The View From The Balcony: “Original Song Titles Revealed!”

When musicians take a song into the studio for recording, it’s common for it to go through some changes before laying it down. Here is a list of a few of the artists’ and the original titles of the songs that made them famous…

Harry Nilsson, “Without You (I Could Be Sleeping)”
Carly Simon, “You’re So Vein”
Cyndi Lauper, “Thyme After Thyme”
Guns N’ Roses, “Welcome to the Jungle, Tarzan!”
Lil Wayne, “A Milli, A Billi, Ain’t You Silli!”
Robert Johnson, “Crosses on the Side of the Road Blues”
Santana, “Oye Como Steak House”
Tammy Wynette, “Stand by Your Man (with a Pitchfork)”
Chubby Checker, “Twist My Sis”
Bobby Darin, “Mack the Ginsu Knife”
Debby Boone, “You Light Up My Wife”
Survivor, “Eye of the Tigger”
Irene Cara, “Flashpants…I’m a Squealin’”
Marvin Gaye, “Let’s Get It Off”
Queen, “Another One Eats the Crust”
The 5th Dimension, “Hey, Darius! Put Some Shoeshine On”
Tag Team, “Whoomp! (There it Went)”
Dionne & Friends, “That’s What Fiends are For”
Michael Jackson, “Billie’s Jeans”
Rolling Stones, “(I Can’t Get No) Chain Reaction”
Frank Sinatra, “My Way (or the Highway)”
Beatles, “Hey Prude”
James Brown, “Papa’s Got a Brand New Bag Man”
Bob Dylan, “Peeing in the Wind”
Jerry Lee Lewis, “Whole Lot of Snakin’ Going On”
Beatles, “A Hard, Dazed Night”
Don McLean, “American Spy”
Procol Harum, “A Lighter Shade of Ale”
Jimi Hendrix, “Fuchsia Haze”
Animals, “House of the Rising Puns”
Deep Purple, “Toke on the Water”
Crosby, Stills & Nash, “Judy Black Eyes”
B.B. King, “The Grill is Gone”
Flamingos, “I Only Have Pies for You”
Glenn Miller, “Chattanooga Poo Poo”
Hank Williams, “Cold, Cold Fart”
Kris Kristofferson, “Me and Bobby Finkelstein”
Roberta Flack, “Killing Me Softly with His Thong”
Michael Jackson, “Bleat It”
Lou Reed, “Stalk on the Wild Side”
Billy Joel, “Piano Non-Gender Specific Person”
Beatles, “Here Comes the Son of a Bitch”
Garth Brooks, “Friends in Blow Places”
Coolio, “Gangsta’s Pair of Dice”
Fleetwood Mac, “Pay Your Own Way”
Beatles, “Eleanor Rigged Me”
Rolling Stones, “You Can’t Always Sit Where You Want”
And my personal theme song: Steppenwolf, “Born to Be Mild”

…and that’s the view from The Balcony.

Randy Weeks is a Licensed Professional Counselor, a Certified Shamanic Life Coach, an ordained minister, a singer-songwriter, and an actor. He is in a constant state of re-writing his life. Randy may be reached at randallsweeks@gmail.com

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About the Author

Randy Weeks Randy Weeks is a Licensed Professional Counselor, a Certified Shamanic Life Coach, an ordained minister, a singer-songwriter, and an actor, who lives in Oxford, Mississippi. He may be reached at randallsweeks@gmail.com.