4 Classic Rock Songs Without the Title in the Lyrics

From a marketing perspective, including a song’s title somewhere in the lyrics helps listeners easily identify what they hear on the radio. And in the days when classic rock was new, radio was the quickest way to reach the widest audience. However, rock and roll, if nothing else, is about breaking rules. Smashing through the norms of how songs are written, how long they are supposed to be, and whether or not the artist ever sings the tune’s name. These classic rock songs became iconic even without the title in the lyrics.

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“Black Dog” by Led Zeppelin

A black Labrador at the recording studio where Led Zeppelin recorded its fourth album inspired the title of “Black Dog”. Jimmy Page’s legendary guitar riffs often say more than what’s being sung, and Robert Plant’s powerful voice energizes seemingly throwaway lyrics with a bluesy howl. Plant screams through a series of lusty verses, but the dog goes unmentioned.

“A Day In The Life” by The Beatles

John Lennon wrote the line, “I read the news today,” which intrigued Paul McCartney. The song follows various unconnected news events, both tragic and trivial. Lennon’s voice sounds distant and aloof, like he’s observing from another dimension. McCartney is the man on the ground, and it’s not clear whether he’s headed toward calamity or boredom. The title distills the day’s events in five words. Everything else happens within a Beatles masterwork.

“Badge” by Cream

Working on what became “Badge”, George Harrison wrote “Bridge” on the lyric sheet to denote the middle portion of the song’s arrangement. Eric Clapton, sitting across from Harrison, read “Bridge” upside down and asked, “What’s badge?” Thus, the song now had a title, though one that wouldn’t appear in the lyrics. (But it was on the lyric sheet.)

“Bohemian Rhapsody” by Queen

Queen’s epic consists of many movements across nearly six minutes. A lot happens in the song, including layers upon layers of operatic voices. A rock and roll opera of tragedy and defiance. Some have described it as a Faustian bargain, while others speculate that Freddie Mercury details his personal struggles. But the title appears nowhere, and Mercury ends the song on a defeated note: “Nothing really matters, to me.”

Photo by Philip Morris