When people get the song title wrong

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When people get the song title wrong

Posted: 4/26/11 at 11:14am

I'm sure it bothers more than just me when people often refer to show songs by incorrect titles. I'm trying to think of a few good examples.

For lack of a better one, when people call the song "Loathing" instead of "What is this Feeling"

I have a friend who consistently refers to "The Ballad of Sweeney Todd" as "Attend the Tale of Sweeney Todd"

Common mistakes, but a pet peeve of mine. Are there others that you hear often?

Stephen: "Could you grab me a coffee?" Me: "Would you like that with all the colors of the wind?"

When people get the song title wrong

Posted: 4/26/11 at 12:30pm

I saw "A Conversation with Stephen Sondheim" a few years ago in West Palm Beach and cringed when a man in the audience told the composer that his favorite Sondheim song was "There's A Place for Us" from "West Side Story."

Sondheim responded graciously, but I had to restrain myself from leaping up and apologizing profusely on behalf of all South Florida theatergoers.

It's too early for noches.

When people get the song title wrong

Posted: 4/26/11 at 12:42pm

Referring to "The Phantom of the Opera" as "Phantom of the Opera"

When people get the song title wrong

Posted: 4/26/11 at 12:42pm

Ben Brantley in the New York Times commented on the Bernadette Peters Gypsy and said the last song in the show was "Momma's Turn".

If anyone ever tells you that you put too much Parmesan cheese on your pasta, stop talking to them. You don't need that kind of negativity in your life.

When people get the song title wrong

Posted: 4/26/11 at 12:56pm

Just the other day there was a thread here about "Everything's As If We Never Said Goodbye" from Sunset Boulevard, but the song is actually called "As If We Never Said Goodbye"

When people get the song title wrong

Posted: 4/26/11 at 1:00pm

"The hills are alive" instead of "The Sound of Music" is one, and from the same show "How do you solve a problem like Maria?" instead of "Maria".

Two from Les Misérables, not necessarily wrong, but debatable.

In the score, "Do You Hear The People Sing?" is titled as "The People's Song" it gets called both, I normally favour the former, and the programme of the West End production lists "Drink with me to days gone by" whereas I've always known it as simply "Drink with me".

When people get the song title wrong

Posted: 4/26/11 at 1:11pm

When people refer to Memory from CATS as "Memories" I go a little crazy.

When people get the song title wrong

Posted: 4/26/11 at 1:16pm

Not from a musical but after all these years my mother still calls Wind Beneath My Wings... The Fly Away Song, the one sung in that movie with Betty Davis called Dunes.

"Whenever I get gloomy with the state of the world, I think about the arrivals gate at Heathrow Airport. General opinion's starting to make out that we live in a world of hatred and greed, but I don't see that. It seems to me that love is everywhere. Often it's not particularly dignified or newsworthy, but it's always there - fathers and sons, mothers and daughters, husbands and wives, boyfriends, girlfriends, old friends. When the planes hit the Twin Towers, as far as I know none of the phone calls from the people on board were messages of hate or revenge - they were all messages of love. If you look for it, I've got a sneaky feeling you'll find that love actually is all around."

When people get the song title wrong

Posted: 4/26/11 at 1:27pm

if you want to get technical, almost everyone uses wrong titles for almost every Gilbert & Sullivan song. The official "titles" of their songs are always the first line of lyrics. Thus, the song from Mikado that everyone calls "Tit-willow", is actually titled "On a Tree by a River". "I've Got a Little List" is actually "As Some Day it Should Happen", and "Derry Down Derry" is "There is Beauty".

#10

When people get the song title wrong

Posted: 4/26/11 at 1:49pm

I can't stand it when people can't get the name of a show right, much less the songs.

#11

When people get the song title wrong

Posted: 4/26/11 at 2:00pm

but I loved Priscilla Queen of the Ocean and
loathed The Nun's Act.
The Book of Norman was a blast!
Wunderbar-- the Alice In Wunderland Muscical was far from Wunderbar.
Catch Me If you will- was okay.

#12

When people get the song title wrong

Posted: 4/26/11 at 2:25pm

"How do you solve a problem like Maria?" instead of "Maria":

True story:

I had a CD when I was probably eleven filled with 'covers' of Broadway songs (it was a 2 disc set that I was given for Christmas). Well, there's a track from "West Side Story" called "Maria" and the track was actually the song "How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria?". I got a kick out of it (that, along with the disco version of "Tonight"). It's a rather glaring mistake. (Oddly enough, no one is singing this particular track-but the unmistakable melody of "How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria?" is whistled for half the song.

I'm guessing whoever compiled this had no clue what they were doing.

#13

When people get the song title wrong

Posted: 4/26/11 at 2:33pm

These are for obvious reasons, but still drive me nuts: "Tits and Ass" instead of "Dance, Ten; Looks, Three" and "Gay or European" instead of "There! Right There!".

"Art, in itself, is an attempt to bring order out of chaos."-Stephen Sondheim

#14

When people get the song title wrong

Posted: 4/26/11 at 2:40pm

What's the proper title of the song Janet sings in The Rock Horror Show about wanting someone to touch her? I see it written differently EVERYWHERE. I honestly don't know what the proper title is.

#15

When people get the song title wrong

Posted: 4/26/11 at 3:20pm

Though if you saw A Chorus Line early enough in its run at the Public then "Dance: Ten; Looks: Three" was listed in the program as "Tits and Ass." It was changed because they realized that the title in the program was giving away the punchline of the song and lessening the comedic impact.

#16

When people get the song title wrong

Posted: 4/26/11 at 3:23pm

Oh, and I have always seen Janet's song in The Rocky Horror Show listed as "Touch-a Touch-a Touch Me" on every recording and in every program. I've honestly not seen it discussed much. What other titles for it have people used?

#17

When people get the song title wrong

Posted: 4/26/11 at 3:45pm

There are all just on the iTunes store:

Movie Soundtrack: "Touch-A, Touch-A, Touch Me"
New Broadway Cast 2001: "Touch-A-Touch-A-Touch Me"
Original London Cast: "Touch-a-Touch-a-Touch-a-Touch Me"
Original Roxy Cast: "Toucha, Toucha, Touch Me"
Glee Version: "Touch a Touch a Touch a Touch Me"

They all vary in the amount of hyphens, the amount and spellings of "Touch-a" and capitalization...which is correct? Oh, and they're all different from your's AEA....

Sidenote, I now can't look at the word "touch" without thinking "wtf?". I've typed it too much it has lost its meaning,

Updated On: 4/26/11 at 03:45 PM

#18

When people get the song title wrong

Posted: 4/26/11 at 4:28pm

My band teacher had us playing a medley from The Sound of Music. First up: "Do A Deer"

#19

When people get the song title wrong

Posted: 4/26/11 at 4:52pm

I'm gonna anticipate one now:

"Pig No Pig" from Betty Blue Eyes will be repeatedly called "There's a pig in the house" no doubt.

#20

When people get the song title wrong

Posted: 4/26/11 at 9:03pm

iTunes lists a lot of things wrong, funnily enough..."As Long As You're Mine" from Wicked is "As Long As Your Mine," which makes me nuts. As long as your mine what?

#21

When people get the song title wrong

Posted: 4/26/11 at 9:19pm

"Though if you saw A Chorus Line early enough in its run at the Public then "Dance: Ten; Looks: Three" was listed in the program as "Tits and Ass." It was changed because they realized that the title in the program was giving away the punchline of the song and lessening the comedic impact."

That's why I said that I understand why. But, still, "Tits and Ass" isn't the proper title anymore.

"Art, in itself, is an attempt to bring order out of chaos."-Stephen Sondheim

#22

When people get the song title wrong

Posted: 4/27/11 at 2:43am

And there is no "Somewhere" in the title of "Over the Rainbow."

Cast albums are NOT "soundtracks."
Live theatre does not use a "soundtrack." If it did, it wouldn't be live theatre!

I host a weekly one-hour radio program featuring cast album selections as well as songs by cabaret, jazz and theatre artists. The program, FRONT ROW CENTRE is heard Sundays 9 to 10 am and also Saturdays from 8 to 9 am (eastern times) on www.proudfm.com

#23

When people get the song title wrong

Posted: 4/27/11 at 5:26am

"Pig No Pig" from Betty Blue Eyes will be repeatedly called "There's a pig in the house" no doubt.

Not as long as Ann Emery is playing Mother Dear.

Notes from the Earlham Street Gutter

#24

When people get the song title wrong

Posted: 4/27/11 at 6:01am

I have to admit: it doesn't bother me at all. Probably because I'm one of those people that can never remember precise titles of songs, either.

SINGING the wrong lyrics, at the top of one's lungs, however, makes me cringe.

If we're not having fun, then why are we doing it? These are DISCUSSION boards, not mutual admiration boards. Discussion only occurs when we are willing to hear what others are thinking, regardless of whether it is alignment to our own thoughts.

#25

When people get the song title wrong

Posted: 4/27/11 at 7:10am

Funny threetwoone should bring up THE ROCKY HORROR SHOW because there is one other song that has multiple titles.

Is it "Hot Patootie, Bless My Soul" or "Whatever Happened To Saturday Night"?

The original 1973 lists the song as "Hot Patootie (Bless My Soul)". The 1974 Roxy Cast lists it as "Whatever Happened To Saturday Night?. The 1975 Motion Picture Soundtrack lists it as "Hot Patootie - Bless My Soul". The 1990 London Recording lists it as "Hot Patootie, Bless My Soul. The 2001 B'way Revival lists it as "Hot Patootie".

"Touch-a, Touch-a, Touch-a, Touch Me" goes thru many changes as was already mentioned ranging from "Toucha, Toucha, Touch Me" to "Touch-a Touch Me".

The same thing happens to the song "I Can Make You A Man". There are some recordings that list this song as "The Charles Atlas Song".

I think it's a safe bet to say that the correct titles of these songs are the ones listed on the first 1973 London recording.

But don't blame anyone for calling any one of these songs by any one of their given titles.

Updated On: 4/27/11 at 07:10 AM

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