Do the coolest songs have the most incomprehensible titles?

Yeah, pretty much ...

Here’s my theory, no doubt an unoriginal one, based on my Boomer-intensive knowledge of popular music from 1960-2000: the coolest songs often have titles that are not at all obvious from hearing the song on the radio.

Examples:

“A Day in the Life” by The Beatles:

The Beatles were obviously aware that “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” was going to be a colossal hit, even though they had earlier released “Strawberry Fields Forever / Penny Lane” as a two-sided single from the “Sgt. Pepper’s” recording sessions and thus didn’t include it on the album (as “The White Album” doesn’t include the “Hey Jude / Revolution” super-single).

The first FM rock stationed is said be WOR-FM in New York, which came on the air in the second half of 1966, less than a year before “Sgt. Pepper’s.” FM could broadcast in stereo while the older AM format could not. At the time, often albums were in stereo but singles were in mono. Hence, a deep cut like “A Day in the Life” could get played on the radio, even if nobody knew what the title meant.

“For What It’s Worth” by Buffalo Springfield:

Stephen Stills presented it to record executive Ahmet Ertegun with the throwaway line, “For what it’s worth.” Ertegun thought it was was worth a lot.

“Black Dog” by Led Zeppelin:

“Immigrant Song” by Led Zeppelin:

“Baba O’Riley” by The Who:

“Lithium” and

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