3 Classic Rock Songs That Don’t Mention Their Title Once

For some, one of the most fun things about listening to popular music is getting to hear the lead vocalist on a track sing the title of said track. Whether it’s Britney Spears singing “Oops… I did it again” or Robert Plant singing “And she’s buying a stairway… to heaven,” hearing a song title come to life off the singer’s tongue can be some good, clean fun.

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But when it comes to classic rock music, sometimes—albeit, rarely—the lead singer never gets around to singing the song title. In that way, it can throw off an untrained listener. Here below, though, we wanted to offer a little reassurance. So, don’t get surprised when you hear these three songs and the lead vocalist never mentions their titles!

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“Baba O’Riley” by The Who from ‘Who’s Next’ (1971)

Inspired by playing a show and seeing all the trash that the audience left behind, songwriter Pete Townsend wrote a song about a teenage wasteland. And he says that phrase about a billion times in this classic rock masterpiece. But one thing he does not say is the word Baba, nor does he say the name O’Riley. While those are nods to two of Townsend’s spiritual heroes (Meher Baba and Terry Riley), they are never mentioned.

“Bohemian Rhapsody” by Queen from ‘A Night At The Opera’ (1975)

Throughout all of this epic six-minute rock opera of a track, Queen lead vocalist Freddie Mercury never once says the phrase “bohemian rhapsody.” He says just about everything else, talking about murder, the devil and everything else. Except he never mentions the song title. One of the most famous classic rock songs of all time may be hard to find for some new listeners. They may not know what to search for when trying to track it down. Seems like when you write a song that good, though, you can call it whatever you like!

“Smells Like Teen Spirit” by Nirvana from ‘Nevermind’ (1991)

The story behind the title of this iconic grunge song has to do with Bikini Kill lead vocalist and friend of Kurt Cobain, Kathleen Hanna. Hanging out with the Nirvana lead vocalist one day, Hanna told him, “Kurt smells like Teen Spirit.” Back then, Teen Spirit was the name of a popular deodorant. And, well, the moniker stuck. Cobain went on to name his most famous song in honor of that interaction. Perhaps that’s why it never mentions the deodorant in the tune, because it was titled after it had all been composed!

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