There is a trope in movies called the “Title Drop” where they say the name of the movie (Example: Will Smith in Suicide Squad, asking, “So what are we, some kind of…Suicide Squad?”
It’s a trope that for some reason is largely disliked, though I personally I don’t mind it at all... MORESO, there’s a SIMILAR trope that I really LOVE, and that’s when the title of a MUSIC ALBUM is a line taken from a specific song from the LP.
I love it because it has a sort of easter-egg feel, a real “Aha!" moment, when you realize that’s where the title of the album came from. Additionally, the song track itself is usually one of importance or sums up the overall theme of the album best...
It’s a trope that for some reason is largely disliked, though I personally I don’t mind it at all... MORESO, there’s a SIMILAR trope that I really LOVE, and that’s when the title of a MUSIC ALBUM is a line taken from a specific song from the LP.
I love it because it has a sort of easter-egg feel, a real “Aha!" moment, when you realize that’s where the title of the album came from. Additionally, the song track itself is usually one of importance or sums up the overall theme of the album best...
Here are just a few examples of ones I really love!
10,000 Maniacs/ The Wishing Chair
line from
"Can't Ignore the Train"
"The second daughter, how she fell
Young locked in some folks' prison, made to dwell
Till they're braiding her gray hair
Sitting in the wishing chair"
Depeche Mode /Some Great Reward
line from
“Lie To Me”
“So lie to me, like they do it in the factory
Make me think that at the end of the day
Some great reward will be coming my way.”
The Cure/ The Head on The Door
line taken from:
“Close to Me”
“Close to Me”
“But if I had your faith,
Then I could make it safe and clean
If only I was sure
That the head on the door was a dream”
Nirvana / Nevermind
line taken from:
"Smells Like Teen Spirit"
"And I forget just why I taste
Oh yeah, I guess it makes me smile
I found it hard, it's hard to find
Oh well, whatever, nevermind"
The Sundays/ Static and Silence
line from:
"Monochrome"
"It's 4 in the morning July in '69
Me and my sister, we crept down like shadows
They're bringing the moon right down to our sitting room
Static and silence and a monochrome vision."
Stephen “TinTin” Duffy / The Ups and Downs
line from
“Be There”
"Whisper I don't know where I'm going
Can't move without you knowing the ups and downs
The stopping train is loading up with sentiment
The backyard breeze is blowing back its sacrament
Whisper I don't know where I'm going"
The Church/ Of Skins and Hearts
line from
"For A Moment We're Strangers"
"In the empty place the soul stripped bare
Of skins and heart and I come apart
In your icy hands
I forget my role, as I stare into your soul"
The Breeders/ Last Splash
line taken from:
“Cannonball”
“Spitting in a wishing well
Blown to hell, crash! I’m the last splash.
I'll be your whatever you want
The bong in this reggae song”
Boomtown Rats / A Tonic For The Troops
line taken from:
"She's So Modern"
"And Charlie ain't no Nazi
She likes to wear her leather boots
Cos it's exciting for the veterans
And it's a tonic for the troops!"
Basia/ London, Warsaw, New York
line taken from
"Copernicus"
"Our love will take this globe by storm
If it's London, Warsaw or New York
'Cause all around the world,
people want to love and be loved"
line taken from:
“El Shaddai”
“El Shaddai”
“El Shaddai, el Shaddai
El-elyon na Adonai
Age to age, you're still the same
By the power of the name.”
Rachel Stevens/ Come And Get It
line taken from
"So Good"
"So Good"
"I get this feeling that you're taking me under,
I get this feeling that you're taking it down.
'Cause it's you, you, you, all you-
Come and get it."
Girls Aloud/ What Will The Neighbours Say?
line from
“Love Machine”
“I'm just a love machine, feeding my fantasy
Give me a kiss or three and I'm fine
I need a squeeze a day instead of this negligée
What will the neighbours say this time?”
Queen / Hot Space
line taken from:
"Dancer"
"Dancer, Dancer
Why don't you kick off your dancing shoes
And come and ride with me?
Ah hot space, let's go!"
line from
"Mean Street"
"Mean Street"
"A gun is real easy in this desperate part of town,
turns you from hunted into hunter-
you go and hunt somebody down.
Somebody said fair warning, Lord,
Lord, strike that poor boy down."
Carly Simon/ Another Passenger
line from
“Libby”
“Libby”
“I'm just another passenger,
Traveling on these crazy high seas
Very likely be the same in a Paris breeze.
Libby, we'll fly...”
Fleetwood Mac/ Mystery to Me
Line from
"Emerald Eyes"
"Find emerald eyes in the night
Gleamin' shiny and bright
As if covered with silver
She's still a mystery to me
The way she sails away slow
Makes your day to day life easy"
Pat Benatar/ Crimes of Passion
line from
"Prisoner of Love"
"Cold hard labor, it's a labor of love
Convicted of crimes, the crimes of passion
Caught in a chain gang, the chain of fools
Solitary confinement, confined by the rules"
Paul McCartney/ Flowers In the Dirt
line from
"That Day is Done"
"She sprinkles flowers in the dirt
That's when a thrill becomes a hurt
I know I'll never see her face
She walks away from my resting place"
Roger Hodgson/ In The Eye of The Storm
line taken from:
"Had A Dream (Sleeping With The Enemy)"
"Had a dream, I was born
To be naked in the eye of the storm
And now it's standing right in front of me
What's it gonna do to me?
Who knows?"
LIVE ALBUMS
Live Concert Albums sometimes use a prominent line from a song off the album they are touring for. It instantly lets you know what Album Tour it is, and it's lot fancier than just calling it "Live In Concert!!!"
Talking Heads/ Stop Making Sense
"Girlfriend is Better"
"I got a girlfriend that's better than this
But you don't remember at all
As we get older and stop making sense
You won't find her waiting long"
U2/ Under A Blood Red Sky
line from
"New Year's Day"
"Under a blood red sky, a crowd has gathered in black and white
Arms entwined, the chosen few
The newspapers says it's true, and we can break through
Though torn in two, we can be one."
U2/ Rattle and Hum
line from
Bullet The Blue Sky"
Bullet The Blue Sky"
"In the locust wind comes a rattle and hum
Jacob wrestled the angel, and the angel was overcome.
You plant a demon seed, you raise a flower of fire
See them burning crosses
See the flames higher and higher."
The Doors/ Alive She Cried
line from
"When the Music's Over"
"The face in the mirror won't stop
The girl in the window won't drop
A feast of friends, alive she cried
Waitin' for me outside"
BTW, Albums named after actual songs on the album aren’t quite as thrilling as lines taken from them, and worse, there's nothing more boring than an album named after the lead single!
There’ve been times I've been listening to an album and loved when I heard the title of the album… only to learn that there is a title track song on the album.
Examples:
Listening to Joni Mitchell's “Blue”,
the lyrics for “All I Want” go:
Do you see, do you see, do you see how you hurt me, baby?
So I hurt you too, then both get so blue.”
I remember being blown away by the ‘reveal” of the title, only to learn that there was a actual song called “Blue” on the LP.
Or listening to INXS’s “Kick”, the lyrics for “Devil Inside”
“Here come the man with the look in his eye
Fed on nothing but full of pride
Look at them go, look at them kick
Makes you wonder how the other half live”
I went” Ah! The title of the LP! But then, once again, there WAS a song called “Kick” later on in the album.
Examples:
Listening to Joni Mitchell's “Blue”,
the lyrics for “All I Want” go:
Do you see, do you see, do you see how you hurt me, baby?
So I hurt you too, then both get so blue.”
I remember being blown away by the ‘reveal” of the title, only to learn that there was a actual song called “Blue” on the LP.
Or listening to INXS’s “Kick”, the lyrics for “Devil Inside”
“Here come the man with the look in his eye
Fed on nothing but full of pride
Look at them go, look at them kick
Makes you wonder how the other half live”
I went” Ah! The title of the LP! But then, once again, there WAS a song called “Kick” later on in the album.
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