Most songs are get their name from the most memorable words from the chorus. These are the words people will remember the most and associate with your song. Ever wonder how to name your song? Check out this post.
Name your song after your chorus
The vast majority of songs get their name from the main lyrics in the chorus.
The chorus is the catchy part of the song that repeats many times throughout the song.
The lyrics from the chorus are what people will remember the most because it’s repeated the most.
It’s simply convenient to name songs this way.
Most people will forget the verses but will remember the chorus.
Often, just the name will remind you of the rest of the song.
I’m going to list some songs and by their name the tune will come to mind:
“Hey Jude” by The Beatles
“Over the Rainbow” by Judy Garland
“Despacito” by Luis Fonsi
“Shake It Off” by Taylor Swift
That’s the power of naming your song after the chorus and why so many people do it.
The chorus is often the shortened version of the entire song.
For example, “Just My Imagination” by The Temptations is about how the singer’s imagination “runs away” with him as he fantasizes about his life with a love interest.
Then he realizes, it was “just his imagination.”
The name of the song contains this whole idea in a nutshell.
Describe the situation or context
Sometimes there isn’t a convenient way to name the song based on the chorus.
It might make more sense to name the song based on the circumstances of how it was inspired or written.
The title of “Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town” by Pearl Jam makes the rest of the song make more sense.
“Bohemian Rhapsody” by Queen makes the rest of the song make sense too. Never in the lyrics does Freddie sing the words “Bohemian Rhapsody.”
However, you get an idea of what the song is going to be about. It’s going to be a rhapsody (themes repeating over in different movements) having something to do with being a “bohemian.”
This makes the whole song make sense from a bigger picture.
Song titles in parentheses
Sometimes the name of the song is a mix between words in the chorus and a description.
There are many examples of an artist writing a song with a name that didn’t have anything to do with the lyrics.
Their record label would then force the artist to include part of the chorus in parenthesis to make it more commercially appealing.
Here are some examples of song titles with parentheses:
“(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” by The Rolling Stones
“(You Gotta) Fight For Your Right (To Party)” by The Beastie Boys
“Break On Through (To The Other Side)” by The Doors
The words in the parenthesis help complete the phrase that the listener is going to remember the most. At least, that’s often the intention.
Making the song title memorable or unique
Of course, artists will do what artists do and that is “be creative.”
There are plenty of examples of artists intentionally misspelling words or using symbols as a way of stylistic expression.
It also helps to have a unique song title if your song would otherwise have the same title as many others.
Here are some examples of “misspelled” song titles:
“Nothing Compares 2 U” by Sinéad O’Connor
“I Fink U Freeky” by Die Antwoord
“FourFiveSeconds” by Rihanna
“IDGAF” by Dua Lipa
“Mo Money Mo Problems” by The Notorious B.I.G.
Personally, I like it when there’s a bit of personality in the song title. Especially when it reflects the artist’s accent or unique delivery.
Using symbols or special characters in the song title
“4Æm” by Grimes contains a special character. Since most people don’t know how to type that special character they’ll just write “4 AM” instead.
Since Grimes is an established artist with a large audience this isn’t a problem. If your audience is small it would be wise to consider this.
What should you name your song?
Still wondering, “How to name my song?”
It’s your song, name it what you want to!
Keep in mind that other people will have to actually use the song title.
If your song title is difficult to spell then other people may spell it wrong.
The more memorable your song title, the easier it will be for other people to discover your music.
Ultimately, if you’re not sure, it helps to simply name the song the most naturally memorable phrase or word for the song.
What did you think of this article? Do you have a certain way you like to name your songs? Let me know your thoughts in the comments!