Improperly Titled, or Referred To Songs

While there aren't that many, there are several songs that many people call by the wrong title, be it that are wrongfully titled. The most common cause of this is the fact that certain phrases appear frequently, and therefore it is assumed that one of those is the correct title.

The Who: Baba O'Riley

The opener to their fifth LP, 1971's Who's Next (and my favorite), has been incorrectly titled "Teenage Wasteland," due to the words appearing in the chorus and middle eight.

The song was one of the songs written for Lifehouse, - a successor to The Who's massive success Tommy. It would be played at the beginning with the farmer, Ray, who takes Sally and his two children into London. It was one of eight songs that wound up making the cut for Who's Next.

Journey: Don't Stop Believin'

Commonly referred to as "Streetlight people," or "Small Town Girl," the song was was the second single from Journey's seventh album Escape, and by 1982 it had peaked at #9 on the Bilboard Hot 100. The actual title came from keyboardist Jonathan Cain's father, who often told his song, "Don't stop believing or you're done boy."

Nirvana: Smells Like Teen Spirit & Lithium

The early 90s saw a shift in rock with the introduction of grunge. One of the most pioneering bands of the day, Nirvana, was most remembered for two mistitled songs, Smells Like Teen Spirit and Lithium.

Smells Like Teen Spirit topped charts in Belgium, France, New Zealand, and Spain in 1992 and today is considered Nirvana's biggest hit. The song's riff was inspired by The Pixies, a band Cobain desperately idolized, and critics have stated that the riff resembles Boston's 1976 hit More Than a Feeling (in my opinion, it is more simillar to Blue Oyster Cult's Godzilla). The track is the only one on 1991's Nevermind on which all three members got a writing credit.

Mistitled "A Denial," the song's title is actually never heard. Teen Spirit refers to a deoderant Cobain's girlfriend, Tobi Valli, wore, but Cobain was never aware of the deoderant's existense until a friend pointed it out.

Mistitled, "I'm so Happy," or "I'm Not Gonna Cry," the third single from Nevermind, Lithium, was written about a man who turns to religion as a last resort to suicide after breaking up with his girlfriend. Cobain has descripted that the song is partially personal.

The song's title is a reference to Karl Marx' statement that "religion is the opiate of the people."

Rod Stewart: Young Turks

Often mistitled "Young Hearts be Free Tonight," this new wave hit for Sir Rod tells of a defient teen couple who decides to run away. In fact a "Young Turk," is Brit slang for a runaway.

While these were the big mistitles, there are a few others, but they are a big less obvious and not as signficant as the ones mentioned above.

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