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you to get to grips with it. It is satisfying to come up with a title that no one else has used – so be aware that some of
the most popular first words in a title are: can't, dance, don't, give, good, I, I love, I want, I'll, I'm, just, let, little,
love, more, my, never, one, only, rock, she, some, take, that's, too, walk.
Some titles are memorable because they feature wordplay: 'Maid In Heaven', 'If I Said You Had A Beautiful Body
Would You Hold It Against Me?', 'Aladdin Sane', 'Animal Nitrate', 'High Fidelity', 'Money, Money, Money, I do, I
do, I do, I do, I do', 'The Only Thing That Looks Good On Me Is You', 'Mellow Yellow', 'Yester-me, Yester-you,
Yesterday', 'Eight Days A Week', 'Function At The Junction', 'Bummer In The Summer', 'Seven Deadly Finns'.
You can also take common phrases and twist them: 'Don't Get Mad Get Even', 'Fifty Ways To Leave Your Lover',
'When The Going Gets Tough, The Tough Get Going', 'Shoplifters Of The World Unite'. This can include proverbs
and other well-known sayings: 'Needle In A Haystack', 'Beauty Is Only Skin Deep', 'Plenty More Fish In The Sea',
'The Other Man's Grass', 'Knock, Knock, Who's There', 'Something Old, Something New', 'Alive And Kicking',
'Another One Bites The Dust', 'Head Over Heels' and 'Objects In The Rear View Mirror May Appear Closer Than
They Are'.
Some titles are intriguing because of what they don't say: 'Because The Night' is grammatically incomplete. In the
mid-1960s, Dylan had a penchant for adverbs in titles such as 'Queen Jane Approximately' and 'Positively 4th Street'.
Other intriguing titles include 'Over Under Sideways Down', 'I'm Left, You're Right, She's Gone', 'I'd Do Anything
For You (But I Won't Do That)', 'There! I've Said It Again', 'Sometimes When We Touch', 'Suddenly', 'Till' and
'Truth, Rest Your Head'. Titles with "if" arouse curiosity. 'Wedding Bell Blues' seems contradictory.
Repetition
Some lyrics are constructed on a repeated word or phrase: 'Blowin' In The Wind' ("how many" statements), 'Where
Have All The Flowers Gone' ("Where have all the... gone?'), 'It's Impossible' (to start so many verses with this
phrase, it's just impossible), 'I Believe', 'Every Breath You Take' (count the everys), 'Ironic', 'This Old House',
'Plastic Man', 'King Of Pain', 'Just An Old-Fashioned Girl', 'Wonderful World' ("Don't know much about... '') and
'Forever Young' ('May you... '). The repeated word could reveal the deeper meaning and/or be the title. Some lyrics
are constructed as lists, as with 'Reasons To Be Cheerful' and 'Inside Out'.