(Modern song) names with parentheses?

December 19, 2022 10:08 AM

I have a trivia night category idea that is fun with parentheses songs, e.g. "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction". There are a million lists out there of parentheses songs, but they tend to focus on stuff up to the '90s. The last time I hosted a trivia night some of the younger people in the crowd bellyached that we were too focused on old stuff so I'd like to sprinkle in some newer stuff. So do you know some good and quasi-famous recent songs with parentheses in the title?
posted by AgentRocket to Media & Arts (27 answers total)

BTS Yet to Come (The Most Beautiful Moment).
posted by xo at 10:17 AM on December 19, 2022 [1 favorite]

"Cockiness (Love It)" by Rihanna
"You Ain't Gotta Lie (Momma Said)" by Kendrick Lamar

This naming convention has always seemed mostly absent from rap music, which has long ago now conquered pop music. What would you say is the age of the younger people in the crowd? Are we talking 20 or are we talking 30?
posted by kensington314 at 10:19 AM on December 19, 2022 [1 favorite]

Best answer: There are two kinds here -- the kind like "Satisfaction" where the parenthetical completes a phrase, and the other kind, where the song might have a name that doesn't appear prominently in the song and the parenthetical is there to let you know which song it is. I've included both in the brief list below, mostly gleaned from Billboard's end-of-year lists (which would be a great place to look for these in any year).

Montero (Call Me By Your Name) - Lil Nas X
Only Girl (In the World) - Rihanna
Blow Me (One Last Kiss) - Pink
Send My Love (To Your New Lover) - Adele
Single Ladies (Put a Ring On It) - Beyoncé
I Like You (A Happier Song) - Post Malone ft. Doja Cat
Get Into It (Yuh) - Doja Cat
Habits (Stay High) - Tove Lo
I Know You Want Me (Calle Ocho) - Pitbull
posted by uncleozzy at 10:21 AM on December 19, 2022 [14 favorites]

Good Job, Brain! had a segment on this, but they might have also had this problem.
posted by madcaptenor at 10:22 AM on December 19, 2022 [1 favorite]

Sprawl (Mountains Beyond Mountains), Arcade Fire
posted by microscopiclifeform at 10:26 AM on December 19, 2022

2 Be Loved (Am I Ready) - Lizzo
posted by castlebravo at 10:30 AM on December 19, 2022 [2 favorites]

Escape (The Piña Colada Song)

on review .. oops too dang old
posted by credulous at 10:46 AM on December 19, 2022

I feel like Fall Out Boy-era bands had a ton of these, like "Get Busy Living or Get Busy Dying (Do Your Part to Save the Scene and Stop Going to Shows)"
posted by praemunire at 10:50 AM on December 19, 2022 [1 favorite]

Oh, and Kid Cudi, "Pursuit of Happiness (Nightmare)."
posted by praemunire at 10:54 AM on December 19, 2022

microscopiclifeform: Sprawl (Mountains Beyond Mountains), Arcade Fire

(cringing painfully as I post this) it is actually "Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)"

Fall Out Boy are basically the champions of this title format. A selection of their titles:
-"Get Busy Living or Get Busy Dying (Do Your Part to Save the Scene and Stop Going to Shows)"
-"I'm Like a Lawyer with the Way I'm Always Trying to Get You Off (Me & You)"
"I've Got a Dark Alley and a Bad Idea That Says You Should Shut Your Mouth (Summer Song)"
-"My Songs Know What You Did in the Dark (Light Em Up)"
-"Parker Lewis Can't Lose (But I'm Gonna Give It My Best Shot)"
posted by capricorn at 11:06 AM on December 19, 2022 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Everybody (Backstreet's Back), Backstreet Boys
Fuck It (I Don't Want You Back), Eamon
Get Naked (I Got a Plan), Britney Spears
Good Riddance (Time of Your Life), Green Day
(I Got That) Boom Boom, Britney Spears
Many Men (Wish Death), 50 Cent
Pretty Fly (For a White Guy), The Offspring
Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It), Beyonce

(Every song on Radiohead's 2003 album Hail to the Thief has a parenthetical, which, while it might not win over the under-40 set, seems like it could make a good trivia question.)
posted by box at 11:15 AM on December 19, 2022 [2 favorites]

My fave, 2005's "Wait (The Whisper Song)" by the Ying Yang Twins
posted by misscleo3861 at 11:18 AM on December 19, 2022

"Let's Not Shit Ourselves (To Love and Be Loved)" by Bright Eyes (2002)
"Snow (Hey Oh)" by the Red Hot Chili Peppers (2006)
"(One of Those) Crazy Girls" by Paramore (2013)
posted by likedoomsday at 11:31 AM on December 19, 2022

"Illume (9-11)" by Fleetwood Mac (2003)
"Go and Tell Him (Soup Song)" by Hootie and the Blowfish (2003)
"Over My Head (Cable Car)" by The Fray (2005)
"We'll Be Here (When You're Gone)" by the Goo Goo Dolls (2006)
"Whenever you Breathe Out, I Breathe In (Positive/Negative)" by Modest Mouse (2015)


Several by Iron & Wine:
"Evening on the Ground (Lilith's Song) (2005)
"Wolves (Song of the Shepherd's Dog)" (2007)
"Sundown (Back in the Briars) (2013)
posted by likedoomsday at 11:45 AM on December 19, 2022

Best answer: Without going into detail, TSwift has been rerecording her older albums and all the new recordings are tagged with (Taylor's Version), and then some cuts also receive (From The Vault) or other additions. There's dozens of these.

I would argue the longest, most famous, and best iteration of this is All Too Well (10 Minute Version) (Taylor's Version) (From The Vault), otherwise known by fans as ATW TMV TV FTV
posted by matrixclown at 11:50 AM on December 19, 2022 [7 favorites]

kensington314 posted

"You Ain't Gotta Lie (Momma Said)" by Kendrick Lamar

which reminded me of

"Mama Said (There'd Be Days Like This)" by the Shirelles

and now I'm wondering if you could make a longer chain of songs where the parentheses in each song roughly match the unparenthesized part of the next song.
posted by moonmilk at 11:58 AM on December 19, 2022 [2 favorites]

Best answer: All I can think of are old songs with parentheses, but some of the young folks might think "Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God)" by Kate Bush is new. ;-)
posted by aught at 1:06 PM on December 19, 2022 [4 favorites]

Best answer: I got the Billboard Hot 100 data from here and found all songs that peaked in the top 20 with parenthesis in the title since 2000 (ignoring soundtrack songs that say the title of the film in the song name or things like 'Remix' or 'Part 1').

The numbers indicate the peak chart position. Some of these songs are obviously not actually post-2000, but they hit the charts post-2000. These are in reverse chronological order.

I Like You (A Happier Song) Post Malone Featuring Doja Cat 3
I'm Good (Blue) David Guetta & Bebe Rexha 16
Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God) Kate Bush 3
Get Into It (Yuh) Doja Cat 20
All Too Well (Taylor's Version) Taylor Swift 1
Montero (Call Me By Your Name) Lil Nas X 1
Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) Darlene Love 16
The Christmas Song (Merry Christmas To You) Nat King Cole 11
State Of Grace (Taylor's Version) Taylor Swift 18
Love Story (Taylor's Version) Taylor Swift 11
Bean (Kobe) Lil Uzi Vert Featuring Chief Keef 19
1985 (Intro To The Fall Off) J. Cole 20
Bodak Yellow (Money Moves) Cardi B 1
Juju On That Beat (TZ Anthem) Zay Hilfigerrr & Zayion McCall 5
Send My Love (To Your New Lover) Adele 8
Habits (Stay High) Tove Lo 3
My Songs Know What You Did In The Dark (Light Em Up) Fall Out Boy 13
One Way Or Another (Teenage Kicks) One Direction 13
Swimming Pools (Drank) Kendrick Lamar 17
Let Me Love You (Until You Learn To Love Yourself) Ne-Yo 6
Blow Me (One Last Kiss) P!nk 5
Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You) Kelly Clarkson 1
Dance (A$$) Big Sean Featuring Nicki Minaj 10
I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me) Whitney Houston 1
Cheers (Drink To That) Rihanna 7
Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.) Katy Perry 1
F**k You! (Forget You) Cee Lo Green 2
Tonight (I'm Lovin' You) Enrique Iglesias Featuring Ludacris & DJ Frank E 4
Hey Baby (Drop It To The Floor) Pitbull Featuring T-Pain 7
The Time (Dirty Bit) The Black Eyed Peas 4
Only Girl (In The World) Rihanna 1
Stranded (Haiti Mon Amour) Jay-Z, Bono, The Edge & Rihanna 16
Say Hey (I Love You) Michael Franti & Spearhead Featuring Cherine Anderson 18
I Know You Want Me (Calle Ocho) Pitbull 2
Jai Ho! (You Are My Destiny) A R Rahman & The Pussycat Dolls Featuring Nicole Scherzinger 15
Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It) Beyonce 1
Right Now (Na Na Na) Akon 8
Lolli Lolli (Pop That Body) Three 6 Mafia Featuring Project Pat, Young D & Superpower 18
Sweetest Girl (Dollar Bill) Wyclef Jean Featuring Akon, Lil Wayne & Niia 12
Crank That (Soulja Boy) Soulja Boy Tell'em 1
Buy U A Drank (Shawty Snappin') T-Pain Featuring Yung Joc 1
Big Things Poppin' (Do It) T.I. 9
Last Dollar (Fly Away) Tim McGraw 13
Here (In Your Arms) Hellogoodbye 14
Walk Away (Remember Me) Paula DeAnda Featuring The DEY 18
Over My Head (Cable Car) The Fray 8
Yo (Excuse Me Miss) Chris Brown 7
I'm N Luv (Wit A Stripper) T-Pain Featuring Mike Jones 5
There It Go! (The Whistle Song) Juelz Santana 6
Wait (The Whisper Song) Ying Yang Twins 15
Sugar (Gimme Some) Trick Daddy Featuring Ludacris, Lil' Kim & Cee-Lo 20
Obsession (No Es Amor) Frankie J Featuring Baby Bash 3
Leave (Get Out) JoJo 12
Game Over (Flip) Lil' Flip 15
F**k It (I Don't Want You Back) Eamon 16
Runnin (Dying To Live) Tupac Featuring The Notorious B.I.G. 19
The Remedy (I Won't Worry) Jason Mraz 15
Rock Wit U (Awww Baby) Ashanti 2
Love Of My Life (An Ode To Hip Hop) Erykah Badu Featuring Common 9
Oops (Oh My) Tweet 7
Superman (It's Not Easy) Five For Fighting 14
Roll Out (My Business) Ludacris 17
Drops Of Jupiter (Tell Me) Train 5
Hit 'Em Up Style (Oops!) Blu Cantrell 2
Izzo (H.O.V.A.) JAY-Z 8
Danger (Been So Long) Mystikal Featuring Nivea 14
I Just Wanna Love U (Give It 2 Me) JAY-Z 11
Case Of The Ex (Whatcha Gonna Do) Mya 2
Give Me Just One Night (Una Noche) 98 Degrees 2
Come On Over Baby (All I Want Is You) Christina Aguilera 1
Mambo No. 5 (A Little Bit Of...) Lou Bega 3
The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire) Christina Aguilera 18
posted by ssg at 1:19 PM on December 19, 2022 [4 favorites]

Response by poster: Holy cow I never imagined I'd get so many great responses (and ssg! you rule!) Thanks everyone.

The idea of the category will be that we play you a little snippet and you get 1 point for artist and 1 point for song, and then you get a bonus point if you get the parentheses and the song name EXACTLY CORRECT. So for Meatloaf, you'd have to do "I'd Do Anything for Love (But I Won't Do That)." If you say "I Would Do" it's no good. If you say just Anything for Love, it's no good. (P.S. he never even sings "I'd do" he always sings "I would do")

It seems like a good category because the normal people could get a bunch of them, but then the real triviaheads would agonize over where the parentheses go.
posted by AgentRocket at 1:48 PM on December 19, 2022 [2 favorites]

Thanks for finding that data, ssg.

For what it's worth, the percentage of songs with parentheses in the title peaked in the nineties, so this *is* going to bias towards songs from that period if you're not careful. Based on that dataset, the percentage of charting songs with parentheses in the title were, in each decade:
1950s: 5.95% (starting 1958-08-02)
1960s: 8.35%
1970s: 8.72%
1980s: 6.61%
1990s: 10.5%
2000s: 5.03%
2010s: 2.99%
2020s: 4.78% (ending 2022-10-22)

The apparent uptick in the current decade is entirely due to Taylor Swift.
posted by madcaptenor at 1:58 PM on December 19, 2022 [5 favorites]

Run the World (Girls) by Beyoncé (2011)
posted by spiderbeforesunset at 4:25 PM on December 19, 2022

Untitled (How Does It Feel) - D"Angelo
posted by fuse theorem at 5:12 PM on December 19, 2022

Happy Xmas (War Is Over) by John Lennon could be especially good for this category.

[Edit] Sorry, I missed the line that you were looking for more recent stuff.
posted by JonathanB at 6:41 PM on December 19, 2022

Weezer, "(If You're Wondering If I Want You To) I Want You To"
posted by sockshaveholes at 7:13 PM on December 19, 2022

TLSL (Stitches) by Lava La Rue
[Reboot] by Waterparks
Blow Your Mind (Mwah) by Dua Lipa
Fairy Dust (Chapter I) by Tove Lo
Calling (Lose My Mind) by Swedish House Mafia
Rabbit Heart (Raise it Up) by Florence & the Machine
Highway Unicorn (Road to Love) by Lady Gaga
Sprawl I (Flatland) but Arcade Fire

These are all after 2010 and a mix of genres. (One of them doesn't have any title outside the brackets, for extra fun.) A few of the bands have more songs on the same album, but I'm assuming you just want one.
posted by blueberry monster at 9:15 PM on December 19, 2022

If you're appealing to younger folk, I'd definitely include Fall Out Boy - their parenthetical song titles are very much a meme!
posted by creatrixtiara at 9:52 PM on December 19, 2022

Panic at the Disco has a few
(Fuck a) Silver Lining
Ready to Go (Get Me Out Of My Mind)
Nearly Witches (Ever Since We Met…)
Ready to Go (Get Me Out Of My Mind)
posted by Tabitha Someday at 1:03 PM on December 21, 2022