A dozen songs that music fans think have a different name
By Jonathan Eig
“SECOND HAND NEWS” by Fleetwood Mac (1976)
What it might have been called: “Lay Me Down in the Tall Grass”
“Let Me Do My Stuff” sounds a little too generically vulgar, but the “tall grass” title could have worked. That’s as close to a chorus as you’ll find in the opening track of Rumours, one of the titanic albums in rock & roll history. “I’m just second news” just shows up in the outro, and though it is oft-repeated, it comes during the fade-out. Somehow, as with all of Rumours, that suits the tone of the break-up album perfectly.
“THREE LITTLE BIRDS” by Bob Marley & the Wailers (1977/1980)
What it might have been called: “Every Little Thing is Gonna Be All Right”
“Don’t Worry About a Thing,” the opening words that are repeated throughout Marley‘s song, were kind of usurped by Stevie Wonder’s “Don’t You Worry ‘Bout a Thing” a few years earlier. The second half of the catchy chorus could have been the title – a lot of people assume it is. But I like “Three Little Birds.” As with “Story in Your Eyes” or “Long Train Runnin’,” it just has more poetry. When it was eventually released as a single three years after it appeared on an album, it became one of the Wailers' biggest hits.
“BRASS IN POCKET” by The Pretenders (1979)
What it might have been called: “Gonna Use My Arms”
And that’s just the pre-chorus. There were lots of titles Chrissie Hynde and James Honeyman-Scott could have chosen for one of their first singles. Apparently, a lot of people also know it as “I’m Special.” “Brass in pocket” just shows up once in the opening verse. It’s catchy slang for having some money to spend, and as such, it becomes a logical first in the list of things Hynde plans to use to get “some of your attention.”