Top 10 Songs that Originally Had Different Titles
It was originally referred to as "Nothing, Parts 1-24", then "The Son of Nothing", and then "The Return of the Son of Nothing". The latter title was used to introduce the as-yet unreleased work during its first live performances in early 1971. It developed into "Echoes" about 6 months later.
The band said "The Return of the Son of Nothing" was a joke about comic books and Godzilla-type movie sequels. The song was a homage to the minimalist composer Terry Riley.
Originally it was called "Cruisin' for a Lady" (according to wiki). Desmond Child, who co-wrote the song with Steven Tyler and Joe Perry, said in an interview its title was "Cruisin' for the Ladies." Only a slight difference but I don't know who is right.
I made a list about this song so I don't need to explain much here: Top 10 Interesting Facts About Aerosmith's Dude (Looks Like a Lady)
I think the name "Speed King" fits better anyway, because of how this song sounds. It's a speed metal song.
Ian Gillan wrote is his autobiography that Speed King was called "Kneel and Pray" for some time.
Absolute truth- original name was "Scrambled Eggs".
Paul McCartney woke in the middle of the night, with the complete melody running through his head. He quickly grabbed a piece of paper and wrote down the first two lines:
"Scrambled eggs,
Oh my darling how I love your legs"
I heard about this before!
Originally "You've Got to Be Crazy". The lyrics are slightly different (different words, same concept) but the actual song is the same.
A-ha wrote and recorded the first version of this song in 1982 with the title "Lesson One" - it had the basic keyboard riff but had different lyrics.
In 1983, the song got the attention of Terry Slater, who became their manager and helped them get a contract with Warner Bros. Records.
In early 1984, they re-wrote the song as "Take On Me" and recorded it with producer Tony Mansfield.
The song's working title was "Oliver's Twist", in tribute to Derek Oliver. And of course, the title played on the title of Charles Dickens's novel, "Oliver Twist".
The original title was "Badfinger Boogie". The Beatles changed it but used the name for something else: when they were signed to their label, Apple Records, they named them Badfinger.
They also changed another thing:
the first lines of the song that were originally "What would you do if I sang out of tune? Would you stand up and throw tomatoes at me? "
Ringo didn't want to sing it, fearing that if they ever did it live, he would be pelted with tomatoes.
The working title was originally "Bad Finger Boogie", a reference to the fact that John Lennon had a hurt finger when they recorded the song. This is important because it became the inspiration for the name of the band Badfinger; John Lennon suggested they change their names from The Iveys to Badfinger and they agreed.
The song was originally titled "Gypsies and White Trash" but the authors were asked to revise it and make the title less offensive.
Originally, it was called 'N2RHQ.
Dave Mustaine explained: "I wrote the song and called it 'N2RHQ - it was like the numbers on the side of a plane. It was a future-tech thing. It was kind of sci-fi where I would go someplace in the future into space."
The title was "How Can You Sit There". This song just didn't make it onto his previous album.
So when director Taylor Hackford asked Collins to write a song for the film Against All Odds, Collins changed the title and adapted it to fit the movie.
It was originally titled "Peter Pan Complex" but their record company (MCA) changed it during the production. The record company thought the audience wouldn't understand the title - a "Peter Pan Complex" describes someone who doesn't want to grow up.
Blink-182 weren't happy with this decision.
Love this song
Originally called: In the life of...
It was originally called "Blue", even though it's never said in the actual lyrics.
Originally called "17"
When the band started working on this song, the title was "Back Home."
A version of this song was recorded as "Dead Sound of Misery" that became a bonus track.
"Dead Sound of Misery" is a darker version of "Fly" in a different key and alternate lyrics.
The original single release was called "Tamagotchi". Under that title the song was physically released and had a music video shot and aired. Then suddenly, on the album it appears under the title "Together Forever (The Cyber Pet Song)", and was reissued as an identical physical single but with the new name instead. I couldn't find any source, but I am pretty sure there were copyright issues with the title. Funnily, it wouldn't be the first case of a toy company suing a Danish bubblegum dance band over a song title - Matell sued Aqua over "Barbie Girl".