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

Home
>
Music & MP3
>
Name That Tune - Tips For When You Can?t Remember The Song Title Or Artist

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:

Yahoo! News: Top Stories

Jobless claims jump unexpectedly to 16-year high (AP)

AP - New claims for unemployment benefits jumped last week to a 16-year high, the Labor Department said Thursday, providing more evidence of a rapidly weakening job market expected to get even worse next year.

Perino: Bush would sign jobless benefits extension (AP)

AP - With weekly jobless claims benefits at a 16-year high, the White House said Thursday that President George W. Bush would quickly sign legislation pending in Congress to provide further unemployment benefits.

Dems: Napolitano emerges for Homeland Security job (AP)

AP - Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano, an early Barack Obama supporter from the southwestern part of the country, is the likely choice for the job of secretary of homeland security, a top Obama adviser said Thursday.

Stocks fall after jobless claims jump (AP)

AP - Fresh worries about widening unemployment added to investors' list of concerns about the economy Thursday and extended Wall Street's sell-off to a second day. The major indexes each fell more than 1.5 percent, including the Dow Jones industrial average, which lost 110 points.

Detroit automakers' rescue stalls in Senate (AP)

AP - A plan to give troubled U.S. automakers billions of dollars in government-backed loans is stalled on Capitol Hill, leaving the fate of hundreds of thousands of workers and Detroit's once-venerable car companies hanging in the balance.

Stevens gives last Senate speech as staffers weep (AP)

AP - Ted Stevens, an old-style Senate giant and the chamber's longest-serving member, delivered his swansong address and yielded the floor for the final time Thursday. He was saluted by his colleagues as a staunch friend and teacher.

Astronauts vow remaining tool bag won't drift away (AP)

AP - Astronauts vowed to double-check, even triple-check all their tethers to make sure a bag of tools is properly tied down during a spacewalk Thursday so it doesn't float away like one did earlier this week.

Web ad sales rise slightly from prior quarter (AP)

AP - Despite the bad economy, U.S. Internet advertising revenue rose in the third quarter, according to an analysis released Thursday.

Taco Bell lawyers get tough with rapper 50 Cent (AP)

AP - Rapper 50 Cent is facing a challenge to his street cred from Taco Bell.

Browns' Quinn expected to play with broken finger (AP)

AP - Cleveland Browns quarterback Brady Quinn broke his right index finger in Monday night's win over Buffalo but will try to play Sunday against the Houston Texans.

Weekly jobless claims surge to 16-year high (Reuters)

Reuters - The number of U.S. workers filing new claims for jobless benefits surged last week to their highest level in 16 years, Labor Department data showed on Thursday, as a harsh economic environment forces employers to cut back on hiring.

Markets hit new lows on global job losses (Reuters)

Reuters - Fears of a deep, long global recession intensified on Thursday as markets hit new lows in alarm at reports of record U.S. job losses, oil prices plunging below $50 a barrel and worry that U.S. automakers would not get a bailout from Washington.

Obama eyes Arizona governor for Homeland Security (Reuters)

Reuters - President-elect Barack Obama is considering Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano to be U.S. Homeland Security secretary, heading a sprawling agency formed to bolster civil defense in the wake of the September 11 attacks, a senior Democrat said.

U.S. judge: Five Algerians at Guantanamo can be freed (Reuters)

Reuters - Five of six Algerians must be released after nearly seven years of captivity at the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, a federal judge ruled on Thursday.

U.S. forces kill Qaeda leader wanted for attacks (Reuters)

Reuters - U.S. forces killed a senior al Qaeda leader wanted for planning suicide bombings, kidnappings and assassinations, including the abduction and killing of a U.S. army sergeant in 2004, the U.S. military said on Thursday.

U.S. pact can pass Iraqi parliament: minister (Reuters)

Reuters - A pact allowing U.S. troops to stay in Iraq for three more years has a chance of being approved by parliament despite some heated opposition, Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zebari said on Thursday.

California court to hear gay marriage ban case (Reuters)

Reuters - California's Supreme Court on Wednesday agreed to hear a legal challenge against the state's voter-approved ban on gay marriage and let the ban stand in the meantime.

U.S. urges vigilance against Iranian banks in Dubai (Reuters)

Reuters - Dubai should keep a close eye on sanctions-hit Iranian banks operating in the Gulf trade hub, a U.S. official involved in tracking suspicious financial activity said on Wednesday.

Governments scramble to protect jobs as losses mount (AFP)

AFP - Governments scrambled to cushion the impact of the financial crisis Thursday with France launching a 20-billion-euro sovereign wealth fund and China unveiling a jobs protection plan as the car industry made huge new cuts.

Russia to send more warships to battle Somali pirates (AFP)

AFP - Russia announced Thursday it would send more warships to combat piracy in the waters around Somalia, as the Saudi owners of the Sirius Star negotiated with the pirates holding their oil tanker.

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

Music & MP3 Music & MP3