TVTropes Now available in the app store!
Open
Tropes Media Reviews Popular Indexes Forums Videos Ask The Tropers Trope Finder Media Finder Trope Launch Pad Tech Wishlist Browse Tools
Cut List Image Fixer New Edits New Articles Edit Reasons Launches Images List Crowner Activity Un-typed Pages Recent Page Type Changes Changelog
Tips
Creating New Redirects Cross Wicking Tips for Editing Text Formatting Rules Glossary Edit Reasons Handling Spoilers Word Cruft Administrivia FAQ
Tropes HQ
About Us Contact Us DMCA Notice Privacy Policy Report Bug Terms Of Service
Go Ad-Free Changelog
  • Show Spoilers
  • Night Vision
  • Sticky Header
  • Highlight Links

Follow TV Tropes

Please don't list this on a work's page as a trope.
Examples can go on the work's YMMV tab.

Refrain from Assuming
13 Following

Go To

"I wish I had had the fucking sense to change the name of the song. "I'm Not Sick but I'm Not Well" is what everybody calls it."
— Sean Nelson, on "Flagpole Sitta"

Most songs have the title of the song as the refrain or otherwise prominently featured in the lyrics. However, woe betide to the casual listener who assumes that this is true of all songs. They're liable to say something like "I love that song 'Teenage Wasteland'" and get permanently branded a noob or a poser, or just get banned altogether for mentioning a Fandom-Enraging Misconception.

In the defense of such listeners, this Title Confusion often results from idiosyncratic song naming, where the title of the song has apparently nothing whatsoever to do with the tune (thereby averting Title Drop). Also, songs are frequently played on the radio (or by friends) with no introduction, so the best anyone can do for identification is typing whatever line is most memorable into Google with "lyrics" after it or humming a few bars.

Songs that outlast their initial airplay popularity to become incorporated into other works such as films and video games as background music are particularly vulnerable to this, as contemporary listeners can catch the title being mentioned by a radio DJ or see the credits of the music video.

As a general rule, if the song title is given as "Phrase 1 (Phrase 2)", it's probably this type of song. Phrase 1 is the official title and Phrase 2 is the line that repeatedly appears in the lyrics (while Phrase 1 appears less often or not at all) that everyone thinks is the title. Or sometimes the other way around, which apparently represents the musicians giving up and titling the song what everyone calls it anyway, but retaining their original title in parenthetized form.

Opera tunes are traditionally known by their first linesnote , so this trope never applies to them if you're good at catching words in Italian or German. Of course, there's the catch of being able to tell where songs begin, as they sometimes begin with sung dialoguenote  rather than with actual song. People who assume that the song's name is the most prominent words in the text, such as someone referring to the "nessun dorma" aria as "vincerò, vincerò!", will be discreetly labelled "beginner" by the rest of the group and anyone talking with them is politely "dumbing down" for them or offering to explain (the shift towards the more well-known titles has been happening recently, though).

See also Misattributed Song and Non-Appearing Title. Sometimes turns into a Chorus-Only Song. For In-Universe examples of this trope, see Something Something Leonard Bernstein.

Examples:

Other Examples:

    open/close all folders 

    Advertising 
  • The song "Hitachi no Ki", used in a commercial for Hitachi, is often referred to by the refrain "Kono Ki Nanno Ki", because the official title is a Non-Appearing Title.

    Anime & Manga 
  • "aLIEz" from Aldnoah.Zero is often referred to as "I Say Cry". This is doubly wrong because that part actually says "Ai same CRIER" (Love same crier).
  • Carole & Tuesday: The song by the Mermaid Sisters is actually titled "Galactic Mermaid". However, most prefers to just refer to it as the "Fucking Bullshit" song (which is technically the majority of its lyrics).
  • The original English opening theme for Dragon Ball Z was not officially called "Rock the Dragon" at the time it was used, with the official soundtrack simply calling it "Main Title"; however, Funimation would retroactively use this fan name when they released the "Rock the Dragon" DVD set in 2013, which came with a lyric sheet for the theme.
  • If YouTube is anything to go by, plenty of fans seem to believe the insert song played several times during Dragon Ball Super's Tournament of Power is titled "Ka-Ka-Kachi Daze"; it's actually called "Ultimate Battle". Many anime cover singers who took on the song early on usually either used the mistaken title or use both the actual and mistaken titles.
  • Fist of the North Star:
    • The first opening theme by Crystal King is often referred to as "You wa Shock", as that line comes up quite a bit in the lyrics. It's actually titled "Ai o Torimodose!!", a line which appears far fewer times (twice in the album version, only once in the TV edit).
    • DGM's cover of "Ai o Torimodose!!" is actually titled in the album as "You Wa Shock! (Ai o Torimodose)". Many bands that cover this song tend to title it like that or as "Ai o Torimodose (You Wa Shock!)".
  • Russian singer Origa never recorded a song for Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex called "We Rise Above". She did however record a song titled "Rise".note 
  • In-Universe, in Gundam Build Divers, Ruck Arge, the in-series real person behind Shahryar, mentions wanting to sing "Genki no G" for karaoke. Problem is, there is no "Genki no G" — the actual song is "G no Senko", the ending theme to Gundam: Reconguista in G
  • The track in the Jormungand anime commonly known as "Her name is Koko she is loco I said 'oh no'", even in at least one upload of the song on YouTube, is actually called "Time to Attack".
  • Kill la Kill:
    • Ryuko's Leitmotif is often called "Don't Lose Your Way", when it's actually "Before my body is dry".
    • The song "Ping Pong Circulate" is actually "犬Kあ3L" (read as "Inu ka Saru", meaning "Dog or Monkey"). In fact, the assumption goes beyond the title; it's generally believed this is Aikuro's theme since it plays whenever he's around, when the "Inu" in the title indicates it to be Inumuta's theme (or at least the first half, with the second half being Sanageyama's themenote ).
  • Naruto:
    • The fourth opening theme is frequently mistaken to be titled "Fighting Dreamers" after a bit of Gratuitous English in the refrain, but it's actually called "GO!!!" (punctuation included), which is said once in the entire song (after the part with "Don't forget your first impulse ever" and "Let's keep your adventurous ever"). It does sound like it's said in the chorus, but that lyric is actually "Burn!"
    • The first opening of Naruto Shippūden is called "Hero's Come Back!!" by nobodyknows+, though sometimes you will also find it under the title "Speed Hunter".
    • The fifth Shippuden opening, "Hotaru no Hikari" (Light of the Fireflies), is often incorrectly called "Sha la la".
  • 4Kids' One Piece theme is commonly referred to as the "One Piece Rap", while the credits and digital album use the more generic "One Piece Theme".
  • Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt: the soundtrack preview, "Theme for Scanty and Kneesocks" was called "I Want You" by the fandom, given that was the song's original name before it was remixed for the show.
  • Pokémon the Series:
    • The first theme song for the English dub is simply called "Pokémon Theme Song", not "I Wanna Be the Very Best", nor it is "Gotta Catch 'Em All!".
    • Team Rocket's theme song is called "Double Trouble" not "Team Rocket's Rockin'" or "Team Rocket's Rocket".
  • A certain The Prince of Tennis ending song is sometimes referred to as "Glory Days," due to this being the last two words of the chorus as well as one of the only English phrases in the song. The title is actually "White Line" (with this phrase only appearing if you translate the song).
  • The memetic "Akane's Baka Song" from Ranma ½ soundtrack, so called because of the repetitive "baka baka baka" chorus, is actually titled "Yasashii, Ii Ko ni Narenai" ("I Cannot Become a Gentle, Good Girl").
  • Happens to both Sailor Moon openings (Actually three but the second is a cover of the first). The first opening is called "Moonlight Densetsu", but often appears as "Miracle Romance", and The Stars season opening is called "Sailor Stars Song" not "Makenai". Ditto for the Mexican dub song, as many fan sites lists it as "El Milagro del Amor" while in official releases the song is either called "Leyenda de luz de luna" (Direct translation) or simply "Tema principal de Sailor Moon" (Sailor Moon main theme)
  • The Japanese opening to Sonic X is called "Sonic Drive", not "S-O-N-I-C" or "Inside Outside".
  • The ending theme of Sound of the Sky can easily be mistaken to be titled as "Aijou Yuujou" due to the song starting with those words and are repeated a couple of times throughout the song, which becomes all the more memorable due to the cheery nature of the song becoming increasingly dissonant with the mood of the series as it gradually reveals the full extent of its Crapsaccharine World setting. Its actual title is a Non-Appearing Title, "Girls, Be Ambitious."
  • Tenchi Universe's theme song is usually misidentified as "Love Will Leave You Crying". Believe it or not, the song is actually identified as "Tenchi Muyo".
  • One of the songs from Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann is often referred to as "Row Row Fight the Powah" (which is also a mishearing, the actual lyric is "Raw! Raw! Fight the power!) or just "Fight the Powah", but is actually called "ラップは漢の魂だ! 無理を通して道理を蹴っ飛ばす! 俺たち大グレン団のテーマを耳の穴かっぽじってよ~く聴きやがれ!!": "Rap wa Kan no Tamashii da! Muri o Tōshite Dōri o Kettobasu! Ore-tachi Dai-Gurren-dan no Tēma o Mimi no Ana Kappojite Yo~ku Kikiyagare!!", or "Rap is a Man's Soul! We Kick Reason to the Curb to Make the Impossible Possible! Open up Your Ears and Listen to Our Team Dai-Gurren Theme!!" in English.
  • The theme song from Ultimate Muscle is officially called "Hustle Muscle", not "Do the Muscle".

    Films — Animation 
  • A song from Alvin and the Chipmunks Meet the Wolfman is called "The Monster's Out in You", not "Little Brother, Mr. Hyde".
  • Beauty and the Beast:
    • The opening song is called "Belle", not "Bonjour", "Provincial Life", or "Little Town".
    • The Title Theme Tune is by far the most misnamed song from the movie, with "Tale as Old as Time" being the more common title.
    • The songs "Belle (Reprise)" and "The Mob Song" are also known as "Madame Gaston" and "Kill the Beast", with the latter being the more common of the two.
  • The Brave Little Toaster: The song sung by the modern appliances to the protagonists is called "The Cutting Edge", not "More" or "More More More".
  • Lady and the Tramp: The song the cats sing is "The Siamese Cat Song", not "We are Siamese".
  • The Finnish version of "One of Us" from The Lion King II: Simba's Pride is not called "Tänne hän kuulu ei" note , as the refrain would suggest, but "Maanpako" note  as revealed in the credits. The English version also gets frequently mislabeled as "Not One Of Us" (which does, to be fair, more accurately represent the song's context), even on its Disney wiki page, despite the movie soundtrack listing it as "One of Us."
  • The Training Montage song from Mulan is called "I'll Make a Man Out of You", not "Be a Man". When Disney Channel aired the song as a music video for filler, they misidentified it as "Dark Side of the Moon". The Brazilian version gets hit even worse in that regard, given there's only one Title Drop compared to the three in the English version (the name is the rendition of the first, "Não Vou Desistir de Nenhum" note ).
  • The Nightmare Before Christmas: "Jack's Lament" is sometimes referred to as "The Pumpkin King" or simply "Jack's Song", the latter making no sense as most of the songs are sung by Jack!
  • The trio in The Prince of Egypt between Moses, Rameses, and God is not called "Thus Saith the Lord" or "Let My People Go"; it's "The Plagues".
  • Ray's travelling song in The Princess and the Frog is called "Gonna Take You There", not "Going Down the Bayou".
  • Steven Universe: The Movie is a full musical and a few of its songs are oddly titled.
    • The recap song, which starts every verse with "once upon a time" and ends every verse with "here we are in the future" is in fact called "Happily Ever After", which only appears in the first and last verses. Making it extra confusing, a shorter version of the song is used as a theme for Steven Universe: Future, which replaces the eponymous line with the new title.
    • Pearl's explanatory song upon being rebooted is "system/BOOT.PearlFinal(3).info", which obviously appears nowhere in the lyrics.
    • Steven's reassuring song to the villain, after her backstory is revealed, isn't called "You'll Love Again", as one might expect, but rather "Found".
    • The ending is just called "Finale".

    Films — Live-Action 
  • 2001: A Space Odyssey: "Daisy Bell" is the song HAL sang (or rather, covered), not "Daisy, Daisy" or "A Bicycle Built for Two". It was the first computer synthesized tune, in 1961.
  • Annie (1982): The song where the girls sing, "Betcha they're X, betcha they're Y", is actually titled "Maybe", not "Betcha".
  • The theme music from the movie Arthur is called "Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do)". However, it is best known by the first line of the chorus, "When you get caught between the moon and New York City", and is therefore often referred to as "The Moon and New York City".
  • Prince's 1989 Batman album, which was also heard at length in the original Tim Burton movie:
    • The song that plays on the boombox during the museum sequence is called "Partyman", not "All Hail the New King in Town". Understandable, since the name "Partyman" is so mushily pronounced in the song that it's easy to interpret it as something else, and some variation on "Hail the new king in town" is heard in the song no less than three times (four times, if you count the music video Prince did for MTV).
    • The song in the parade scene is called "Trust". It's not "I Put This Question 2 You", or "W-X-Y-Z" (the song's opening lyrics).
  • You know that song that was used in Ghost Rider? The one about "ghost riders in the sky"? The full title is "(Ghost) Riders in the Sky: A Cowboy Legend". Note that the "ghost" is in parentheses. It should also be mentioned that the song is very old, and Ghost Rider was hardly the first instance of it being used in a movie.
  • The Italian Job has a song performed by the cast that plays over the end of the final chase. But while you might think it's titled "Self-Preservation Society" (as some do), it's actually titled "Getta Bloomin' Move On".
  • Navras (a.k.a. the fight song for Neo vs. Smith in The Matrix Revolutions) has three lines, and "navras" isn't in any of them. Though Navras was also the name of the Hindu mantra the lyrics came from.
  • The Nightwish song that was used in the movie Alone in the Dark is titled "Wish I Had an Angel". Not, as many think, "I Wish I Had an Angel".
  • Seven Brides for Seven Brothers has a song named "June Bride". Anybody who hears the song without knowing the title might easily assume the title to be something like "They Say When You Marry in June".
  • Singin' in the Rain: It's "All I Do Is Dream of You", not "All I Do the Whole Day Through Is Dream of You" or "The Cat's Meow".
  • Inversion: The theme of The Spy Who Loved Me is titled "Nobody Does It Better", although the movie title is in the lyrics.
  • The Wizard of Oz (1939):
    • "We're Off to See the Wizard" is the name of the song. "Follow the Yellow Brick Road" is just part of the verse, though it's the only part of the verse used in the movie. (The rest goes: "Follow the rainbow over the stream / Follow the fellow who follows a dream.") Oddly, the first time the song appears (as Dorothy is leaving Munchkinland and the Munchkins are singing the song), it is titled "Follow the Yellow Brick/You're Off to See the Wizard".
    • It's officially simply "Over the Rainbow", not "Somewhere Over the Rainbow". (Everyone gets this one wrong.). It has often been covered under the wrong title.
  • How many times have you heard Clint Mansell's "Lux Aeterna", which has no lyrics, simply referred to as "Requiem for a Dream"? (Requiem for a Dream being the name of the movie in which it appeared.) Some people don't even know the song by that title and just recognize it as that stock "epic" song.
  • The Muppet Christmas Carol, the song "When Love Is Gone" is often misremebered as being called "The Love Is Gone"

    Literature 
  • In Väinö Linna's The Unknown Soldier, Sgt. Rokka asks Pvt. Vanhala to play the Russian song called "Yokkantii". It is actually "Kalinka". It begins "Oh-kaa-lee-nkah", with heavily palatalized "l", almost sounding like "t".

    Live-Action TV 
  • The theme song to Barney & Friends is called the "Barney Theme Song", not "Barney Is a Dinosaur". And the iconic song sung at the end of the show is simply called "I Love You", not "I Love You, You Love Me".
  • The opening theme to The Big Bang Theory made famous by the Barenaked Ladies isn't titled "It All Started with a Big Bang" or just "Big Bang" or any variation on that line, it's called "History of Everything". (Or, as the Barenaked Ladies label Raisin' Records says it is, "Big Bang Theory Theme".)
  • The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air theme is one of the most famous TV themes of all time, yet few people know its actual title: "Yo! Home to Bel-Air!" On the Greatest Hits album, however, it was simply listed as "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air".
  • The theme to Kamen Rider BLACK RX is just called "Kamen Rider Black RX", not "Wake Up the Hero".
  • A rare tokusatsu theme example: The opening theme to Kyojuu Tokusou Juspion is not "COME ON BOY", it's "Ore ga Seigi da, Juspion!"
  • Liv and Maddie: In "New Year's Eve-a-Rooney", the song Liv performs at the end is addressed as "You and Me, and the Beat", as mentioned in the chorus; however, the soundtrack gives it the official title "You, Me, and the Beat".
  • The opening to Malcolm in the Middle is simply titled "Boss of Me", not "You're Not the Boss of Me Now".
  • In an episode of Married... with Children, Al is trying to figure out the title of a song. All he knows is "huh huh him". Later he hears the song on the radio, and the chorus is "Go with Him". Then the DJ comes on and says "I know you think that song is called "Go With Him", but it's not!" and then neglects to mention what the title actually is. (It's "Anna" by Arthur Alexander.)

    Every line in the song begins with the word 'Anna', while 'Go with Him' is only the refrain. The song itself was later covered by The Beatles, under the title "Anna (Go to Him)". It causes quite a bit of confusion among listeners (at least those who know the title).
  • "Without Math" was the intended title of The Googols' song in a Mathnet installment; the record company exec changed it to the non-appearing title "Don't Leave, Just Stay, I'll Go" (because his scheme involved CDs with two commas in the titles).
  • The theme song to Mister Rogers' Neighborhood is called "Won't You Be My Neighbor", not "It's a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood".
  • The song Ronnie Dobbs (David Cross) sings in a Mr. Show episode (also sung by Mandy Patinkin in The Movie Run Ronnie Run) is actually called "How High the Mountain", not "Y'all Are Brutalizing Me".
  • In The Price Is Right, one of the pricing games, "Punch-a-Bunch", is frequently called "Punchboard". It is a punchboard; the contestant can earn up to four punches to win lots of money ($10,000+ during the Bob Barker era, $25,000+ during the Drew Carey era, and even more in special circumstances like prime-time or anniversary episodes). But the original version has both the prominent "Punch-a-Bunch" title, and the simpler "Punchboard" on the board.note  The revision, introduced in 1996, removed "Punchboard" from the game display. But people still sometimes refer to the game as "Punchboard".
  • The Really Loud House:
    • Luna's rap about Calvin Coolidge from "The Manager with the Planager" is simply titled "Calvin Coolidge", not "Calvin Coolidge, Presi-daunt". It doesn't help that Nickelodeon released a promotional clip of the song listing it under the latter title before the soundtrack release revealed the official one.
    • The song that Flip sings with Rita in "The Princess and the Everlasting Emerald: A Royal Woods Fairytale - Part 2" is titled "Bill Bailey", not "Won't You Come Home", despite the number of times the latter is sung.
    • Luna's song that she performs at the talent show in "Little-Ol-Lady-Whoooo Has Talent" is not titled "Light Up the Dark". It's actually titled "Outta the Dark", which isn't even used in the lyrics.
  • Saturday Night Live did a sketch involving a rewritten version of Bobbie Gentry's "Ode to Billy Joe". A summary of the sketch on a website called the original song "Choctaw Ridge".
  • When Star Trek: Strange New Worlds does the Musical Episode "Subspace Rhapsody", the opening song is called "Status Report". It's also commonly known by any of the lines in its refrain:
    ♫Apologies, the most confounding thing
    I appear to be singing
    Most unusual, so peculiar♫

    Poetry 
  • Francis Scott Key titled his poem "Defense of Fort McHenry". The first person to publish it along with sheet music called it "The Star-Spangled Banner" and the name stuck. note 
  • In a similar vein, while the hymn/anthem may be called "Jerusalem", William Blake's original poem was definitely entitled "And Did Those Feet in Ancient Time". Indeed, Sir Hubert Parry (the first man to set the poem to music) always referred to it by the original title.
  • The poem opening "How doth the little busy Bee ..." is actually titled "Against Idleness and Mischief".
  • Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's most well-known poem is known as "Über allen Gipfeln ist Ruh" (Above all peaks there is quiet), after its first line, or "Wandrers Nachtlied" (The Wanderer's Night-Song). However, at its first publication Goethe merely entitled it "Ein Gleiches" (A Similar One), with reference to an earlier poem entitled "Wandrers Nachtlied") which was printed above it on the same page.
  • Prussia's unofficial national anthem, "Üb' immer Treu und Redlichkeit" (Always practice loyalty and honesty), which is sung to the tune of Papageno's aria "Ein Mädchen oder Weibchen" from Mozart's Magic Flute, is actually entitled: "Der alte Landmann an seinen Sohn" (The old countryman (peasant) to his son). The poem was writen by Ludwig Heinrich Christoph Hölty.
  • The opening line is "'Twas the night before Christmas", but the poem was titled "A Visit from St. Nicholas".
  • The poem that begins "You are old, Father William" (the original version, not the Lewis Carroll parody) is actually titled "The Old Man's Comforts and How He Gained Them".
  • The name of one of Juan de Dios Peza's most famous poems is "Reír Llorando"note , although is commonly referred to as "Garrick".
  • When it was originally published by Sarah Josepha Hale, "Mary Had a Little Lamb" was titled "Mary's Lamb".
  • Philip Larkin's poem usually known by its opening words "They fuck you up, your mum and dad" is properly titled "This Be the Verse".

    Pro Wrestling 
  • This most commonly happens with the Raw or SmackDown themes (the only theme tunes in WWE to be regularly played in their entirety, or close to their entirety).
    • The original ''SmackDown'' theme that was used throughout most of the Attitude Era was often labelled as "Everybody on the Ground" by fans, due to one of the most prominent lines in the song sounding like it. As revealed later on, following its inclusion on the WWE Uncaged album, not only was the song actually titled "Smack", but composer Jim Johnston also revealed that most of the song's "lyrics" were actually just random gibberish.
    • "Across the Nation" (the Raw theme during the years when WWE was slowly transitioning from the Attitude Era to the current TV-PG era, and appropriate for a show that appears in a different part of North America every week) has the actual words "across the nation" in its lyrics, but they are slipped in so casually that it's easy to miss them. A newcomer was more likely to think the song was titled "Let's Get It On" or "Move to the Music" or even "Play That Fuckin' Music", since those are the lines that are uttered most often by the performers.
    • "To Be Loved", the Papa Roach number that replaced "Across the Nation" in 2006. Although "I just wanna be, wanna be loved" is featured prominently in the chorus, the tempo of the overall song is so absurdly fast that it's easy to miss most of the lyrics; about the only thing that the first-time listener could be expected to make out would be the echoing "Whoa-oa-oa-oa" sound effect at the beginning of the chorus, so you'd be forgiven for referring to "To Be Loved" as "that 'Whoa-oa-oa-oa' song."
    • "Rise Up", the SmackDown theme for many years, did have the words "rise up" spoken just before the chorus, but in a cartoonishly evil voice that sounded more like "RAAAUUGH!" The chorus itself prominently features the phrase "Break it up, break it down" - and so that was how first-timers tended to refer to it. Of course, they were probably thinking of the D-Generation X theme, which is called "Break It Down".
    • The SmackDown theme during the show's 10th anniversary was titled "Let It Roll" - not "You're Goin' Down", which is the name of the Sick Puppies song used as the 2009 Extreme Rules theme.
    • The 2014-2015 SmackDown theme was called "Born to Run" - which is obviously going to confuse a whole lot of viewers over the age of 30, since that is more famously the name of a Bruce Springsteen song (and no, the WWE "Born to Run" isn't a cover). You'd never know it if you're just a casual WWE fan, though, since the chorus is better known for the lines "The sky turns black, it don't matter" and "Now the sun is comin' up" - and the final word of "We were [not "I was"] born to run" itself is drawn out and deliberately mispronounced as "reh-un", probably to avoid sounding too much like Springsteen.
    • The 2012-2016 Raw theme was just called "The Night", not "Tonight Is the Night" (despite what you may think if you stumble upon a stream of Video Game Championship Wrestling, where the chatroom will "sing" along with some of the lyrics, especially the full "Tonight is the night" line that opens the song). An actual song called "Tonight Is the Night" by Outasight had just been a hit, and in fact was used for the Raw 1000 episode one week before "The Night" was first used.
    • The 2016-2018 RAW theme by Shinedown was called "Enemies" (the very last word of the chorus), not "You Want More" "20 to 1" or "Down On Your Knees".
  • "Stone Cold" Steve Austin's Disturbed theme from his 2001 Heel run is not called "I'm Breaking the Limit Inside You", but "Glass Shatters". On the other hand, "Glass Shatters" is not the name of the instrumental song he used for most of his career (both songs open with a glass shattering sound effect). That song is called "I Won't Do What You Tell Me".
  • Antonio Cesaro's pre-Real Americans theme, "Miracle", has lyrics that are just about indecipherable, not helped by constantly switching between French and German. The word 'miracle' does actually feature prominently in the chorus, albeit with French pronunciation. That aside, one of the lines sounds vaguely like "What's wrong with this chair?"
  • Eddie Guerrero's theme song during his feud with Rey Mysterio isn't titled "Gangsta Lean", it's "I'm Your Papi", the words of which are never uttered at any point during the song.
  • Dusty Rhodes' theme song is called the "Common Man Boogie", not "American Dream".
  • Sheamus' pre-2015 theme is called "Written in My Face", not "Too Many Lies" or "These Words Are True" or "Now It's Time to Bleed" or "You Wear Your Cowardice Well". (Or "Too Many Limes", or "It's a Shameful Thing, Lobster Head".) The title is uttered at the song's intro ("Read the words that are written in my face) and the second verse (It's written in my face).
  • AJ Styles' theme song since debuting WWE is titled "Phenomenal", not "They Don't Want None".
  • Rich Swann's theme song in the Cruiserweight division is called "Around the World", not "Can You Handle This?"
  • Booker T's entrance theme was not called "Can You Dig It?"; it was called "Rap Sheet." Listeners were often misled because Booker could be heard bellowing "Can you dig it...sucka?!" just before the music started up. And strangely enough, Booker T did record a rap titled "Can You Dig It?" for the WWE Originals album.

    Puppet Shows 
  • Donkey Hodie:
    • The theme song is often referred to by fans under the title "Here Comes Donkey Hodie". It is officially titled "Donkey Hodie (Theme Song)".
    • The song many people call "Blow Your Troubles Away" is officially titled "Take a Deep Breath".
    • The song from the episode "Hoof Dancing Is Hard" is claimed by many to be titled "Practice", because the chorus uses that word a lot. According to the credits, its' actual name is "Grampy's Secret Recipe".
    • The recurring song in "Panda Hodie" is not called "Oh, I Am Purple Panda", but rather "I'm Purple Panda".
  • "Gorgs in Glory" from the Fraggle Rock episode "Boober Gorg" does not have the title in the lyrics at all, but it sometimes may be referred to as "The Most Magnificent Thing in the World".
  • Gonzo sings a song about Camilla the Chicken in the Leslie Uggams episode of The Muppet Show. It's listed on lyrics sites as "Camilla", but is officially titled "Gonzo's Song".
  • Sesame Street:
    • Inversion — the song the cow sings is called "Achoo", not "The Sneezing Song", which is the name of a separate song about sneezing.
    • The song about baby animals is called "What Are Kids Called?", not "Cats Have Kittens".
    • The song about the pros and cons of rain is called "Rainy Day Song", not "It's a Rainy Day", "Rainy Day", or "The Rain Song".
    • The song Humphrey sings to Natasha is called "Natasha's Lullaby", not "Goodnight, Natasha".

    Theater 
  • It's fairly common for musicals to include at least one song where the title is either a joke or a reference to the staging and not actually part of the lyrics.
    • The opening song in Guys and Dolls is called "Fugue for Tinhorns", but everybody knows it by its first and last line, "I Got the Horse Right Here" (or perhaps as "Paul Revere", the name of the horse in question).
    • Bye Bye Birdie has "The Telephone Hour" (the "Hi Margie/Hi Alice" song) and "Hymn for a Sunday Evening" (the "Ed Sullivan" song).
    • "A Hymn to Him" from My Fair Lady is sometimes referred to by the first line of its refrain, "Why Can't a Woman Be More Like a Man?" The real title never appears in the song. Also, "The Ascot Gavotte" is sometimes referred to as "Ascot's Opening Day" ("Every duke and earl and peer is here / Everyone who should be here is here.")
  • Because opera songs rarely have official titles, the established convention is for an aria's first line to serve as an unofficial title. This is useful for the singers/orchestra so that everyone knows that they are all (literally) on the same page. However, the first line generally isn't the most memorable, making it confusing from the audience's perspective.
    • The best-known aria from Mozart's opera The Magic Flute is titled "Der Hölle Rache köcht in meinem Herzen" (Hell's vengeance boils in my heart). It's often called "the Queen of the Night's aria," but it's actually just one of two arias she sings; the other - less well-known but just as technically challenging - is "O zittre nicht, mein lieber Sohn" (O do not tremble, my beloved son), which occurs close to the beginning of the opera.
    • From Pagliacci: the crying clown aria is called "Vesti la giubba (Put on the Costume)", not the soaring, climactic lyrics "Ridi, Pagliaccio (Laugh, Clown!)".
    • Tosca:
      • The original Scarpia Ultimatum is actually called "Tre sbirri, una carozza (Three cops, one carriage)". It's usually either referred to as "Va, Tosca" or "the one with the Te Deum".
      • Averted with "Vissi d'arte (I lived for art)", which actually is the part everyone remembers.
    • As mentioned in the intro, some people remember the most famous aria from Turandot as "Vincerò," from the tenor's last, deafening line, but its real title "Nessun dorma" (Let no one sleep) is widely known anyway.
  • There are videos circulating on the Internet about Russian dancers performing "Beriozka dance", but Beriozka is the name of the group, plus their signature number. The type of dance they perform is called khorovod.
  • Chicago:
    • You know that number that goes "He had it coming, he had it coming, he only had himself to blame..."? Well, it isn't called "He Had It Coming", as it can be found on certain file sharing sites as. It's called "Cell Block Tango".
    • And that ragtime-like song? It's "Press Conference Rag", not "They Reached for the Gun". (Actually, it's a bit of a complex example. It was originally called "Press Conference Rag" (and that should still be the title if you're a purist), but so many people mislabeled it that "We Both Reached for the Gun" became the new title.)
  • In A Chorus Line, "Dance: Ten; Looks: Three" is named after the first line of the verse. The refrain, "Tits and Ass," was the original title, but it was changed to keep from giving away the joke (and/or avoid offending those casually inspecting the list of numbers).
  • In City of Angels, the title of "Double Talk" is not the song's melodic hook, which is instead provided by the first line of both Stone's refrain and Stine's refrain: "This job is not to be believed." The words "double talk" do occur once in both, and describe the context of the verses.
  • Amy's Patter Song in Company is just "Getting Married Today", not "Not Getting Married Today".
  • The works of Gilbert and Sullivan are operettasnote  (also called "comic operas" or "light operas") so they unsurprisingly follow the operatic naming convention. Very few of their songs are named after the best-known line of their refrain, because they're all named after the first line of the song's opening verse.
    • H.M.S. Pinafore: Sir Joseph's song explaining how he climbed the ranks and became the "ruler of the Queen's Navee" is actually called "When I Was a Lad".
    • The Mikado: The song that most people think is titled "I've Got a Little List" is actually called, "As Some Day It May Happen".
    • The Pirates of Penzance:
      • The Pirate King's song, best known by the refrain, "I am a Pirate King/You are, hurrah for the Pirate King!/And it is, it is a glorious thing to be a Pirate King!" is of course titled, "Oh, Better Far to Live and Die".
      • The trio known by the refrain, "A paradox/A paradox/A most ingenious paradox!/With quips and quibbles heard in flocks/None can beat this paradox!" is naturally called, "When You Had Left Our Pirate Fold".
      • The refrain, "I am an Orphan Boy/An Orphan Boy/An Orphan Boy/How sad, an Orphan Boy/For he is an Orphan Boy/He is, hurrah for the Orphan Boy!/And it sometimes is a useful thing to be an Orphan Boy" is part of a song titled, "Oh, Men of Dark and Dismal Fate".
      • "I am the Very Model of a Modern Major-General" is an aversion. The line both starts and ends the song, and it's difficult to imagine how anyone might think the title was anything other than some variation on "Modern Major General".note 
  • "By My Side" from Godspell is not called "Where Are You Going", although this is the first line said and the actual Title Drop doesn't come in for a long time.
  • Grease:
    • That tune sung by both Danny and Sandy early on is not called "Summer Loving" or "Tell Me More". It's called "Summer Nights" (which is actually the refrain).
    • One of the songs that plays in the background during the dance contest in The Movie (and is actually sung by Doody in the original play) is "Those Magic Changes", not "What's That Playing On the Radio?"
  • Hair: "The Flesh Failures" is simply legendary. You don't remember "The Flesh Failures"? It's the one that ended with a long refrain of "let the sun shine in, let the sun shine in..." This is made worse because this refrain was released at the end of the 5th Dimension's "Age of Aquarius" single as "Age of Aquarius/Let the Sun Shine In".
  • Jesus Christ Superstar has three notable examples:
    • Judas' opening number is called "Heaven On Their Minds", not "Listen, Jesus".
    • The song that begins "I only want to say..." is called "Gethsemane", though it's sometimes labeled as "Gethsemane (I Only Want to Say)".
    • The final number is not "Jesus Christ Superstar" — it's simply "Superstar".
  • In Legally Blonde: The Musical, the song "There! Right There!" is probably known best as "Gay or European?". Like the example from A Chorus Line, it's probably for the purpose of making the joke more of a surprise.
  • The musical Little Shop of Horrors has quite a few of these. Two prominent examples are "Skid Row" (often referred to as "Downtown") and "Git It" (more popularly known as "Feed Me").
  • RENT:
    • The famous show tune is actually called "Seasons of Love", not "525,600 Minutes".
    • "Another Day" is sometimes referred to as "Me and My Guitar" after the first lines of the song.
    • And the song at the end is called "Finale B", not "No Day but Today". The version of the song performed at Life Support isn't called "No Day but Today" either, it's called "Life Support".
  • In Twisted: The Untold Story of a Royal Vizier, The duet between Ja'far and Sherrezade is called "1001 Nights" and not "I Want to Know Your Story". Honestly though, the latter title would make more sense, as its sung consistently more than the former phrase.
  • Wicked: For the thousandth time, Elphaba and Glinda's Hate at First Sight song is called "What Is This Feeling?" not "Loathing"!

    Toys 
  • The Teddy Ruxpin song "The Picnic Song" is often called "Barefoot Kind of Saturday" by fans.

    Video Games 
  • Non-lyrical example: The main musical motif that plays in the Ace Attorney games when pressuring a witness or discovering the culprit is called the "Pursuit" theme for that game. The theme in the first game is titled "Pursuit ~ Cornered", leading some fans to refer to the songs in subsequent games as their "Cornered" theme.
  • Cannon Fodder's theme song, titled "War!", is commonly called "War Has Never Been So Much Fun".
  • Crazy Taxi has the song "All I Want" by The Offspring. It's often referred to as "Ya Ya Ya Ya Ya" after its opening line which always plays when you first start out.
  • This manages to happen to every song from Daytona USA.
    • "The King of Speed", the music to the Beginner course, is much more commonly known by the title "Rolling Start", as these two words are belted out twice at the very beginning and the rest of the lyrics are a series of vocalizations by Takenobu Mitsuyoshi. Confusingly, there actually is a song in the game called "Rolling Start"... and it's a truncated remix of "The King of Speed" played during the course's post-race replay and staff roll.
    • The Advanced course's music is well-known for its vocalization of "DAYTONAAAAAA!", to the point that it's mistaken for the song's name. The actual name is the very next lyric: "Let's Go Away".
    • "Sky High", the Expert course's theme, is occasionally misnamed as "I Wanna Fly Sky High" or "Blue Blue Skies", though it doesn't get this as commonly as the other two.
  • Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening:
    • The song at the credit roll is titled "Devils Never Cry", although a lot of people still call it "The Devil's Cry", after the last words of the song.
    • While most people call the two battle themes that play in DMC3 as "Taste the Blood" and "Divine Hate", their actual titles according to the official Devil May Cry 3 Original Soundtrack list are "Battle-1 (Battle Music 1)" and "Battle-2 (Battle Music 2)" respectively.
  • Vergil's battle theme in Devil May Cry 5 is titled "Bury the Light", not "I Am the Storm (That Is Approaching)", despite said line being the first line in the chorus, and despite being featured a lot in memes.
  • When EarthBound Beginnings was originally released, it was accompanied with a soundtrack containing lyricised versions of several songs from the game. Some familiar with the lyrics tend to assume that the name of the first (and most famous) song on the album is "I Believe in You." Some unfamiliar with the lyrics tend to call it "Pollyanna's Theme." Turns out both groups are wrong — the name of the song is simply "Pollyanna" (though to be fair, the full title for the lyricised version is technically "Pollyanna (I Believe in You)"), and there is no character by that name in any game in the series. (There is a "Paula" and an "Ana", but neither character is closely associated with the song in question.) "Pollyanna" is simply a term used to describe the kind of extremely positive person the song is about.
  • The theme song of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is "Dragonborn", not "Dovahkiin". The latter is a completely different song. Both songs have Non Appearing Titles. "Dovahkiin" means "Dragonborn" in the dragon language. Confused yet?
  • The main theme of Fire Emblem Fates that Azura sings is frequently referred to as "You Are the Ocean's Grey Waves", from the opening line, rather than its actual title, "Lost in Thoughts All Alone". The title is from the chorus, but the opening is heard more frequently.
  • The main menu theme of Grand Theft Auto is titled "Gangster Friday". "Grand Theft Auto" is the first song on the game's N-CT FM station, and thanks to the repeated hook "Let's go for a joyride", it's called "Joyride" by some.
  • A case where it comes from dialogue rather than lyrics: in Kirby Super Star, a beach stage theme from "Revenge of Meta Knight" is often misnamed "Grape Garden", which is mentioned in dialogue before the song plays. Its official name is simply "Sea Stage". Grape Garden is a cloud level from Kirby's Adventure, completely unrelated other than being a Call-Back.
  • Some background tracks in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time and The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask are commonly referred to by the ocarina song that they derive from such as "Lost Woods" being called "Saria's Song", "Lon Lon Ranch" being called "Epona's Song" and "Windmill Hut" being called "Song of Storms". However, in Super Smash Bros. at least, the Lost Woods theme is named "Saria's Song" (and same for the Windmill Hut being "Song of Storms"), potentially making it the reverse.
  • "Baka Mitai" from Like a Dragon is sometimes referred to as "Dame Dane", the first line of the chorus, though usually in a joking manner. The actual title of the song is found in the very first line of the song. Even the lip-syncing app wombo.ai lists the song as "Dame Dane" rather than the actual name.
  • Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance: "It Has to Be This Way (Platinum Mix)" is not called "Standing Here, I Realise", despite what the memes using that song (or rather, the specific section of the song that goes "Standing here, I realise/You were just like me/Trying to make history") may lead you to believe.
  • Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit II: The licensed song by The Buzzhorn is titled "Ordinary", not "Your Life" or "Find Yourself at Home". Likewise, Pulse Ultra's "Build Your Cages" is not titled "Sacrifice".
  • Persona:
    • Persona 3:
      • The battle music is just called "Mass Destruction", not "Shadows of Mass Destruction" or "Baby Baby Baby".
      • From Reload, the "SEES Advantage" battle theme is titled "It's Going Down Now", as much as the fandom would lead you to believe that its title is "Disturbing the Peace".
    • The one from Persona 5 is "Last Surprise", not "You'll Never See It Coming".
  • Sonic the Hedgehog:
    • The Japanese/European opening song of Sonic the Hedgehog CD is called "Sonic - You Can Do Anything", not "Toot Toot Sonic Warrior". The credits song is "Cosmic Eternity - Believe in Yourself", but neither of the lyrics appear in this order, so it is sometimes misnamed "Cosmic Eternity" or "Believe in Yourself" individually.
    • The actual song that was used as the ending theme for Sonic the Hedgehog 2 is called "Sweet Sweet Sweet", not "Sweet Dream" (though the English version of the song released later was actually titled "Sweet Dreams").
    • The main theme from Sonic R, "Super Sonic Racing", is sometimes misnamed "Everybody's Super Sonic Racing". Likewise, the ending theme, "Number One", is much more commonly called "You're My Number One".
    • Shadow's theme from Sonic Adventure 2 is erroneously titled by some as "All of the Darkness", based on the lyric "All of the darkness that dozes in the dusk" — except, close as that sounds, those aren't the actual lyrics (that'd be "Oh dark, the darkness that dozes in the dusk"). The song's actual title is the immediately following line, "Throw It All Away".
    • Similarly, Dr. Eggman's theme is not titled "I Am the Eggman", it's actually "E.G.G.M.A.N.", which is actually in the song, though it's hard to spot (it's chanted by robotic voices in the background). Amy's theme is "My Sweet Passion", not "Hearts on Fire" or "Sweet, Sweet, You're So Sweet" or any variation. Knuckles's theme is titled "Unknown from M.E.", not any variation of "Born on an Island in the Heavens" or "Here I am, tougher than the rest of them..." Big's theme is "Lazy Days ~Livin' in Paradise~", not "Welcome to Our Paradise". Tails' theme is not "I Wanna Fly High" but "Believe in Myself".
    • And moving away from character themes, the song that plays during Shadow's fight against the Biolizard is called "Supporting Me", not "To the Pressure" or "Losing You".
    • The theme to the level City Escape is actually titled "Escape from the City", which does appear in the lyrics, but possibly as an inversion of this trope some think it's also called "City Escape." It's also sometimes incorrectly titled "Follow Me".
    • Knuckles's level songs all have a Non-Appearing Title: Wild Canyon ("Kick the Rock!"), Pumpkin Hill ("A Ghost's Pumpkin Soup"), Aquatic Mine ("Dive into the Mellow"), Death Chamber ("Deeper"), Meteor Herd ("Space Trip Steps"). The stage names, however, all appear in the lyrics.
    • White Jungle's theme is titled "Rhythm and Balance", not "Shadow, Don't Make Me Upset".
    • Team Sonic's theme in Sonic Heroes is titled "We Can (Theme of Team Sonic)", not "We Can Make It" or any variation on "So Much Better Than Alone".
    • The main theme of Shadow the Hedgehog is not titled "I Am". It's actually "I Am... All of Me", despite those two phrases never actually appearing in that order until the very LAST line of the song. And it's not "I Am All of Me" or even "I Am (All of Me)" either, the actual title does contain an ellipsis. Although, the title is still referred to as "I Am" in the game's music player.
    • In Psyguy of Fireball 20XL's parody dub of Sonic the Hedgehog: The Movie, Knuckles complains "Aww, I hate 'In His World'" when the tune starts playing during Sonic's first battle with Metal Sonic. The song is actually called "His World". (And "In his world" doesn't even appear in the lyrics, the line goes "In this world (His world!), where life is strong...")
  • When it was revealed, the vocal theme for Super Mario Odyssey was variously known as "1-Up Girl" or "Let's Do the Odyssey" thanks to its lyrics. Its official name is the Non-Appearing Title "Jump Up, Super Star!".
  • That oddly epic song that plays throughout Super Smash Bros. Brawl is not called "Audi Famam Illius". The title actually is "Super Smash Bros. Brawl Main Theme".
  • The credits theme of Skullgirls is a solemn jazz tune named "In a Moment's Time". Due to the lyrics, however, most people instead call it "In Just a Moment's Time".
  • In-Universe in Spiritfarer: Several residents in Edgeborough Lane argue over whether the song is called "The Autumn End" or "Lover's Myth" because while the former is its actual title, some residents call it by the latter title because it's repeated in the lyrics. Since they believe that they're two different songs, the tall orange resident asks Stella to buy the sheet music for "The Autumn End" at Nordweiler, and then play it on her guitar for them to prove the others wrong.
  • "I'm Here Now" from Tekken 5 is the name of the instrumental song that plays during the first half of the opening sequence (when Kazuya and Heihachi are fighting the Jack robots). It is not the name of the lyrical song from the second half of the intro that begins with the words "I'm here now". That song is called "Sparking!", which appears right at the very end of the song (once before the first verse and once more before the song ends, along with "Super King").
  • Pig With The Face Of A Boy's Tetris song is called "A Complete History of the Soviet Union Through the Eyes of a Humble Worker, Arranged to the Melody of Tetris", not "I Am the Man Who Arranges the Blocks". And the melody itself isn't "Tetris song"; it's from Russian folk song "Korobeiniki" (which itself is a victim of this trope — it's not "Oy polnym polna mоya korobushka").

    Web Videos 
  • Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog:
    • The first song in Act II is officially titled "My Eyes", but is often referred to as "On the Rise". There was a gap of several months between the release of the video and the release of the soundtrack and song titles.
    • Most of Dr. Horrible has that problem, due to the aforementioned gap between the release of the musical and the release of official titles for the songs.
    • "Penny's Song" or "Story of a Girl"? And just how are you supposed to name the Bad Horse Choruses? And despite "Brand New Day" being the closer of Act II, the opener of Act III, "So They Say", ends on "Or is this a brand new day?" The official titles (according to the soundtrack albums) are "Penny's Song", "Bad Horse Chorus" and "Bad Horse Chorus (Reprise)".
    • Reportedly, Joss Whedon will break down and cry if you call it "Laundry Day". It's "My Freeze Ray".
  • The Undertale theme remix playing in the memetic "Fingers in His Ass" video doesn't go by that name.note  That's the name of Triple-Q's remix of "#FreeTriple-Q", which was named after the refrain; the song in the video is BotanicSage's own remix, "ASSGORE (Fingerfückung)".

    Western Animation 
  • Arcane: The lullaby that Powder sings at the beginning of the first episode is called "The Bridge", not "Dear Friend Across the River".
  • The theme song to Arthur, made famous by Ziggy Marley and the Melody Makers, is actually "Believe in Yourself", not "What a Wonderful Kind of Day", "And I Say Hey" or simply "HEY!", no matter how many times the latter nickname is used in the song.
  • In BoJack Horseman, Sextina Aquafina's gleefully pro-abortion song is not called "Brrap Brrap Pew Pew" (the title of the episode it comes in) but "Get Dat Fetus Kill Dat Fetus". Lampshaded when Diane only remembers the song by its distinctive onomatopoeia, and even she gets it wrong.
  • Dastardly & Muttley in Their Flying Machines is not called "Stop the Pigeon".
  • Family Guy:
    • Looking for that song that you probably know as "The Bird Is the Word"? Well, you won't find it under that name, it's actually called "Surfin' Bird", by The Trashmen, although it is based partly on an R&B song called "The Bird's the Word" by The Rivingtons. ("Papa-Ooh-Mau-Mau" is another popular "title.", and the name of the other Rivingtons songs used as the base).
    • The episode the song was featured in ("I Dream of Jesus") actually mentioned that the song was called "Surfin' Bird".
  • The closing music for "Fireball XL5" was originally called "Fireball", but was commonly called by its first line, "I Wish I Was a Spaceman". The latter has now become the official title, probably at least partly to avoid confusion with "Fireball" by Deep Purple.
  • The Villain Song sung by Dirk Dinkum in The Garfield Show episode "Lion Queen: Welcome to Africa" is commonly known by the repeated line "Go Away". The official English title of the song is "Bad Boy".
  • "Awaken" by Dethklok is not called "Mustakrakish". It doesn't help that in the episode of Metalocalypse where the song first appeared Nathan calls it "Awaken, Awaken Mustakrakish the Lake Troll." But really, on the album it's simply called "Awaken".
  • My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic:
    • "Find a Way" only has its title sung once, and the refrain is "Oh, why?"
    • The title song from Equestria Girls, also known as the "Cafeteria Song", is usually mistaken as "Helping Twilight Win the Crown". The title doesn't even appear in the film version's lyrics. However, the title does get mentioned in a promotional video based on the song.
    • "Time to Come Together", also from Equestria Girls, is also commonly called "Fix It Up" after the line that starts the chorus.
    • Twilight's song as she tries to fit in at Canterlot High is not called "Strange New World", it's "This Strange World", as the credits say. She never says the latter title once.
    • Two songs from the first two seasons, commonly referred to as "Giggle at the Ghosty" and "Smile Smile Smile" were later given the titles of "The Laughter Song" and "The Smile Song" respectively in the first album.
    • A second season song where Rarity sings about enjoying high society was named "Becoming Popular", and not "The Pony Everypony Should Know" as many viewers thought. Later, to help with the confusion, the two titles were officially combined into "Becoming Popular (The Pony Everypony Should Know)".
    • In "The Mane Attraction", Countess Coloratura's song, "The Magic Inside", was previously called "I Am Just a Pony" by fans.
    • The song the Flim Flam brothers sing in "Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000" is called "Flim Flam Brothers" or "The Flim Flam Cider Song", not "The Cider Song", "Opportunity in This Community", or "Flim Flam Brothers' Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000".
    • The song from "Bats!" is called "Bats", not "Stop the Bats".
  • The iconic Vince Guaraldi piece associated with the Peanuts cartoons is usually referred to as "Peanuts" or "The Charlie Brown Theme" — or, sometimes, just "that kinda African-sounding jazz tune." It's actually called "Linus and Lucy" — because it was originally just the leitmotif for, well, Linus and Lucy. It was first composed for A Boy Named Charlie Brown (the unreleased TV documentary, not the film), and later appeared in memorable scenes in A Charlie Brown Christmas and It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown. Since it's also by far the catchiest tune from the cartoons, it's basically become the series' main theme. This tends to bring a lot of confusion, as there is already a song called "Charlie Brown Theme", which is Charlie Brown's leitmotif.
  • Phineas and Ferb:
    • The song Stacy's relatives sing in "Summer Belongs to You" is officially titled "J-Pop (Welcome to Tokyo)", not "Welcome to Tokyo".
    • A good number of P&F songs fall under title confusion. Some songs are given titles on the wiki before the episode comes out, only these titles are different from the official BMI titles, which are sometimes different from the titles the writers and creators use. However, the song's unofficial, incorrect titles tend to spread fairly quickly over the Internet and YouTube. Three examples: "History of Rock" not "Danny's Story", "Big Ginormous Airplane" not "The Paper Pelican Floor Show", and "Baliwood" not "Destroyed Dreams".
    • The general, "official" rule is to go by whatever the creators use. Example: The song is "Evil for Extra Credit", even though the official BMI title is "Evil for College Credit".
    • The song played during the Big Idea in "Last Day of Summer" is "There's No One I'd Rather Go Nowhere With", and not "There's No One That I'd Rather Go Nowhere With".
  • Razzberry Jazzberry Jam somehow inverts this with the show's ending theme. Both the title and the first line of the chorus are "We Wanna Thank You"; however, in some renditions of the show's Couch Gag, characters refer to the song as "the 'Thank You' song", which may cause viewers to believe this trope is in effect when it isn't.
  • Ready Jet Go!: The song sung at the end of "Date Night" is actually called "Date Night" according to the episode credits, but fans always call it "Real Bortronian Deal" because of that phrase being repeated in the song.
  • The Simpsons: In "New Kids on the Blecch," the song featured in Bart's boy band, the Party Posse's, music video is called "Drop da Bomb". It's more commonly known to fans as "Yvan eht Nioj" due to the backwards lyrics meant to hypnotize people into joining the Navy.
  • SpongeBob SquarePants:
    • An odd example: the theme song is officially named the "SpongeBob SquarePants Theme Song", not just the "SpongeBob Theme," as it's commonly called. This oddly specific title is for a reason; there's a separate, incidental background tune named simply "SpongeBob Theme". Its name was later changed to "Hawaiian Adventures SpongeBob Theme" to help better differentiate it.
    • "Bubble Beat Box" is commonly referred to with references to its most memorable appearance: the "Walk Cycle song" after the scene it plays during, or the "Lost Episode song" after the episode said scene is in.
    • "Gary's Song" is rarely referred as such, instead usually called "Gary Come Home" after its refrain.
  • Steven Universe:
    • "Stronger Than You" is the title only gets sung in the final refrain, while "I am made of love" is sung in every refrain, leading some to initially mislabel the song as "Made of Love".
    • "Shining Through" from Steven Universe Future gets its title from the end of the song where it's sang only twice. Most would believe it to be named "Why So Blue" after the episode it came from, even Cartoon Network's YouTube channel uploaded the song under that title.
  • "Alone Together" from Timon & Pumbaa has the refrain being "Timon and Pumbaa" being repeated no less than "13 times", with the title only being used once. Because of that, Toon Disney has incorrectly labeled the song "Timon & Pumbaa" when it was shown as a music video.
  • Since 1949, an instrumental tune by Scott Bradley has been the main theme song of the Tom and Jerry cartoons, but it was originally copyrighted as the main title theme of the cartoon "Love That Pup" before Bradley decided to make it the regular theme, so it is always referred to in studio cue sheets as "Love That Pup" despite the two main characters being a cat and a mouse.
  • VeggieTales:
    • Many refer to "The Hairbrush Song" as "Where Is My Hairbrush?".
    • Most fans believe that the song "Endangered Love" is called "Barbara Manatee" because of how frequently that name appears in the song. The real title is only said once by the segment's narrator.
    • "Together" from "Celery Night Fever" is often mistakenly called "Celebrate, Get Funky" by fans of the series.
    • Fans often call "It Cannot Be" from Jonah: A VeggieTales Movie "Nineveh", because the song repeats said place's name. Even Google has made this mistake.
  • Inverted in the Yogi's Treasure Hunt episode "Yogi's Heroes". Dick and Muttley capture Snooper and Blabber and torture them by making them watch old Dastardly & Muttley episodes, which Snooper called "Stop That Pigeon-type cartoons."

Previous

Index

Next

  • Show Spoilers
  • Night Vision
  • Sticky Header
  • Wide Load

Important Links

Ask The Tropers Trope Finder Media Finder Trope Launch Pad Tech Wishlist Browse Go Ad Free!
Crucial Browsing
Resources
Top