you love the song really then uh why
don’t you know its name
one by one
welcome to watchmojo.com and today we’ll
be counting down our picks for the top
10 song titles people always get wrong
for this list we’re focusing on popular
songs that are perpetually wrongly
identified in conversation by
well-intentioned but misinformed
individuals member 10 trained in vain
the clash
oh hey remember that punk song called
stand by me no because the clash never
covered Benny Kings soul classic of the
same name
however they did release a radio
friendly hit titled train in vain
in fact the band specifically came up
with their title to avoid any confusion
but with such a prominent emphasis on
the lyric stand by me nobody really
seems to care about the actual title
well unless you’re a die-hard clash fan
number nine for what it’s worth
Buffalo Springfield something happened
you what it is state exactly
sometimes people rely on the last line
of a chorus to explain their new
favorite song and conversation for
example have you ever heard oh my god I
love that what’s going down song of
course any self-respecting rock band
will reply are you talking about for
what it’s worth by Buffalo Springfield
to which they will undoubtedly reply ah
maybe we got stopped children what’s
that sound everybody what’s going down
even Public Enemy put their own twist on
the classic but they managed to convey
the same type of sentiment as Buffalo
Springfield given both songs focus on
societal observations don’t even own
themselves paying integrate the
corporate presidents 1 out of 1 million
residents be a dissident who a kissing
number eight escape the Pina Colada song
Rupert Holmes I was tired of my lady
we’ve been together too long now here’s
a scientific fact known by all musicians
if you include a type of alcohol in a
song title people will in fact lose
their damn minds
at this very moment there’s a pack of
boozed up vacationers raising their
glasses in the air and screaming out the
Pina Colada song if you like me
and getting caught the rain but hold up
mojo holics and alcoholics Rupert Holmes
Party classic was composed with a
personal escape in mind thus explaining
the title of the song escape but hey you
can’t blame the guy for paying respect
to pina coladas in the parentheses
because it’s the equivalent of easy
money sing about booze you can’t lose
okay number seven the freak chic here’s
a reasonable question what kinds of
musical sadists would begin a song with
freak out and then have the audacity to
call their song ‘la freak well blame
Nile Rodgers and his bandmates from chic
who went all artsy on consumers by
putting a foreign twist on the title of
their disco classic while most associate
the song with maniacal dancing the
famous chant was inspired by the phrase
Goff based on the concept of night
clubbers being Shonda from Studio 54 in
the late 70s number 6 dragostea din tai
ozone my
my my
ah the numa numa song everybody loves
the Numa Numa song and despite the
worldwide popularity of the ozone hit
nobody can seem to properly identify the
title which by the way is dragostea din
tai
of course it’s much easier and certainly
more enjoyable to say Maya he just asked
gary brolsma the viral phenomenon who
was obviously having the time of his
life and caught up in the power of Numa
Numa regardless of the songs actual
title
ah
number five what’s up four Non Blondes
25 years of my life is still time to get
repeat you
nation today Linda Perry is known for
producing and writing some of pop
music’s biggest hits most notably
Christina Aguilera’s beautiful beautiful
but in the early 1990s she was asking a
timeless existential question about the
world we live in
No
similar to the case of the clash the
band used the title what’s up to avoid
confusion with Marvin Gaye’s 1971
classic what’s going on
given perry’s powerhouse vocals and the
intensity of the chorus we can’t
necessarily blame society for
consistently miss identifying the title
you watch
number four rainy day women number 12
and number 35 Bob Dylan even though Bob
Dylan has established himself as
arguably one of the most innovative and
important figures in the history of
popular music the lead track from his
iconic 1966 album blonde on bond will
forever be misinterpreted simply because
of the refrain everybody must get stoned
like songs dealing with alcohol a track
that alludes to mary-jane will often
cloud the thoughts of spaced-out
listeners after all who’s ever heard a
stoner say man I dig that Dylan song you
know rainy day women number 12 and 35 no
one that’s who
number three three little birds bob
marley and the wailers gonna be alright
speaking of stoners and other
self-medicate errs bob marley and the
wailers were onto something when they
released a song about little birds and
nature even if the subtext was draped in
jamaican sweet leaf with such a positive
message like every little thing gonna be
alright people of all backgrounds can
associate with that particular lyric
thus effectively squashing the titular
three little birds pitched by the
doorstep and that’s just what happens
when you bring up this song in
conversation but with the wrong name you
kill three little birds think of the
birds won’t you
alright number two Space Oddity David
Bowie ground control to Major Tom
there’s a litmus test to distinguish
casual rock bands from legitimate
rockers just sing the lyrics of David
Bowie’s Space Oddity and ask someone to
identify the song if they say oh that’s
Major Tom back away slowly this is major
concern
seriously ground control to everybody
because while bowie does reference a
major Tom over and over we’ve had
decades and decades to get this song
right Space Oddity was actually released
the week of the Apollo 11 moon landing
and it’s even referenced as one of the
greatest films of all time 2001 a Space
Odyssey yet many still can’t
differentiate the title from the
character pity
can you hear
before we unveil our top pick here are a
few honorable mentions
Oh
predictable
five honey
miles
1,000
don’t it always seem to go you don’t
know what you’ve got till it’s gone
they pay paradise put up a parking lot
number one Baba O’Riley the who
it’s a song that glorifies drugs and the
ecstasy of the teenage experience well
actually no and it’s not called teenage
wasteland either written about
tripped-out Woodstock hippies Baba
O’Riley tends to confuse listeners into
believing they’re supposed to celebrate
a teenage wasteland in reality the
song’s message was quite the opposite
while the title was derived from
spiritualist Meir Baba and composer
Terry Riley both key influences in Pete
Townsend’s musical education
so the next time you hear Baba O’Riley
take a minute to put down your party
water and figure out just where your
life is heading
so do you agree with our selections what
song titles do you think people always
get wrong
for more mind-blowing top 10s published
daily be sure to subscribe to
watchmojo.com
you
don’t you know its name
one by one
welcome to watchmojo.com and today we’ll
be counting down our picks for the top
10 song titles people always get wrong
for this list we’re focusing on popular
songs that are perpetually wrongly
identified in conversation by
well-intentioned but misinformed
individuals member 10 trained in vain
the clash
oh hey remember that punk song called
stand by me no because the clash never
covered Benny Kings soul classic of the
same name
however they did release a radio
friendly hit titled train in vain
in fact the band specifically came up
with their title to avoid any confusion
but with such a prominent emphasis on
the lyric stand by me nobody really
seems to care about the actual title
well unless you’re a die-hard clash fan
number nine for what it’s worth
Buffalo Springfield something happened
you what it is state exactly
sometimes people rely on the last line
of a chorus to explain their new
favorite song and conversation for
example have you ever heard oh my god I
love that what’s going down song of
course any self-respecting rock band
will reply are you talking about for
what it’s worth by Buffalo Springfield
to which they will undoubtedly reply ah
maybe we got stopped children what’s
that sound everybody what’s going down
even Public Enemy put their own twist on
the classic but they managed to convey
the same type of sentiment as Buffalo
Springfield given both songs focus on
societal observations don’t even own
themselves paying integrate the
corporate presidents 1 out of 1 million
residents be a dissident who a kissing
number eight escape the Pina Colada song
Rupert Holmes I was tired of my lady
we’ve been together too long now here’s
a scientific fact known by all musicians
if you include a type of alcohol in a
song title people will in fact lose
their damn minds
at this very moment there’s a pack of
boozed up vacationers raising their
glasses in the air and screaming out the
Pina Colada song if you like me
and getting caught the rain but hold up
mojo holics and alcoholics Rupert Holmes
Party classic was composed with a
personal escape in mind thus explaining
the title of the song escape but hey you
can’t blame the guy for paying respect
to pina coladas in the parentheses
because it’s the equivalent of easy
money sing about booze you can’t lose
okay number seven the freak chic here’s
a reasonable question what kinds of
musical sadists would begin a song with
freak out and then have the audacity to
call their song ‘la freak well blame
Nile Rodgers and his bandmates from chic
who went all artsy on consumers by
putting a foreign twist on the title of
their disco classic while most associate
the song with maniacal dancing the
famous chant was inspired by the phrase
Goff based on the concept of night
clubbers being Shonda from Studio 54 in
the late 70s number 6 dragostea din tai
ozone my
my my
ah the numa numa song everybody loves
the Numa Numa song and despite the
worldwide popularity of the ozone hit
nobody can seem to properly identify the
title which by the way is dragostea din
tai
of course it’s much easier and certainly
more enjoyable to say Maya he just asked
gary brolsma the viral phenomenon who
was obviously having the time of his
life and caught up in the power of Numa
Numa regardless of the songs actual
title
ah
number five what’s up four Non Blondes
25 years of my life is still time to get
repeat you
nation today Linda Perry is known for
producing and writing some of pop
music’s biggest hits most notably
Christina Aguilera’s beautiful beautiful
but in the early 1990s she was asking a
timeless existential question about the
world we live in
No
similar to the case of the clash the
band used the title what’s up to avoid
confusion with Marvin Gaye’s 1971
classic what’s going on
given perry’s powerhouse vocals and the
intensity of the chorus we can’t
necessarily blame society for
consistently miss identifying the title
you watch
number four rainy day women number 12
and number 35 Bob Dylan even though Bob
Dylan has established himself as
arguably one of the most innovative and
important figures in the history of
popular music the lead track from his
iconic 1966 album blonde on bond will
forever be misinterpreted simply because
of the refrain everybody must get stoned
like songs dealing with alcohol a track
that alludes to mary-jane will often
cloud the thoughts of spaced-out
listeners after all who’s ever heard a
stoner say man I dig that Dylan song you
know rainy day women number 12 and 35 no
one that’s who
number three three little birds bob
marley and the wailers gonna be alright
speaking of stoners and other
self-medicate errs bob marley and the
wailers were onto something when they
released a song about little birds and
nature even if the subtext was draped in
jamaican sweet leaf with such a positive
message like every little thing gonna be
alright people of all backgrounds can
associate with that particular lyric
thus effectively squashing the titular
three little birds pitched by the
doorstep and that’s just what happens
when you bring up this song in
conversation but with the wrong name you
kill three little birds think of the
birds won’t you
alright number two Space Oddity David
Bowie ground control to Major Tom
there’s a litmus test to distinguish
casual rock bands from legitimate
rockers just sing the lyrics of David
Bowie’s Space Oddity and ask someone to
identify the song if they say oh that’s
Major Tom back away slowly this is major
concern
seriously ground control to everybody
because while bowie does reference a
major Tom over and over we’ve had
decades and decades to get this song
right Space Oddity was actually released
the week of the Apollo 11 moon landing
and it’s even referenced as one of the
greatest films of all time 2001 a Space
Odyssey yet many still can’t
differentiate the title from the
character pity
can you hear
before we unveil our top pick here are a
few honorable mentions
Oh
predictable
five honey
miles
1,000
don’t it always seem to go you don’t
know what you’ve got till it’s gone
they pay paradise put up a parking lot
number one Baba O’Riley the who
it’s a song that glorifies drugs and the
ecstasy of the teenage experience well
actually no and it’s not called teenage
wasteland either written about
tripped-out Woodstock hippies Baba
O’Riley tends to confuse listeners into
believing they’re supposed to celebrate
a teenage wasteland in reality the
song’s message was quite the opposite
while the title was derived from
spiritualist Meir Baba and composer
Terry Riley both key influences in Pete
Townsend’s musical education
so the next time you hear Baba O’Riley
take a minute to put down your party
water and figure out just where your
life is heading
so do you agree with our selections what
song titles do you think people always
get wrong
for more mind-blowing top 10s published
daily be sure to subscribe to
watchmojo.com
you
Please follow and like us: