Songs as Titles

Any particular songs out there you think would make a great title. Have fun and post it here!

The black Veil - johnny cash - a great song and a great title!

Citizen Eraze - Muse, i think it would be great for SF genre

Map of the Problimatique by Muse would be a good one for a book. I think it would go good with a book about some troubled teen or young adult.

Oh Oh, it could be a narrative on their inner thoughts and even closely resemble schizophrenia. Only they wouldn't be schizophrenia, it could turn out to be some realistic dream and at the end they wake up confused about reality. Now I can't stop, if only I had the time to sit down and write it.

Ooh, ooh, I've got some!

Windowpane, by Opeth
The Drapery Falls, by Opeth
Ghost of the Sun, by Katatonia
West End Girls, by the Pet Shop Boys
Policy of Truth, by Depeche Mode

Bluepolarbear wrote:

Map of the Problimatique by Muse would be a good one for a book. I think it would go good with a book about some troubled teen or young adult.

Oh Oh, it could be a narrative on their inner thoughts and even closely resemble schizophrenia. Only they wouldn't be schizophrenia, it could turn out to be some realistic dream and at the end they wake up confused about reality. Now I can't stop, if only I had the time to sit down and write it.

OMG. Thats brilliant!! I love that song!!!! and your right its perfect for that sort of story!!!!!! Nice!



Ghost of the Sun and Truth policy are excellent as well!!

NewBorn would be excellent for a paranormal story - either werewolve, vampire etc. i think too!

Blackholes and Butterflies would be another excellent title by muse too me thinks!

A serious question, could you use a song title as a story title? Would you have to get permission from the group? I really want to use Map of a Problematique now.

Yeah i wonder. I'm going to google and see?

I asked on absolutewrite

and this is what blacbird said

Quote :

As a title, you're okay to pull a phrase from a song (titles cannot be copyrighted), but if you need to explain how you got it somewhere in the text via a quotation and attribution, you'll need permission IF the song is still protected by copyright. That can be both difficult to get and expensive.

So i think as a title its ok?

I think if it's just a short story that's going to be published somewhere tiny, you would be okay, but otherwise I wouldn't bother, because I expect it'll be more trouble than it's worth. There are plenty of other great titles out there.

I agree. Even though it seems so easy, having dozens of titles at your fingertips, it seems like a lot of trouble. :/ Does the same thing apply for songs as chapter titles? I've seen a lot of people use song titles as chapter titles. Then again, that's fanfiction.net. ^^;

I think "Vulnerable," by Secondhand Serenade would make a good book title. :3

The vaguer song titles (Conflict, Bloodline, etc.) really wouldn't be an issue, just like the vaguer titles of already-published books (Wings, for example--I can think of three books with the same name). It's just not an issue. But specific, easily recognizable song titles (Enjoy the Silence, Boulevard of Broken Dreams, etc.) would definitely pose problems, like the more recognizable book titles (Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, A Tale of Two Cities, etc.).

Basically, the more well-known and concrete the song title, the less likely it is that you could get away with using it as a book title.

And song titles as chapter titles? I've seen it done in books where music is a major theme.

Thanks novel! I've given you a reput point cause that was so helpful

I did too, I think! ^^; Not quite sure how to work the system yet...

But thanks for the help, Novel! (Teehee, calling you Novel again...) I have considered doing my WIP in Kaden's perspective as well as Violet's, considering that it just may help me get to know him better, but I wanted to title each after after a jazz song by Frank Sinatra. :/ (Due to the fact that his mother was a lounge singer/lover of jazz and he thinks of her whenever he hears it. He listens to it sometimes to calm down.)) Would that be okay?

I think 'This is How I Disappear' is a great one for a story. I can see it being an angsty-YA novel.

@Moon: I think it would be fine. Just do what you want for now--when you get to looking at publishing it, your editor will tell you if you need to change anything chapter-title-wise.

daeonica wrote:

I think 'This is How I Disappear' is a great one for a story. I can see it being an angsty-YA novel.

I like that!

I agree! ^^ I like it.

:] Thanks for the help, Novel! ^^ Again. >w<

Daeonica who sings that song 'this is how i disappear' - i agree its really excellent title

It's 'My Chemical Romance' from the album The Black Parade. There's actually quite a few songs on the album that I think could lead to good stories.

Ha i actually have that album somewhere except my 'darling' sister scratched it to hell.


sisters *shakes head*

I could see Cancer or Teenagers being a short story, maybe Famous Last words, too. My friend has that album, but she let me borrow it once x3 And I honestly completely forgot about that song. o.o; I haven't listened to them in awhile.

I've actually had a song title for a story title for a bit, "The Truth Beneath the Rose" which was a sort of prequel about one of my villains and how he came to be a villain. Everyone's got to start somewhere right? I changed the title for now to Façade. But I loved the song title for it as well.

I think Apocalpyse Now by Muse is a great title as well for either story and song.

Oh yeah - apocalypse now is really good - and of course wasn't that name of the film too?

Ok i found clarification - basically you can't copyright titles of songs/books etc. BUT if you used a phrase/lyric from the actually song/book etc. then you have get permission etc.

:[ So I can't use a jazz song as a chapter title? That makes me really, really sad. ._.

Well you can use the title of the jazz song (i think) but none of the lyrics without permission

as i understand it

I'm of the "call your chapters whatever the heck you want, your publisher will tell you if they need to be changed" camp. But still, it's a good thing to know. I think a good strategy is to not use it if it's very concrete or well-known and obvious. But if it's more vague or less-known, it's free game.