Name That Tune - Tips For When You Can?t Remember The Song Title Or Artist

For years, you have been searching for a song lodged in your brain that is driving you nuts. Unfortunately, you have forgotten both the song title and the artist and all you remember are a few words. Don't you wish you could just name that tune once and for all so that you can get on with your life??

Below is a simple yet surprisingly effective procedure for naming that tune when all you have are a few song snippets and some hazy memories. Your search will draw from the voluminous Usenet archives which contain one of the largest repositories of searchable song fragments on the Internet.

  • Write down the most unique words and phrases of whatever song fragments you can remember. Jog your memory by brainstorming on the following: Who? What? When? Where? Why?
    • The "who" could include the singer, the person(s) to whom the song is addressed, the subject of the song (e.g., as in a ballad), or any other person, animal, fictional character, or even cartoon character. Tip: If you can remember any first names, surnames, nicknames, titles, and proper nouns, you may already have an important clue as to what the title of your "mystery song" could be.
    • The "what" could include any material objects, ideas, concepts, or events that may be central to the theme or otherwise contribute in some way to the story line. The possibilities here are endless, e.g., relationships, phone numbers, first dates, current events, modes of transportation, symbolic objects, the supernatural, anatomy, flora and fauna, food and beverages, drugs and alcohol, etc. (you name it).
    • The "when" could be the time of day, a season, a day of the week, or a year.
    • The "where" could be a city, state, or country, a street address, a locale, or a direction (e.g., East, West).
    • The "why" could be an expression of love, a social commentary, or a lament about a relationship gone sour.
  • Try to remember other words and phrases that stand out in any way, e.g., colors, descriptive adjectives, acronyms, numbers, greetings, foreign language words and phrases, sets of rhyming words, and incongruous, nonsensical, or bizarre phrases (e.g., "Crystal Blue Persuasion").
  • Pay special attention to any repeating words and phrases as may occur, e.g., in a chorus or refrain, as they often point directly to the song title.
  • Verify correct spellings (names can be especially tricky) and also allow for all possible alternate spellings and misspellings as often found in Usenet postings. Here are some alternate representations of some words often found in pop tunes: tonight/tonite; love/luv; going/gonna; want to/wanna; night/nite; out of/outa; you/ya, u; and/'n. Also, for words ending in "ing" an ending apostrophe (') is often substituted for the ending "g." (To cover all bases, try searching on a word both with and without its ending "g.")
  • Right click here (to open in a new window) to access the Google Advanced Groups Search form. Enter the word "music" and up to 9 words in the "with all of the words" field. (Tip: To get as many search results on one page as possible select "100 messages" for number of results to display.)
  • If your initial search results look hopeless, cut and paste your word set in the "with at least one of the words" field, leaving "music" in the "with all of the words" field.
  • If you are getting too many hits and your song is not on the first page of search results, narrow your search using any of the following methods as appropriate.
    • Remove any unnecessary "OR"s in the search box at the top of the first page of search results. (To be systematic, shave off one "OR" at a time starting with the ones that are between those words about which you are most certain.)
    • If you find a group of words that occurs as a phrase in your song, enclose it in quotes.
    • Sometimes, certain common words such as "I," "a," "was," and "in" may be ignored in a Google search, even when the entire phrase is enclosed in quotes. In case that happens, just repeat your search with a "+" sign in front of any word that was ignored the first time around.
  • Repeat Step 7 as necessary. It is generally best to experiment with one permutation at a time. As you try different combinations, this will further jog your memory and you can weed out any words you discover to be incorrect.
  • If your first word set does not pan out, try a new set or change one or more words in your original set (e.g., see the tips above on alternate word spellings).
  • Repeat Steps 5-9 until you find your song (hurray!). If you have no luck with Google Groups repeat your search on Google. Good luck in your song search! Amy Gold
    (c) Copyright 2005, allbutforgottenoldies.net

    Amy Gold is the webmaster of http://www.allbutforgottenoldies.net/. Visit her website where you can search and browse thousands of song titles from 1960-1975 with links to audio clips. Her website also has interviews, RSS feeds, and many tips and resources of interest to oldies music collectors and other music hobbyists.

    In The News:


  • pen paper and inkwell


    cat break through


    A Quick and Easy Composition Method

    Here's the method I use every time I want to... Read More

    An Interview with Angus Young of ACDC - Why He Plays a Gibson SG

    Steven: Maybe more than any other guitarist ever, you're inextricably... Read More

    Micing a Kick Drum

    This months tip deals with micing kick drums.You wouldn't believe... Read More

    Formal Highland Attire: The Correct Wearing of the Kilt; the National Dress of Scotland

    We don't simply wear a theatrical costume; we wear the... Read More

    Growing and Keeping Loyal Fan Support

    Fan support for musicians is a two way street. You... Read More

    Rhapsody Music Downloads Part II - A pleasant experience?

    Welcome back to Part II of Rhapsody Music Downloads! I... Read More

    Rabbitt Productions - Up & Coming Atlanta Producer

    When you think of music in Atlanta you generally think... Read More

    Guitar Practicing or Guitar Playing?

    Just because you're holding your guitar doesn't mean that you're... Read More

    How to Get Past Creative Blocks

    When I first began playing the piano and improvising, there... Read More

    Is Your Child Struggling in School? Get Him (Or Her) Music Lessons

    This is counterintuitive, I know. Our natural response to seeing... Read More

    Choosing a Jazz Band for Your Party

    In many years of arranging jazz bands for all sorts... Read More

    How To Dress Up Naked Music On The Piano

    What in the world is "naked music?"You know it when... Read More

    Good News for the Musically Untalented

    Have you ever been told that you were good at... Read More

    Piano Playing For Adults: More Fun Than Sex And Not Nearly As Dangerous!

    OK, so I lied about the fun part.Maybe piano playing... Read More

    Karaoke Singing

    This article is designed to help anyone to enjoy karaoke... Read More

    Facts about Betty Kresin, Eminems grandmother

    Betty Kresin, Eminem's grandmother from the maternal side... Read More

    How Much of Your Potential Will You Release?

    Do you ever feel there is an inner voice speaking... Read More

    10 Top Reasons You Should Learn to Play Chord Piano

    There are roughly umpteen zillion reasons why you should learn... Read More

    Origins of the Mathers Family

    Eminem's roots can be found in Scandinavia through his mother... Read More

    Reasons to Ditch Your Guitar Pick

    Lately, I haven't been using my guitar pick all that... Read More

    Writing Hit Songs

    There are a lot of factors to writing a hit... Read More

    Five Great Practice Ideas I Learned From My Piano Students!

    Sometimes the teacher learns more from the student than the... Read More

    Tips on Performing Your Music for Others

    Have you ever dreamed of performing a piece you created... Read More

    The History Of Drums - A Journey Of Sound

    Music and musical instruments are an extremely important part of... Read More

    Guitar Players...Get a Balanced Guitar Practice Diet

    Do you have a wide variety of things that you... Read More

    New Age Piano Tricks

    One of the things that makes New Age piano so... Read More

    Building Your Digital Music Collection

    The previous two Tech Tips took a look at eight... Read More

    Establishing Your Mix

    Now that you've spent hours and days and weeks and... Read More

    A Guitar Lesson to Help You Develop Your Vision

    Have you ever done any of the following?1. Made excuses... Read More

    How to Create Hip, Mature and Lush Harmonies

    Rarely is a chord played with its tones contained in... Read More

    Hip Hop History

    Rap music originated as a cross-cultural product. Most of its... Read More

    Liberate your iPod

    When Akio Morita came up with the idea of the... Read More

    The Irish Harp

    The harp that once through Tara's halls the soul of... Read More