topic.
Go forth and discuss.
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When an old cricketer leaves the crease
by Roy Harper.
Best song about sport...
...ever written. Sorry. Fact.
When that brass band comes in..
..I defy any man not to fill up, especially if he originates north of Watford gap.
Is it "about" sport in the same way, say Dylan's "Catfish" is though? I always thought the subtext was more about the passing of older, finer things.
Shurely Match of the Day by Genesis
I'll get my coat.
They had that one..
..about croquet (with a severed head)too.
Caravan
Back in the day, they had a way with song titles, didn't they?
"If I could do it all over again, I'd do it all over you"
"The dog, the dog, he's at it again"
"A very smelly, grubby little Oik"
"All The Way (With John Wayne's single-handed liberation of Paris)"
But that was yer 70s Canterbury prog-rockers for you. Give 'em an instrumental, and they'd tag it with a daft title that was often more amusing than the music itself. Call the next witness: Hatfield And The North, guilty of these:
"Fitter Stoke has a bath"
"Lobster in cleavage probe"
"Gigantic land crabs in Earth takeover bid"
"Big John Wayne socks psychology on the jaw"
...and Gong:
"Flute Salad"
"Sold to the highest Buddha"
"Squeezing sponges over policemen's heads"
They made their own entertainment in Canterbury, in those days.
Especially..
..if Punkweed was involved.
By their song titles shall ye know them
I stil believe that albums with interesting, charismatic track titles often turn out to be the best ones. I can remember reading the track list of the Stones' Aftermath before it came out and just guessing what the likes of Mothers Little Helper were going to sound like.
A bit of a shock
Shame it didn't carry a warning that Going Home went on for over 11 minutes. Otherwise a flawless album.
I remember last year reading the song titles for Bob Dylan's new album and doing the same thing. Rollin' and Tumblin'? Workingman's Blues? Are they just covers? Of course, Dylan's never that simple...
They Gave Good Title
James Brown always gave good title. A couple of favourites (both apparently food-related, although I suspect euphemism):
"Pass the Peas"
"For Goodness Sakes Look At Those Cakes"
The Fall are also usually good value title-wise, "Hot Aftershave Bop" being the obvious pick of the bunch.
Finally (extending discussion to interesting album titles) - Cat Stevens. "Tea for the Tillerman". "Teaser and the Firecat". Best of all, "Catch Bull at Four"! What does that mean? Always wanted to know!
There's no one pick of the bunch
The Fall have a veritable cornucopia of title testers:
Black Monk Theme Park
Oswald Defence Lawyer
Hexen Definitive Strife Knot
Birmingham School of Business School
Arms Control Poseur
Black Monk Theme Park
Impression of J Temperance
Idiot Joy Showland
The Jawbone and the Air-rifle
Marquis Cha-Cha
Das Vulture Ans Ein Nutter-Wain
Mere Pseud Mad Ed
....and there are countless more.
of course we need to mention Half Man Half Biscuit Here
"We Built This Village on a Trad. Arr. Tune"
"The Light at the End of the Tunnel (is the Light of an Oncoming Train)"
"If I had Possession Over Pancake Day"
"Twenty Four Hour Garage People"
"Irk The Purists"
"Tonight Matthew I'm Going To Be With Jesus"
"Deep House Victims Minibus Appeal"
"Styx Gig (Seen By My Mates Coming Out Of A)"
"Turned up Clocked on Laid off"
"Improv Workshop Mimeshow Gobshite"
I could go on.
I do love twenty four hour garage people
'And a blue CD on the Hallmark label, that's sure to be good.'
"Get Behind Me Satan And Push"
written by Doris Hamilton
200 Motels
Danny Baker had a similar thread to this on his old Radio 5 (before the 'Live') show. Zappa's '200 Motels' was deemed to be the album with the best track listing, to whit :
1. Semi Fraudulent/Direct From Hollywood Overture
2. Mystery Roach
3. Dance Of The Rock'n'roll Interviewers
4. Tuna Fish Promenade
5. Dance Of The Just Plain Folks
6. This Town Is A Sealed Tuna Sandwich
7. Sealed Tuna Bolero
8. Lonesome Cowboy Burt
9. Touring Can Make You Crazy
10. Would You Like A Snack
11. Redneck Eats
12. Centerville
13. She Painted Up Her Face
14. Janet's Big Dance Number
15. Half A Dozen Provocative Squats
16. Mysterioso
17. Shove It Right In
18. Lucy's Seduction Of A Bored Violinist And Postlude
19. I'm Stealing The Towels
20. Dental Hygiene Dilemma
Guided By Voices
Can't believe no-one has mentioned GBV in this discussion...
Rhine Jive Click
Man called Aerodynamics
My Valuable Hunting Knife
Bright Paper Werewolves
Redmen and their Wives
Tractor Rape Chain
and my favourite, "Kicker of Elves".
To be honest, I always found the songs themselves to be a bit of a disappointment compared with the titles ;-)
The Happy Flowers
The Happy Flowers do a good line in song titles. Just got these examples from their website (sorry, got carried away)...
Mom And Dad Like The Baby More Than Me
Mom, I Gave The Cat Some Acid
All My Toys Hate Me
The Vacuum Ate Timmy
Daddy Melted
I Want My Tooth Back
They Cleaned My Cut Out With a Wire Brush
My Mother Is A Fish
Mom Left Me In The Car
I've Got The Picnic Disease
There's A Worm In My Hand
Toenail Fear
My Frisbee Went Under A Lawnmower
I Saw My Picture On A Milk Carton
I Wish I Was Adopted
Charlie Got A Haircut
I Ate Something Out Of The Medicine Cabinet
I Said I Wanna Watch Cartoons
Let's Eat The Baby (Like My Gerbils Did)
Charlie Said The F-Word Again
Bobby Made Me Eat A Frog
These Peas Are So Green
I'm First On The Swing
If This Gun Were Real (I Could Shoot You And Sleep In The Big Bed With Mummy)
...You get the idea.
"Built In Bastard
"Built In Bastard Radar"-Marillion
The good Captain
Beefheart was always top value for song titles, many of which are self-contained, evocative, strange and delightful little pearls: "A Carrot Is As Close As A Rabbit Gets To A Diamond," "My Head Is My Only House Unless It Rains," "Her Eyes Are a Blue Million Miles," "The Thousandth And Tenth Day Of The Human Totem Pole," (OK, that one is just plain weird) "Zig Zag Wanderer," "I'm Gonna Booglarize you Baby." Genius. Verbal Picaso's, every one of them.
The Rockafeller Skank by
The Rockafeller Skank by Fatboy Slim.
and ''Making Flippy Floppy''
and ''Making Flippy Floppy'' by Talking Heads
Apologies in advance
....I have been accused of lowering the tone before, so (ahem) I have to apologise before I nominate the gratuitously offensive Anal C*nt. Not so much funny as jaw-droppingly savage song titles. Irony is no excuse.
Supreme Vagabond Craftsman
One of the best albums released in the last year is Supreme Vagabond Craftsman's long player 'Just You, Me and the Baby. An excellent collection of song titles I'm sure you'll agree.
1. Forest Punk
2. Kite Flying Incident
3. Check Out My Rifle Range
4. Truck Driver Instinct
5. Western Day Off
6. My Welsh Family
7. Ex Partners Car
8. Converted Barn
9. 14 Reporters On My Land
10. Murder Documentary
11. On The Coastal Journey
12. Cyclists And Me
13. Just You, Me and the Baby