The Who "Baba O'Riley"
What You Think The Song Is Called: Teenage Wasteland
What You Think The Song Is Called: Teenage Wasteland
I don't blame anyone from incorrectly calling this song "Teenage Wasteland" It should be called "Teenage Wasteland" The Who in their prime was always a band by the youth for the youth. Most great music is created through youth rebellion, and "Baba O'Riley" is the perfect example of that. Plus, you could be given a million guesses after hearing this song, and there is no way in hell you would have guessed it was these two random words.
The song title comes from a combination of Meher Baba and Terry Riley- two philosophical and musical influences of The Who. Of course! Meher Baba was an Indian spiritual leader that guitarist Pete Townshend was a fan of and Terry Riley was a music producer Townshend respected.
Now that you know the song's correct title, you won't get fooled again! OK, I'll move on now.
Green Day "Good Riddance (Time Of Your Life)"
What You Think The Song Is Called: Time Of Your Life
"Look, 'Time Of Your Life' is right there in the title! You're an idiot." While I may be an idiot, the fact that the real title is called "Good Riddance" actually makes a huge difference.
Obviously Green Day isn't hiding the fact that when you listen to this song you are going to think it's called "Time Of Your Life". That's why they put it in parenthesis. The song sounds so sweet and it's the perfect song to play at every single graduation party for the rest of time. The problem is that song is a break up and it's completely sarcastic.
The title "Good Riddance" completely changes the meaning of this song. It goes from a sweet song to a bittersweet song and telling an ex to Eff Off. But the only reason you know that it's a Eff You song is solely because of the title. Telling someone "Good Riddance" doesn't make sense from just a first listening of it, but it does make sense if you're actually writing a break up song that's meant for mainstream radio play Think about that the time you're forced to go to your niece's elementary school graduation party.
What You Think The Song Is Called: Haven't You People Ever Heard Of Closing The God Damn Door
According to Wikipedia, the title is a reference to a Douglas Coupland novel entitled Shampoo Planet where the main character says, "I am writing a list of tragic character flaws on my dollar bills with a felt pen. I am thinking of the people in my universe and distilling for each of these people the one flaw in their character that will be their downfall- the flaw that will be their undoing. I write sins not tragedies."
But really, this is Panic! At The Disco being a bunch of pretensions douche nozzles. I mean, look at their band name. They have an exclamation point in there, and not at the end of their name either! Remember when emo music was popular for a bit in the mid-2000s? Me neither.
Simon and Garfunkel "Scarborough Fair"
What You Think The Song Is Called: Parlsey, Sage, Rosemary, and Thyme
In fairness to Simon & Garfunkel, they say "Scarborough Fair" throughout this entire song. But the fact that the four spices are just thrown in there just seems goofy (at least now in hindsight). Plus, naming your album "Parsley, Sage, Rosemary, and Thyme" doesn't help either.
Phoenix "1901"
What You Think The Song Is Called: Fold It (although it sounds like "Fall In" to me)
Truthfully, you probably didn't know the name of this song at all, and you most likely knew it as - "That song I recognize in some commercial I can't quite place now. Maybe a car commercial?" But even if you did hear this song on its own, there's still no way you would have thought it was called "1901".
1901 sort of makes sense when you listen to the lyrics, "It's 20 seconds til the last call" and "Girlfriend, you know your girfriend's drifting away / Past and present, 1855 to 1901"
According to Phoenix lead singer Thomas Mars he says about "1901", "It's a song about Paris. Paris in 1901 was better than it was now. So the song is a fantasy about Paris". Seems a little pretentious-y to me.
Smashing Pumpkins "Bullet With Butterfly Wings"
What You Think The Song Is Called: Rat In A Cage
This song was released towards the tail end of the Grunge Era of the early to mid 90's, so of course you're gonna get deep and dark metaphors. I mean it was the lead single off of an album entitled Melon Collie And The Infinite Sadness. Wikipedia and my five minutes of Googling hasn't found anything to suggest what exactly "Bullet With Butterfly Wings" actually means, but my educated guess is just "It's poetry, man!"
What songs did we miss? What other song do people commonly title incorrectly? Let us know on our Facebook page?
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